Steps Ahead - Magnetic (1986)

Released in the mid-80's, it has the era's sound and feel, a mix of pomp rock, synth-orchestral fills with polished soloing mixed into the whole. The talented jazz musicians who appear on the album I believe give credence to my statement. The first track, 'Trains' is a bombastic synth-driven tune, with Peter Erskine's solid drum patterns providing a rock beat as a typically fine and multiplied sax solo from Mike Brecker and squealing solo from Hiram Bullock's guitar provide two high points among the pomp. It promises much, yet by itself would be enough. 'Beirut', the next track, keeps the momentum going with an understated yet funky bass line from Victor Bailey, with unsettling synth phrasing and a solo from Mike Mainieri bringing the 8-minute track to a brash close. 'Cajun' follows, a straight-up be-bop rhythm with underlying banjo plucking from Peter Schwimmer and Mainieri's vibes helping to drive it along; while Brecker's mid-point solo develops into a surprising big band sax section. Next is 'In A Sentimental Mood', the Duke Ellington staple played electronically, and this leads into the track 'Magnetic Love', the one possibly created as a single, though sounding like the track for the closing credits of one of those 80's films we endured because it was all that was left in the video store. Let's move on. 'Sumo' comes next, a quirkily funky track with elements reminiscent of the Brecker skunk-funk sound. It grows on you while grating at the same time. 'All The Tea In China' is a richer sounding tune, the ensemble easing you into the penultimate track; 'Something I Said', a slow, lilting tune dominated by Brecker's sax, freed from any electronic alteration, and Mainieri's synthi-vibes. Bailey's bass provides a rumbling counterpoint to the poignant sax and mellow vibes. The last track 'Reprise (Magnetic Love)' eases in, with Brecker's sax playing over the track. It lasts just over a minute (way too short!) And closes the album. ~ Johnny L, 5 Stars, Amazon.com. 

Elektra Musician, 960 441-2, 1986
#1,6: Recorded at Bear Tracks Studios & Electric Lady Studios, New York
#2,3,8: Recorded at Skyline Studios, New York
#4,5,9: Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York
#7: Recorded at Plant Sound, New York 

Personnel:
Mike Mainieri - Synthi-vibe (#1,2,3,6,8), Vibes (#7), Keyboards (#1,2,4), Synthesizers (#5,9)
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxophone (#1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9), Steiner EWI (#1,3,4,6,7),
Oberheim Xpande (#2,3,4,7)
Chuck Loeb - Electric Guitar (#1,2,3,6,7,8), Acoustic Guitar (#1), Guitar Synthesizer (#1,2,3,6)
Victor Bailey - Bass (#1,2,3,6,7,8)
Peter Erskine - Drums (#1,2,3,6,8), Percussion (#1,2,6,7), Synthesizers (#7,8) 

Additional Musicians
See details in Archive 

Tracks:
1. Trains {Mike Mainieri} (7:30)
2. Beirut {Michael Brecker, Chuck Loeb, Mike Mainieri} (8:17)
3. Cajun {Michael Brecker} (6:18)
4. In A Sentimental Mood {Ellington, Kurtz, Mills} (3:33)
5. Magnetic Love {Mike Mainieri, Scott Martin} (5:35)
6. Sumo {Michael Brecker} (5:52)
7. All The Tea In China {Peter Erskine} (5:06)
8. Something I Said {Peter Erskine} (4:13)
9. Magnetic Love [Reprise] {Mike Mainieri, Scott Martin} (1:25) 

Total Time: 47:54

Credits:
Producer - Mike Mainieri, George Duke
Engineers - Malcolm Pollack, Neil Dorfsman, Rick Kerr, James Farber,
Joe Barbaria, Jay Rifkin, Andrew Heermans
Engineer [Assistants] - Jamie Chaleff, Ken Steiger, Rick Begin, Scott Ansell,
Bridget Daly, Robin Lane, Kevin Killian, Tim Purvis
Mixing - Malcolm Pollack, James Farber, Michel Sauvage,
Michael Brauer, Tom Lord-Alge

In A Sentimental Mood

Steps - Step By Step (1981)

The '70s proved to be a challenging time for jazz in general. As the last strains of progressive rock gave way to the decade end's disco boon, jazz found itself in an uncertain position. Fusion had seemed to play itself out and acoustic music was becoming as rare as those proverbial "hen’s teeth". As the '80s approached, Wynton Marsalis would emerge as a voice in support of refurbishing the jazz tradition. Also, a part of this milieu, the group Steps (later to be dubbed Steps Ahead) would turn their regular jam sessions at Michael Brecker's NYC jazz club, Seventh Avenue South, into a forum for presenting contemporary jazz in a well-versed and sagacious manner. It would be a few years before American audiences would catch wind of Steps and its musical modus operandi due to the fact that their early work was released only in Japan on Nippon Columbia. The brainchild of vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, the initial incarnation of the band included Brecker, the late pianist Don Grolnick, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Steve Gadd. This album while short on duration it more than makes up for things by presenting a heady mix of straight ahead and fusion tendencies, particularly notable is Mainieri’s "Bullet Train." ~ Extract by C Andrew Hovan, AAJ. 

