Red Jacket Mine - Someone Else's Cake

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Red Jacket Mine –Someone Else’s Cake
2013, Fin RecordsRed Jacket Mine is a product of disparate influences.  The Seattle based quartet hails from a cityknown for Garage Rock, Grunge and Rap, but Red Jacket Mine is crafting their ownSeattle Sound.  With lead vocalist andsongwriter Lincoln Barr calling on his Memphis roots, Red Jacket Mine walks theline between blues, soul, country and good old classic rock and roll.  The result is familiar yet fresh, full ofcatchy pop hooks and a whole lot of charm. Red Jacket Mine brings it all together on their fourth album, Someone Else’s Cake, due out February13, 2013.

Red Jacket Mine takes off with the delicious, synth-drivenpop/rock of “Amy”.  Infectious hooks ands sneaky-catchy chorus make this one a charmer and a great opening track.  “Nickel & Dine” is a catchy Americanarocker that sounds like a cross between Elvis Costello and Blue Rodeo.  Red Jacket Mine builds a wonderfully catchyvibe here while discussing the human tendency to tear down anything that worksand the clash between optimism and pessimism. “Ron Nasty” is a bit generic, but “Engineer” rocks with a bluesyattitude.  This is one of those tunes youjust can’t sit still for, and vocalist Lincoln Barr is in particularly fineform here.“Skint City” has a more melancholy feel, and carries a vocalharmony that’s reminiscent of a 1970’s Eagles record.  It’s a solid album track with a quiet swingthat’s easy on the ears.  “Listen Up (If theWorld Is Going to Hell)” pays homage to 1970’s R&B and pop styles.  Barr sounds a bit strained in small momentshere, but it’s a solid effort overall. “Novelty’s Gone” walks the line between gentle rock and country, relyingon a metronomic rhythm to drive a maudlin number about the reality of arelationship setting in.  There’s a rotefeel to this tune that carries over to the tacitly soulful “Better To Be BrokenThan Blind”.  Both tunes are solidenough, but just don’t carry much energy or conviction.

Red Jacket Mine comes fully awake for “Someone Else’s Cake”,a catchy kiss-off song of sorts.  There’sa delicious edge to this number that underscores the Americana/Countrysound.  “Have You Got A Permit To PreachOn This Corner” has more of a classic country sound, and takes to task someonewho professes their beliefs publicly. Red Jacket Mine closes with the catchy rocker “Bellar & Bawl”.  An R&B backbeat drives the song,alongside an early rock & roll piano style and a band that is clicking onall eight cylinders.  This is the perfectclose to the album, and a perfect song to close shows with as well.Red Jacket Mine certainly knows how to kick things into highgear when they want to, but SomeoneElse’s Cake shows a supple understanding of song craft that while notalways perfect in fruition, displays a distinctive understanding of melody,song structure and inspiration.  Someone Else’s Cake is a complex albumthat finds lead singer/songwriter Lincoln Barr negotiating with his own variedmusical influences with varying degrees of success.  It’s an intriguing listen from a band whopromises to keep growing and getting better with age.

Rating:  3.5 Stars (Out of 5)Learn more at www.redjacketmine.net. 

theatre review THE BEST OF ENEMIES, George Street Playhouse, December 16

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A sudden opening in George Street Playhouse's already announced season could have had a horrible ending with an under rehearsed, quickly put together production.  However, sometimes a potentially bad situation can turn out to be good in the end as fortunately the Barrington Stage Company's recent production of The Best of Enemies was able to be remounted at George Street with most of its cast intact in a stellar production that just concluded a month long run.

Based on the best-selling book by Osha Gray Davidson, The Best of Enemies tells the true story of the relationship that develops between the African American civil rights activist Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis, a Grand Master of the KKK.  They are two people at odds, brought together in 1971 during the court ordered desegregation of the Durham, NC schools.  The Best of Enemies is a play of prejudice on both sides of an issue but also one that shows when two people are fighting for what they believe in, and are forced to face their enemy head on, they start to realize they are both very similar in the passion behind their beliefs.  Of course there is good and bad on both sides of the issue with both characters passionately backing up their beliefs.

