Search - Phillip Johnston :: Normalology

Excellent and fun

Hot Ptah | 03/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very enjoyable set of swinging, accessible pieces. The best, including the first two songs, are tremendous. The first song is a swinging piece with blazing saxophone solos which is suddenly dominated by a bluesy slide guitar. It is a great moment, and makes one think about how conformist jazz is today--anything even slightly different than Wynton's approved set of sounds is startling now. When this CD is not at a tremendous peak, it is still very good and a lot of fun. The liner notes must be among the most humorous and thoughtful in the history of recordings. Phillip Johnston is a gifted composer, arranger and saxophonist and achieves a real career peak with this album."

Good but...or is it me?

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 03/11/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is more of a three star effort for me but I would rather err on the side of too much credit than too little when it comes to people trying to make honest music. My issues with this CD may be more of a personal thing anyhow so let me just lay it out for y'all and you be the judge.
First, some information for ya. This is a collection of unrecorded material from Johnston's Microcosmic Septet days. The lineup on this CD includes Joe Ruddick on keyboards, Allan Chase on the alto sax, Paul Shapiro of the tenor, Robert DeBellis on the baritone sax, David Hofstra on the bass, Richard Dworkin on the drums and Johnston on the soprano sax. Stew Cutler sits in on guitar on three of the thirteen tracks.
Second, the good news- all of these guys can flat out play. The music is a pastiche going from swing to sort of a Loony Toons Big Band thing to Blues to Bebop. The players play the heck out of everything seemingly never at a loss in what sound like some demanding charts and soloing with great verve and pithyness. For my ears, if I had to pick the outstanding players it would be Ruddick, and DeBellis. But they all sound good.
The writing is very witty. Johnston writes for films a fair amount and it shows in his writing. The Looney Toon thing I mentioned is apt- he would have been great at scoring the epic Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd battles.
My problem is that it is all a little too ironic and postmodern for me. I can hear no real emotional commitment to any one thing except the sheer fun on playing a lot of genres well in a clever way. Last night I went to hear a local gamelan band, The Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan directed by Widiyanto S. Putro. Only a few of the players in the gamelan were of the caliber of the musicians on Johnston's CD. Yet the gamelan playing will remain with me far longer. The gamelan players felt like they were playing with everything they had.
This is probably an unfair criticism and, if I were ever to see Johnston et al., I might well be completely blown away. But this CD is a little dry for me. I don't come away from it humming any of the pieces or the solos. I hope this makes sense. But don't trust me on this. Listen to Johnston's music and see what you think. This is a very intelligent and personable man and his body of music reflects that. You may connect to his music right away."