Claude Bolling: Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio in Bloomington, MN

Jean-Pierre Rampal
may never get down and dirty on this album, considered "his first
jazz
recording," but the music is nonetheless infectious, breezy, playful, and crystal clear. The legendary flutist is so technically accomplished that anything too "swinging" from him seems a bit stiff, but this is where drummer
Marcel Sabiani
, bassist
Mel Young
, and legendary
pianist (and friend of
Duke Ellington
)
Claude Bolling
take over, all making these compositions seem jazzier than they are on paper. As an example, both
"Baroque and Blue"
and
"Sentimentale"
flirt with the morning air, with themes that somewhat separate
Rampal
's fluttering passages from all the hipster riffs. Track for track, note for note, there is nothing substandard about these "clazzical" hybrids.
"Fugace"
is a great countermelody express elevator, delightful in its energy and polish.
"Javanaise"
takes it slow enough for
Charlie Brown
to
waltz
about on the ice-skating rink.
"Versatile"
is a bouncy little trapeze act on the bass flute, and
"Veloce"
is a fantastic race to the wedding altar, a fantastic balance of tension and release, a nail-biter, a
Buster Keaton
melodrama, a cream pie in the face, and a precise exclamation mark to close the album. Here and there,
Bolling
and company manage to get
to loosen his tie. Slightly. It's not quite
, but it's still spellbinding music. ~ Glenn Swan