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Randy Sandke: Trumpet After Dark (ES-109) | |
| Jazz in a meditative mood with a string quartet of viols. Used here for the first time in a jazz context, these ancestors of modern strings have a unique timbre which imbues these performances with an effervescent quality. | ||
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About This CD
With some notable exceptions, jazz and strings has too often been synonymous with “sweetening” or diluting the music to appeal to a broader audience. But Randy Sandke, through his use of a string section comprised of viols, as well as his always trenchant writing and commanding trumpet technique, breathes new life into the “jazz-with-strings” concept. Sandke’s influences and interests encompass Beiderbecke, Armstrong, metatonal music and everything in between. The trumpeter has proven a most inventive writer for strings—just listen to his album Awakening (Concord), a collaboration with the Bulgarian National Symphony. This latest effort, consisting primarily of ballads and other atmospheric pieces, is certainly easy to listen to but is far from “easy listening.” In Bill Charlap, Greg Cohen, and Dennis Mackrel, Sandke could not have chosen more sympathetic colleagues for this new musical venture. He calls Charlap “one of the most extraordinary musicians I’ve ever worked with.” Like Sandke himself, the pianist is at home in any setting and never “phones it in.” His profound respect for melody is particularly germane to this project. Greg Cohen is arguably the most eclectic of all current jazz musicians. The bassist is equally at home in the bands of Ornette Coleman, John Zorn, and Kenny Davern, with each sounding as if to the manner born. Early in his career Dennis Mackrel held the drum chair in the Count Basie band before joining forces with Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, and Joe Williams, among many others. Both Cohen and Mackrel are superior soloists and sensitive accompanists and, as Sandke notes, “They work phenomenally well as a team.”
Sound Clips
Copyright © 1996-2007 Evening Star Records, Edward Berger
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