WORTH A LISTEN
Rating: 
Altered State (on the Heads Up label), the first studio album for The Yellowjackets after Time Squared, is a big step backward.
Time Squared was the first Yellowjackets studio album that featured Bob Mintzer on sax, and represented a remarkable break from the group’s status quo. Gone were the pancake washes of synthesizer syrup that typically smothered their tunes. In their place were spare arrangements with lots of space. For the first time since the Yellowjackets’ debut (at least on a studio release), the listener was treated to rigorous jazz improvisation.
My guess is that Time Squared didn’t sell very well compared to The Yellowjackets’ previous output, and it’s easy to see why. Over two decades, The Yellowjackets have built up a core audience of people whose idea of jazz was the warmed over fuzak of groups like Fourplay or The Rippingtons.
That’s probably why The Yellowjackets backed off and made Altered State less edgy than Time Squared. The compositions and arrangements are still tougher than we’re used to with The Yellowjackets, but where we really feel a sense of caution is in the solos.
When Russell Ferante tickles the ivories, you can sense a keen intelligence at work — the lines are sculpted and elegant. But you sense that he’s restraining himself from demonstrating his virtuosity or creating counter rhythms or harmonies that would be overly challenging for his core fans. It’s a bit frustrating, like watching a little old lady behind the wheel of a Ferrari.
The same is true of even Bobby Mintzer. He’s always tasteful, but he doesn’t take the sort of chances that he did on Time Squared. He only allows himself to completely break free on Aha — if only the rest of the tunes on Altered State were this strong!
Drummer Marcus Baylor and bassist Jimmy Haslip are as effective on Altered State as they were on Time Squared, but then again, they aren’t soloing, are they?
The group has also shoehorned in a vocal track, The Hope, always a good way to snare less discerning jazz fans. Thankfully, the vocals by the Perry Sisters are just fine, which is way better than is usually the case on fusion recordings. The song, written by the group, is okay but fairly ho-hum modern gospel.
I almost feel sorry for The Yellowjackets, except that they’ve been able to make a good living playing music for almost thirty years now by consistently pandering to an ignorant and lazy audience. It’s understandable at this late date that such gifted players as Russell Ferante and bassist Jimmy Haslip (the founding members of the Yellowjackets) would want to actually play jazz after peddling fuzak so long to pay the bills, but Altered State shows that they aren’t really willing to risk killing the goose that’s laying the golden eggs, much less join the throngs of great jazzmen who are barely making ends meet. Okay, I’ll admit that it’s a tough choice. But why did these guys start playing jazz anyway, to get rich or to play good music?
On the other hand, your girlfriend may like Altered States.
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