Jon Hendricks, the genius of vocalese (writing words to fit the recorded solos of jazz greats), has long been one of the top lyricists in music. However, the emphasis during the first seven songs of this live CD is on scatting and heated bop-oriented improvising.
Hendricks, assisted by daughter
Michele, is joined by quite an all-star horn section -- trumpeter
Wynton Marsalis, trombonist
Al Grey, altoist
Red Holloway, and tenor
Benny Golson -- in addition to a supportive four-piece rhythm section. After a warm-up on "Get Me to the Church on Time,"
Jon sings some humorous lyrics on "Do You Call That a Buddy?," swings hard on his original boppish "Good Ol' Lady," and gets a bit lowdown on "Contemporary Blues." The biggest surprise of the date is "Everybody's Boppin'," which features scatting by
Jon Hendricks,
Michele Hendricks, and
Wynton Marsalis.
Wynton is quite effective and typically virtuosic in a manner similar to
Dizzy Gillespie.
Michele is excellent on an uptempo "Almost Like Being in Love" and "Since I Fell for You," while
Jon sings the blues on "Roll 'Em Pete" and, together with
Kevin Burke and
Judith,
Michele, and Aria Hendricks, performs vocalese versions of three
Count Basie charts long ago recorded by
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: re-creations of re-creations. This was
Jon Hendricks' best all-round recording in several years and one of the finest jazz vocal albums to be released in 1995. ~ Scott Yanow