John Bedford Lloyd and Aisha Hinds

Written by Mark St. Germain and directed by Julianne Boyd, who also directed the production at the Barrington Stage Company, the play focuses on the time when Atwater and Ellis were basically coerced by a federal mediator from the Board of Education to sit on the steering committee in order to represent the views of the community around the segregation of the schools.  On one side you have a woman speaking up for justice and equal education but also someone who has no love for those on the other side who promote white supremacy.  The old saying "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" came to mind why the play was unfolding as both Atwater and Ellis are forced to deal directly with their opponent and in doing so end up understanding each other better.  But this is also a tale of redemption and how people can grow and ultimately change by understanding where their enemy is coming from, and in doing so, can actually forge a very unexpected friendship.  It is inspiring and gripping with all of the ugliness of the events intact and also a compelling story that makes you sit up and pay attention to real events that happened just forty years ago.

Aisha Hinds, Don Guillory and John Bedford Lloyd

The production couldn't have found two better actors to portray the two lead characters. Aisha Hinds is Atwater and John Bedford Lloyd is Ellis.  Hinds perfectly plays the struggling single mom who has no fear of men, let alone Ellis.  She is more raw and emotional than Lloyd as Ellis but also plays a character who has much more to lose.  She is also playing someone much older then she really is and also one with some physical difficulties, which she never lets slip throughout the entire play.  Hinds expertly plays the skeptical parts of the character as well as easily gets across the natural humor that can come with being placed in an uncomfortable situation.

Lloyd on the other hand has more of a journey and a harder character to play since he has to not only play a racist but one that has to not only win over Atwater but the audience with the journey his character takes.  He pulls no punches in his delivery of the racist language, hateful looks and body language of Ellis and fortunately St. Germain and Boyd aren't also afraid to be up front and direct with making sure we clearly see the danger that lurks in this hateful man.  He is frustrated and desperate to fight something that he believes will negatively impact his life and the entire nation.   However, the three have also crafted a character that we see change in front of us and start to empathize with, something that we, just like Atwater, must witness unfold before us to not only understand this man but also to help us better understand ourselves.

Don Guillory is the mediator Bill Riddick and he is presented as a black man who is cocky but intelligent, which rubs both Atwater and Ellis the wrong way.  But he knows that both of these community "leaders" are people who are strong in their beliefs and he realizes the best way to make progress is to bring Atwater and Ellis together so they can realize how alike they really are.  Guillory is all smug and passionate as well about his beliefs and how his idea ultimately makes things better but well directed by Boyd to not overpower the two leads.  Susan Wands is Ellis' long suffering wife Mary and is just as sympathetic in her portrayal as the other characters.  She is presented as racist as well, but one who more quickly understands the shortcomings of her views when confronted with a personal issue.

The play is presented in linear fashion and in doing so makes the audience better understand why someone like Ellis believes the things he does and why Atwater is so passionate as well.  I was even pleasantly shocked that I cared so much for Ellis as much as I did which can be attributed as much to St. Germain's writing as the performance from Lloyd and the direction from Boyd.  And the reason I cared so much for him is that he was presented as a real person, one who believed certain things but when forced to meet his "enemy" head on starts to doubt his believes, his upbringing and the people around him.  He changes, but so does Atwater, who is also presented just as passionately and real as Ellis.  In doing so St. Germain has created a cathartic experience for the audience to take the journey with these two characters.  Knowing that these two people were real, and that the unlikely events of the play actually happened takes the whole play to an even higher level.  That is why this is a play that I believe will have a very healthy life in regional theatres as it is a small play with a small cast but with a big message that makes you believe in the power that people can change for the better.

Highlights from the George Street Production:

movie review LES MISERABLES

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Les Misérables is one of those stage to screen musical adaptations that gets most things right in the transfer from live musical to celluloid experience.  As one of the most successful stage musicals, Les Misérables is a worldwide phenomenon so it seemed only natural that a film version would eventually happen.  However, the fact that it took almost thirty years since it first premiered to become a film is something that I don't think anyone expected.

Based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo, and set in the early to mid 1800's, Les Misérables tells the epic story of Jean Valjean who was jailed for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew.  His original five year sentence becomes almost twenty after he tries to escape making him a very bitter and desperate man.  However, when a bishop saves him, that act of kindness that gives him a second chance and how that event turns him into a positive force is the original tale of "paying it forward."  His redemption and how that changes him is the force behind the emotional journey of the story while the fact that he did run away to become someone else and is being hunted by a police inspector is the major driving element behind the plot.

Hugh Jackman as "Jean Valjean"

As Valjean, Hugh Jackman is giving a stellar performance, one that not only just earned him a Golden Globe but also an Oscar nomination.  Much has been written about how director Tom Hooper had the actors sing live during filming instead of lip syncing to a pre-recorded audio track.  This tactic allowed the actors to not only provide more emotions to a song based on being in the moment on set verses being in a studio weeks or even months before shooting actually began and they had a chance to become and discover their characters but also allowed them to try various takes on the songs during the filming process.  Jackman benefits greatly from this choice.  His two dramatic solos in the film, "Valjean's Soliloquy" and "Who Am I?" are so full of emotion seemingly derived from that exact moment the film was shot that I don't think he would have won that Golden Globe if the songs had been pre-recorded.

Anne Hathaway as "Fantine"

Likewise, Anne Hathaway also benefits from this filming choice.  Her "I Dreamed a Dream," arguably the best known song from the show, is delivered in one seamless take that perfectly captures the anguish of her character Fantine and the journey her character has been forced to take.  It is an extremely memorable and heart wrenching moment and I have to believe that Hathaway is the front runner for the Oscar for Supporting Actress after already winning a Golden Globe as well as numerous other awards for her performance. 

Russell Crowe is Javert, the inspector who makes it his lifelong mission to hunt Valjean down and while Hooper mentioned he cast actors who could sing instead of singers who could act, Crowe is able to hold his own against his more vocally gifted co-stars.  Sure Crowe's voice is a little on the softer and gruffer side, but I liked the way his singing was more internal and seemingly coming from an unbalanced man, which was clearly in line with the character of Javert.  While he can't hold some of the notes as long as some of the stage Valjean's have, I thought his performance was as calculated as his character is and I like it more and more that I think back on it.

Russell Crowe as "Javert"

Several of the supporting cast fair pretty good, particularly Eddie Redmayne as Marius who has a certain beauty in both his acting and singing that connect very clearly with the material.  Samantha Barks as Eponine and Aaron Tveit as Enjolras are two actors who have performed in numerous musicals in London and Broadway respectively, so their voices are the best in the film, but they both are also perfect in their parts with Barks especially touching as the girl in love with someone who doesn't love her back and who knows it.

Amanda Seyfried as "Cosette" and
Eddie Redmayne as "Marius"

Amanda Seyfried is Cosette, Fantine's daughter who Valjean adopts and who Marius loves.  And she is fine in the part, which of all of the roles has probably the least amount of good material to latch onto.  As the comic duo the Thénardiers, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen play Eponine's parents and Cosette's original caretakers who factor into many of the plot points.  While both are clearly up to the challenge of the material, and I especially liked Bonham Carter's contributions, fortunately Hooper and the other contributors have wisely cut back on some of their material that was in the stage version in order to not have the comical moments over shadow the more serious ones of the film.

Samantha Barks as "Eponine"

Colm Wilkinson who created the role of Valjean both in London and on Broadway plays the part of the Bishop whose actions are the catalyst for Valjean's journey.  It is a great touch to have Wilkinson in the film and playing this part and he expertly delivers what is needed.

