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Sweet Soul features
John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, Bob
Mintzer, Kenny Werner, Marc Johnson & Peter Erskine,
playing songs and arrangements by Vince Mendoza,
plus compositions by Peter, Kenny, Joe, Kurt Weill,
Dave Bruceck and Sir William Walton (Lovano's
playing on the album's opener ãTouch Her Soft Lips
and Partä is a classic, and is completely gorgeous).
This album was recorded in 1991 in New York,
direct-to-2-track by James Farber, and was
originally released in Japan. Fuzzy Music is proud
to make this recording available once again.
1. Touch Her Soft Lips and Part (William Walton)
CLICK ON TITLE TO LISTEN!
2. Press Enter (Kenny Werner)
3. Sweet Soul (Peter Erskine)
4. To Be Or Not To Be (Peter Erskine)
5. Ambivalence (Vince Mendoza)
6. Angels and Devils (Vince Mendoza)
7. Speak Low (Kurt Weill)
8. Scolastic (Vince Mendoza)
9. Distant Blossom (Kenny Werner)
10. But Is It Art? (Peter Erskine)
11. In Your Own Sweet Way (Dave Brubeck)
"Sweet Soul" session: Bob Mintzer, Kenny Werner,
Randy Brecker, and Joe Lovano
Recorded March 4 & 5, 1991 at Skyline Studios, New
York City, NY
From the original liner notes by Peter Erskine:
"Welcome to this recording.
Some comments about the music and the musicians ...
Touch Her Soft Lips And Part is a beautiful
composition by William Walton, written originally
for the 1945 Laurence Olivier film of Henry V. It is
usually played by a chamber orchestra. Here we can
enjoy Joe Lovano's tenor saxophone symphony of
lyrical and poetic sound, with sensitive
accompaniment by Kenny Werner and Marc Johnson. If
you sense the spirit of Bill Evans in this
performance, we are all glad.
Press Enter, by Kenny Werner, and my composition To
Be Or Not To Be, are both up-tempo jazz vehicles for
the group. The title for Kenny's song comes from our
age of computers (and automated cash machines),
while my song's inspiration is obvious - William
Shakespeare's play Hamlet (which I had the pleasure
of scoring this year for a production in San
Francisco). The chords were sketched originally with
the words "Hamlet's Thoughts" next to them. I hoped
to write a Wayne Shorte type of tune for the date
... (when I played this tune for a friend, he
commented "A SHARP AND SALIENT WAYNE SHORTERESQUE
RAIN ON PAVEMENT LATE MONDAY NIGHT PORK PIE HAT '62
KINDA THING.") Anyway, I sure like the way everybody
solos on this.
Sweet Soul was originally played by the group Bass
Desires (Marc Johnson, John Scofield, Bill Frisell
and myself), and appears on that band's second album
for ECM. The horn arrangement by Vince Mendoza
quotes from Scofield's and Frisell's improvisations
on that recording. Randy Brecker's trumpet phrasing
is perfect, as are Kenny's organ chords and
Scofield's and Bob Mintzer's solos.
Composer Vince Mendoza contributed three tunes to
our session: Angels and Devils, Ambivalence, and
Scolastic. Like all of Vince's music, they have a
unique and enigmatic quality - allowing for
expression of longing while providing a great
setting for playing. Vince is a wonderful composer
and musician ..... a brilliant architect of music.
Kenny's other composition, Distant Blossom, reflects
what I feel was the general mood and tone of this
recording - that of respect, patience, and
surrender. There is a quote of Gustav Mahler's that
a friend recently showed me;
"Music must always have a quality of yearning,
a longing for things that are not of this world."
G.M. 1899 "
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