Bobby Hutcherson...♪♫♪

[Edie Antoinette]

Bobby Hutcherson recorded "Skyline" after going a couple of years without releasing an album, and the result is a really fresh, well-conceived effort. Bobby was nearing 60 when this was made, but he still had no problem matching the energies and levels of creativity of his reasonably young band. The first tune, "Who's Got You," is an extremely difficult form to improvise over-- in the vein of the Coltrane-inspired, chord-change-heavy tunes that Bobby played on many of his albums in the 60's. Of course, Bobby makes it sound easy. His haunting all-marimba version of "Delilah" is quite beautiful, and Bobby uses the vamp at the end to remind us all of just how advanced his command of harmony is. (It doesn't feel confusing, just something on the edge that you understand he's very much in control of.)

The playing on this album is stunning, the interaction is on a very high level, (which is never a surprise with Al Foster on the drums,) but, all of the little jazz nuances aside, for the average listener, the tunes will make this album. Just beautiful. The "Love Theme from Superman" is made quite pretty in Bobby's capable hands, and "Tres Palabras" and "Chan's Song" are poignant and elegant. On the other side of the spectrum, tunes like "Pomponio" and "The Coaster" show us that Bobby can still move, and display an impressive amount of power. But maybe the hippest track on this album is "I Only Have Eyes for You," the one 'standard' among all of these... a tune which most people know and few ever get excited about. Bobby breathes life into it here with a reharmonization and arragement that make it a completely different tune.

That's the wonderful thing about Bobby, he's all about reinvention. I saw the tour for this album, with most of the original personnel, and it was wonderful. Then I caught Bobby a year later, and he was playing many of the same tunes, but he'd done "arrangements" of the arrangements on this album, so they sounded slightly different, but were still based on this project. Now That's a person who appreciates the need for an artist to be ever-changing. This is a wonderful album.

[Edie Antoinette]

[Edie Antoinette]

My pleasure...L.

[Lydell Jackson]

Thank you for reminding me of Bobby! I forgot all about how his music made me feel on those days when I just need to clear my head and think about life, love and happiness. I love just meditating to the melodic moods created by this exceptional musician. I gotta get back to the real me in this music...THANX ONCE AGAIN E.