Warren Vaché – John Allred Quintet – Live in Berne, Switzerland at Marians Jazzroom: Jubilation - Arbors Records – ARCD 19369, 69:20 **** [Distr. by Allegro]:

(Warren Vaché, cornet, vocal (tr. 7, 11); John Allred, trombone; Tardo Hammer, piano; Nicki Parrott, bass, vocal (7); Leroy Williams, drums)

Arbors continues their extensive series of putting together top caliber veteran jazz musicians with crack rhythm sections and letting them loose with well recognizable songs from the Great American Songbook and other well known composers. It’s a recipe for success and Arbors seems to have a patent on the formula. After all it’s a fail-safe proposition for mainstream fans. It provides a sweetness with a sure fire chance for swing and occasional bop to reach an appreciative audience. With Jubilation, Arbors has met expectations with spades.

In a small group context, Vache's bright and literate trumpet or cornet work gets a little more of the spotlight. This pianoless quartet also showcases the criminally underrated guitarist Joe Puma, the fine-toned bassist Murray Wall, and the veteran drummer Eddie Locke. They collectively epitomize the continuing swing tradition.

Vache also fancies himself an entertaining singer in the Jack Sheldon tradition. He goes into sly enunciations with Puma's lustrous chords during "Comes Love," tells a tale of being swamped by in-laws for "I'll Never See Maggie Alone," and obviously not diabetic, relates defiance for diets, glorifying gorging in the swinging "Too Phat Blues." Watch your triglycerides Warren! Puma wrote three of the pieces: the sweet, implied bossa/tango "Bossango" sans drums; the "Cherokee"-based, well-swung "Pow Wow"; and the 12-bar original "See Jim/Jane/Joe/C-Jam Blues," which features the guitarist's gliding chords along with Vache's muted horn and traded fours with Locke's brushed drums and cymbals.

Album: Don't Look Back
Artist: Warren Vaché
Release Date: 6/13/2006
Genre: Jazz

Cornetist Warren Vaché had more than 35 albums as a leader under his belt before he was finally able to realize his lifelong dream of making an album with a string ensemble. Don't Look Back was recorded in Glasgow with a 12-piece studio group called simply the Scottish Ensemble, and Vaché had the additional great fortune of securing the arranging skills of 87-year-old Bill Finegan, a legend who was essentially drawn out of retirement for this project. The deep experience of all concerned is showcased brilliantly on this album, which is basically an hour-long study in elaborate and gorgeously orchestrated melancholy. This would be called "make-out music" if it weren't all so richly and wonderfully sad -- it's more like breakup music for a couple who still loves each other and bears no ill will, but knows the relationship is doomed and is anxious to break it off gently and leave the happy memories intact. Vaché's tone is warm and heartbreakingly lovely throughout; the string arrangements are, unsurprisingly, richly detailed but never ostentatious. There are no uptempo numbers; from the hauntingly beautiful "It Was Written in the Stars," which opens the program, to the bittersweet title track that ends it, this album moves slowly and gracefully through various shades of lyrical blue, never stopping but never hurrying, either. This is perhaps not the best album to listen to if you're depressed already -- but if you're in the mood for something soft and sad, for mood music that rewards close attention, then you'd be hard pressed to find anything better than this. Very highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide