Get Stung by the Yellowjackets
Feb 27 '02
The Bottom Line The Yellowjackets, often criticized, are important icons of modern jazz.
The Yellowjackets are an instrumental jazz group that was formed in San Francisco in the late 1970s. Including their self-titled debut album of 1981, the band has released a total of 13 studio CDs, plus a live recording and several greatest hits collections.
This is a band that a lot of people love to hate. Traditional jazz fans abhor their use of synthesizers, electric bass and EWI (electronic wind instrument). At the same time a lot of their music is considered too "mellow" for contemporary rock/jazz/fusion crowds.
While their body of work is inconsistent, the Yellowjackets' best material stands up to just about anything in recorded jazz history. The group's instrumental virtuosity and depth of feeling cannot be denied. Their compositional skill and variety is impressive. Instrumental bands don't last as long as these guys have without a good reason.
The two charter members of the group are keyboardist Russell Ferrante and bassist Jimmy Haslip. Over the years, numerous other virtuosi have called the group home, including guitarist Robben Ford, drummers Will Kennedy and Ricky Lawson (now with Steely Dan) and saxophonists Marc Russo and Bob Mintzer. Within the idiom of jazz, the subsets the group has explored include R&B influenced fusion, Latin, world, funk, Afro-Caribbean and more. Following is my humble assessment of this band's work.
The group's best disc is their second album, "Mirage a Trois" (1983), in which the Gospel influence of Ferrante and the modern jazz of Haslip, brought alive by Ford's scorching blues guitar work, mix together in an intense and cohesive manner. Their second best is 1991's "Greenhouse", their eighth release and their first on the GRP label. Lush string orchestrations bring the title cut alive; the world beat influence of songs such as "Freedomland" and the modern jazz concept of "Seven Stars" make this album satisfying and eclectic.
The group's fifth album, "Four Corners" (1987) marks the debut of drummer Kennedy. The straight-ahead jazz hit "Mile High" was a radio staple for a while, but the best song on the album is "Wildlife", a polyrhythmic piece in which world percussion, backup vocals and synths help add to the song's tantalizing texture.
Another sure bet is "Blue Hats" (1997), in which the group opted for a more straight-ahead sound. The album's strongest cut is "Cape Town", a pleasant, Latin-influenced groove.
"Politics" (1988) features the popular Jackets classic "Local Hero", the funk groove "Foreign Correspondent", the pretty Latin outing "Avance" and "Galileo", bassist Haslip's homage to Jaco Pastorius, who passed away the year before.
"Like a River" (1993) features the funky Latin "Sandstone", the free and spacious "Man Facing North", the melodic and polyrhythmic "River Waltz" in which the rhythm section plays with the beat in unpredictable ways, and "Dewey", a hip-hop tribute to Miles Davis.
The band's 1992 live release, "Live Wires", features an intense version of "Freedomland" that eclipses the one heard on "Greenhouse" and an extended jamming version of "Wildlife" with some great percussion work.
Well, this should be enough to get you started. You might want to avoid "Samaurai Samba", "Dreamland" and the band's latest release, "Club Nocturne"--those, unfortunately, prove the points of Yellowjackets critics. But check out any of the ones I've mentioned, and chances are you'll believe that this group deserves the respect that their devoted fans (such as myself) give them. On a personal note, I have seen them live three times, and having met them, have found them all to be very nice guys. Jimmy Haslip even gave me a copy of "Blue Hats". Will Kennedy asked me if they were too loud, and I said, "Man, I want to hear MORE of you."
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dlockeretz
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Member: David Lockeretz
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