Eccentric Sax Playing Busker
349463
For some wierd reason the review I wrote years ago about Principal Edwards Magic Theatre's album "Soundtrack" got tagged onto poor old Lol Coxhill's album "Ear of the Beholder" which must have been very confusing to anyone reading the review, no wonder nobody found it helpful! Anyway, Lol is famously the guy who was playing sax in the street when a certain Joni Mitchell heard him and was inspired to write "For Free". Lol certainly does play real good, but there is some decidedly odd stuff here as well. You're never quite sure if he is playing it for laughs a la Bonzo Dog Band, or if he really is crazy. As long as you're not too worried about political correctness you may well get a blast out of this totally unique, eccentric collection from one of the true individuals on the music scene.
1686097
It's a wonderful thing! I can play for hours without thinking about my back fatigue. I use it with tenor saxophone Yamaha 23, works wonderful! The sax weight is at least a half less.
1258412
I am the bass player for my church worship team and i also play sax for songs here and there. this just makes switching instruments easier and faster.
4765199
Excellent choice for the serious player. I own one of these and have always enjoyed playing it. Has smooth fingering, pretty robust tone throughout the range, and has always been as good as and better than I could play on it. Amateur sax player in various groups and community bands/orchestras intermittently over the years. Got my YTS-62 in the last 20 years or so new - it is still in good shape and sounded great last time I practiced.
4637646
Jasper Van't Hof is a Dutch pianist/keyboard player of some note in Europe.  He's not much known on this side of the Atlantic.
Too Bad.  He's quite a player.
A frequent collaborator with the Swedish bassist Bo Stief, he has also played with Charlie Mariano, Bob Malach, and Ernie Watts, three players who favor an elegiac approach to the saxophone.  Indeed, on Canossa, Watts comes across very much as a more muscular version of Jan Garbarek.
The first cut, the longest on the disc at over 17 minutes, sets the mood for some very atmospheric jazz.  It has a definite hymn-like feel, courtesy of a chant-oriented melody, a quite convincing and intriguing synthesized faux choir, Stief's Eberhard Weber-styled e-bass, and Watts' haunting sax meditations.  This fits in beautifully with the exquisite packaging, featuring a collage of a gorgeous painting full of Medieval Christian symbolism and that cool font where t's look like pluses and o's have crosses inside them.
Unfortunately, at least for me, this mood isn't sustained.  What we get instead on two of the central cuts is plodding, synth-heavy, noodling.  I never thought I say it, but where is Bill Laswell when you need him?  The mood returns briefly, and beautifully, on "Pink Lady," with Ernie Watts at his most burnished, and Van't Hof laying down some very tasty synth washes over which he plays a quite attractive piano solo, and continues, nicely tweaked in a carnival direction, on "Cogito Ergo Sum."  "First Day," an attractive ballad, seems a little out of place, but Ernie Watts plays so beautifully that its inclusion can be forgiven.  "Transmit" and "Clean People," on the other hand, are a difficult listen.  Somebody, please, tell Van't Hof that the torpid, mind-numbing bad ELO vibe just ain't cutting it.  Not even a splendid Watts solo can redeem the isipidity of "Clean Peopel."  There's probably some ironic Post-Modern thing happening here, but if so, it's lost on me.  "On the Border," hardly in the mood of "Canossa," at least has a pretty cool, Donald Fagin-like groove, and Watts plays some killer sax.
Actually, this is a very fine album, except for the two losers in the middle.  One-half star off for each.
3671418
If you dig rock in sax and great music in general with a beat ,you'll love this.
344160
Rickey has power and finesse in his tenor sax style, plus exceptional beauty in his ballad playing. I enjoyed the play of the very young (just turned 20) Christian McBride on bass in this live 1992 club setting.
2902404
Zenon brings forth his alto sax in a quartet heavy on percussion with Tony Escapa on drums,  Aldemar Valentin on electric bass;  and Reynaldo De Jesus on percussion. All selections emphasize african rhythms. Oye Como Va is very different from Tito Puente's or Santana's version. This tune brings in improvisations sometimes funky, other times purely african with superb conga solos. Definitely not a dancing sing along verison of Oye Como Va, stopping and then re-starting many times. El Necio slowly builds to a fast pace solo from Zenon, before slowing down and leading to bass solo, and closing with another Zenon solo that starts somewhat melodic but builds up to a faster pace higher energy solo. Double edge starts with a really fast exchange between Zenon and he percussion, which later slows down,  and then intensifies once again. Overall, the selections are rhythmically complex but interesting, requiring an open mind to new ideas, as the group explores the fusion of Zenon's avant garde solos and african rhythms. The sound quality in this live recording does not disappoint providing a warm and natural sound.
4552327
The guy cant sing? The guy is a so-so jazz trumpter? Well put him together, with his history, his mind and talent - man can he do it well . The music I get from this is outstanding. The tracks are so well put together. In fact I am more a fan of his trumpet playing, so much that when I listen to any of these tracks, the volume on my stereo goes up everytime he starts his solo bits. The accompanying musicians are excellent too. More than worth a buy. In fact this is an essential collection item.
2103904
Jazz Critics (and music critics in general) like to dismiss Elliot as indistinguishable from Boney James and Paul Taylor but Elliot was creating fat, foot-stomping sounds on his sax long before the current crop of contemporary "jazz" horn blowers. It is not that Elliot creates lines that other saxophone players CAN'T play, but rather, he makes big muscular melodies (mostly on tenor) that other saxophonists, usually, DON'T play. He is the saxophone equivalent of a guitar hero, wielding those big, soaring tones. This CD is a good overview of most of his efforts. Though Over The Rainbow (why not include Movers and Shakers instead?) as well as the three closing tracks are weak, there is a lot of great material here. Highlights (at least for this listener) include: Street Beat, When a Man Loves a Woman, Take Your Time, Candlelight, and The Power of Suggestion.
1471255
you get a lot of sounds for your money on this short album (the whole thing clocks in at just over 38 minutes). an inventive set of mingus composition that may be his best (though i'm not completely committing myself, because he released several classic albums and my mood changes week to week). certainly this is a classic all jazz fans need. there is lots of wonderful wild aggressive playing on this recording, at times the players seem hyper with the joy of it all, and their exuberance is catchy, like a roomful of creative madmen unleashing an ecstatic fury that you want to be a part of. fun and challenging, this is the deep waters of jazz. don't miss the party.
2030188
This is not your run of the meal type of sax player. The arrangements are mind blowing on every song you listen to. It shouldn't be long before you here this man on every smooth jazz station around the country. When I got this project the first song I tried out was "Smooth Sailing". Listening to this song alone, I knew right away I was in for a treat from the rest of the project. The title cut spells out the whole project; Vince has produced a "So Incredible" masterpiece. If you listen close enough, you can hear what sounds to me hints of the late great Art Porter and Everette Harp that's saying a mouthful. Please don't sleep on this project, you will not be regret it one bit picking this up.
4173870
The instrument is the Kanun and I love it.  I don't enough about the intricacies of this music to comment on those details as the reviewer below, except to say it is fantastic and inspiring.
1235117
Just click on the song sample for track #3 - Iddly.