William Nicholson has taken the original sung through musical and made changes to the script both alone and in consultation with the original French creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, English librettist Herbet Kretzmer as well as producer Cameron Mackintosh to fill in some of the more vague moments of the musical.  By adding in some things from the original novel, as well as moving some of the songs around, the overall effect is a tighter show with a clearer dramatic arch.   The movement of two of the big songs, Fantine's "I Dreamed a Dream" and Eponine's "On My Own" to be in more dramatic moments of their character's journeys are two simple changes that made me think "Of course it makes more sense to have those songs at those points in the show."  I'm curious to see if those same changes, or at least the movement of "I Dreamed a Dream," are made for future productions of the stage version.

Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen
and Isabelle Allen

The look and feel of the film is similar to what Hopper did with the tv mini series John Adams that he also directed, it has a gritty, bleak look, seemingly in tone with the time period the film is set in.  Hopper also chooses to shoot most of the solo songs in close-up with minimal cuts.  This gives a more direct, internal feel to those monologues which works very well in my opinion.  Are there some quibbles I have with the film?  Of course.  Some scenes that are shot in harsh daylight could have benefited from more moody evening lighting.  Seyfried's singing is a little thin especially around the higher notes.  The main plot point of the second half of the film, around the student's revolt and the building of the barricade is still a little unclear and I miss a few things from the stage show like the use of the ghosts during "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  But this film of Les Misérables is one that I will gladly revisit again and again.  Is this the greatest movie musical ever, no, but is this a story of such emotion and depth, most definitely.

While the film is still in theaters, the blu ray/DVD has just been announced with a March 19th release date.  Amazon link for the blu ray/DVD is below.

Trailer for the film:

In depth behind the scenes feature:

theatre review JACKIE HOFFMAN'S A CHANUKAH CAROL, Off Broadway, December 21

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Jackie Hoffman might just be the funniest person currently working in the New York Theatre.  In addition to her hilarious supporting turns in the original Broadway casts of Hairspray, Xanadu and The Addams Family, Jackie has continually crafted solo comedic shows that she has performed in various venues.  Last year her one woman take off of A Christmas Carol with the simple title of Jackie Hoffman's A Chanukah Carol,  was such a hit that she brought it back for an additional series of performances.  With the tag line "All New (unless you saw it last year)" you get an idea of Jackie's type of humor.

The hour long show, co-written and directed by Michael Schiralli, starts with Jackie doing her show at Beth Temple Shalom in Queens to a very unappreciative and hostile audience.  The cranky and kvetching Hoffman assaults the audience, leaves the stage and decides to calm her nerves with some pills and a little Manischewitz wine.  Of course that toxic combination finds Jackie in a delusional state where she is visited by the infamous three Carol ghosts of past, present and future.  Can what the ghosts show Jackie help turn her from her self depreciating and self loathing ways to see how lucky she has it and see the true spirit of Chanukah?  Well with Hoffman's acid tongued humor all bets are off if she really will see the error of her ways or stay the cranky comic we all love.

With no props or sets and just two chairs, Hoffman conjures up not only various members of her family, especially memorable in several dinner scenes where there is an overabundance of food, Jewish stars Molly Picon and a spot-on imitation of an always hungry Shelly Winters as two of the ghosts but also even does a pretty good take on Patrick Stewart as the narrator of the entire show.  For those of you wondering why Stewart is included in Hoffman's crazy show, he did a very famous one man Christmas Carol on Broadway in the 90's to great acclaim, so of course it makes sense to include him. 

Jackie is so genuine in her approach to displaying what we have to believe are scenes somewhat based on her actual life that you easily identify with her and her experiences.  From being the self obsessed teen, willing to work on the Sabbath and the Jewish Holidays to become the famous person she longs be to the semi-famous comic hoping for success on Broadway, they are all traits we can identify with as we all yearn for our own chance of success even if achieving it comes at a cost.

