Record Reviews

MACK GOLDSBURY ~ LIVE AT COCO`S CADENCE JAZZ 1245 (Barcode: 786497583027) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 2011 Released: 2012 This album presents a live recording by a quintet, which comprises of four American Jazz players: saxophonist Mack GoldsburyFind albums by this artist, guitarist Shaun MahoneyFind albums by this artist, bassist Erik UnsworthFind albums by this artist and drummer Ricky MalichiFind albums by this artist and also features the Polish Jazz trumpeter Maciej FortunaFind albums by this artist. The American players are pretty anonymous, but Fortuna is very well known on the Polish Jazz scene in the last couple of years and made several recordings as a leader, co-leader and sideman recently. The album includes seven compositions, two of which are standards, two are by Mahoney and the remaining three are by Goldsbury, Unsworth and Fortuna contributing one composition each. The recording quality is quite good and the music has a worm ambience and a clearly defined sound. Stylistically the music is straightforward American mainstream, which of course in not very exhilarating. Fortunately Mahoney plays some really great and sensitive guitar and Fortuna blows beautifully, as always, being by far the best musician in the quintet and his composition is the most ambitious of the original compositions present herein. There is very little innovation or ambitious improvisation here, with the quintet sticking to the melody like flies to honey, which of course is hardly surprising. To put things in the right perspective, this is a respectable showcase of mainstream Jazz, which simply becomes sort of "not very exciting" after a while. Of course it´s very educational for Fortuna to play with American Jazz musicians, as Jazz in Poland sounds pretty different in most cases. Dues have to be paid and these cats can swing. So no harm done and Fortuna gets another album in his discography, where he shows off his chops. Would I pay money to buy this music? Sorry… I´d have probably enjoyed the evening at the club when this music was recorded, but not much beyond. But hey, that´s just me, if you like mainstream Jazz, this ain´t bad at all.

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MACK GOLDSBURY / MACIEJ FORTUNA ~ ACTIVE RUSH FM 014 ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 2011 - 2013 Released: 2013 This album presents a collection of six live and one studio recordings by the American Jazz quartet led by saxophonist Mack GoldsburyFind albums by this artist and including guitarist Shaun MahoneyFind albums by this artist, bassist Erik UnsworthFind albums by this artist and drummer Ricky MalichiFind albums by this artist, which also features as a guest soloist the excellent Polish Jazz trumpeter Maciej FortunaFind albums by this artist. This quintet recorded and released a couple of albums earlier on. The album presents seven original compositions, five by Mahoney and one each by Goldsbury and Fortuna. I have never managed to figure out why Fortuna plays with this quartet, which is an epitome of American mainstream, devoid of any ambition or interest. He is by far a much more talented and skillful player than any of his partners herein and the music he plays with his own ensembles is infinitely more interesting and far-reaching. However, since this is his choice, we should respect it and decide if we want to listen to it or not. Of course American mainstream spiced up by a brilliant trumpeter can not be all that bad and many Jazz listeners can enjoy this music in full. These are decent tunes and the playing is professional and vigorous, so there is plenty to like if you are into that kind of Jazz. Personally I´d rather wait for the next "proper" recording by Fortuna.

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