CD Reviews – September 2009
by George Fendel, and Kyle O’Brien
Reviews by George Fendel

Nostalgia, Andrew Scott, guitar.

The title of this CD does not refer to a trip back in time. Hardly. Instead, our “Nostalgia” is the name Fats Navarro gave to his bop changes on the chords to “Out of Nowhere.” So this is nostalgia in name only because this music is pure, joyous timeless fun. Once again, Scott scores a fine effort for Sackville Records with music that has a pulse. Scott’s quartet brings in a couple of guests in Jon Erik Kelso, trumpet, and Dan Block, tenor clarinet. They lead off with a totally relaxed groove on Ben Webster’s “Did You Call Her Today,” a reworking of “Rose Room” and “In a Mellow Tone.” As a matter of fact, all of the sextet’s choices are restructured gems. To name a few, there’s “On a Misty Night” (“September in the Rain”); “Hot House” (“What Is this Thing Called Love”); “Quasimodo” (“Embraceable You”) and lots more. Let me simply say that we need more recordings like this, because what Scott and company gives us is the real deal. Like the orange juice in that commercial, this music is “un-fooled around with.” I wish there were more guys doing it just this way.
Sackville, recorded in 2008, 55:37.

Nostalgia
The Andrew Scott Quintet meets Jon-Erik Kellso and Dan Block
Sackville SKCD2-2073

The bebop era saw the extended use of standard popular songs as the basis for new compositions based on the chord changes of the familiar themes.
“Nostalgia” takes this as its basic premise with a programme of compositions by musician/composers such as Tadd Dameron, Barney Kessel, Fats Navarro, Charlie Parker, Gigi Gryce, Zaid Nasser and one by leader Andrew Scott and Jake Wilkinson. Having said that, the first selection is Ben Webster’s Did You Call Her Today, his swing style variation on Rose Room, but for the rest of the album it’s bebop lines over familiar standard harmonies. If you are a jazz buff, see how many you can get right before looking at the liner notes!
Pianist Mark Eisenman, bassist Pat Collins and drummer Joel Haynes integrate beautifully and Mark contributes some outstanding solos, while Andrew Scott is equally comfortable playing unison lines, comping or stretching out on a solo.
Trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and clarinettist Dan Block, although of a later generation, have chosen to follow in the steps of the great early innovators and both play with lyrical concept, creative ideas and the playing skills to make it all come together. As John Norris rightly states in his accompanying notes, they are indeed real jazz musicians. This CD is a welcome addition and upholds the well earned stellar reputation of Sackville Records.

Jim Galloway