Joe Fiedler Open Sesame

Michael Vlatkovich
With You Jazz Cat
pfMentum PFMCD 142

They both may have toy-like fuzzy creatures pictured on their CD covers and be small bands led by American trombonists, but that’s where the resemblance between Fuzzy and Blue and With You Jazz Cat ends. Music director/staff arranger for Sesame Street at the same time as he works with his own Jazz bands, this is New Yorker Joe Fiedler’s second Open Sesame disc where he transforms kids’ show tunes into improvised music. Adding funk, Blues, Latin and other textures to the 13 selections his sophisticated arrangements resemble the beyond category feeling of some Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn projects for the Ellington band. Part of the West Coast contingent of advanced players, Michael Vlatkovich’s octet compositions suggest a contemporary take on the fluid creations produced by a California big band leader whose concepts were a large part of 1940s and 1950s Jazz, but whose name is more unfamiliar to anyone younger than 60 than Oscar the Grouch or the Cookie Minster: Stan Kenton.

Vlatkovich is no musical autocrat like Kenton, but with the emphasis on his slide work Jazz Cat resembles some of those single player showcased Stan Kenton Presents LPs. Crucially though, as some of the CD’s glossy flow relates to Gil Evans-Birth of the Cool arrangements, space remains for the other players – most prominently keyboardist Wayne Peet – to demonstrate their skill.

Like the inclusive television program, Open Sesame is no one man band and the trombonist’s arrangements make full use of the skill of his associates, who move in the same contemporary milieu: trumpeter Steven Bernstein, reeds player Jeff Lederer, bassist Sean Conly and drummer Michael Sarin. Miles Griffith contributes vocals to a couple of tracks, but the real demonstrations of Fiedler’s skills are instrumental, especially tracks like “I Am Blue” and “Bip Bippadotta Suite”.

Foot tappers like all the others, the tunes exhibit real virtuosity. With its trombone lead over the other horns’ vamps, “I Am Blue” becomes a real Blues with an Ellingtonian-twist with the Quentin Jackson-like plunger trombone challenged by contrapuntal asides from Bernstein’s Rex Stewart-like muted trumpet and Lederer’s Jimmy Hamilton-style glissandi. The heartfelt horn choir narrative is completed by Sarin’s rim shots. A mash-up of three Sesame Street themes, the “Bip Bippadotta Suite” vibrates back and forth from Pop-Jazz to pseudo-Dixieland with slippery reed smears, plunger brass expression, a slap-bass interlude from Conly and a rattling Gene Krupa-like drum break. Not tony does the hopscotch two beats in the final section add excitement to the ending, but it also sets up the next track as a near bouncy reprise. With other tracks expanding the sort of musical references a small swing band of the 1930 and 1940s would express Open Sesame hits a happy groove and sticks to it throughout. Considering that some of those asides include an Afro-Cuban lilt on the title track; a crystalline layering of “Creole Love Call” and a Mexican hat dance with cymbal bangs and fluttery brass on “One of These Things” and even a mash up between freylekhs trumpet, gutbucket trombone stutters and drum grooves with a gospel-like tinge on “X Marks the Spot”, the multi-dextrous skill of the players involved is constantly invoked.

Perhaps beneath his exploratory ethos Vlatkovich always wanted to be Kai Winding or Frank Rosolino fronting a larger band. At least the arrangements on Jazz Cat’s 10 tracks are sumptuous enough to almost replicate the sound of a big band with only two trumpets, two reeds, trombone, keyboards, percussion and bass. Although the pastel layering sometimes move the piece past Birth of the Cool into near-polite swing, there are enough reed bites, brass slurs and quickened organ jabs to proclaim its modernity. A prime instance of this is “011…….923” where upwards flowing brass connections pass downward moving reed slides, abetted by piano key clips. A second section balanced on tremolo organ chords features a walking bass solo and the trombonist building up to raspy treble tones as the band riffs behind him. “Bob, the fish that discovered water”, is another notable track – and title – as a stop-time intro slowly shatters into a semi-Blues. The mood is further propelled by Vlatkovich’s plunger exposition and shaking flutters from Andrew Pask’s soprano saxophone. As the theme shudders and doubles in tempo it reverts to the stop-time introduction. Peet, who engineered and co-produced the session, also offers constant reminders of his musical versatility. If he’s not feeding piano lines behind a Cool Jazz-like sax solo or underneath trombone flutters and Bill Plake’s slurpy tenor sax, he’s driving the octet with organ riffs. Not to be slighted is Ken Park, who when he isn’t hold down clanging drum beats splays vibes-like resonation on certain tracks for added sonic colors.

Well played and serious and a characteristic demonstration of Vlatkovich’s skills as a soloist and orchestrator, With You Jazz Cat makes for appealing listening. For some compelling sounds mixed with a hearty helping of unselfconscious musical fun there’s Fuzzy and Blue.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Fuzzy: 1, ABCDEFGHI 2. Bein’ Green 3. Fuzzy and Blue . 4, I Am Somebody* 5. I Am Blue 6. Elmo’s Song 7. I Love Trash* 8. Bip Bippadotta Suite 9. LadyBug’s Picnic 10. We Are All Earthlings 11. One of These Things 12. X Marks the Spot 13. Captain Vegetable

Personnel: Fuzzy: Steven Bernstein (trumpet, slide trumpet, G trumpet, flugelhorn); Joe Fiedler (trombone); Jeff Lederer (soprano, tenor saxophones, clarinet); Sean Conly (bass, electric bass); Michael Sarin (drums) and Miles Griffith (vocals) *

Track Listing: Cat: 1. Mister 60 2. Don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone 3. Friends 9113 4. Bob, the fish that discovered water 5. Nursing Home fashion show 6. 011…….923 7. I’ll show him who he thinks we are 8. Association of the Well Meaning 9. How is anyone going to recognize you without your disguise? 10. Jazz Cat

Personnel: Cat: Greg Zilboorg, Louis Lopez (trumpet); Michael Vlatkovich (trombone); Andrew Pask (soprano alto baritone saxophones); Bill Plake (tenor saxophone); Wayne Peet (piano and organ); Dominic Genova (bass) and Ken Park (percussion)