Instruments of Mass Pleasure
is an insanely good album. The review can end there suitably. The
Alex Budman Contemporary Jazz Orchestra
is a fixture at
Pearl
's in San Francisco, with a sound at least somewhat similar to the
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
. Here, they take on a series of what are primarily their own compositions with one or two other penned numbers thrown in. What one is struck by foremost, though, aside from any composition issues, is that this outfit has some incredible players built in. The album opens with some
big band swing
that hearkens to the advances of the
big band
around the '60s, but with more finesse than many of the older recordings could dream of. In
"Samba in 7,"
the band evokes
Dizzy Gillespie
's
Afro-Cuban
perfectly, despite that not being the intention.
Latin jazz
appears to be a specialty as it's carried into the Corsican-inspired
"Girolata,"
and then it's back to the powerful horn section and the piano prowess of composer
Leonard Thompson
in
"Mood for a Time"
and
"Sidewave."
Each tune and its arrangement highlights yet another point of strength for the band as it swoons and swerves from decadence to decadence. For contemporary
orchestral jazz
, there are a few up-and-comers to be heard, and a few older standard-playing outfits. This band has neither the rigidity of the old guard nor the naivete of the new guard. It can emulate the old masters, but has a style all its own. ~ Adam Greenberg