Timeline(Mack Avenue)
Yellowjackets
Released March 14, 2011
Grammy Nominee for Best Jazz Instrumental Album 2012
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3RbJiUMWOz4&list=OLAK5uy_nfPG-2rzfmowlMratP-7UpM_0V587LvXw
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/26iWyvbOHA6zp2m24tSjFo?si=Wyvhm-z8Sn6CVrdt8rOOIA
About:
The newest release from Yellowjackets celebrates 30 years together as one of the prémiere “rhythm and jazz” groups performing today. With Will Kennedy back in the fold, Timeline finds the Jackets in top form on eleven new tracks.
Track Listing:
1. Why is It (Bob Mintzer) 5:04
2. Tenacity (Bob Mintzer) 6:07
3. Rosemary (W. Kennedy) 4:54
4. Timeline (Russell Ferrante) 5:11
5. Magnolia (Russell Ferrante / Jimmy Haslip) 4:36
6. A Single Step (Russell Ferrante) 7:05
7. Indivisible (Russell Ferrante) 5:22
8. Like Elvin (Bob Mintzer) 5:32
9. My Soliloquy (Bob Mintzer) 6:22
10. Numerology (Russell Ferrante) 5:56
11. I Do (Russell Ferrante) 6:00
Personnel:
Russell Ferrante: keyboards
Jimmy Haslip: bass
Bob Mintzer: saxophones and bass clarinet
Will Kennedy: drums and keyboards
With
Robben Ford: guitar (5)
John Daversa: trumpet (2, 8)
Recorded at Firehouse Recording Studios
Producers: Yellowjackets, Maria Ehrenreich
Executive Producer: Gretchen Valade
Recording, Mixing, Mastering: Rich Breen
Assistant Engineer: Ed Woolley
Creative Direction: Randall Kennedy
Art direction, Design, Photography: Raj Naik
Styling, Makeup: Inbar Neer
Review:
To have worked thirty years in the business is exceptional
for any band, especially in jazz. But since 1981,
pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante and bassist Jimmy
Haslip have maintained the award-winning Yellowjackets—from that year’s
eponymous Warner Bros. debut, with its infectious blend of fusion and funk,
featuring guitarist Robben Ford, and the incorporation of jazz and strings
in Greenhouse (GRP, 1991), with multi-reed master Bob Mintzer,
to the twentieth anniversary double-CD Mint Jam (Yellowjackets Ent.,
2001)—and the group’s beat, in its varied forms and a few personnel changes,
continues to live on and on.
Timeline is the Yellowjacket’s 21st release, and begins with the seriously
hip “Why Is It,” marked by the swarming harmonies of Mintzer’s bass
clarinet and Ferrante’s keyboards, held together by the glutinous rhythm
section of Haslip and the pulsating traps of drummer Will Kennedy, who
joined the band in 1986, but left after 15 years, only to reunite with the
group again in 2010. The signature sound is still intact—one that helped to
define the better qualities of contemporary jazz—music that is artistic, played
to the hilt, and yet remains accessible to wider audiences. Whether pumping up
the groove in Mintzer’s “Tenacity,” laying down a chamber music vibe
in Ferrante’s “Indivisible,” or paying respect to the
great Elvin Jones with guest trumpeter John Daversa in
“Like Elvin.” The set showcases the band’s depth and insightful
nature.
A bluesman at heart, Ford makes a guest appearance in “Magnolia,” bringing back pleasant memories with some dirty wah-wah effects. But Timeline’s pacing suffers a bit from the placing of too many ballads and not enough “oomph,” as adventurous composition takes a back seat to a more mellowed flow, in contrast to past releases. There may be room for a little nostalgia, but after thirty years, the ‘Jackets have accomplished the damn-near impossible, by staying together and continuing to deliver good music.
Mark F. Turner (All About Jazz)
