Noel Jewkes Ensemble
Vooti
Noel Jewkes, reeds; Chuck MacKinnon,
trumpet, fluegelhorn; Matthew Clark, piano; Al Bent, bass;
Curt Moore, drums; Scotty Wright, vocals
The title song is named for and dedicated
to producer Pat Nacey's cat. It's a sleek composition that perfectly
evokes a slinky townhouse feline. To set it off, composer Noel
Jewkes has created an arrangement where the horns provide a
bed of velvet for Scotty Wright's cool, sophisticated vocal.
As Jewkes, MacKinnon, and Clark take their solos the mood shifts
to a Jazzier jam-session feel, and then Scotty's vocal reprise
returns to the urbane cabaret ambience.
"Cat in a Blue Fur Suit" is a much
more proletarian animal, a hipster slinking through the alleys,
brought to life by Jewkes's sinuous soprano sax and Scotty's
teasing scat vocal.
The rest of the songs on this cassette tape
are standards. The quality of the musicianship is very high:
all the players are actively involved in the music, not just
going through the motions. Billy Strayhorn's "Something
to Live For" continues the mood of elegant sophistication
evoked by "Vooti." "Lady Be Good" is played
in 3/4 time with some harmonic distortions that may not be to
everybody's taste.
by Robert Tate