When people hear the term "smooth jazz," they usually think of the music heard on NAC stations. But the idea of jazz functioning as smooth, soft, romantic mood music isn't something new -- back in the swing era, Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" (1939) and
Artie Shaw's 1940 recording of "Stardust" (just to give two examples) showed the world how pretty swing could be. The main focus of this 1996 compilation, which spans 1949-1992, is romantic saxophone playing. To its credit, Rebound spots a variety of saxmen -- everyone from
Ben Webster on "My Funny Valentine" to Grover Washington, Jr. on "Where Is the Love" and
Gato Barbieri on
Marvin Gaye's "I Want You." Meanwhile, the cool school is nicely represented by
Stan Getz on "Here's That Rainy Day" and
Lester Young (Getz' main influence) on "Almost Like Being in Love" (1952). And Charlie "Bird" Parker's classic 1949 version of "Just Friends" comes from the lush Charlie Parker With Strings sessions, which were meant to show the world that bebop could be pretty. The only questionable choice is Joe Henderson's 1992 interpretation of "So Near, So Far" -- the track is a gem, although it's a little too cerebral and abstract for what is supposed to be an album of mood music. But, for the most part, the material on this CD is everything the dogmatic "Manhattan Jazz Police" would have listeners believe jazz isn't supposed to be -- romantic, sentimental, lush, and pretty. Unfortunately, the packaging leaves much to be desired. There are no liner notes and, even worse, Rebound fails to list either personnel or recording dates. Such laziness is inexcusable, and it's too bad that Rebound fell asleep on the job because a collection of romantic saxophone jazz certainly has its place. ~ Alex Henderson