Arturo Sandoval: I Remember Clifford (1992)

I Remember Clifford is a 1992 album by Arturo Sandoval, the second album he made after fleeing from his native Cuba.

The entire album is a tribute to Clifford Brown, who was a great influence on Sandoval; Brown was an influential, highly-rated and much-loved jazz trumpeter who died in an auto accident in 1956, when he was only 25 years old.

The album is named for Clifford Brown who was killed on June 26, 1956 in a car accident which also killed pianist Richie Powell, the younger brother of Bud Powell.

Sandoval's written tribute to Brown in the liner notes for the album ends:

 Everybody that I've spoken to, who knew Brownie, coincided in describing his heart and his simplicity as an artist. Modesty, feelings, dignity and virtuosity; not a bad legacy. ... It is with all my heart and soul that I offer this sincere effort to one of the greatest trumpet players of all time; a man who left his mark as a person and as an artist. It is named after a threnody written by Benny Golson, I Remember Clifford, also written in memory of Brown.

In addition to an especially poignant rendition of the Golson piece (using only a trumpet and piano - a pointed tribute to the two musicians who died together), the album contains a long list of Clifford's best-known standards (some composed by Brown himself). One final inclusion is a new composition, I Left This Space For You, written by Sandoval in tribute, in which Sandoval plays only a restrained melody, leaving "this space for him" (in Sandoval's words). One very unusual feature, heard on five of the tracks, is the use of overdubbing to create a trumpet 'choir' of four harmonized trumpets, all played by Sandoval (a concept credited to Orlando 'Papito' Hernández, who had experience with multiple trumpets from his time playing with Herb Alpert). The 'choir' is used to play arrangements of some of Brown's own brilliant original solos; the different trumpet lines are so closely synchronized it is hard to believe they were not reproduced electronically. Sandoval's own phenomenal playing features in his own solos, especially on "Cherokee", which he takes at a pace a hair faster than Brown's own impossibly-fast original.
The album received two nominations in the 1992 Grammy Awards ('Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Individual or Group', and 'Best Arrangement on an Instrumental', for Cherokee). It was picked by critic Leonard Feather as one of the ten best jazz albums of 1992.

Tracklist:

1 Daahoud 4:57
2 Joy Spring 5:42
3. Parisian Thoroughfare 5:58
4. Cherokee 5:09
5. I Remember Clifford 4:12
6. The Blues Walk 6:47
7. Sandu 5:19
8. I Get A Kick Out Of You 5:13
9. Jordu 8:27
10. Caravan 4:28
11. I Left This Space For You 5:51

Personnel:

Arturo Sandoval, Trumpet
Kenny Kirkland, Piano
Charnett Moffett, Bass
Kenny Washington, drums
Ernie Watts, Tenor Saxophone (tracks 1, 4, 7, 9, 10)
David Sánchez, Tenor saxophone (tracks 3, 6, 8)
Ed Calle, Tenor Saxophone (track 2)
Félix Gómez, Keyboards (track 5)
Gary Lindsay, Arrangements (except on track 9)
Alberto Naranjo, Arrangement on Jordu

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Rodney Jones: Dreams and Stories (2005)

This excellent set, which features guitarist Rodney Jones on his melodic originals, blues, ballads, and a few standards, sounds as if it were recorded in 2005 except for one fact. Pianist Kenny Kirkland, who passed away prematurely in 1998, is in the quartet. Surprisingly no date is included in the liner notes, so the 1985 date given for the previously unreleased set is just an educated guess, since it is mentioned that bassist Marc Johnson was new in town at the time of the recording. It is a joy to hear some "new" Kirkland solos but the contributions of Jones, Johnson, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts (who is very subtle throughout) should not be overlooked either. Jones' songs are excellent, with "Blue Days, Blue Dreams" and "While We Dream" in particular being rewarding ballads that should be covered by others. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow

