Yellowjackets - Politics (1988)

Founded in 1981 and often grouped in with smooth jazz groups, Yellowjackets quickly evolved into a more straight-ahead fusion/post bop in the style of Weather Report or Steps Ahead. The standout players in this quartet are Russell Ferrante on keyboards and Jimmy Haslip on 5-string bass. Marc Russo (saxophone) has great skills but doesn't always have the best tone. As the CD goes on, the music becomes more acoustic and less electronic, but the characteristics of the band's music don't change: busy accompaniment, lots of melodic doubling, and plenty of cymbal work.

In 1989, the album was awarded the Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, an award only given the years 1980-1991.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "there's enough electronic ooze to entice the post-Weather Report generation."
• Stereo Review: "emphasizes composing and arranging over improvising"
• High Fidelity: "this disc is very near as bland as Dan Quayle"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #5
• CashBox Jazz: #4

Tracks: 10 tracks clocking in at almost 50 minutes. My favorites are Oz, Local Hero, Foreign Correspondent, and Evening Dance. The obligatory late '80s tribute song to Jaco Pastorius, Galileo, is pretty bland but has some nice soloing by Haslip. I usually skip One Voice.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I listened to this often during the fall of 1988 when I was student teaching. I didn't have many CDs then (I was in college and they were expensive), so the few I had were listened to quite a bit.