Glenn Zottola - Reflections of Charlie Parker (2014)

Tracklist

01. Moonlight in Vermont
02. Oh, Lady Be Good!
03. It Might as Well Be Spring
04. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
05. What Is This Thing Called Love?
06. I'm in the Mood for Love
07. Embraceable You
08. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
09. I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful!)
10. Three Little Words



Reflections of Charlie Parker is not just slow ballads, Zottola has wisely placed a few mid-tempo swingers in to add tempo variety; "Oh, Lady Be Good!," "I May Be Wrong," "What is This Thing Called Love" and "Three Little Words" and he has also chosen to scale down the ensemble to just a quintet. "Oh, Lady Be Good!," "Embraceable You," "I May Be Wrong" and "Three Little Words" are presented in a quintet format with Don Abney on piano, Jimmy Raney on guitar, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. "What is This Thing Called Love" has Nat Peirce on piano, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass and Osie Johnson on drums. "What is This Thing Called Love" has a wonderful chorus of Zottola and Hinton trading fours and Raney's guitar solo on "Three Little Words" is a treat to hear (ending the CD on a mid-up tempo swinger). Zottola's soloing on each track is deeply steeped in the bebop tradition, but highly melodic and always swinging. Zottola speaks further about his thoughts about Parker, "Also, Charlie Parker in many ways took Jazz from the dance hall to the concert hall. The two major influences for me in creating my own jazz style was Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, the alpha and omega in jazz in my opinion. Miles Davis summarized jazz in two names Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. If you just listen and get the concept of how Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker approached music as improvisers in a 'general sense' it will organically seep into your own style and that is all I did. Basically with this tribute I just wanted to acknowledge Charlie Parker in my own way for pointing the way for all of us." Reflections of Charlie Parker is highly recommended, you won't be disappointed on this one!

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