NEW RELEASES : Wondrous Watrous, ‘Spirit’-ed Eubanks
A pair of top-notch albums by two high-profile L.A. area musicians--trombone notable Bill Watrous, who regularly appears in Southern California nightspots, and guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who is a featured member of Branford Marsalis’ “Tonight Show” orchestra--highlight this slate of recent jazz recordings.
BILL WATROUS
“A Time for Love”
GNP/Crescendo
* * * *
This is a triple triumph for trombonist Watrous.
Along with his own beauty of sound, his breadth of range and inspiration of improvisation, it celebrates the talents of Johnny Mandel, who wrote all the tunes, and of Sammy Nestico, who penned most of the arrangements.
The early jazz pieces Mandel wrote for Count Basie and Woody Herman work just as well as his timeless ballads, “Close Enough for Love,” “The Shadow of Your Smile” and “Emily.” This last tune features a wondrous introduction on English horn by Phil Feather. Credit also to Shelly Berg, who played keyboards and wrote two of the charts.
New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).
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