Trumpetology: This is Trumpetology

If the trumpet is your favourite instrument, by all means keep on reading. This is Trumpetology is the debut album from southern Californian based Trumpetology, an octet led by Walter Simonsen who also acted as producer, along with Paul Young and Ben Burget. The band also features a host of rhythm players dubbed the Rhythm-ologists who also play a major role here as the piano and rhythm section is superb.

The band shed new light on classic standards by Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham and Gershwin. The disc begins with the joyous classic "Autumn Leaves" where layers of trumpet and the rhythm section really finds its groove and keeps things moving at a nice pace. The Miles Davis Penned "Milestones" and "So What" are both excellent with the former featuring stellar sax and piano solos and the latter having a slow developing intro before the band's full on trumpet excursions lead the way home. The bass playing also warrants mention as it is indeed superb. "Sidewinder" is another great jazz track where the snaky piano and bass lines intermingle in a decidedly wonderful way.

Not every track is perfect, most notably the Gershwin classic "Summertime" where the vocals of Tim Gill sound a little flat and don't compare to his wonderful trumpet playing. However, the vocals aren't terrible and the music is still quite lovely. Another misstep is the Skee-lo penned chill out rap song "I Wish", dug out of the mid '90s. It's not bad per se but I'm not sure it necessarily fits with the rest of the tracks and doesn't make for a stunning ending song.

That said, This is Trumpetology is a wonderful platter of jazz tunes that should appeal to jazz fans across the board. Highly recommended.

Track Listing:
1. Autumn Leaves
2. Milestones
3. Sidewinder
4. Anthropology
5. Blues Walk
6. Skydive
7. Prince Albert
8. So What
9. Unit 7
10. Summertime
11. I Wish

Added: July 8th 2016
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 1449
Language: english

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