Listen to it.

It cuts off before the resolution, but you can get the feel of it.  My introduction to Thomas Chapin was hearing this tune on the radio.  The quirky melody sounds conventional, yet unexpected - two qualities that are pretty tough to combine.  Then there's a middle section with a sax solo that just plain rocks.  The intense alto sax playing is balanced by some gorgeous flute solos in other pieces.  It's tough to pin a mood on this recording, but it's a great introduction to Thomas Chapin's work.
4059223
guy named Carl in Maryland taped for me some 20 years ago of this great good-time jazzband. LIVE in a club and the vibes are wild!!.It has all these tunes plus 'Opus De Funk'on there which I didn't see on the lp. It's orginally a RCA Victor LPM 2300 vinyl. Unfortunately,no artist coverage. Done soon after the Newport Jazz fest rioting if anyone remembers when that happened. 1958?I have no clue. It's just fun stuff to kick back and jam to. I think Hank Garland is in there,I'm not sure.

 I can burn this if ya want me to mail it to you.$10.
216615
The Steve Treseler Group -- a flexible quintet/sextet with a revolving cast of musicians -- is a showcase for Treseler's arsenal of reeds and the marvelous trumpet playing of the criminally under-recorded Ingrid Jensen. Their music comes in four flavors: freely improvised miniatures, through-composed art songs (including "Days Were Golden" by the '90s emo band Sunny Day Real Estate), modal workouts (including Jensen's Woody Shaw-like "Center Song"), and more traditional jazz tunes, including a blazing version of "Kary's Trance" (Lee Konitz) and "Cold Hammered," a hard bop piece that I thought had been lifted from a '50s Blue Note album 'til I saw that Treseler had written it. All over the musical map, then, but still a very good album worthy of your time as a listener.
4638557
This album is one of the nicest that I have. Paul Desmond is a superb and melodious sax player and his playing here is up to his usual standard. Laid back and beautiful. An unexpected bonus is Ed Bickert, the Canadian guitarist. His touch on the electric guitar is very similar to Desmond's style and they complement and support each other very well. "Polka Dots and  Moonbeams" is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard, the way Desmond and Bickert do it. The album is excellent.