 Victor Feldman British jazz cat Victor Feldman "arrived" in the US with the release of this 1958 album featuring tunes from the likes of Miles Davis, Ellington/Strayhorn, Dizzy Gillespie, and Chopin! Feldman's style is laid back, West Coast cool, quite a bit more buoyant than the typical 50s set. The band is a trio featuring Feldman on vibraharp and piano, Scott La Faro (later of the classic Bill Evans trio) on bass, and Stan Levey on drums. From the cover, you know this is going to be an unpretentious affair: the photo depicts Victor dressed in full 1880s suit (ascot and all) standing in a rowboat flashing the victory sign over his head, while La Faro and Levey, dressed as ship's mates, look on. Kind of an elliptical brand of humor, but it informs the listener that the band isn't going to make you take their music too seriously. The disc opens up with Miles' "Serpent's Tooth," remaining faithful to the original despite the vibes replacing the horn section. Good, breezy stuff that doesn't smoke where it shouldn't. Next up is Feldman's arrangement of a Chopin waltz, which begins with 40 seconds of solo piano and then settles into the vibe trio sound … altogether not sounding anything like Chopin, who never really succeeded in learning to swing it. In fact, the tune barely sounds like it's in waltz time. Very good though. The first of Feldman's three originals follows, "Chasing Shadows." Probably the best cut on the CD, swingin' and with a really catchy melody. Feldman's on piano here, no vibes. "Flamingo" takes things down into really mellow territory, almost trance-inducing. Very pretty song. "S'Posin'" is next, similar melodically to "There Will Never Be Another You," and featuring a nice solo turn by La Faro. Gillespie's "Bebop" comes next, and I've never heard a jazz band sound this much like punk. All three guys are playing furiously, sounding almost like they're trying to see just how fast they can play. It's deliriously good. Small group bebop can be a great thing. This leads into "(There is No) Greater Love," another standard done well here. Feldman's other originals, "Too Blue" and "Minor Lament" follow, providing two more highlights to the record. It's always interesting when great jazz writers don't include many original compositions on their records, makes you wonder if they just love the standards or if the record label is insinuating "Ya need standards to sell the record, Vic." It's all good, though. "Too Blue" is a quirky little blues, while "Minor Lament" is a late-night sad song; both are unique and very satisfying. The disc closes with "Satin Doll," a warhorse, yes, but nearly always enjoyable. The trio doesn't do anything new with it, but it's a nice closer for the album. It's funny how minor albums like this one from 40 years ago outshine major albums from 4 weeks ago. Maybe it was the time, when jazz meant something totally different to the average record buyer. Or maybe there were just more great musicians exploring jazz. Or maybe it's that there was still so much to be done with jazz back then, and now there really isn't. And why is it that white jazz then still seemed cool, while now most white guys playing jazz are playing smooth crap? Damn all the Yuppies for knocking jazz down to its knees.
Review by Harold Potter |