1. Pardon Me Pretty Baby
2. Rent Party Blues
3. Just One of Those Things
4. I Must Have That Man
5. Maori
6. I Just Couldn´t Take It Baby
7. Wabash Blues
8. Under a Blanket of Blue
9. My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now
10. Caught
11. Love and Kisses
12. Riverside Blues
13. The Panic Is On
14. When Buddha Smiles
15. I Gotta Get Up and Go to Work
Marty Grosz - Guitar, banjo, vocals
Dan Block - Clarinet, alto sax, bass clarinet, baritone sax
Scott Robinson - Clarinet, soprano sax, C-melody sax, baritone sax,
cornet, echo cornet, alto horn
Vince Giordano - String bass, tuba, bass sax, vocal
Rob Garcia - Drums, glockenspiel
Panic Slim - Trombone (tracks 2, 4, 7, 8, 10)
In
a previous review, I recalled the pleasure of seeing Marty Grosz
performing at many Swinging Jazz Parties. This CD is equally enjoyable,
though from a different angle. There are only a few of Grosz's vocals
and none of his lengthy but hilarious anecdotes (although the sleeve-notes
are a scream). Marty stays mainly in the background and leaves the
spotlight to two very talented multi-instrumentalists: reedman Dan
Block and (especially) the incredibly versatile Scott Robinson. Robinson
is one of that select number of musicians who plays brass as well
as reed instruments (the other most famous exponent of this skill
was Benny Carter). There is also a rich variety of bass sounds from
Vince Giordano.
Marty Grosz has a real enthusiasm for old, neglected songs, like several
of those on this CD. One example is Fats Waller's Caught, a
tune which only survives as a piano copy and was never recorded by
Fats. But Waller is one of Grosz's main enthusiasms - and one of his
influences. When Marty sings, his phrasing makes him sound almost
like a white version of Waller, notably when he slides into conversational
mode. The Panic is On is another Waller tune, given a swinging
treatment here, with a characteristic vocal and guitar solo from Marty
and a somewhat strangled cornet solo by Scott Robinson.
Another rare song is Maori, written in 1908 by William H.
Tyers who composed the better-known Panama. It is given an
exotic Latin rhythm, aided considerably by drummer Rob Garcia. He
is just the right drummer for this ensemble, capturing the period
feel when necessary and interpolating appropriate fills. On Marty
Grosz's composition Love and Kisses, Garcia plays a
fine solo: moving around the kit in classic style.
Tunes like Rent Party Blues and Just One of Those Things
are better-known, but Marty's ingenious arrangements give them new
life. For the former, Marty supplies sympathetic backings for the
soloists, and there is a glorious passage where the two reedmen harmonise
beautifully. And Marty refreshes the latter tune with catchy figures
in the final chorus. In Wabash Blues, Grosz strums a countrified
riff on his guitar while Rob Garcia tinkles a filigree tune on glockenspiel.
One of the album's main delights is hearing Dan Block and Scott Robinson
dancing around one another on their multiple instruments. And in Under
a Blanket of Blue, Scott's soprano sax interweaves nicely with
Giordano's bass sax. Robinson's versatility is outstanding in Riverside
Blues, where he plays the echo cornet in Louis Armstrong style
and then the clarinet without its mouthpiece!
In the sleeve-notes, Marty writes: "What is 'Hot Music?' Good
question. I´ve been working on a definition for the past sixty
years and I still haven´t gotten it into final form. About the
closest I have come is that ´you know it when you hear it'."
I can hear it - and I know it's here, in abundance.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Arbors Jazz ARCD 19379
