It's every prime time soap watcher's fantasy. Imagine you have in your lap a full season's worth of storylines and character twists and turns from your favorite primetime soap before anyone else. You know who's going to whine, fight and make up; you've got the inside track on these charming, perpetual adolescents as they leap from romance to romance and bed to bed. Larry Hamby and Patrick Clifford of Windham Hill Records found themselves in that enviable situation when the producers of Fox-TV's Melrose Place turned to the label for source music to complete the ambience of The Upstairs Jazz Club, "owned" by Heather Locklear's character Amanda.
A commercial release featuring the artists who would appear on the show was the next logical step; Windham Hill has an extensive catalog of best selling, stylistically diverse new age samplers, and the company is currently focused on building its contemporary jazz stable. The result is Melrose Place Jazz, a sixteen track collection featuring brand new or recent material from contemporary jazz, newcomers and jazz/R&B female vocalists. "Amazingly, Celeste and Frank knew all the twists and turns of the plotlines for the rest of the season, and they had in mind exactly the kinds of tunes they needed," says Hamby, VP of A&R for Windham Hill and co-producer of the disc with Clifford. "Our early discussions focused on some logical guidelines. It was easy for me to develop a sense of the show-messy, tragic, romantic relationships against which the music would play. The tracks had to have three things - drama, melancholy and pathos."
"We sought to balance songs of raw emotion with calmer ambient pieces that would either underscore what the characters were going through, play off the energy of a particular dialogue exchange or simply fit in as club atmosphere," adds South. "We didn't just pick random tunes that sounded nice. As if we were scoring a film, we carefully considered themes based on each character's latest circumstances."
In a clever contrast to the uppity nature of most of the show's characters and the hyperbole of their dramatic situations, the recording's best tunes feature magnificently restrained efforts by Etta James, Diana Krall and Patti Cathcart of Tuck and Patti. James hits a soulful chord greeting "The Man I Love", while Cathcart marvels, her rich husky timbre soaring above the eloquent electric guitar lines of Tuck Andress, at the power of love's deliverance on the plaintive "Takes My Breath Away".
Sometimes, the song in the background told the whole story. When Andrew Shue's Billy was first falling for his latest flame, Krall's witty, sly phrasing on "I Don't Know Enough About You" communicated the subtle joys that he was experiencing on the club's dance floor. When Kelly Rutherford's Meghan agreed to reconcile with her beau, the action cut from her apartment to saxophonist Tom Scott simmering alongside a trio of gospel-based singers on a cover of the Taylor Dayne hit, "Love Will Lead You Back."
South explains the need for this project to have broad appeal to the show's highest demographic, which is 18-49 year old women; the results of this catering are mixed. Most of the instrumental tracks are pretty straightforward and mellow, even a bit on the bland side; the kind of amiable ballads and mid-tempo tunes smooth jazz radio devours but which are more of a primer on the genre than of any innovative significance. Only a few cuts rise above this sugary, rhythmically easy approach - Tom Scott's Latin brass punch playing cat and mouse with Buzz Feiten's rocking guitar on the "Melrose Place Theme," and Ernie Watt's bop-laced tangent on Don Grusin's "Solaria." Also jaunting above the pack is the revelation of vocalist/saxman Johnny Reno, whose blues-drenched, "Route 66"-influenced dash on "Martinis at Eight" captures the hip timelessness of the recent swing explosion.
"This sort of easygoing jazz is a cool thing these days, and it's more an outgrowth of the show's introduction of the jazz club than simply a marketing gimmick," says Hamby. "On the other hand, we're all aware of the agenda that we were filling. It's about as far from hardcore jazz as 'jazz' can get and yet, anything too groundbreaking would have been inappropriate. By hitting the points in between hard and soft, we will hopefully expand the audience for the type of sound that defines the new Windham Hill."
In his long tenure with Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band, rock and roll saxman Alto Reed has performed solos from hot air balloons and scaled towering stacks of PA speakers strapped in a Peter Pan-like harness by piano wires. He could have used more of this adventurous spirit on his close to the vest, smooth jazz debut Cool Breeze (Harmonie Park). Ironically, except for one tune, Reed belies his name by playing a rich, robust low toned tenor throughout - but mostly in the service of laid back pleasantries which offer little room to kick up dust. Reed eventually jolts the mood by hitting the Detroit rock and soul groove on "It's Time To Stop Shoppin Around," an aggressive reworking of Smokey Robinson's first hit. Reed textures a hi-tone tenor melody with the low harmony tones of Bob Funk's trombone, punching up the chorus with the funk-drenched strut of the Uptown Horns. The tune is the ultimate R&B/jazz-rock party, from Reed's own squealing improvisations and Bill Payne's lively piano solo to Donnie Lyle's bubbling guitar.
