Live Wires
	Produced by Yellowjackets
	Released on 1992
	US CONTEMPORARY JAZZ CHART POSITION #2
	Find it at GEMM
514582F cover [high resolution scan]

T he band’s first live album, recorded on two consecutive shows at LA’s Roxy, runs hot and cold. For the first half, Russell Ferrante favors the dated synthesizer sounds that plagued latter-day Zawinul recordings, sinking songs like “Homecoming,” “Bright Lights” and “Freedomland” with their sizable circuitry cheese. Around “Downtown,” Ferrante opts for more natural and exotic tones with sometimes stunning results: “Wildlife,” “Geraldine,” “Claire’s Song.” The selection presented here appears to have been chosen with an eye toward presenting the best of Yellowjackets over their career: one song from each of their last seven albums (in fact, two selections from The Spin) that, together, do as good a job as any single-disc compilation of capturing their best work. For fans, the appearance of two "new" tracks (“The Dream,” “Bright Lights”) and the opportunity to hear Bob Mintzer’s take on earlier tunes may be all the goading they need. However, for new listeners Live Wires isn’t the place to start. Russell Ferrante’s keyboards dominate the music, which means that you often miss out on the smart interplay that makes their music at least occasionally intoxicating. In its place are a few surprises, like the (literally) show-stopping keyboard solo on “The Spin” or the wild percussion intro to “Wildlife.” And, like I said, some of those cheesy keyboard sounds suck the air out of a room even as big as the Roxy. To add an extra dimension to their live performance, Yellowjackets invited several guests including percussionist Paulinho Da Costa and vocalists Michael Franks (“The Dream”) and Take 6 ( “Revelation”). Franks’ lyrics are frankly new age pabulum (i.e., you too may wish he was swimming with the dolphins) but “Revelation” lives up to its name and closes things out on a high note. In 1997, the Jazz Heritage Society (an offshoot of the mail-order classical Musical Heritage Society) released a black-and-white version of this disc that otherwise matched the original color artwork.

TRACK LISTING

1. HOMECOMING    (Russell Ferrante)    5:35
2. BRIGHT LIGHTS    (Bob Mintzer)    6:53
3. THE DREAM    (lyrics: Michael Franks, music: Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip/Marc Russo)    5:08
4. FREEDOMLAND    (Russell Ferrante)    6:26
5. DOWNTOWN    (Russell Ferrante)    4:51
6. CLAIRE'S SONG    (Russell Ferrante)    7:41
7. GERALDINE    (Russell Ferrante)    7:21
8. THE SPIN    (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip/Marc Russo/William Kennedy)    9:47
9. WILDLIFE    (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip/Alex Acuna)    9:26
10. REVELATION    (lyrics: Lorraine Perry, music: Russell Ferrante)    6:24

CREDITS

RUSSELL FERRANTE -- piano
JIMMY HASLIP -- bass
WILLIAM KENNEDY -- drums
BOB MINTZER -- saxophone
Steve Croes -- Synclavier
Paulinho Da Costa -- percussion
Michael Franks -- vocal (3)
Vince Mendoza -- string arrangement (7)
Brenda Russell -- background vocals (3)
Marilyn Scott -- background vocals (3)
Take 6 -- vocals (10)
Gary Borman -- executive producer
Mick Guzauski -- chief engineer, mixing
Bill Jackson - engineer
Lou Beach -- art illustration
Penny Crichton -- photography
Dan Serrano, David Gibb, Andy Ruggirello, Scott Johnson & Sonny Mediana -- graphic design
Andy Baltimore -- GRP creative director

return to YELLOWJACKETS discography

For more discographies visit...

© 2010 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.