.com Black/Note, a young hard-bop revivalist quintet from Los Angeles, opened for Wynton Marsalis on one of their first major East Coast dates, and the combo hews very closely to the Marsalis party line on the 1994 album Jungle Music. In other words, these young players bring expert chops, a serious demeanor, and a conservative deference to the mainstream jazz tradition of the '50s. Even though all the songs on the album were composed by group members, the tunes sound like studied imitations of Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Lee Morgan. The young members of Black/Note play with considerable skill and admirable harmonic conception, but only rarely does a striking melodic invention burst through and never does one hear the irreverent hint of lust or humor. Black/Note is led by bassist Mark Shelby, who composed six of the album's 11 numbers and who fills the Blakey-like role of supplying the propulsive pulse. He is joined by pianist Ark Sano, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, alto saxophonist James Mahone, drummer Willie Jones, and, on eight of the cuts, by the group's associate member, tenor saxophonist Phil Vieux. They have all mastered the means of jazz communication; now they just have to find something to say. --Geoffrey Himes
T**R
The lost music
Black Note only made two CD's that I know of to this day, "Nothin' but the Swing", and "Jungle Music", equally well crafted, modern jazz with a group of musicians which greatly complimented each other. I tuned in to their music in the early 90's, and was amazed when they didn't make any more recordings. A very neglected and passed over talent, I bought a new "Jungle Music" CD recently for 1 cent, event though I already owned it. This is a demonstration of overlooked , budding musical genius as a casualty to pop culture.
L**P
Fasten your seatbelts.
First disc by this hard bop ensemble. At the time I heard this in the nineties, I thought is this a new kind of music? I laugh now. It's bebop without the Charlie Parker era poor sound quality. We need bands like this. Now I know and it's funny and I listen to this over&over today
M**Y
AWESOME!
THIS A CLASSIC OF THE CLASSIC AND I AM GLAD I WAS ABLE TO GET IT!
E**T
One Cool Jazz Album
Even though they only produced 4 albums, in my opinion, this is Black Note's best jazz album from 1994. If I were to compare the Black Note albums I would put the1996 "Nothin' But the Swing," in second place. Followed by1991's "43rd & Degnan."& ending with 2010's "Los Angeles Underground." This is not to say that they had any bad albums, on the contrary. All the albums have that tight west coast bop sound.If you haven't heard Black Note's music before, to give you a fair example of their sound, think Wayne Shorter's 1966 "Speak No Evil."The group, at that time, consisted of James Mahone on alto sax. Phil Vieux tenor & soprano sax. Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet. Willie Jones III on drums. Mark Anthony Shelby, bass, & Ark Sano, piano. Even though they are young in age they play as if they where hanging out in clubs of the post war years. They play tight, & all the compositions their own, & not interpretations of someone else's work. I was glad to be able to find this album on Amazon.
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1 week ago
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