It must be frustrating for faithful Christian instrumentalists to sing the praises sans lyrics; in the case of vibrant newcomer saxman Tom Braxton on the slick, in the pocket Katallasso (Positive Music), he includes a liner note inscription thematically linking titles in a spiritual fashion; he explains that Jesus is "The Way," we "Surrender" to Him and He sees us as "Diamonds in the Rough". Two spoken word interludes - featuring multiple voices, varied languages and percussion background - explain that the album title is Greek for "reconciliation," as in sinners to God. But his faith aside, Braxton's music can be enjoyed secularly, too. Braxton infuses a mix of memorable lite-funk melodies with some unique production touches - potent horn doubling and an unexpected power rock guitar solo by Daran DeShazo on "Ian's Song," for instance. "Samba Sao" is a sharply conceived duet with that other evangelical smooth jazz cat, Kirk Whalum; the two twist and wind their soprano and tenor, respectively, through Jackson's smooth lines, Bill Cantos' graceful piano harmonies and Brian Kilgore's soundscaping, doubling for the chorus and doing a catty call and response throughout the verses.
There's an antidote for those who like the sugary tones of the soprano sax but can't deal with the cloying approach of Kenny G - Marion Meadows, who has released a stream of solid, gently grooving discs since 1991. The happy-go-lucky melodies and sharp improvisations on his fifth album echo the liner notes' sentiment: "Oh sweet saxophone - what Pleasure (Discovery/Sire) you bring." As always, Meadows's playing is more about catchy hooks and straightforward delivery than flashy chops, but he stretches beyond this conservative angle on tunes like "Lucky Girl"; while never losing sight of the basic melodic riff, Meadows goes on an inventive tangent with bassist Waymon Tisdale, honking a sharp sax line, giving way to Tisdale's curt reply, then joining in harmonic agreement. Meadows has an unfortunate habit of relying too much on backing vocals, and has greater success jamming with his instrumental guests, particularly Chieli Minucci, whose tender acoustic guitar provides graceful harmony behind Meadow's by the numbers reading of "Unbreak My Heart".
It wouldn't be a surprise to find the glorious retro-soul CD Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite a fixture in Chris Standring's disc changer. Velvet (Instinct Jazz), the guitarist's first solo effort after the blazing funk effort by Solar System (led by Standring and this album's keyboardist/producer Rodney Lee), is full of glittery synth-created Hammond B-3 and Fender Rhodes flavors, hypnotic synth washes and gentle shuffling grooves, punchy wah-wah harmonies and dreamy, otherworldly effects. If Maxwell could improvise like George Benson, this is what the hybrid might be. Standring waits till the tenth track, "Victoria Road," before giving us a truly infectious electric guitar melody that stands apart from its rhythmic base and doesn't seep into the next song. But the disc seems more about Standring's Benson-like precision and technique, and brilliant vibe-intensive production than just tunes. On standout tracks like "Silhouette" and the sax accented "Sneaky," Standring and Lee effortlessly swirl the electric guitar melody with subtle acoustic harmonies, effective wah-wah kicks and some Crusaders flavored key improvisations.
With its Wurlitzer harmonies and wah-wah guitar splashes echoing Earth, Wind & Fire-like singalong vocals by Calvin Baugh, the opening track on Evan Marks' Three Day Weekend (Verve Forecast) - "I Like My Wah Wah Funky" leads us to believe we might have stumbled upon yet another soul-colored 70s tribute. But Marks does even more impressive time traveling than that; he runs the gamut from the surf guitar 60's through the heavy metal 80s and on into the trip-hop production of the current decade. Digging into the low registers of the Fender and Gretch guitars on "Shakedown," Marks creates an atmosphere that could work with any spy thriller of the 60s - if only Rob Whitlock's alternating on Wurlitzer and B-3 didn't thrust the melodic core into the 70s so often. Even more powerful are the in your face, Van Halen like crunching vamps which propel "Antarctica" (whose main melody Marks plays in a less aggressive Wes Montgomery style, albeit over edgy electronic percussion) and "No Fly Zone," which features a powerful duality by Marks and one of Art Porter's last guest spots on alto (the album is dedicated to his memory).
| Artist | Album title | Label |
|
MELROSE PLACE JAZZ
|
MELROSE PLACE JAZZ
|
Windham Hill |
|
ALTO REED
|
Cool Breeze
|
Harmonie Park
|
|
TOM BRAXTON
|
Katallasso
|
Positive Music
|
|
MARION MEADOWS
|
Pleasure
|
Discovery
|
|
CHRIS STANDRING
|
Velvet
|
Instinct Jazz
|
|
EVAN MARKS
|
Three Day Weekend
|
Verve Forecast
|
Created 7/10/98