Shortly after that recording, however, Ford decided to part ways and go in a different musical direction. They recorded their first album together in 1980. Too much When I leave here: He Don´t Play Nothin But The Blues Revelation: Ain´t got nothin but the Blues He don´t play nothing but the Blues He don´t play nothing but the Blues He don´t play nothing but the Blues Hotlines Indianola (new) Moonchild Blues Nothing to nobody RevelationProducer Robben Ford, Scott Ferguson Saxophone Brandon Fields ( tracks: A1 ) , Vince Denham ( tracks: B1 ) Synthesizer Bill Payne ( tracks: B4 ) , Brian Mann ( tracks: A3 )The Yellowjackets formed in the late 1970’s as the backup band for guitarist Robben Ford.
History of the BandIn 1977, Robben Ford assembled a group of veteran session musicians to record his album The Inside Story. With his exceptional rhythmic sensibility and natural disposition toward groove, Dane brings a new energy to the band and adds a youthful approach to the music. Never failing to rise to the inevitable challenges of adjustment, the Yellowjackets - Russell Ferrante, William Kennedy, Bob Mintzer - have maintained an extraordinarily high quality of musicianship that is the rival of many but a surprise to no one who knows and appreciates the band and their music.The most recent addition to the band adds Australian bass player Dane Alderson in to the mix. Since then, and with the addition of Bob Mintzer, the Yellowjackets have gained and maintained prominence as one of jazz’s most influential and loved groups.Over the years the band has undergone numerous lineup changes.
This rock-solid lineup took the Yellowjackets into new territory, exploring world beats and densely-populated soundscapes that reflected a growing maturity in their music. 1986 saw the group moving over to MCA Records to record Shades, the title track being written by Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan fame) as a tribute to the many “shades” he heard in the group’s music.With their album Four Corners, Ricky Lawson departed to join Lionel Richie’s touring band and was replaced by the versatile William Kennedy. This landmark concert paved the way for their eventual success both on the Billboard Jazz charts and concert venues around the world, and resulted in the third spicy Yellowjackets album Samurai Samba.
The two albums that followed, Like A River and Run For Your Life, reflected a growing interest in straight-ahead acoustic jazz.With 1995’s Dreamland, Yellowjackets returned to their first record label, Warner Brothers, producing their most relaxed, and relaxing, recording to date. Live Wires captures the group in concert with Mintzer at the helm. The Jackets also recorded on one of Bob Mintzer’s dmp Records projects, One Music. Shortly thereafter, Bob Mintzer became a bona fide member of Yellowjackets. With Marc gone, the Yellowjackets trio would record one of their most adventurous albums to date, featuring ace big band arranger and saxophonist Bob Mintzer on many of the tracks, and string accompaniments on a handful of others. Marc Russo’s final recording with Yellowjackets, The Spin, was recorded in Oslo, Norway by noted engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug (well known for his work on the ECM label), and the Jackets proved that they could belt out acoustic jazz with the best! Russo would continue on to become a regular member of The Doobie Brothers.Greenhouse ushered in a new era.
For 2000, the band also saw a change in management, and Jimmy’s long-awaited (and long-delayed) solo recording, Red Heat, was released later in the summer.In 2001, the band self-released the pivotal live Mint Jam recording, with Marcus Baylor now essentially the band’s full-time drummer. Two of the fine drummers they’ve hooked up with were Marcus Baylor and Terri Lynn Carrington. Unfortunately, Erskine’s busy schedule would conflict with the band’s, and he would depart by year’s end without ever having recorded an album with the group.In early 2000, the Yellowjackets were once again a trio, with Russell, Jimmy and Bob using different drummers as they continue touring throughout the year. Peter had played with Bob Mintzer on some of his big-band and small group recordings, so it was a natural that he would become one of the Yellowjackets. Club Nocturne achieves great crossover appeal with the guest vocalists Kurt Elling, Jonathan Butler and Brenda Russell.At the beginning of 1999, William Kennedy departed Yellowjackets to pursue other interests, and Peter Erskine joined the group for the balance of the year.
Founding member Jimmy Haslip would go on hiatus with the Jackets in 2012, and 2013 saw the addition of bassist Felix Pastorius to the group for the recording A Rise In The Road. 2008’s Lifecycle featured special guest Mike Stern on guitar, and would be Marcus Baylor’s last recording with the group.2011 saw the return of Will Kennedy to the Jackets, and a move to the Mack Avenue Records label for the recording Timeline. The recording 25 was a retrospective of the Jackets’ first quarter century as a group, including both a CD and DVD.
As we also wanted to continue playing instrumental music, we all decided to form a “band within a band” so to speak. We had recorded one record with Robben, (primarily instrumental) but his record company was “encouraging” him do do something more pop and vocal oriented. At the time we were making our demo in hopes of landing a recording contract, we were still the “Robben Ford Band”. Russell Ferrante relates the following on how the group’s name was chosen: “I wish there was a clever rationale, but there really isn’t.
Once you choose a name, you’re stuck with it so here we are, 16 years later, grown men playing in a band named ‘Yellowjackets. That’s really about as deep as it went. The one that popped out was Yellowjackets as it seemed to connotate something lively, energetic, and something with a “sting”.
0 kommentar(er)