Better Days, YF-7020-N, 1981
Better Days, 28CY-2867, 1988
Recorded 8th & 10th December, 1980 at Nippon Columbia Studio, Tokyo, Japan 

Musicians:
Mike Mainieri - Vibraphone
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxophone
Don Grolnick - Piano
Eddie Gomez - Bass
Steve Gadd - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Uncle Bob {Don Grolnick} (11:00)
2. Kyoto {Mike Mainieri} (6:57)
3. Belle {Mike Mainieri} (7:49)
4. Bullet Train {Mike Mainieri} (5:31)
5. Six Persimmons {Don Grolnick} (6:09) 

Total Time: 37:29

Credits:
Producer - Mike Mainieri
Executive-Producer - Christine Martin
Recording & Mixing - Neil Dorfsman
Engineer [Assistant] - Tsukasa Aoyama
Photography [Front & Inner] - Susan Aimee Weinik
Photography [Back] - Akira Aimi
Liner Notes - Hisashi Ikegami

BeatleJazz - With A Little Help From Our Friends (2005)

Let me be the first to admit that I am prejudiced against jazz musicians covering the Beatles. This is in no way related to the source material: like all sentient mammals on the Planet Earth, I adore pretty much every note the Fabs recorded. It's just that their material is so weighted with cultural and nostalgic baggage that (unlike standards like, say, "All the Things You Are" it retains too much of its Beatleness to be just a set of chords: it's them. Or it's us - Abbey Road and Revolver have inhabited our collections so long that they're intertwined in our lives. It only took Dave Kikoski's gorgeous piano intro and Brian Melvin's hypnotic tabla pattern on "Yes It Is", the opening track of BeatleJazz's third CD, With a Little Help From Our Friends, to confound my cynical expectations. BeatleJazz is composed of Melvin on drums and tablas, Kikoski on piano and synth, and Larry Grenadier on bass. The core group is augmented by the "friends of the CD's title: John Scofield and Mike Stern on guitar; Mike and Randy Brecker on tenor sax and trumpet, respectively; and on four tracks, Boris Koslov substituted on bass. The results are for the most part delightful. Many jazz-covers-rock albums allow the musicians to sleepwalk through bland, jazz-lite arrangements, content to let the familiarity of the material sell the product. Not here: the performances teem with deep concentration and the arrangements are imaginative and very, very smart. For example, "Strawberry Fields Forever" sheds the baroque studio experimentation of the 1967 single but is otherwise played straight. Kikoski's piano does the melodic heavy lifting, and when the group plays the coda (Grenadier's bowed bass taking the place of the groaning strings of the original), one is struck dumb by how wonderful, how novel that section of the song is. The lack of harmonic development on John Lennon's solo rant "Working Class Hero" is dealt with by going pedal-point: Mike Brecker and Kikoski channel Coltrane and McCoy Tyner, respectively, and remake the song as a searching, beseechingly modal ten-minute prayer. Not everything is that wonderful. Randy Brecker and Kikoski do their best on Lennon's "Imagine", and very nearly pull it off - not surprisingly, as a ballad - but here the song is just too intractable. Even though it's a solo Lennon composition, its utopian sentiment makes it the most Beatle number here in the way it signifies so much more than its words or melody. Brecker's playing that melody so faithfully, right down to the two notes of Lennon's vocal "you-hoo", doesn't help. On the other hand, John Scofield absolutely nails "I Will"; this Paul McCartney number's chords lend themselves well to jazz and Sco's solo is the best he's done in some time - sweet, spacious, and wise. It's a tribute to the quality of this album that my unfortunate bigotries could be so thwarted. Too bad BeatleJazz can't immediately do another CD: I'm eager to hear their versions of "All Things Must Pass" and "She Said She Said". ~ by Paul Olson, AAJ. 