Now, a one woman show can lose steam even at an hour, and Jackie does manage to include a few moments that don't land, including an ending that doesn't have as big of a finish as I'd hope for.  However, there are many that do.  The scene with her family where they are wondering what the exact difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero is becomes almost as hilarious as the infamous "Who's On First" Abbott and Costello routine.  And how Jackie shoe horns in the character of Tiny Tim, reimagined as Tiny Kim, a Thai delivery boy from Pinkberry who gives Jackie a detailed analysis of her entire career was one of the many highlights of the show.

To see where Jackie is performing next check out her official website.

Jackie dons many wigs in this "review" of the show:


Jackie takes you behind the scenes of her show:

theatre review PICNIC, Broadway, Jan 26

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A revival of a classic Pulitzer Prize winning play would seemingly be something easy to pull off.  However, when dealing with a play like William Inge's Picnic, that centers on a couple of key events over a 24 hour period in 1950's Kansas, the casting is central to ensure that the somewhat nostalgic and ordinary goings on are handled expertly and that the turn of events don't come across as too melodramatic for a 21st century audience.  The good news is the casting of the three main females, who are all strong willed women determined to make it on their own, couldn't be better, the somewhat bad news is in the casting of the male lead, the muscular drifter who stirs things up, which doesn't exactly hit a home run.

Set on Labor Day in the shared backyard of two houses in a small town in Kansas and taking place mainly on the back porches of those two houses, Picnic centers on normal, simple characters.  Set in a more simple time, these are the kind of people who go about their normal daily activities and get excited about a new dress or the Labor Day picnic.  So, basically characters that are just like the average theatre goer and situations we can all identify with, so the characters and events of the play are easily relatable.

Mare Winningham, Madeleine Martin and Maggie Grace

Flo Owens is a single mother raising her two teenage daughters, Madge and Millie.  Flo lives next door to Helen Potts who cares for her home bound elderly mother.  Flo also rents a room in her house out to Rosemary, a schoolteacher in town who often refers to herself as "an old maid."   Flo, Helen and Rosemary are women who have to make it on their own with no men around in their lives.  However, one Labor Day Helen hires a young man named Hal to do some work around her house in exchange for breakfast.  Hal is an old college friend of Madge's boyfriend Alan and has the physique and charisma to turn the heads of all of the women who live in the two houses.  The impact of Hal's arrival on these two houses and the women who reside in them and what transpires over the next 24 hours is the entire context of Picnic. 

Sebastian Stan

While it may seem like not much really happens during the majority of the play, except for the arrival of Hal and the growing attraction between him and Madge and how that plays out, there is actually a lot that happens in this 24 hour period.  Almost all of the characters go through major changes over the course of this one single day, which is a major compliment to Inge and his ability to not only write complex characters but also to have them all end up in a different place then when they began. 

Flo, Rosemary and Helen are all strong and dominant women, forced it seems into taking on these typical male characteristics of the 1950's since all three of them don't have husbands to shoulder the burdens of raising children or dealing with the male oriented daily chores that were generally set aside for the man of the house to handle.

As those three strong and determined women,  Mare Winningham, Ellen Burstyn and Elizabeth Marvel are nothing short of spectacular.  They are three very different women but each of the actresses has found a way to clearly not only get across the strength that each of them has but also their weaknesses as well.  Winningham has the more simple role, that of a mother who rarely raises her voice and only wants the best for her two daughters.  Winningham exhibits such strength and determination, and yes even fear, in her portrayal of a woman forced to deal with the changing times while trying to hold things together.

Reed Birney and Elizabeth Marvel

Elizabeth Marvel as Rosemary is the woman who at first glance has it all, she has no responsibilities beyond her job and frequently talks about being able to do whatever she wants because she is an "old maid."   Marvel originated the role of the daughter of Stockard Channing and Stacey Keach off Broadway in Other Desert Cities and I thought she was just ok in that part, always being too intense and not having the right amount of balance for a woman who had suffered from depression.  However, as Rosemary she is astonishing and is completely in control of a character who is also at a crossroads in her life.  When it quickly becomes apparent that she isn't getting any younger she finds herself to be a very desperate woman.  Marvel expertly gets across the nuance of this woman and the fear and desperation that is slowly burning under the facade she puts on.

