Search - Rodney Jones :: Dreams & Stories

A Time Capsule

Stephen A. Smith | Boston, MA | 11/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first saw this album cover, I thought it was a misprint. "Kenny Kirkland?" I unwrapped the package, opened the liner notes, and still couldn't find a recording date to addend the 2005 copyright; but I popped the disc into my CD player...and sure enough, that was Kenny Kirkland.



The label's website answers that this session was recorded in 1983. So now we have perspective: This was Kenny Kirkland from the days of "Think of One" and "Scenes in the City," long before "Black Codes" and the Branford Marsalis Quartet. This session has been sitting in a vault for 22 years. It makes you wonder what else is locked away.



Rodney Jones hired Kenny, Marc Johnson, and Jeff Watts for this session. As pickup bands go, that ain't too shabby. It's difficult to be objective; but I think even if I had heard this record in 1983, I would have said Kenny was its star. From the first tune onward, he lights up every track.



The average track length is five minutes, none over six. It's radio-friendly jazz, head/solo/head with a couple standards to keep things anchored. It is what it is: Some label writes a check, and you hire sidemen to help record an album. That's how you get started. If you're lucky, you get a guy like Christian McBride who plays every gig like it's his last; and Rodney got lucky. He got Kenny, Marc, and Jeff.



I heard Rodney's last record, and it was too smooth for my taste. I can hear him going in that direction here, especially in his writing. But whatever he's playing nowadays, don't misjudge this album. It's a good pickup session from top drawer players, and it deserves five stars."

Nothing Here

V. E Ward | LA.CA | 01/13/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This CD has little to offer a jazz guitar fan. Very amateur sounding guitar playing, and not at all the desirable tone expected from a jazz guitar. True, the rhythm section is good but the sound quality doesn't even do them justice. I think someone stood in front of the band holding a mic. Listen to the sound samples offered. If you like it, what can I say? But unless you own everything Joe Pass, Wes, Howard Alden, Bruce Foreman, Barney Kessell and SO many other I can't list and you are just dying to buy another jazz guitar CD, don't waste you money on this one."