Lightyear Entertainment, LTY 54685-2, 2005
Recorded 20th April, 2003 at:
Peter Karl's Studio, Brooklyn, New York
System Two Studios, Brooklyn, New York 

Musicians:
Dave Kikoski - Piano, Synthesizer, Arranger
Larry Grenadier - Bass
Boris Koslov - Bass
Brian Melvin - Drums, Tabla, Arranger 

Guests:
Michael Brecker - Saxophone (#6)
Randy Brecker - Trumpet (#3)
John Scofield - Guitar (#2,5)
Mike Stern - Guitar (#7,10) 

Tracks:
01. Yes It Is {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (7:32)
02. Piggies {George Harrison} (7:52)
03. Imagine {John Lennon} (9:54)
04. Strawberry Fields Forever {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (4:59)
05. I Will {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (8:09)
06. Working Class Hero {John Lennon} (11:03)
07. A Hard Day's Night {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (5:55)
08. Across The Universe {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (4:36)
09. Lovely Rita {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (5:16)
10. And I Love Her {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (5:50)
11. The End {John Lennon, Paul McCartney} (4:04)
12. Chains {Gerry Goffin, Carole King} (4:48) 

Total Time: 79:58 

Credits:
Producer - Dave Kikoski
Producer, Mixing, Liner Notes - Brian Melvin
Executive Producer - Hisao Ebine
Engineer - Peter Karl, Jon Rosenberg
Mastering - Matt Baxter
Cover Photo, Photography - Carl Studna
Photography - Takehiko Tokiwa
Art Direction, Package Design - Doug Haverty

Tom Browne - Browne Sugar (1979)

Despite the trumpet's prominent historic role in Jazz music, the instrument didn't showcase many of its practitioners in the contemporary jazz genre after the mid-Seventies. Queens, New York native Tom Browne, however, changed that notion. Browne's blistering solos and flair for melodicism and lyricism were on full display on Browne Sugar, his 1979 debut. From the album's opener, "Throw Down," composed by Browne, a bold, up tempo number that highlighted the trumpeter's facility to play smooth, fluid lines, to the closer "Antoinette Like," a contemplative ballad, penned by keyboard wunderkind Bernard Wright, Browne demonstrated that he is a focused, original artist, destined to be on the scene for the long run. The long run began its race for Browne on this record with the aid of Wright; the incomparable pianist/composer/producer Dave Grusin (who co-produced); first-rate-bassists Francisco Centeno and the illustrious Marcus Miller (the latter of whom wrote the alternately mellow and funky "Herbal Scent"); acclaimed saxophonist Michael Brecker, versatile vocalist Patti Austin, and underrated drummer Buddy Williams, just to name a few stellar names on the eight-tunes project. Because of its mix of ballads and mid-tempo funk, "Browne Sugar" was definitely a record that established the trumpet ace's (also a flugelhornist) own musical identity. It placed Browne front and center as a leader and not as a bystander on his own record. Speaking of his own musical identity, Browne's composition, "Promises for Spring," is another tune that possessed that gentle, late-night aura that would be heard on Quiet Storm radio. It's just the kind of record that would become the template for contemporary jazz--radio-friendly, breezy tunes laced with R&B overtones with jazz inflections. The album had great flow without any selections that would prompt listeners to skip to the next track. Even in the present musical soundscape, there are few trumpet-led projects that embrace the distinctive sound of Browne's. It's a classy, stylish debut that sounds just as rich and melodic in 2020 as it did in 1979. Cheers to Tom Browne and to the musicians who have made Browne Sugar a sonic gem! ~ Liz Goodwin, SmoothVibes.com. 

GRP Records, GRP 5003, 1979
GRP Records, GRP-D-9517, 1991
Recorded and Mixed 1979 At A&R Studios, New York City 

Musicians:
Tom Browne - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxophone
Phil Bodner - Horn
Eddie Daniels - Horn
Walter Kane - Horn
David Tofani - Horn
Dave Grusin - Piano [Electric], Clavinet, Moog Synthesizer, Oberheim Synthesizers, Organ, Percussion, Synthesizer
Rob Mounsey - Oberheim Synthesizer, Organ, Synthesizer
Bernard Wright - Piano, Piano [Electric]
Ron Miller   - Guitar [Electric]
Marcus Miller - Bass [Electric]
Francisco Centeno - Bass [Electric]
Buddy Williams - Drums
Sue Evans - Congas, Percussion
Errol Crusher Bennett - Congas, Percussion
Patti Austin - Vocals
Vivian Cherry - Vocals
Frank Floyd - Vocals
Zachary Sanders - Vocals
+ Strings Ensemble 

