Jazz Side of The Moon

A unique Jazz album entitled The Jazz Side of The Moon is the next in Chesky Records series of newly recorded Jazz performances. The album is subtitled “The Music of Pink Floyd” and as you might guess, it presents a new take on the classic album The Dark Side of The Moon by Pink Floyd.

Returning anew to the original record it's fascinating to re-discover how provocative Pink Floyd's classic remains, and to hear how well this quartet's collective interplay served that music. And how beautifully Sam Yahel's organ-while not the dominant voice, surely a prominent presence-sets the aesthetic tone for these proceedings: nothing rushed or forced or extravagant…elegant and swinging and exploratory, never stepping on anyone's toes-deceptively laid back and responsive, always listening intently, with plenty of rhythmic vitality…a sensibility he shares with collaborators Mike Moreno, Ari Hoenig and Seamus Blake, which goes a long ways towards explaining why their take on Pink Floyd's music is so engaging and stands up so well to repeated listenings.

It's a bold concept; take Pink Floyd's iconic Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest, 1973) and reinterpret it in a big band jazz setting. With upwards of forty million copies sold, every note, every nuance of Floyd's eighth album is so firmly entrenched in the minds of the band's legion devotees that to tamper with the work in any way is to leave oneself open to facile criticism. French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê, however, is nothing if not adventurous. Lê has already demonstrated on Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (ACT Music, 2007) and Songs of Freedom (ACT Music, 2012)—his tribute to classic pop and rock songs of the 1960s and 1970s—that he can breathe new life into old material without being overly reverential.

March, 1973… A quartet known for its psychedelic inclinations delivered a fortress of an album: The Dark Side of The Moon was a musical UFO featuring the most advanced technology of the period, a stratospheric record which mirrored society and our errant human ways. Pink Floyd was about to write an essential chapter in rock history and enjoy planetary fame; even today, their album is still one of the greatest sellers of all time.

America's loudest lounge singer Richard Cheese performs swingin' Vegas versions of rock and rap songs, "swankifying" popular Top40 hits into retro vocal standards. Imagine Sinatra singing Radiohead, and you've got Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine.
Backed by Bobby Ricotta on piano, Frank Feta on drums, and Billy Bleu on bass, Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine have played hundreds of sellout concerts all over the world, from Las Vegas to London, from Portland to Portugal, from Honolulu to Hollywood. With his snappy jazz trio, his tiger-striped tuxedo, and his enormous microphone, lounge legend Richard Cheese presents the perfect mix of music, martini, and madcap.

This 1975 slab by drummer Redd Holt was his second outing after the disintegration of the Young-Holt Unlimited rhythm team. Tighter and more adventurous than Isaac, Isaac, Isaac, its predecessor, Holt goes for the heart of rhythm here, letting it flower over the top of all the other arrangements. As a way of signifying this, he opens the set with a short but deeply funky and soulful rendition of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." With less than two-and-a-half minutes of clock time, it's get out and go or nothing and Holt makes his tom-toms pop like snares, keeping only the slamming guitaristry of Randy Ford on top with him. Elsewhere, as on "Gimme Some Mo," Holt intertwines with keyboardist Eugene Curry to allow bassist Jose Holmes to cut the groove fast and deep, popping it all over the sonic spectrum like Bootsy Collins but with more finesse…

Rita Marcotulli is a hidden gem of european piano playing. Here she explores the timbres of the piano [some thumping & various metal bits placed on the strings - often used as repeat patterns to play over] but mostly plays beautiful melodic pieces. The last track has a quirky bit of singing through a megaphone - gorgeous ! She keeps well within herself, choosing to explore sonorities and harmonies rather than speedy runs. Could be listened to at a dinner party without shocking a non-jazz audience.