The bassoon is not without its shortcomings, either. Smith is too far away from the microphone on the recording, rendering him slightly thin and echo-heavy. It might be intentional, to prevent him from drowning out the rest of the band, but therein lies another problem: there’s no dynamic contour in Smith’s playing. He starts loud, ends loud, and is loud in between, not even softening on ballads. It interferes with the moods of some pieces and even with the meaty ideas he plays in his solo.
Despite these obstacles, though, The Swingin’ Bassoon displays a deeply gifted, thoughtful, and emotive musician in Daniel Smith. The bassoon might not become a permanent staple of jazz, but we can only hope that Smith does — He’s the kind of player that helps the music to thrive.
Article comments
1 - Big Geez
Michael, do you have to be so freakin' good at this? You make the rest of us look like duffers...
Although I did notice that you called a couple of songs I like "chestnuts" -- but you meant they were tasty and savory treats, right?
2 - Michael J. West
Natch. :-)