Ellen Burstyn, Ben Rappaport and Maggie Grace

While Burstyn has the least to do of these three characters, she has still found a way  to portray the feistiness of the role, the pain of dealing with an elderly parent and also as well as the simple joy she has for life.  Sebastian Stan is Hal, and while he has the physique and stamina for the part, I'm not certain if it is the direction from Sam Gold or a lack of natural charisma from Stan, but there is something missing from his performance.  I'm not sure if it is that he is just too soft instead of simply having a softer side or if it is that he isn't as confident as his character should be.

Maggie Grace and Madeleine Martin are winning as Flo's two daughters Madge and Millie.  While they are basically complete opposites with Grace's Madge being beautiful and Martin's Millie being tom-boy handsome, the two come across as sisters who get on each other's nerves but also look out for each other's best interests.  Grace is quiet and reserved, and quiet effectively shows us the somewhat naive pretty girl who just wants to be loved, but not sure who is the right person for her.  Martin joyously gets across the rambunctious and carefree spirit of Mille but also clearly shows how concerned she is about what other's think of her.  Reed Birney is Howard, Rosemary's boyfriend and the scenes the two of them have together are pretty special.

Technical credits are sublime for the production with a lovely set design by Andrew Lieberman and perfect period specific costumes from David Zinn.  While Jane Cox's lighting is fairly bright and constant throughout she does manage to compose some lovely set pictures with her lighting for both the evening of the picnic and the early morning the day after.

It is interesting in seeing a play like Picnic that is set in the same year that it first appeared on Broadway, as today there is an added nostalgic element in viewing the play and not only seeing the way people lived sixty years ago but also having a clearer understanding of what obstacles they were faced with.  With such a wonderful cast and lovely technical designs, this production of Picnic just misses being as sublime as it could be.

Picnic runs through February 24th.

Official Show Site

Clips from this production:

cabaret review BEN VEREEN, McCarter Theatre, Feb 11

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Ben Vereen is so grateful for what he's been allowed to do on stage and screen and that joy he feels pours out from him in his concerts.  Now in his mid sixties, Vereen has been through a lot, including a pretty horrific accident where he was walking on a street and hit by a car.  And while his voice may has lost some of the luster it once had, Vereen has such a nice personable connection with the audience that it outweighs any vocal issues he has to deal with.   His recent concert at the McCarter Theatre was a magical evening of story and song.

While the majority of his concert was included in the live cd he released in the Spring of 2011 (which I reviewed here) there were plenty of other material that wasn't on that cd, so I'll focus on talking about the material that I already didn't speak of in that review.

His connection with two composers, Stephen Schwartz and Andrew Lloyd Webber goes back to his early days on Broadway when he appeared in the original casts of Schwartz's Pippin and Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar.  His medley of songs from those shows was nice but what I thought was even better were two songs from Wicked that he performed in slightly slower versions to really focus on the lyrics "Defying Gravity" and "For Good."   Both became personal stories for him much like Lloyd Webber's "Memory" from Cats set up the entire section about his past.

His connection to Bob Fosse, in both Pippin and the film All That Jazz was also brought center stage with Vereen talking about how electric Fosse was and how honored he was to have been included in not only Pippin but the film that basically was an autobiographical detail of Fosse's life.  Other highlights include a lovely Frank Sinatra medley and a section devoted to Sammy Davis Jr. where Vereen mentions how he was his understudy when the musical Golden Boy went to London and how connected he felt to Sammy and how Sinatra broke down racial barriers for him.

While the majority of the Sinatra and Davis, Jr material is on the cd I mentioned above, there was still plenty more that wasn't.  Vereen had a top notch trio playing with him and he did a lovely job in spotlighting them that included solos for each of them including a smashing "Misty" and a lovely "Your Song." 

