专辑简介

John Gunther专辑介绍：by Steven LoewyJohn Gunther's most successful album to date, this one features some of his best compositions and arrangements, coupled with superb improvisations from the entire band. Using a quintet of performers (he calls the group "Axis Mundi") familiar with his work, Gunther has a knack for writing startling, attractive melodies, such as the infectious "Nino & Kiva," which sounds surprisingly familiar from the outset. Gunther builds on a wide scope of influences, from Ornette-like sounds, to North American Indian folk tunes, to country & western, to the blues, to modern avant-garde jazz. It certainly helps to have a front line as talented as trumpeter Ron Miles, violinist Rob Thomas, not to mention Gunther. There is a bittersweet quality to much of it, with hooks and twists, and noir-ish moods, although the variety is so great that to invite comparison is futile. As with his earlier Healing Song, there is one tune ("Monk's Mood") by Thelonious Monk, which Gunther performs on clarinet in duo with Miles in a slow, laconic adventure that never loses sight of the melody. With so many different genres, it is to Gunther's credit that this full-length recording works so well as a whole, never descending to pastiche. This one's a winner all the way, and one that listeners will likely return to time and time again.