I’ll say it up front: this record has two sides in the truest sense of the word. Firstly, people with a penchant for the obscure will succumb to this album. Secondly, it will not be uninteresting musically. But let’s start from the beginning. I have done a little research and can now speculate about the genesis: in 1982 in the rural environs of Cleveland, Ohio, The St. Thomas Quartet was a local fixture. Their front man was the young, talented saxophonist Tony LaVorgna, who called himself Captain Bad and rated his playing himself, on the title of a later album, as »The Baddest Alto In The Galaxy«. A few gigs were organised, standard pieces were rehearsed and then countered with offbeat pieces combining jazz and funk. Then came the idea of playing a live set like that and to record it. No sooner said than done. The label Anteloper Records was founded (a total of four releases are known, all with the involvement of Tony LaVorgna), the young journalist Sarah Hudson was engaged for the liner notes, and she was also allowed to do the artwork. The plan was forged. The music begins: »Now’s The Time« would only have been able to get anyone who had already spent 20 minutes too long soaking up the midday sun in an open-air restaurant with a pitcher of beer in their hands, even in the Müggelseeperle in 1982, into the swing of things. »Chameleon«, the title track, drowns the original by Herbie Hancock in Hammond organs. »Georgia On My Mind«, the evergreen, is delivered in the guise of solid bar jazz. If you have lasted this far, dear reader, you’re now in for the punchline. Which is the B-side. Tony LaVorgna and his three comrades-in-arms first lulled the Ohio audience with some pleasing jazz, only to show their true prowess on Side 2. Sure, »Take The A Train« can hardly compete with Dizzy Gillespie’s version, but the St. Thomas Quartet plays freely. »Body And Soul«, the jazz standard from the thirties, is played to die for. And with George Benson’s »The World Is A Ghetto«, the four musicians really pick up the tempo at the end. A record that is fun in very different ways.
Melos Kalpa
Melos Kalpa
Hands In The Dark