Top 10 Contemporary Jazz – March 22, 1992

1. Yellowjackets – Live Wires (GRP)
2. Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea – Play (Blue Note)
3. Marcus Roberts – As Serenity Approaches (Novus)
4. Diane Schuur, In Tribute (GRP)
5. The Harper Brothers, You Can Hide Inside the Music (Verve)
6. Acoustic Alchemy, Early Alchemy (GRP)
7. Vanessa Rubin, Soul Eyes (Novus)
8. Special EFX, Global Village (GRP)
9. Kilauea, Tropical Pleasures (Brainchild)
10. Steve Laury, Passion (Denon)

I was a fan of Yellowjackets at the time. I’d  listened to “Mile High,” “Geneva,” and “Wildlife” from Four Corners many times. I liked some tracks from The Spin and Greenhouse. On this live recording, I loved “Revelation” with Take 6 on vocals. I enjoyed Michael Franks adapting “Local Hero” into “The Dream.” I still recommend “Wildlife,” a track then-bassist Jimmy Haslip describes as “an African 6/8 piece with several layers of interlocking melodies and polyrhythms. It creates a hypnotic mood.”

I know Bob Mintzer is the saxophonist on this and all subsequent Yellowjackets recordings. Whatever happened to Marc Russo, the saxman he succeeded?

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1. David Benoit and Russ Freeman, The Benoit/Freeman Project
2. Nelson Rangell, Yes Then Yes
3. Tom Scott, Reed My Lips
4. Richard Smith, From My Window
5. Torcuato Mariano, Paradise Station
6. Marcus Miller, The Sun Don’t Lie
7. Yellowjackets, Run for Your Life
8. Fourplay, Between the Sheets
9. Gary Burton/Rebecca Parris, It’s Another Day
10. Charles Michael Brotman, Pacific Rendezvous

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Greenhouse was the first recording featuring new saxophonist Bob Mintzer. The music continued the trajectory away from pop-jazz that had most evident in their previous recording The Spin. Mintzer is still with the quartet as is founding member Russell Ferrante and, several years away from the band, William Kennedy.

Healing the Wounds was a complete surprise when it came in to the radio station where I was volunteering. No advance notice or hype. You could pull that off in 1991. Produced by Marcus Miller, Healing the Wounds featured band founders Joe Sample and Wilton Felder in great form. I still love the opening track “Pessimisticism.”

Also of note on this chart:

• Iguana by Ray Obiedo cracked the top 10.
• Arturo Sandoval’s first recording after defecting from Cuba, Flight to Freedom, was climbing fast.
• Still a favorite of mine, Claus Ogerman featuring Michael Brecker, was in its ninth week on the chart.
• Steve Laury, former guitarist of Fattburger, released his first solo recording, Stepping Out, which was on the rise.

Antigua Blue, the debut recording by Kilauea, was in at the beginning of what would be a 19-week stay on the chart. Here’s what I remember the talk was at the time. Dean Whitney, who had discovered Russ Freeman, had some Freeman songs. In an attempt to capitalize on the increasing popularity of Freeman’s Rippingtons, Whitney built a band to record the songs for his Brainchild label. All of the tracks on Antigua Blue are Freeman compositions. The disc even featured Ripps Brandon Fields, Steve Reid, Steve Bailey, and Tony Morales. What I’d heard was that Freeman was not at all pleased with this. The title Rippoffingtons was used. Antigua Blue was sorely missing Freeman’s production skills. Fortunately, Kilauea leader Daniel Ho found his voice, the band tightened up, and some good songs were on their next recordings.

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