Scott Robinson always thinks big. He has appeared in all types of jazz settings including the Dixieland scene, playing hard bop and in very adventurous big bands, and playing virtually every type of reed (and sometimes brass) instrument. The music on this CD is mostly comprised of vintage tunes from the '20s to the '40s.
Robinson, who is joined by up to six other musicians (including trumpeter David Robinson, trombonist
Dan Barrett, and guitarist
Bucky Pizzarelli), sticks to reeds here: clarinet, bass clarinet, C-melody sax, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass sax, contrabass sax, contrabass sarrusophone, and the very haunting Theremin. From the first cut,
Lil Hardin's "My Heart" (recorded by Louis Armstrong's Hot Five) on which
Robinson plays tenor a bit like
Stan Getz, it is obvious that this is going to be an unusual but very musical date.
Robinson uses the bizarre sounding Theremin on "Mood Indigo" and in place of
Kay Davis' wordless voice on
Duke Ellington's "On a Turquiose Cloud." He only plays the contrabass sarrusophone on "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind" (which in 1924 had the only other recorded sarrusophone solo) and his playing falls short of
Sidney Bechet's maiden effort. No matter, his bass sax work (showcased on "Sleepy Time Gal," "It's Magic," and "Stompin' at the Savoy") is fluent but sounds like a toy compared to the mighty (and very rare) contrabass sax, which certainly makes its presence felt on
Ellington's "Ko Ko" and "Basso Profundo"; the instrument is over six feet tall! This good-humored and swinging CD will certainly stick in one's memory. ~ Scott Yanow