专辑简介

If this band fell directly out of bed, onto the bandstand, they’d still be a knock out. Soulful, articulate and at moments profound, they acquit the Ulli Jünemann-driven project with verve, warmth and depth. Whatever ‘jazz’ means, this is a real jazz album. Jünemann makes the classic attempt to set indestructible forms in the laps of his renowned cohorts to see what will be on the day. And it seems it was a good day. Legends Nussbaum and Anderson - veterans of the form - turned up to breath life into the pages and, as warrior comrades are wont to do, vanquish the twin foes of recklessness and predictability. Jünemann’s own expressive alto playing runs the gamut: in one moment cooly intellectual, in the next oozing sensuality - lots of twists and surprises, yet always relatable. Tone-master Prins never fails to warm things up with his turn-on-a-dime phrasing and plush, ever-present support. The title track - ’Boo Hoo’ - starts and finishes sounding like a seventies Blake Edwards film soundtrack, then stretches out with some nicely weird soloing before coming round full circle to its, ‘Haven’t I heard this tune before?’ melody. That Jünemann is a composer steeped in the classics, is determined conclusively on his lovely, melancholy and mysterioso ‘Weazle of Dreams,’ a piece that, reminiscent of Jimmy Rowles’ masterwork ‘The Peacocks’, functions ideally for the bassist’s showcase. In moments of alchemical mixing-and-melting by Jünemann-Prins, one feels like some mysterious guest instrumentalist has joined the quartet as a fifth element. This is particularly clear on ‘Zorro,’ one of JF‘s three contributions to the effort of composition and on Jünemann’s ‘Rehaa’, which starts out with clean Martino-like phrasing and later hits some Abercrombie highs as the pair lose all inhibition. In a jazz climate governed increasingly by the bottom-line, it takes guts to do high-end projects on shoestring budgets. We music consumers - pampered with instant availability and distracting gadgetry - can easily lose track of whole musical ideas. When the experience of listening becomes fragmented the music can seem to make  little sense. This album should be swallowed whole, in a single gulp. Sam Masich 
(SamMasich.com)