Year Of The Tiger

FRED HO’S GREEN MONSTER BIG BAND: Year of the Tiger
Innova, 2011

TWISTED BIG BAND – Baritone saxophonist Ho and a band stocked with talented avant-leaning players (Hafez Modirzadeh, Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum, etc.) take on Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix in the first half of this surprising CD. The band has a crazed, lumpy sound, always several degrees “off” from where you expect them to be. The Hendrix tunes are amazing. The other highlight is “Take the Zen Train,” (7-12) a suite that’s Ho’s warped take on Ellingtonia by way of free jazz. Wild stuff.

Note: 2-4 are a medley, so the endings are very sudden.

Fo’s Picks: 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11

1. 4:05 – action cartoon theme: rollicking, like a train about to jump the tracks
2. 5:05 – MJ 1: skewed soul w/nice fem vocals, dirty keyboard, trombone
3. 4:35 – MJ 2: rolling groove w/voc, frequent small breakdowns, hot horns
4. 11:08 – MJ 3: awkward start/end, but band is hot & spoken word is just insane
5. 3:33 – Jimi Hendrix soul warped & melted by wild horns, spanglish vox
6. 4:57 – Hendrix psychedelic march: layered vocal paranoia, riotous horns
7. 3:46 – swing fanfare falls apart, bari sax & trumpet scrawl all over walking bass
8. 2:28 – huge, lumbering theme teeters on the edge, threatens to topple over
9. 6:32 – heavy, slow-churn groove: solos flit and flare, warble and mope
10. 2:53 – hypnotic odd-meter spiral, charged with strange harmonies
11. 3:06 – slouching big band, Ellington harmonies after a few drinks too many
12. 3:22 – uptempo, careening with bubbly space guitar and tight horn turns
13. 6:02 – 2 choirs (kids & adults) sing martial arts anthem, then free jazz blowing
14. 8:00 – modern-operatic chorus over rolling jazz groove (Antony & Cleopatra)

[ Fo ] 03/19/11