“The Author and the Source”, Arlington Jones
“The Author and the Source”, Arlington Jones, Zamaria, 2001
In the past few years the jazz world has returned to traditional sounds. This CD is one of the happy results of that trend.
Arlington Jones’s web site calls this CD: “one of the most astounding productions the music industry will ever see!” That is misleading, since it does not try to astound, but instead it impresses you by its straight forward approach.
It is the type of thing that you have heard before, but there is an energy and creativity behind it that you can feel more than analyze. It may be due to Jones’s deep religious conviction. Each of the thirteen titles on this live performance, all written by Jones, is accompanied on the CD sleeve with a Bible verse.
Nine of the cuts have pianist Jones backed by Jerome Allen or Robert DeBoo on bass, and Jason Thomas on drums. The opening one is a rhythmic Latin workout, “Cielos Abiertos.” The others with the trio are mostly mid-tempo with beautiful melodies. The gently swinging “Sounds Like True Religion” is a bit faster, while “You Are the Sweetest Thing” features Doug Feil, whose vocals sound a bit like Stevie Wonder.
The other cuts include one or more extra musicians playing trumpet, flugelhorn, or sax. All of these are carefully arranged, with the solos coming in place just as they would in a big band.
None of the players tries to show off. They let the well-written compositions speak for themselves, with their melodic twists and turns and varying time signatures.
This is what “smooth jazz” should be, interesting and quietly propulsive without being vapid or overrun with studio tricks. Hopefully the Texas-based Jones, who is only thirty-one, will come up with a lot more music like this.
- Dave Howell
(This article first appeared in the FMSound music site.)
In the past few years the jazz world has returned to traditional sounds. This CD is one of the happy results of that trend.
Arlington Jones’s web site calls this CD: “one of the most astounding productions the music industry will ever see!” That is misleading, since it does not try to astound, but instead it impresses you by its straight forward approach.
It is the type of thing that you have heard before, but there is an energy and creativity behind it that you can feel more than analyze. It may be due to Jones’s deep religious conviction. Each of the thirteen titles on this live performance, all written by Jones, is accompanied on the CD sleeve with a Bible verse.
Nine of the cuts have pianist Jones backed by Jerome Allen or Robert DeBoo on bass, and Jason Thomas on drums. The opening one is a rhythmic Latin workout, “Cielos Abiertos.” The others with the trio are mostly mid-tempo with beautiful melodies. The gently swinging “Sounds Like True Religion” is a bit faster, while “You Are the Sweetest Thing” features Doug Feil, whose vocals sound a bit like Stevie Wonder.
The other cuts include one or more extra musicians playing trumpet, flugelhorn, or sax. All of these are carefully arranged, with the solos coming in place just as they would in a big band.
None of the players tries to show off. They let the well-written compositions speak for themselves, with their melodic twists and turns and varying time signatures.
This is what “smooth jazz” should be, interesting and quietly propulsive without being vapid or overrun with studio tricks. Hopefully the Texas-based Jones, who is only thirty-one, will come up with a lot more music like this.
- Dave Howell
(This article first appeared in the FMSound music site.)