DeJohnette's Best Work In Years!

[JSngry]

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Land/dp/B000Y2...9439&sr=8-1

Also on hand - Chick Corea, Stephon Harris (on some cuts), Randy Brecker (ditto), & John Patitucci. The repertoire is all film/cartoon songs, with an overall vibe not unlike those Franco Ambrosetti Movies sides, if not exactly like it either.

Chick plays really fine too, but not any better (or significantly differently) than he did w/Joe back in the 70s, so hell, if you wanna hear Chick do this thing, why not hear it with Joe instead? Makes sense to me.

Butman is a good player. He don't suck. But...you know...

The story here is DeJohnette, who came loaded for bear (or maybe just loaded, hell I don't know), and who kicks ass from start to finish.

I could go on, but all you really need to know is that Jack kills here. That should be enough. If it ain't, then either you don't know, or you don't care, either of which is fine with me. I'm just saying, here it is if you want it.

[Joe G]

"Generally regarded as the Russian Wynton Marsalis, saxophonist Igor Butman's new release, Magic Land, features ten recordings of popular cartoon themes from his native country."

[JSngry]

Yeah, I know.

But it's all about the Jack.

Trust me.

[Aggie87]

I liked his recent duet cd with Bill Frisell - The Elephant Sleeps but Still Remembers. As well as his work on the Trio Beyond CD - that one might be his best in recent years to me.

[aparxa]

I did not know that the "bassist John Papitucci" was getting that old.

I enjoyed a lot a recent set of DeJohnette with byron wallen, danilo perez and a rsa singer aired on a swiss radio last year.

[Aggie87]

"Generally regarded as the Russian Wynton Marsalis,

That sort of like Wolf Biermann being the German Bob Dylan, which everyone (including Ron S) is well aware of!

[AllenLowe]

gotta be one of the worst album covers I've ever seen -

[Larry Kart]

As we know, then President Clinton said of Butman at a state dinner for V. Putin at which Butman played that he "may be the greatest living jazz saxophone player who happens to be a Russian." A curiously political remark, now that I think about it. Did Bill suspect that Putin himself might have a sax-playing relative woodshedding in a dacha somewhere?

[Daniel A]

Sound clips available here: http://www.igorbutman.com/

as well as this quote from DeJohnette:

“In late November of 2005 I received a call from Igor Butman from Moscow, asking if I would produce and play on a recording for him in January 2006 in New York. After listening to Igor’s playing I was happy to participate in the project which was around the music of well known Russian cartoons.

Making the project even more exciting was the addition of some of the most incredible musicians around, Chick Corea, John Patitucci, Randy Brecker and Stefon Harris who all contributed to the music on the highest level and I am really grateful to them all.

To help us get into the mood we all watched the original versions of the cartoons supplied by Igor’s wife Oksana and it helped a lot.

I love Igor’s warm, robust tenor and his lush, full-bodied sound on soprano. He knows how to swing hard and how to leave space, but most importantly he knows how to play a beautiful ballad.

I really had fun and enjoyed doing this project, as well as playing with such great musicians the melodies themselves were very appealing and stay with you for a long time. Thank you to all of those involved including the great engineer James Farber.”

Jack DeJohnette

[Rooster_Ties]

gotta be one of the worst album covers I've ever seen -

I was thinking the same thing. Gack!!

[Chuck Nessa]

gotta be one of the worst album covers I've ever seen -

I was thinking the same thing. Gack!!

[Rosco]

gotta be one of the worst album covers I've ever seen -

I feel a thread coming on...

[RDK]

gotta be one of the worst album covers I've ever seen -

I feel a thread coming on...

Album Covers Featuring Dorky-Looking Guys Who Hold Their Saxophones Like Old-Fashioned Telephones?

[jazzbo]

FAR from the worst album cover I've seen!

May check this out. When Jack is ON it's amazing.

[7/4]

This is a very well-done disc, I'm recommending it to all my friends who, like me, grew up with these melodies. You can have this disc playing for adults at a summer bbq and both adults and kids will be happy. Or put this on at a Russian-speaking cocktail party, and see everyone's faces when they recognize the tunes!

oh, the wacky hi-jinks!

[B. Clugston]

While Butman is known as a play-it-straight saxophonist, Sergei Kuryokhin used to rope him in to some of his projects (ie. Subway Culture, Insect Culture).

[John L]

Thanks for the heads up, Jim. I know most of those Russian cartoon songs. So it should be interesting.

[Jim Alfredson]

I find the fact that it's on Sony Classics to be a bit presumptuous.

[JSngry]

I find the fact that it's on Sony Classics to be a bit presumptuous.

I think that's where all their new jazz albums are being released these days. Jazz now = "classical" as opposed to "popular".