Eternal Licks & Grooves: Limited Edition (MAMA Jazz)
Bob Florence
Released March 2007
Grammy Nominee for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album 2008
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m4AdqaSeV0JZOzvNwydMaBZ_hLHAhXl0Y
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5qCnj3lYAt4NEJWJ5by2PH?si=9KB_26tBSZyjPrepJo0JuQ
About:
Since the late 1950s, Bob Florence has been on an unparalleled musical journey and we as listeners have been fortunate enough to go along for the ride. And what an incredible ride it is. He is a true artist in every sense of the word because he is never content to stay in one place. He continues to experiment with all areas of musical expression and in doing so has created some of the most outstanding works of the modern big band era.
Track Listing:
1. Eternal Licks & Grooves (Bob Florence) 14:03
2. Claire de Lune (Claude Debussy) 6:15
3. Mirror Images (Bob Florence) 8:08
4. Guiding Star (Bob Florence) 6:34
5. Invitation (Bronislaw Kaper) 12:15
6. I’m Old Fashioned (Jerome Kern) 9:30
7. Appearing in Cleveland (Bob Florence) 13:34
Personnel:
Bob Florence: composer, arranger, piano
Larry Koonse: guitar
Trey Henry: bass
Woodwinds
Don Shelton: alto, soprano sax, clarinet
Kim Richmond: alto, soprano sax, clarinet
Jeff Driskill: tenor sax, clarinet
Tom Peterson: tenor sax, clarinet
Billy Kerr: tenor sax, clarinet
Bob Efford: baritone sax, bass clarinet
Bob Carr: baritone sax, e flat contra alto clarinet
Trumpets & Flugelhorns
Pete DeSiena (lead): trumpet, flugelhorn
Lee Thornberg (lead): trumpet, flugelhorn
Larry Lunetta: trumpet, flugelhorn
Steve Huffsteter: trumpet, flugelhorn
Ron Stout: trumpet, flugelhorn
Trombones
Charlie Loper (lead): trombone
Alex Iles: trombone
Bob McChesney: trombone
Craig Gosnell: bass trombone
Guests
Peter Erskine: drums
Carl Saunders: trumpet
Scott Whitfield: trombone
Recorded May 10 – 11, 2006, at Martinsound
Review:
In a world of unrestrained hyperbole, where competent athletes are superstars and slim, attractive women supermodels, words like awesome, spectacular, phenomenal, superlative and breathtaking are too often over-used and undeserved. But not in this case. On Eternal Licks and Grooves, the Bob Florence Limited Edition is awesome, its soloists spectacular, guest artists Carl Saunders, Scott Whitfield and Peter Erskine phenomenal, Florence’s piano playing superlative, his compositions and arrangements breathtaking.
Florence, who recently turned seventy-five, has recorded more than a dozen big-band albums starting with Name Band 1959 (Carlton) and this may well be the best one yet. That’s not hype; simply a fact. From “Eternal Licks and Grooves, commissioned to honor Count Basie, through “Appearing in Cleveland, his memorable salute to Stan Kenton, Florence operates with the unerring skill of a master surgeon, scrupulously appraising whole themes or fragments thereof and carefully splicing them together as only he can to produce fresh and exciting musical expositions.
About his buoyant arrangement of “Claire de Lune, Florence writes, “When I do an arrangement of a standard composition, I become the composer, an assertion that applies not only to Claude Debussy’s classic work but to Bronislaw Kaper’s “Invitation and Jerome Kern / Johnny Mercer’s “I’m Old Fashioned, each of which glistens in Florence’s capable hands. Besides “Grooves and “Cleveland, Florence wrote “Mirror Images and co-wrote “Guiding Star with Fred Manley.
Florence puts Whitfield to work immediately, and the trombonist responds with a blistering solo on “Grooves, complementing thermal statements by guitarist Larry Koonse, tenor Tom Peterson, trumpeter Larry Lunetta and drummer Erskine (who kicks the band relentlessly throughout). Florence’s exquisite solo piano introduces “Claire de Lune, on which trumpeter Saunders is typically astonishing, even inserting a brief quote from “Autumn Serenade (if there’s a better all-around trumpeter playing today, I’ve yet to hear him). The melodious “Mirror Images (denoting Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn) features Don Shelton’s sensuous soprano sax, the lovely ballad “Guiding Star Bob Carr’s supple baritone sax and Bob McChesney’s satiny trombone.
As on “Claire de Lune, Florence adroitly states the melody on “Invitation and “Old Fashioned before gently but persistently taking the standards where he wants them to go. Florence, tenor Jeff Driskill, trumpeter Steve Huffsteter and bassist Trey Henry are showcased on the former, trombonist Alex Iles and alto Kim Richmond on the latter (Richmond’s amiable solo is especially charming). The inspired soloists on “Cleveland are Florence, Koonse, baritone Bob Efford and trumpeter Ron Stout.
Truth be told, there’s neither a weak spot nor false note on the album. At the risk of sounding, well, hyperbolic, one could easily make the case that Eternal Licks and Grooves is an unequivocal masterpiece. In the end, however, that’s up to each listener to decide.
Jack Bowers (All About Jazz)
