🎷 AotW: Jazz Yellowjackets - FOUR CORNERS

Jazz releases not on the CTi or Horizon labels.

How Would You Rate This Album?


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Captain Bacardi

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Yellowjackets
FOUR CORNERS
MCA Records
51GGQuf4mCL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

Released 1987

Peaked at #3 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Album chart (1987)

Produced by Yellowjackets & David Hentschel
Executive Producer: Ricjy Schultz

Songs:
1. Out Of Town (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip) - 5:02
2. Wildlife (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip/Alex Acuña) - 6:03
3. Sightseeing (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip) - 5:52
4. Open Road (Russell Ferrante) - 3:37
5. Mile High (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip/Marc Russo/William Kennedy/Bill Gable) - 4:12
6. Past Ports (Russell Ferrante) - 5:29
7. Postcards (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip) - 5:28
8. Room With A View (Russell Ferrante) - 4:28
9. Geneva (Jimmy Haslip) - 2:24
10. Indigo (Russell Ferrante/Jimmy Haslip/Marc Russo/William Kennedy) - 5:28*

* - CD bonus track
Musicians:
Russell Ferrante - Acoustic Piano and all Synthesizers
Jimmy Haslip - 5-string Bass and Fretless Bass
Marc Russo - Soprano & Alto Saxophones
William Kennedy - Drums and Percussion
Alex Acuña - Percussion
Bill Gable - Cello and additional percussion (2), Vocals (3)
Vocals on "Wildlife" - Brenda Russell, Alex Acuña, Diana Acuña, Bill Gable, Jimmy Haslip


Recorded and Mixed by David Hentschel
Recorded at Bill Schnee Studio
2nd Engineers: Dan Garcia, Bart Stevens
Additional Recording at Music Grinder
2nd Engineer: Jon Ingoldsby
Additional Recording at Producers I & II
2nd Engineer: Andy Harper
Mixed at The Complex
2nd Engineer: Sharon Rice
Mastered at Precision Lacquer by Stephen Marcussen

Art Direction: Kathleen Covert
Design: John Coulter Design
Front & Back Illustration: Lou Beach
Photography: Bonnie Schiffman

Available at Amazon.com (with song samples): http://www.amazon.com/Four-Corners-...qid=1395530022&sr=1-21&keywords=yellowjackets



Capt. Bacardi
 
Interesting album, at this late date. Samurai Samba began this phase of their recorded career, when Russo first joined as the saxophone "voice" for the group. Looking back, Four Corners now seems like the last of this phase, and its high point. It was a modern, loud, fusion-based, synth-heavy sound that featured a lot of sequencers and multitracking. (Very much in a similar style as Spyro Gyra and Weather Report, to whom they are often compared.) And with subsequent albums, you could see them drifting to the acoustic side of things, still rhythmic (their tag these days is "rhythm & jazz") yet putting aside most of the synthesizers and layered multitracking in favor of less instrumentation and more natural sounds. Even today, there is a synthesizer in the mix, but used primarily for flavoring and washes of color.

These days I gravitate toward Politics, The Spin, Greenhouse as favorites from the earlier years, but Four Corners holds a special place due to it being my intro to the Jackets, having played it into the ground up until its follow-up was released. Its dense arrangements are a lot to dig into and discover--it always has been a rewarding listen. "Mile High" was the radio hit, and is still a radio favorite to this day.

Now if I could just find this album on a clean piece of vinyl...MCA pressed crap back in those days. I need a clean Greenhouse also, FWIW...

Here is "Wildlife", in a rare video:

 
As I recall this was one of the first 10 CDs I bought in 1987 after I bought my first CD player. I remember the "Wildlife" video from the early VH-1 days when they played jazz videos. It's a pretty good album overall. Love the opening cut "Out Of Town". They still play "Mile High" in their concerts to this day (I've seen them about 3 times in the past couple of years). This is a bit of a departure from what they're doing today, which is more mainstream jazz. But this is a very colorful album. It has a bit of a commercial Weather Report feel to it - at least the latter days of WR. Nice album overall.



Capt. Bacardi
 
That's odd--of all the times I've seen them, I think they played "Mile High" maybe only twice. And that was when the album was still only a few years old. They do have quite a flexible set list though.

Maybe it plays better in Austin. :D

There was a track from Mirage a Trois they used to play at the end of those earlier gigs--might have been "Goin' Home".
 
As I recall this was one of the first 10 CDs I bought in 1987 after I bought my first CD player. I remember the "Wildlife" video from the early VH-1 days when they played jazz videos. It's a pretty good album overall. Love the opening cut "Out Of Town". They still play "Mile High" in their concerts to this day (I've seen them about 3 times in the past couple of years). This is a bit of a departure from what they're doing today, which is more mainstream jazz. But this is a very colorful album. It has a bit of a commercial Weather Report feel to it - at least the latter days of WR. Nice album overall.



Capt. Bacardi

This was my first Yellowjackets cd too. ( i originally purchased mine in early 1988) I Like Mile High and Past Ports. Those two are my favorite standouts and Yes it is a Nice Album Overall.
 
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