Allen, Eddie
DBCD, 2009, CD
Instrument: Trumpet
Issue: 15.4
Jazz Ruler Type: Bebop
Performance: 5
Sound: 4
Score: 98
O’s Notes: Trumpeter Eddie Allen leads a brassy jazz ensemble through fourteen Christmas classics. Kenny Davis (b) and Carl Allen (d) provide the backbone with Cecil Bridgewater (t), W. Marshall Sealy (fr h) and Clark Gayton (tb) making harmony with Eddie. And it is sweet harmony indeed as Allen’s arrangements allow for generous improvisation. His approach features warm, layered brass vs. boundaryless free form. They use a calypso basis for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” that puts the tune in motion. We also liked “Deck the Halls”, “We Three Kings”, “O Holy Night”, “Frosty The Snowman” and the medley “Away In A Manger”. The cover is bright and playfully colorful and that is the spirit of Allen’s effort but the music is serious, sophisticated jazz!
Publicist: Jazz Promo Services