1982 Woody Shaw is another example of a great musician taken from us all too early. Before his death, however, he left us great jazz albums such as Night Music to forever remember him by. At first glance, Night Music appears to not be a full album, with only 4 tracks. When each song comes in at 10-13 minutes, though, you know your’re in for a long haul. This post-bop album opens up with “Orange Crescent,” a song penned by trombone player Steve Turre that is choppy, complex, and represents well the early ’80s jazz scene from which it sprung. Up next is “To Kill a Brick”, a song that opens with Mulgrew’s frantic piano stylings before Shaw and the rest take turns at center stage.
“Apex” is the third song. It was written by pianist Mulgrew Miller, who sets the melodic stage for Shaw’s trumpet and Turre’s trombone as they make their way through the rest of the tune with energetic aplomb. The last track is “All the Things You Are”, which is more of a jazz standard that takes things slowly with a languid tempo that stretches throughout the track’s 13 minutes.
All in all, Night Music is a formidable representation of the jazz scene of the era in which it was created and an album that stands the test of time.
1 Production Quality: 17
2 Relative Quality: 18
3 Artfulness: 19
4 Originality: 17
5 Technicality: 19
RATING: 90
Woody Shaw: Trumpet
Steve Turre: Trombone
Bobby Hutcherson: Vibraphone
Mulgrew Miller: Piano
Stafford James: Bass
Tony Reedus: Drums
