Nov 8, 2020
After almost forty years and twenty-five albums as a collaborative jazz group, the Yellowjackets are not a group that rest on their laurels. The group has had continued success, won a number of Grammy Awards, and been a fixture on the Fusion, Smooth Jazz and other charts for years.
Their last two albums have shown the band is still forging ahead with innovative and challenging artistic statements. In 2018 they collaborated with vocalist Luciana Souza on Raising Our Voice, an album that defied most genre classifications. This week brings the release of Jackets XL, which finds the band reimagining old tunes and bringing some new material to a collaboration with the superb WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany.
Yellowjacket founder Bob Mintzer has served as the WDR Big Band principal conductor since 2016, and he felt it was a natural collaboration. Along with Yellowjackets keyboardist Russell Ferrante (also a founding member), drummer Will Kennedy and electric bassist Dane Alderson they recorded an album that may surprise some longtime Jackets fans.
Mintzer rearranged seven of the ten tunes on the album, along with two arrangements by Vince Mendoza. Mendoza has a long history with the WDR Big Band, and today serves as its composer in residence. Ferrante chipped in as well, and the trio have turned some Yellowjacket favorites into new and exciting tunes. For example, “Mile High,” a fan favorite from the 80’s loses its pop sheen and comes across as a more modern big band sound.
Both Bob Mintzer and Russell Ferrante joined me in conversation for Podcast 773, an engaging talk about how old friends continue to grow and engage in new sounds for their musical outlet. Mintzer and Ferrante are also teaching at USC, and share insight into the state of jazz education there during this COVID pandemic. Musical selections from Jackets XL include “Mile High,” “Revelation,” and new tune “One Day.”