Gary Burton Quintet - Whiz Kids (1987)

This album, Burton's last as a leader on the ECM label, finds Burton and long-time collaborator Steve Swallow raiding the halls of Boston's Berklee School of Music to find the latest "Whiz Kids" and offer them some career opportunities. In this case, pianist Makoto Ozone (25 at the time of recording) and saxophonist Tommy Smith (19). Burton was on the faculty of Berklee from 1971-2004 and was no stranger to seeing other jazz artists come to the campus to snag the latest young talent. Down in Texas, we saw the same thing at the University of North Texas, with people like Maynard Ferguson grabbing lead trumpet players from the famous One O'Clock Lab Band. But I digress...

The music here is very accessible for an ECM release (which sounds like a putdown, but I certainly don't mean it that way). The saxophone and vibraphone fight a bit at times - I find myself wishing there was more of the latter and less of the former - but overall the writing and soloing are quite good. Very smooth and enjoyable, this CD has gotten quite a bit of late night play at the house over the past year or so.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "Tender yet tough, dazzling yet thoughtful, and smooth the entire way down."
• Stereo Review: "to say the least, a lilting set"
• Billboard: "Tunes are very much in Burton's trademark sound, with a fine band"
• Downbeat: ★★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★½

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• CashBox: #31
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #1

Tracks: The gentle album opener, The Last Clown, perfectly sets the tone for the album. I was already familiar with the upbeat second track, Yellow Fever, from Makoto's 1986 album, After, but the version offered here is enjoyable on its own merits. There's also a lilting jazz waltz (Soulful Bill), a Latin-flavored tune on which Burton switches to marimba (La Divetta), a samba (Cool Train), and a cover of Chick Corea's The Loop. Ozone's playing style greatly favors Corea's so that's a wise choice.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but hearing jazz vibraphone sure brings back some of the more family-friendly fantasies I had as an undergrad around the time this album was released. More specifically, my far-fetched desire to study jazz vibes instead of the classical trumpet I actually (half-heartedly) 'studied' while pursuing my music degree. Sadly, most institutions of higher education are more focused on rigid, prescribed courses of study than student self-discovery. [... two paragraph rant about higher ed. deleted...]