Search - Yellowjackets :: Altered State

Now This Is More Like It!

Olukayode Balogun | Leeds, England | 08/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a huge Yellowjackets fan for as long as I can remember. I have 13 of their albums and have seen them in concert three times - including one time they toured with Peter Erskine on drums. More on that in a minute.



Following the departure of Will Kennedy, (the most phenomenally dynamic drummer I've ever personally heard or seen and in my view, the best this band ever had), I was beginning to despair. I respect all the musicians in this band, I think they are all awesomely talented, new drummer Marcus Baylor included but the latter is no match for Will. Not to these ears anyway. As skilful as they all are though, the band lost a crucial ingredient of the sound I'd come to love with Will's departure.

The year he left, the group toured with Peter Erskine and there was talk that he might join the band full time. I wasn't that familiar with Pete's work at that time but after hearing (and more importantly, seeing) him at the Jazz Cafe in London, I was like, wow. He more than matched Will Kennedy for what most of us fans had come to love him for - his polyrythmic dexterity behind the drumset. That was one concert I will never forget.



The first Yellowjacket album I heard after Will had left, the live "Mint Jam" was okay mostly because the mixing didn't really expose the limitations of the drumming. The new tunes were great and the familiar ones were good to hear on a live CD.



"Time Squared" did reveal exactly how different Baylor was though and I was very disappointed. As much as I love these guys, that would've been my last buy but my best mate told me about this one so I decided to check it out. As soon as I heard the first track, I was like, yeah, this is more like it!



There's not much I can say about the other guys. Like I've said, to me they will always be the best in their game. But Baylor's drumming has definitely been turned up a notch. He'll never match Kennedy as far as I'm concerned but no doubt he wants to have his own identity anyway and not be seen as a Kennedy clone. This I would say he's achieving. I can still tell that it's him on drums but at the same time, some of the old Yellowjackets sparkle is definitely back.



I'm not really a fan of vocals on jazz albums either unless we're talking someone really significant. They had Bobby McFerrin on a few albums back for instance and he was just brilliant. But Jean Baylor (with the Perry sisters on backing vocals) really shines on "The Hope" and I also like the positive message in the lyrics. Russell Ferrante tries something I'm not sure I've heard from him before on "Hunter's Point" and it works. And every time I hear "Youth Eternal", I'm literally filled with a feeling of eternal youth and I just have to get up and dance.



All in all, a great return to form for Yellowjackets. I'm now very likely to remain a devoted fan well into the foreseeable future. No one could be happier than I am about that."

The Best of the Many Yellowjackets CDs I Own

Mark A. Wellman | Plaucheville, LA United States | 04/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have nine Yellowjackets albums. I like this one the best because it is the only one in which I like all the tunes. On all the others I end up skipping over some tunes. The sound quality is very good too. I had to listen to this several times to really get into it, but that is true of many of my favorite albums. The tunes are great, and the playing is great. What more could I ask for?"