Excellent Big Band!
Robert J. Ament | Ballwin, MO United States | 06/14/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Then why only 4 stars?.......confusion! There are only 2 compositions of Coltrane in the album.....plus "My Favorite Things", arguably, the definitive recording by Coltrane (1963).Other than that , the music is great with the other 7 tracks composed by Bob Mintzer in a Coltrane mode. The whole affair comes off really well with a lot of fine solo work...a good part of it Mintzer's.The only glitch, for me, was a rather bizarre intro to "A Love Supreme - Acknowledgement" which I didn't care for. Otherwise a good mixture of some slower moody compositions and some medium tempo movers.....all excellent arrangements and good solos from the likes of Randy Brecker, Michael Mossman and Pete Yellin.Very good orchestration on "Impressions" and two other selections "Softly Spoken" (just that!) and "Spirits", one of the moodier pieces.All in all, I'm very happy with this cd and look forward to playing it often."