COMMENTS ON THE CD “SO TAKEN”

A WORK BY RALPH ROSEN

August 19,2004

1.Waltz Ralph

Truly a sound of surprise and as fresh as a baby’s behind (after a good wiping). I am not clear as to who wrote that but if Ralph is the composer then students who hide behind the phrase “I’m a drummer” as an excuse for not understanding the subject matter on arranging classes are doomed in my class by Ralph, Ted Pease, Warrick Carter, Etc. I envy the very hip concept that is presented here.

2. Heart

A great use of space and time. Hats off to the recording engineer (Peter Kontrimas) for capturing such a fat sound from the wind players. I had a chance to experience the excellent engineering by Peter back in the 90’s when I played for Rebecca Paris.

3. Guinnevere

Funky low down bass in the intro, fortells the seriousness and reality of the composition. This is definitely jazz in it’s purest form and I find this music a bit atypical of a lot of Boston based music, especially that of students who are doing the “LOOK MA, NO HANDS” format that is popular among them, most of which suffers from the inclusion of “feeling”, “soulfulness” and “swing ability”. This track has all of the above. One gets the feeling of tonal clarity also.

4. Guardian

Piano intro of chordal statement is a good attention getter. Enters sax, this is art. This is music with something to say and I feel, as a listener, that I am receiving respect from the designers of the material of this work and I am therefore experiencing a feeling of listener gratitude for this presentation by such professionals. I did pickup on the church “bag” that was inserted near the end of this composition which I thought was interesting.

5. Aftermath

The first thing that I thought of on this one was the old jazz phrase “give the drummer some”. The interchange made me think of two brother slaves perhaps communicating “Let’s get the flock outta here”, just before the slave masters banned conga drum playing. Then the very soulful bass and melody come in providing a very appreciated addition to the whole work.

6. Blues For Terry

“Blues for Anybody” creates an expectation of some realistic expression of soulful music and this one delivers although it does not travel through the expected 12 bar blues structure which brings about a very pleasant surprise and shows a  mature concept on the part of the composer. I liked not only the idea and structure but also the presentation by the players here.

7. So Taken

Interesting uses of oblique and contrary motions in the melodies in this one. The are ranges in which the winds were placed was very complimentary for the combined brightness without getting too bright. Compliments to the mixing of this CD. One does not become tired of listening to this very pleasing work of art. A great bass ad-lib. Bruno Raberg makes me want to grab my bass and practice. I like the way he hits the overtone G on the G string which I always do when the opportunity presents itself.

8. Double Blues

I get it, a 24 bar blues with the bars doubled.  This reminds me of what my best friend Eddie Harris used to do on a gig, except he would play the blues through all 12 keys a half step up every two choruses at this tempo. You are showing your respect for the thing that Duke Ellington said was very important, SWING. Throughout this whole CD you have touched on the major elements of jazz that are important factors for the style. A lot of people these days put out garbage that they call jazz and I have long ago come to the point where, if I cannot feel like I am hearing jazz, I stop listening. I really liked this straight ahead, swinging composition.

9. Doina for Brother Jim

This composition was indeed the most expressive. It has a reasonable amount of improvisation mixed in with some very interesting “mid eastern” melodic quarter-tone melodies. Jim must have been a great person and the music that you made for him was very well put together, given that you, Ralph, are such a nice, unselfish person, I am sure that a good amount of Jim’s goodness rubbed off on you.

10. The Journey

Joe Mulholland has a magnificent touch that few pianists have aquired and this is so beautifully displayed in his performance of this track. How fitting that this wonderful musical work ends with such a stellar rendition by Joe who leaves a good taste in the ear of the listener. This is a very entertaining and “on track” CD with performances by the best of Berklee College of Music.

Richard Evans, Professor, CWP Department, Berklee College of Music