Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 04/03/2007
A sophisticated showcase for his varied
jazz styles,
Jeff Lorber's
He Had a Hat finds the pianist moving from softly funky
pop-
jazz numbers to a few straight-ahead swingers. Always an urbane and tasteful musician,
Lorber has often found a good balance between contemporary
pop oriented material and more cerebral improvisational cuts, and
He Had a Hat is a prime example of this duality. To these ends, tracks like the title cut and the frenetic
"Surreptitious" evince a kind of
Tower of Power meets
Brecker Brothers funk. Fittingly, trumpeter
Randy Brecker adds his supple chops to the latter track. Similarly engaging
big-band numbers like
"All Most Blues" and the afterglow ballad
"Orchid" bring to mind both early- and late-period
Miles Davis, respectively. Also joining
Lorber here are a bevy of name artists including trumpeter
Chris Botti, vocalist
Paula Cole, saxophonist
Gerald Albright, and many others.This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
~Matt Collar, All Music Guide