Lovano, Joe / Us Five / Bird Songs
Album: Bird Songs   Collection:Jazz
Artist:Lovano, Joe / Us Five   Added:Jan 2011
Label:Blue Note  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2011-01-23 Pull Date: 2011-03-27 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Mar 13 Mar 6 Feb 27 Feb 20 Feb 13 Feb 6 Jan 30
Airplays: 1 1 2 3 3 2 2

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 23, 2013: The Proselytizer Radio News Hour
Moose The Mooche, Moose The Mooche
4. Feb 25, 2011: No Cover, No Minimum
Dewey Square
2. Mar 11, 2011: No Cover, No Minimum
Moose The Mooche
5. Feb 22, 2011: Rebop
Dewey Square
3. Mar 04, 2011: No Cover, No Minimum
Dewey Square
6. Feb 18, 2011: No Cover, No Minimum
Ko Ko

Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2011-01-23
JOE LOVANO US FIVE: Bird Songs
Blue Note, 2011

MODERN BOP – Tributes to Charlie “Bird” Parker may be old hat, but the approach taken by modern sax giant Lovano and his fabulous two-drummer Us Five quintet really opens up the familiar tunes into brand new but still comfortable territory, spinning out from snippets of the original melodies or harmonies with grace, balance and humor.

Joe Lovano : saxophones
James Weidman : piano
Esperanza Spalding : bass
Otis Brown III, Francisco Mela : drums

All really good! Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10

1. 5:26 – jaunty, spiraling theme drops into flowing sax solos, slow & fast
2. 4:30 – sweet balladry: sax sings over billowing drums, elegant piano/bass
3. 6:19 – upbeat: sunny tune with Caribbean feel, warm rhythm, joyous piano
4. 6:35 – sleazy vamp blues: sax twists & turns, some swinging interludes
5. 9:03 – standard ballad: great tone from “G mezzo soprano” sax; fine solos
6. 1:47 – strange interlude with aulochrome (double-sax) & bashing drums
7. 6:20 – sax drifts into complex drum thickets; twisty melody peeks through
8. 1:52 – 3 tunes merged beautifully: strolling sax/piano/bass trio
9. 2:49 – sax/piano/bass trade off over rolling drums, melody emerges later
10. 8:25 – cool drum/bass feature; slips in & out of a breezy Brazilian wiggle
11. 11:57 – casual grace: unfolds gradually, riding a dusky swing; good solos

[ Fo ] 01/23/11

Track Listing
1. Passport   6. Birdyard
2. Donna Lee   7. Ko Ko
3. Barbados   8. Blues Collage
4. Moose The Mooche   9. Dexterity
5. Lover Man   10. Dewey Square
  11. Yardbird Suite