Tracklist:
1 – Star Eyes – Rodney Jones, DePaul, Gene
2 – Leana’s Song
3 – Happy Blue
4 – The Song Is You – Rodney Jones, Kern, Jerome
5 – Blue Days, Blue Dreams
6 – Five for the Duck
7 – While We Dream
8 – Summertime – Rodney Jones, Gershwin, Ira
9 – Serena
10 – No Time for the Blues
11 – Blues When You Need Them
12 – Road Song – Rodney Jones, Montgomery, J.L.
Personnel:
Rodney Jones (guitar);
Kenny Kirkland (piano);
Marc Johnson (bass instrument);
Jeff “Tain” Watts (drums)
Dreams & Stories
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Jeff 'Tain' Watts: Megawatts (1991)

The reissue of this 1991 session -- Jeff "Tain" Watts' debut as a leader -- in 2004 suggested that the age of the neo-bopping "Young Lions" had already passed into history, and some of its artifacts were coming due for historical reappraisal. The mundane side of the story is that this release couldn't get properly distributed under this name in 1991 due to contractual conflicts, and went out under the title Thunder and Rainbows by the so-called band Jazz from Keystone. In any case, this disc's return on the omnivorous Sunnyside label is a welcome event -- mostly because of the strong playing by a trio of former Wynton-ites but also because it serves as a memorial for the late pianist Kenny Kirkland, who died in 1998. Predictably, for a piano trio session under a drummer's name, Kirkland dominates the session, whether flashing his considerable post-bop chops or displaying a Keith Jarrett-like lyrical bent in Jarrett's own "Rainbow." As a straight-ahead and highly musical if stylistically derivative pianist left mostly to his own devices, Kirkland is very impressive; indeed, this CD is one of the best examples of his work. But Watts and bassist Charles Fambrough are not left in the dust; with Kirkland, they continue the formidable team spirit and intense interplay that they developed in the Wynton Marsalis Quintet of the early '80s. They mix it up particularly well in a favorite Watts potboiler from the period, "The Impaler," as well as in the cha cha-driven groove of Fambrough's "Opal Rose," and they give Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile" a skilled post-bop ride. Only one Tin Pan Alley standard here, "You and the Night and the Music," which the threesome polishes off in a fleet straight-ahead rush. This session has truly transcended its time -- and there are new liner notes containing often valuable recollections by Watts and Fambrough.

Tracklist:

01. Black Nile (6:45)
02. Alycia (6:15)
03. The Impaler (5:42)
04. Rainbow (5:17)
05. Kasploosh (4:50)
06. You And The Night And The Music (5:32)
07. Dance Of The Niblets (7:32)
08. Opal Rose (6:32)
09. Blooski (3:46)
Megawatts
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Steps Ahesd: Magnetic (1986)

The last Steps Ahead recording to feature Michael Brecker, this album finds the band exploring the use of electronic instruments and synthesis. Michael Brecker's use of the Akai E.W.I. (electronic wind instrument) is astonishing.

Tracklist:
1.Trains (7:31) [Mike Mainieri]
2.Beirut (8:15) [V.Bailey, M.Brecker, P.Erskine, C.Loeb, M.Mainieri]
3.Cajun (6:16) [Michael Brecker]
4.In a Sentimental Mood (3:30) [Duke Ellington]
5.Magnetic Love (5:33) [Mike Mainieri, Scott Martin]
6.Sumo (5:50) [Michael Brecker]
7.All the Tea in China (5:05) [Peter Erskine]
8.Something I Said (4:23) [Peter Erskine]
9.Reprise (Magnetic Love) (1:15) [Mike Mainieri, Scott Martin]
Personnel:
VICTOR BAILEY- bass
MICHAEL BRECKER- tenor sax, steiner EWI
CHUCK LOEB, HIRAM BULLOCK, PAUL JACKSON- guitar
MIKE MAINIERI- vibes, synthesizers, keyboards
KENNY KIRKLAND, PHIL ASHLEY- synthesizers
PETER ERSKINE- drums, synthesizer, percussion
DIANNE REEVES- lead vocal (5)
DIVA GRAY, JANIS PENDARVIS, JOCELYN BROWN — background vocals
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