HORNS, Mike Spinrad with Guido Fazio, Featuring Bassists Eric Lyons, John Hettel, Daniel Parenti and David Enos

When I received the CD HORNS I thought we had received it by mistake, as it is a drummer (Mike Spinrad), along with a serious horn section. I went ahead and gave it a listen and was very impressed.

The first thing that Mike did was recruit very solid musicians to play his compositions.

He brought in Guido Fazio to do the horn arrangements. Guido plays tenor sax (his horn has a great tone) and flute as well. The rest of the band was comprised by Don Turney on piano & organ, Richard Conway on trumpet & flugelhorn, Larry Stewart on baritone sax.

Now here is where it got interesting for me…

Mike brought in four bass players and each one brought his own special twist to the tracks that they performed on.

We have Eric Lyons, John Hettel, Daniel Parenti and David Enos on bass; these guys did a super-solid job on upright and electric bass.

The music is upbeat instrumental jazz with a nice variety.

They cover a range of bluesy-funk, Cuban Montuno, Boogaloo, Bop and much more. The arrangements are tight and you can feel the drums driving the tunes. The bass lines are crystal clear in the mix and very enjoyable.

I specially enjoyed the track titled “Raul”, where the bass is really cooking!

Summing up, HORNS is a great addition to any Jazz collection, as it reminds me of how Jazz used to be a music for the people and is meant to be enjoyed by all. Everybody can dig this one!

HORNS Available now at Amazon