Last Option

Last Option

ASIN: B00004LCBV

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2000
Chicago's 8 Bold Souls are local legends on their home turf. Saxophonist and leader Ed Wilkerson's got an ear for dizzying sonorities, mixing tuba, cello, bass, drums, brass, and reeds in swooning, sweeping displays and then leading them into heated, richly pressing tunes that gallop and sprint and hop. This band is one of jazz's hidden treasures, and Last Option is an endless feast. --Andrew Bartlett

Amazon.com
Band leader Edward Wilkerson Jr., is a jazz auteur in the tradition of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus: his compositions integrate a staggering sum of musical information without calling attention to their own cleverness. "Third One Smiles" has a funky swagger that'd make the Adderley brothers proud; the dirge "The Art Of Tea" wouldn't sound out of place at a New Orleans funeral; and "Odyssey" sounds quite, well, Ellingtonian. Like his forbears, Wilkerson writes with his musicians' skills in mind. They reward him with impassioned solos and, more importantly, disciplined ensemble work. Wilkerson writes sumptuous arrangements that generate much more sound than you'd expect from eight players; the leader and Mwata Bowden help perpetrate this illusion by playing five reeds between them, and Gerald Powell's tuba and Dushun Mosely's fleet drumming lay down an amply proportioned rhythmic foundation. Bassist Harrison Bankhead and cellist Naomi Millender bow exquisite shadings that reveal Wilkerson's affection for early 20th-century impressionistic composer Maurice Ravel, while trumpeter Robert Griffin and trombonist Isaiah Jackson add sugar and vinegar to the mix. Never mind the bleak title, the jubilant music on Last Option holds hope for jazz's future. --Bill Meyer

Tracks:

Odyssey
Third One Smiles
Last Option
Art of Tea, The
Pachinko
Gang of Four
Brown Town

Amazon.com's Best of 2000

Chicago's 8 Bold Souls are local legends on their home turf. Saxophonist and leader Ed Wilkerson's got an ear for dizzying sonorities, mixing tuba, cello, bass, drums, brass, and reeds in swooning, sweeping displays and then leading them into heated, richly pressing tunes that gallop and sprint and hop. This band is one of jazz's hidden treasures, and Last Option is an endless feast. --Andrew Bartlett

Amazon.com

Band leader Edward Wilkerson Jr., is a jazz auteur in the tradition of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus: his compositions integrate a staggering sum of musical information without calling attention to their own cleverness. "Third One Smiles" has a funky swagger that'd make the Adderley brothers proud; the dirge "The Art Of Tea" wouldn't sound out of place at a New Orleans funeral; and "Odyssey" sounds quite, well, Ellingtonian. Like his forbears, Wilkerson writes with his musicians' skills in mind. They reward him with impassioned solos and, more importantly, disciplined ensemble work. Wilkerson writes sumptuous arrangements that generate much more sound than you'd expect from eight players; the leader and Mwata Bowden help perpetrate this illusion by playing five reeds between them, and Gerald Powell's tuba and Dushun Mosely's fleet drumming lay down an amply proportioned rhythmic foundation. Bassist Harrison Bankhead and cellist Naomi Millender bow exquisite shadings that reveal Wilkerson's affection for early 20th-century impressionistic composer Maurice Ravel, while trumpeter Robert Griffin and trombonist Isaiah Jackson add sugar and vinegar to the mix. Never mind the bleak title, the jubilant music on Last Option holds hope for jazz's future. --Bill Meyer

Customer Reviews:

get the name right.......2004-09-17

First, let me inform everyone that the cd is titled Last Option, not Last Opinion. This is one of my favorite cds, probably the favourite little big band cd I own. The harmonies and interplay are from something 40 or 50 years ago but the sounds and melodies are very much in the present. The music often gets close to the edge without ever going completely over it, like that ride in the water park that my kids insist going on but I don't trust.

Great Album.......2000-05-12

I just got this CD a few days ago and I am thoroughly impressed with the playing throughout. Every tune is artfully arranged and played. Check out Bowdon's solo on the first track. There are no weak links in the group. Brown Town is particularly inspiring, it's a perfect blend of humor and seriousness. Wilkerson's playing on that tune is great (is that a little bit of Albert Ayler I hear?). I heard the band live at the Ravinia Festival a few years ago and was blown away. They ended with Brown Town. I had high expectations when I bought the album and it didn't disappoint. Enjoy.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music