When Tony Guerrero blows big, he sets dance halls on fire. The nationally known/L.A.-based trumpeter released his chart-topping “Blue Room” CD last September, revealing why he’s been the darling of the jazz community for 20-plus years.
A prolific artist, Guerrero knows how to put the right band mates together for the ultimate big band gig and recording—with nine solos, tons of specials and guest spots to his household name. Considered a contemporary jazz artist, Guerrero manages to mix old world style (think early 1900s ragtime and 1940s swing) with slick, sick flourishes.
Released through Charleston Square Recordings, Guerrero’s latest CD overwhelms the senses with mostly very famous standards and two of his own original compositions. His CD band mates are tops in their game as well: Llew Matthews on piano, Dave Enos-bass, Matt Johnson-drums, special guest stars Joe Bagg (B-3), Jamie Findlay (guitar), Robert Kyle and Doug Webb (reeds), and Frank Giebels (piano), and the West End Horns (Willie Murillo, Mark Visher, Jason Thor).
The tracks go from swing, straight ahead and bossa nova to be-bop and ballad. But it is the fast-paced swing of a big band where Guerrero never goes wrong. Exhibit A: “Flugel Bugle Blues” by Mel Davis. The slammin’, screamin’ horn and drum sections set the tone for a 1940s WWII boogie woogie big band throwback. Horns and drums rule here, using their fanciful, tight, and edgy interplay to cover the canvas in vast metallic cool. It’ll be a fast favorite.
“Just A Few” – a Shorty Rogers number – really swings from start to finish, calling to mind old-fashioned big band sounds, the winding horns, the beat and backbeat answer and call, constantly rhythmically rockin’ in a fast-paced time, endlessly danceable and the perfect showcase of Guerrero’s horn versatility.
Another winner is “Dizzy Does It,” a bluesy, breezy tune Guerrero penned. This one starts off slower, at an even pace, but still swings with a catchy melody that is used in parts and elaborated upon throughout. Here, the piano keeps up the loose, finger-snappin’, foot-tappin’ schematics, as Guerrero’s runs on trumpet go from easygoing to frenetic and pulsing, but never out of control.
Of all the songs on this CD, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “Blue Room” classic really manages to capture what Tony Guerrero’s CD is all about, and it’s all about that swing. This band captures it in spades, all burning horn manipulation, lyrical, curvaceous punctuations, smooth, syncopated rolls, harmonic-pushing piano action, fast-fingered bass and drum solos – just a fantastic instrumental piece to showcase the individual musicians and coalesce as a whole.
When the Quartet veers away from this big band sound, into ballads and clichéd blues renditions – as in “Carumba” (another Guerrero original), “My Romance” (put a fork in this song, it’s overdone), and “Body & Soul” – the interest, as well as the pace, slows down significantly. These songs may be technically proficient, but they tend to meander, be a little sleep-inducing, especially “Body & Soul,” with nothing much beyond the obvious going on and winding up fairly forgettable.
“Black Orpheus” by Luiz Bonfa/Antonio Maria starts off this way until about 2/3rds into it when the pace picks up and – thankfully – turns into a 1960s Tijuana Brass Band moment. Instrumentation on this particular classic comes off sharp, tight, and nostalgically in tune, and makes me all of a sudden feel like looking through an old, thick Sears catalog in my Keds, while my mom dances salsa in the kitchen to the stereo blasting all those Latin waves.
Not all of the slow stuff drags on. “Over The Rainbow” is an intimate, masculine, sexy revelation. The tension in the horn up against the piano and drums taking their time hints at yearning, lust, romance in a Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg classic that’s been interpreted through the ages as an innocent tale of a young girl’s hopes and dreams for a brighter future. It’s something more adult in this case. “My Secret Love” – a 1953 pop song by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster used for Doris Day’s Calamity Jane movie – is given a recent lift with plucky guitar and horns. Guitarist Jamie Findlay, to Guerrero’s credit (no ego here), is allowed to really fly in his lengthy solo. Love the lighter, skipping melody of just guitar and horns.
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