(Reprinted from the December 2020 issue of Downbeat magazine)
Almost 40 years and 25 albums in, the Yellowjackets continue to till new soil. For their latest release, Jackets XL (Mack Avenue), the ambidextrous fusion quartet has partnered with the WDR Big Band, one of Germany’s more illustrious jazz organizations. In hindsight, it seems inevitable that these two important ensembles would meet up: Longtime Yellowjackets tenor saxophonist and EWI player Bob Mintzer has been principal conductor of the WDR Big Band for the last four years.
Still, adapting the quartet’s known repertoire for the tightly scripted big band took some doing. Mintzer rearranged several Yellowjackets mainstays for the release, among them the ebullient “Mile High” from their 1987 album Four Corners (MCA)—a stately, horn-led anthem in this incarnation. And the gospel blowout, “Revelation,” from their first Grammy-winning album, Shades (MCA), in 1986—today filled with buoyant brass lines instead of layered vocals.
Keyboardist Russell Ferrante, the only original member still with the group, borrowed inspiration from composer/conductor Maria Schneider’s large jazz ensemble to revamp his beautifully jumbled “Coherence,” from 2016’s Cohearance (Mack Avenue). Now orchestrated, it retains the same metric excitement as before, this time saturated in the bright chromaticism of the wind instruments. He also contributed two new pieces to the project: “One Day,” a crisp mid-tempo with an insistent pulse (thanks to the group’s veteran drummer, Will Kennedy), and “Tokyo Idea,” a well-lit showcase for Mintzer’s smoothly arpeggiated soloing.
The group also called on Vince Mendoza, the WDR Big Band’s composer in residence, for some fresh arrangements of their vintage material. In his hands, the quick swinging “Downtown,” from 1991’s Live Wires (GRP) expands in harmonic richness—affording electric bassist Dane Alderson a wealth of source material for his high-velocity soloing. Alderson is the newest and youngest member--and a good fit for this XL group. DB