THE BARONE BROTHERS - BLUES & OTHER HAPPY MOMENTS (2005)
Smooth Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Latin Jazz, Ballads. Great Melodies with outstanding Soloists
Gary Barone on fluegelhorn and trumpet, Tom Scott on lyricon, Dick Spencer on alto sax, Theo Saunders on piano, John Heard on bass, Shelly Manne on drums and Alex Acuna on percussion
3 Estate
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Review by Paul J. Youngman - KJA Advocate for WWW.VINILEMANIA.NET
What do you get when you take a group of amazing big band leaders, some of the best west coast studio musicians and by far one of the best rhythm sections of the time? What you get are some seriously happy moments and a little known album by the Barone brothers, Blues & Other Happy Moments, a rock solid, swingin’ octet that catches fire through six extended tunes of auditory delight. The group fuses beautiful bebop melody with the blues, Latin and pop idioms to produce a timeless work of majestic musical artistry.
The recording blows out of the gate with a Gary Barone composition, “Double Toe.” The song is an up-tempo piece that has a rocking triplet feel care of bassist John Heard, playing with solid punchy lines, syncopated at times, resonating at other times, always flowing and the heartbeat of the performance. The solid bass playing sets the foundation that allows the other members of the band to soar, the first solo - taken by big band leader Mike Barone is soulful, dynamic and joyous. Gary Barone on flugelhorn is in fine form opening his feature with a sweet tone and laying down screaming runs, offset by melodically pleasing lines and followed with rapid fire bursts of tight knit notes of delight. Tom Scott, famed big band leader and studio musician also performs well on synthesized saxophone, the lyricon, sounding somewhere in between an organ and a soprano saxophone he pulls off impressive runs phrased in a most effective manner. The drumming of master drummer Shelly Manne is in a free form style that has him playing against pianist Theo Saunders, the two seemingly driving each other to explore the very depths, channels and tributaries of this foot stomping, head bopping, high energy tune.
And so it goes, from tune to tune, some written by Gary Barone, some written by Mike Barone, the two are totally in-sync, as is the band, sounding as if they have played together forever. The only non-original tune “Estate” written by Brighetti and Martino with arrangements by Mike Barone, is performed with passion, a laid back feel with gorgeous trombone playing, fantastic percussion by Alex Acuna, tasteful interludes by pianist Saunders and that jazz-solid rhythm section laying down the groove with instrumental perfection.
A high light tune “Song For Our Father” by M. Barone has a really nice trumpet intro by Gary Barone, against a lush backdrop of cymbals and piano, a ballad of lament that is played with an incredibly sincere and heart felt feel by all members of the band.
The final tune and a great tune to exit upon, “Almost Blues” is pure west coast, cool jazz and it doesn’t get any better than this. Trombone and trumpet features that blow wickedly smooth, conjuring images of a bygone time when life was a little less hectic. The alto saxophone featured on this tune is by Dick Spencer, a Louis Bellson side man and a saxophonist with a great tone and wonderful phrasing. Bassist John Heard playing in the higher registers and coming as close to a solo as you will hear from John Heard is inspirational, one of the tastiest of bassists, a true master. If this CD was released in 2007, it would be one of my top ten favorites. Could they do it again? The Barone brothers are still around and very active, Mike Barone is based in LA and I believe Gary Barone is based in Germany. John Heard may be in retirement, Shelly Manne passed away in 1984, Tom Scott, Alex Acuna, Theo Saunders and Dick Spencer are all available, so let us keep an eye out for another Barone Brothers small band release in the near future.
