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Pianist Andre Previn's jazz reinvention of select numbers from West Side Story gives songs like "Jet Song" and "I Feel Pretty" their birthright: a hefty bebop swagger and deep swing.
Even though I agree with some points the gentleman from NC wrote, I do feel more of a heavy swing, than the west coast jazz. The review from e-music said something about a be-bop feel and I got a feel for that also. I liked the musical scores and commmend them for putting a differant feel to the songs. Because this is a Broadway show no one song can stand on it's own. With that being said, the songs I downloaded: Maria, Pretty Girl, and the Jets are all ok in there make-up and sound if you like be-bop and heavy swing with that late 50's early 60's appeal.
With an upright bass and trap set added to his masterfully played piano, Bernstein's West Side Story score is given Previn's full West Coast Jazz treatment. Sadly, it changes the character of the songs in a negative way. While the plaintive, quiet charts of "Tonight" and "Maria" fit those love songs (perhaps better than the originals), "Cool" and "Officer Krupke" lose much in translation. "America" has none of the sass, none of the Latin heat that drove the original. It's a hot pepper that's over-cooked: the flavor is mellowed to the point of boredom. The transfer, as well as the original recording, is very high quality. I love hearing the nuances of a good bass player, and Red Mitchell is one of the best of his day. The restraint and tasteful drumming of Shelly Manne makes the great engineering appreciated as well. While this set is a fine example of the West Coast Jazz of the 1950's and '60's, it's a pale reflection of jazz native to where these three were born.
Some good music never goes out of style: Jazz fans everywhere revere the cooking hard bop of the 1950s. So why is the other big '50s trend, cool jazz, barely on modern radar? If you want to know how fresh and airy it still sounds, hear trumpeter/composer/arranger/cool exemplar Shorty Rogers on "Popo," "Didi," "Four Mothers" and "Sam and the Lady" from his first 1951 octet session: tightly arranged, swinging jazz with breezy orchestral colors, and… more »
