Search - Roswell Rudd :: The Unheard Herbie Nichols, Vol. 1

Worth it for "Jamaica"

Allan MacInnis | Vancouver | 10/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are things I do NOT like about this CD. Per the label's policy, which they explain as part of their packaging, the quiet parts of the music are EXTREMELY QUIET, so much so that, at the volume a courteous apartment dweller like m'self usually keeps his music at, these bits of music disappear altogether. Some of the cuts just don't quite hold my INTEREST... However, there is much to love, here, as well. Rudd is as playful and perverse as ever, switches onto other instruments occasionally (trumpet, mellaphone, percussion, as well as his usual, the trombone), and offers copious and articulate liner notes about the groundbreaking aspects of Herbie Nichols' music and how Rudd has chosen to interpret it, that really go into DETAIL about the project and Rudd's relationship with this underappreciated genius of jazz... The lineup is unusal, too -- Rudd is working here with only a guitarist (Greg Millar) and a drummer, John Bacon, Jr -- not a usual trio structure as far as I know. The BEST part about this CD, however, is indubitably the 16 + minute "Jamaica," a terrifically playful and quirky bit of jazz that really must be liked by all who hear it. If you have any fondness for Rudd or Nichols, it's worth checking out."