Big Train

On 1999's , tries on the mantle of in the latter's centennial year and finds that it suits him. A 52-minute big band suite modeled after 's long-form essays, it purports to evoke the moods, sounds and feelings of a cross-country train trip with selections named after a train's various cars. Like an suite, the sections run together; after the striking you're in country, right down to the plunger mute wah-wah riffs. paraphrases ; the ballad evokes and quite explicitly. Inevitably, there's a track called ; thankfully, its bossa nova flavor has nothing to do with 's piece. has mastered the idiom, writing and organizing the piece skillfully and getting to play with precision and emotion. Yet the one thing that (and ) could do and has yet to demonstrate is the ability to come up with a big, memorable tune; there's craft, emotion, and swing, but little else to take home with you. If you didn't know that this work was about trains, you might not guess it; you can't really feel the rocking, chugging, streamlined motion of the rails in this work. There is fine soloing all around in the hard bop tradition from , though the liner fails to note which of the multiple tenor, alto, trombone players are soloing on which tracks. But overall, this is one of ' better extended form essays. ~ Richard S. Ginell