The song "Here's To Us" has become something of a staple for performers in the AARP demographic with both Barbra Streisand singing it during her recent concert tour and Barbara Cook performing it at the concert we saw her perform last Fall.  Vereen somehow manages to make the song his own due to the stories he tells throughout his show and the ups and downs he documents for us.  It was a lovely end to a lovely evening.

"Simple Joys" from Pippin -


"Pure Imagination" from The Muppet Show:

Nate Kimball - Warrior's Journey

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Nate Kimball - Warrior’s Journey
2012, TNC RecordingsIf you’re looking for the next big name in jazz, youmight be very happy to settle on Nate Kimball. His list of credits is impressive: Chick Correa, Natalie Cole, BarryManilow, The Count Basie Orchestra, Jessica Simpson and The Killers, to namebut a few.  The 28-year old Las Vegasnative is more than just a wizard with the trombone however; Kimball is acomposer nonpareil who has been recognized by the International TromboneAssociation (2006, 2007, and 2010); the Reno Jazz Festival (2012); and theNevada Jazz Society (2007).  One of hiscompositions, “Side Effect”, was recently premiered at the Monterrey JazzFestival by the Las Vegas Academy Jazz Ensemble.  You’ll see why the accolades rain down onKimball after listening to his album Warrior’sJourney.  Kimball recorded Warrior’sJourney with four impressive cohorts. Joe Lano (guitar) has played with Lena Horne, Mel Tormé, Steve Lawrenceand Eydie Gorme, Nancy Wilson and Henry Mancini.  Brian Triola (piano/keys) is part of LasVegas and regional favorites Moksha. Bassist Steve Flora plays the top rooms in Las Vegas, and drummer LarryAberman has recorded with The Vaughan Brothers, Ric Ocasek, Wynton Marsalis,David Lee Roth, Daniel Lanois, Lionel Richie and Danielle Brisebois (to namejust a few).  This will give you an ideaof the quality of play on Warrior’sJourney, but mere words don’t do the album justice.Kimball sticks to classic jazz stylings, allowingthe occasional progressive wave to pass through the waters.  It’s easy to see Kimball and crew fittinginto any era of jazz from the Big Band era on. Kimball kicks things off with “Warrior’s Journey”, beginning as a sleepyrumination but moving soon into a quietly energetic jazz waltz.  Kimball’s trombone is stellar, but the restof the quintet is flawless as well.  BrianTriola adds perfect punctuation to Kimball’s lead, and whips off some amazingsolos of his own.  Perhaps the mostimpressive part of the song, however, is when Larry Aberman takes the lead ondrums.  If you want to analyze what he’sdoing you’ll need a couple of cameras and the ability to slow tape onplayback.  It’s amazing. “Way Station” shows the same sort of breakdown ofduties, with Kimball taking the lead, but passing it around for all toshare.  What’s most impressive is howseamlessly Kimball’s quintet moves together, never seeming to miss a beat or anexchange.  “Far Away” has a distinctive,melancholy, blue-jazz feel.  Kimballbrings emotions alive in the lyric trombone lines, while Brian Triola creates abit of rhythmic dissonance that helps to appropriately shade the mood.  There is magic here.  “Road To La Coruna” takes a on a subtle Latinjazz sound, and features some of the best low-key work on the album.  Things get a bit more progressive on “HelloWorld”, with Kimball himself getting aggressive in his soloing style.  Triola picks up this vibe and runs with it,getting into a Vince Guaraldi groove that’s mellow yet not.  “Back Home” is an interesting closer.  You might say the ensemble play is a bitlooser here, as Kimball et. al. look to push the boundaries with someoff-the-cuff and speed-based solos.Nate Kimball shows his worth as a composer,bandleader and musician on Warrior’sJourney.  With a killer supportingcast, and some of the best original jazz of 2012, Kimball challenges the worldof modern jazz with a traditional-leaning album that reinvigorates the art formthe way artists like Miles Davis, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie and HarryConnick, Jr. have done before him. Thirty years from now you’ll hear jazz aficionados discussing Kimball inthe same reverent tones.Rating:4.5 Stars (Out of 5)