A jazz album built on runs and tone. The tones are rich and exotic (especially on Cherokee and George's Dilemma) and runs are catchy and melodically satisfying, but here's the problem: they're often doubled, which is a real pet peeve of mine.
It's not that I expect that the main motifs to be improvised, but when two guys play in unison it shatters the atmosphere of spontaneity and energy. It's analogous to the "we like to emphasize the end of the LINE! so we all shout it at the same TIME!" move in rap: I know you're not freestyling, but I don't need to be reminded that you guys are on-script every other bar.
I think if I was a jazz musician, or if I saw more live jazz, I'd appreciate this move more: I'd see what a beautiful thing it is to have two musicians pull of a twirling piece of airshow spectacle in perfect unison. But as abstract music, divorced from the process of performance, it just sounds crowded and overbusy and overbuzzy. Which is maybe a failing of mine. Appreciation takes patience. In the meantime, let's underrate some more motherfuckin' jazz! 3/5
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