MARTIN TAYLOR
''KISS 7 TELL''
1999
65:02
1 Kiss And Tell 05:09
2 You've Changed (Bill Carey, Carl Fischer) 04:46
3 The Odd Couple (Sammy Cahn, Neal Hefti) 07:50
4 Garden Of Dreams (Carol Novack) 06:03
5 What A Friend We Have In Jesus (Charles C. Converse, Joseph Scriven) 00:58
6 Midnight At The Oasis (David Nichtern) 03:54
7 Mona Lisa (Ray Evans) 04:48
8 Five-O (Mort Stevens) 06:09
9 Sunstep (Antonio Forcione) 04:10
10 Ginger (Martin Taylor) 06:34
11 Midnight Voyage (Joey Calderazzo) 04:14
12 The Nearness Of You (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) 04:00
13 I Should Care 06:20
Jay Ashby/Trombone, Vocals
Randy Brecker/Flugelhorn, Guest Artist
John Catchings/Violin
Eric Darken/Percussion
David Davidson/Cello
Al Foster/Drums, Guest Artist
George Garzone/Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor)
Eddie Gomez/Bass, Guest Artist
Chris Kent/Bass
Matt Rollings/Piano, String Arrangements
Martin Taylor/Guitar
Kirk Whalum/Guest Artist, Sax (Soprano)
Kristin Wilkinson/Viola
REVIEW
by Jonathan Widran (AMG)
The veteran electric guitarist dashes off some spectacular solo runs on this collection, but he seems confused as to which genre he's playing in. His jumpy, shuffling cover of "Midnight at the Oasis" features a blazing Kirk Whalum sax solo and would be a natural for smooth jazz radio if other artists hadn't already redone the 1974 chestnut. On numbers like "You've Changed," however, he slows the pace down to Quaalude calm, aiming for intimacy with a small string section, but ending up with an insomnia cure. Then he's trying the bossa nova thing on the easy swaying "Garden of Dreams," and simply noodling and trying to impress us with his coolness on a brief improvised interlude "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." While he's all over the map throughout, he offers some musical oases that the casual listener can turn to while trying to figure out the rest -- inventive reworkings of the theme songs to '70s TV icons The Odd Couple and Hawaii Five-0. At eight minutes and pretty sluggish, "The Odd Couple" is kind of like watching Felix and Oscar listen to jazz while on Prozac. But "Five-O" features some of Taylor's snappiest soloing as well as a glimmering electric piano solo by Matt Rollings that puts the tune in its rightful retro place. The dichotomy of these two approaches characterizes the whole disc, which is highly listenable in spots, but too inconsistent on the whole.
''KISS 7 TELL''
1999
65:02
1 Kiss And Tell 05:09
2 You've Changed (Bill Carey, Carl Fischer) 04:46
3 The Odd Couple (Sammy Cahn, Neal Hefti) 07:50
4 Garden Of Dreams (Carol Novack) 06:03
5 What A Friend We Have In Jesus (Charles C. Converse, Joseph Scriven) 00:58
6 Midnight At The Oasis (David Nichtern) 03:54
7 Mona Lisa (Ray Evans) 04:48
8 Five-O (Mort Stevens) 06:09
9 Sunstep (Antonio Forcione) 04:10
10 Ginger (Martin Taylor) 06:34
11 Midnight Voyage (Joey Calderazzo) 04:14
12 The Nearness Of You (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) 04:00
13 I Should Care 06:20
Jay Ashby/Trombone, Vocals
Randy Brecker/Flugelhorn, Guest Artist
John Catchings/Violin
Eric Darken/Percussion
David Davidson/Cello
Al Foster/Drums, Guest Artist
George Garzone/Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor)
Eddie Gomez/Bass, Guest Artist
Chris Kent/Bass
Matt Rollings/Piano, String Arrangements
Martin Taylor/Guitar
Kirk Whalum/Guest Artist, Sax (Soprano)
Kristin Wilkinson/Viola
REVIEW
by Jonathan Widran (AMG)
The veteran electric guitarist dashes off some spectacular solo runs on this collection, but he seems confused as to which genre he's playing in. His jumpy, shuffling cover of "Midnight at the Oasis" features a blazing Kirk Whalum sax solo and would be a natural for smooth jazz radio if other artists hadn't already redone the 1974 chestnut. On numbers like "You've Changed," however, he slows the pace down to Quaalude calm, aiming for intimacy with a small string section, but ending up with an insomnia cure. Then he's trying the bossa nova thing on the easy swaying "Garden of Dreams," and simply noodling and trying to impress us with his coolness on a brief improvised interlude "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." While he's all over the map throughout, he offers some musical oases that the casual listener can turn to while trying to figure out the rest -- inventive reworkings of the theme songs to '70s TV icons The Odd Couple and Hawaii Five-0. At eight minutes and pretty sluggish, "The Odd Couple" is kind of like watching Felix and Oscar listen to jazz while on Prozac. But "Five-O" features some of Taylor's snappiest soloing as well as a glimmering electric piano solo by Matt Rollings that puts the tune in its rightful retro place. The dichotomy of these two approaches characterizes the whole disc, which is highly listenable in spots, but too inconsistent on the whole.