So it is as appropriate as it is welcome that the latest Aleph issue focuses on Schifrin the pianist as much as Shifrin the composer. He is joined by 'Jazz Meets the Symphony' veteran, James Morrison, equally prodigious on trumpet and trombone, and tourist James Moody, who was a leading light in Dizzy Gillespie's matchless 1940's Big Band and who subsequently worked with the trumpeter on many other occasions. Schifrin is also joined by Dennis Budimir on guitar, bassist Brian Bromberg and percussionist Alex Acuna. Of the nine selections, six are Schifrin tunes. As one would expect, they testify to the rich variety of his writer's palette and range of mood; they equally enshrine the sumptuous quality of his pianism.
C**H
Love it
A bit dated but worth the listen. Lalo , the last of the truly gifted.
N**Y
Melodic, Beautiful Collection
Most of you will know Lalo Schifrin the best as the composer of the award winning theme to Mannix (TV-70's, Mike Connors?)and the awesome soundtrack to Bullitt (Steve McQueen). This is a beautiful Jazz Ensemble from a premier musician and composer.
S**Y
Tremendous All-Star Session!
Lalo Schifrin turned 75 on June 21, 2007. In anticipation of that milestone, he convened the recording session for this album a little less than three months earlier, on March 30, 2007, intending to return to his first love of acoustic jazz. The sextet making up the pianist/composer's friends here includes saxophonist James Moody, James Morrison on trumpet and trombone, guitarist Dennis Budimir, bass player Brian Bromberg, and Alex Acuña on drums and percussion. It's an accomplished lineup, and Schifrin wrote and arranged material to showcase the players, beginning with the standard "Besame Mucho," on which Morrison's trumpet takes the lion's share of space. Moody's tenor is given greatest attention on "Fast Forward," the first of six Schifrin originals, and Budimir is the star of "Old Friends." The lengthy "Free Parking" begins with Morrison's trombone leading, followed by an extensive bass solo from Bromberg, before Morrison returns on trumpet. "Night Walk" is given over to Moody and Acuña. Of course, the leader himself does not go unheard up to this point, but he begins to assert himself more late in the set, duetting with Bromberg on the head section of "A Tribute to Bud" (that's Bud Powell, of course), and really taking over on the melancholy ballad "Winter Landscapes," which finds the horns laying out. An extended take of "Tin Tin Daeo," which evokes Schifrin's mentor, Dizzy Gillespie, is also performed sans horns, but Moody makes a comeback on Oscar Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom." It's easy to imagine this 63-minute collection forming the basis for a hot set at a small jazz club, and that may be the intention. Schifrin has ranged far and wide since his days of playing piano with Gillespie, but, as he says in Richard Palmer's liner notes, "Once a jazz musician, always a jazz musician."
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