Tracks:
1. Throw Down {Tom Browne} (3:58)
2. I Never Was A Cowboy {Don Grusin} (4:24)
3. Herbal Scent {Tom Browne} (5:25)
4. Brother, Brother {Denzil Miller} (5:32)
5. The Closer I Get To You {Reggie Lucas, James Mtume} (4:38)
6. What's Going On {Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye} (5:09)
7. Promises For Spring {Tom Browne} (4:50)
8. Antoinette Like {Bernard Wright} (3:38) 

Total Time: 37:34 

Credits:
Producer, Conductor, Arranger, Liner Notes - Dave Grusin
Producer, Engineer, Liner Notes - Larry Rosen
GRP Production Coordinator - Peter Lopez
Recording Engineer - Jim Boyer
Recording Assistant - Peter Lewis
Recording & Mixing Assistant - Bradshaw Leigh
Mastering Engineer - Ted Jensen [Sterling Sound, NYC]
Digital Remastering - Josiah Gluck [The Review Room, NYC]
Editing & Formatting - N.Y. Digital Recording
GRP Creative Director, Art Design - Andy Baltimore
Art Direction - Dan Serrano
Photography - Mario Astorga

Jacky Terrasson - What It Is (1999)

Pianist Jacky Terrasson is characteristic of today’s young jazz players. For a time, he seemed determined to capture the kind of piano trio classicism embodied by the likes of Bill Evans, with a developing sense of innate communication with minimalist drummer Leon Parker, and bassist Ugonna Okegwo, culminating in their satisfying live recording Alive. The path has changed for Terrasson this time out however, perhaps owed to sheer restlessness. It’s a shame that Jacky’s generation evidences little interest in developing a real band concept. 

All that’s not to condemn the current release; there is indeed a lot to like here as Terrasson has determined to showcase his original compositions performed by a varied cast whose core is Okegwo and drummer Jaz Sawyer. Produced by percussionist Mino Cinelu, Terrasson envelopes himself in rhythms from a variety of cultural sources, engages such disparate voices as harmonica player Gregoire Maret, guitars, electric basses, and tasteful use of keyboards to augment his piano in several instances. These landscaping tools are all in service to an attractive program of pieces, from originals to an arrangement of Ravel’s “Bolero.” Most notable is the comely line “Baby Plum,” which hosts Michael Brecker’s tenor and Richard Bona’s African bass. ~ Willard Jenkins, JazzTimes.com. 

Blue Note, 7243 4 98756 2 3, 1999
Recorded 16^th-18^th & 27^th November, 1998 At Avatar Studios, New York City 

Musicians:
Jacky Terrasson - Piano (#1-7,9) Fender Rhodes (#4,6,9), Organ [Wurlitzer] (#8, Shekere (#9)
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxophone (#2,8)
Rick Centalonza - Flute (#1,9), Oboe (#9)
Jay Collins - Flute (#5,6)
Adam Rogers - Guitar (#1,7)
Ugonna Okegwo - Acoustic Bass (#2,3,5,6,9)
Fernando Saunders - Electric Bass (#1,7,9)
Richard Bona - Electric Bass (#4,8)
Jaz Sawyer - Drums (#2,4,5,6,9)
Mino Cinelu - Drums (#1,3,7 Percussion (#1,2,4,5,7-9), Sounds [Effects] (#6), Guitar (#9)
Gregoire Maret - Harmonica (#5,6)
Xiomara Laugart - Lead Vocals (#4) 

Tracks:
1. Sam's Song {Jacky Terrasson} (7:28)
2. What's Wrong With You! {Jacky Terrasson} (5:58)
3. Little Red Ribbon {Jacky Terrasson} (5:21)
4. Better World {Jacky Terrasson} (3:01)
5. Toot-Toot's Tune {Jacky Terrasson} (6:32)
6. Money {Roger Waters} (4:44)
7. Le Roi Basil {Jacky Terrasson} (8:35)
8. Baby Plum {Jacky Terrasson} (5:48)
9. Ravel: Bolero {Maurice Ravel} (6:36) 

Total Time: 54:03

Credits:
Producer, Additional Sound Effects - Mino Cinelu
Arranger - Jacky Terrasson
Recording (#1,7,9) & Mixing Engineer - Neil Dorfsman
Recording Engineer - Rob Eaton (#2-6,8)
Mastering Engineer - Leon Zarvos
Art Direction, Design - Jessica Novod
Creative Director - Gordon H Jee
Management - The Management Ark
Photography - Barron Claiborne