In The Idiom - Randy Brecker

Feb

7

In The Idiom - Randy Brecker

≡ Category: 1980s, Post Bop, Reviews, Worth A Listen |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

WORTH A LISTEN

Rating:

What is it about Randy Brecker’s 1987 recording In The Idiom (issued on the Denon label) that bugs me?

Randy Brecker is one of the finest trumpet players playing fusion or post bop, and nothing he plays on In The Idiom would influence that opinion for the worse. His compositions in the post bop vein are an intriguing mix of Monk and Horace Silver. Nothing wrong with that. The rhythm section of Al Foster on drums and Ron Carter? Normally, Al Foster is a killer. I suspect working with Ron Carter toned him down some.

Somehow, the session doesn’t smoke the way I would expect it to. I think it’s because Randy was a bit too relaxed in the studio. This band needed to record in front of an audience to give the music that live energy that it needs to really come across. Pianist Dave Kikoski is part of the problem, I think. This gig was early in his career and he sounds a bit tentative, not aggressive enough for my taste. He was much sharper on the Live At Sweet Basil date with much the same band. And Joe Henderson adds to the mellow vibe. At this stage of his career, Joe wasn’t breathing fire anymore. His lines radiate intelligence, not passion.

Mind you, everyone’s listening to everyone else, the tunes are high quality, and all the musicians are complete pros. It’s just that In The Idiom is way too polite for my taste. I like a rawer sound.

Maybe it was part of Randy Brecker’s intent to do something laid back, along the lines of any number of routine Blue Note releases from the 1960s. 1987, after all, was the perfect time to put something like that out, while Wynton Marsalis had a stranglehold on what jazz was allowed to be.

Still, I bet if each of the musicians had been given a hit off a crack pipe a couple of hours before the recording, and the engineer had been Rudy Gelder instead of James Farber, In The Idiom would have been a different and much better recording. More exciting, anyway.

There’s no widget for In The Idiom, but there is one for Live At Sweet Basil. Here’s my suggestion. Check out the samples. If you like them, pick up Live At Sweet Basil. If you really dig it, you can always go back for In The Idiom later.