Paul Desmond - Skylark (1973)

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By Peter Crisman Amazon.com Seriously, I am a devoted fan of Paul Desmond, and this is my favorite album, not just out of Desmond albums, but all albums. I own a fairly large jazz collection, mostly CDs, lots of Miles Davis and cool jazz of course, yet I listen to my Skylark record more than any other album I own. Recorded in late '73; Desmond plays beautifully and swinging even just three short years before his own death of lung cancer. Guitarist Gabor Szabo is featured on this album, and for good reason. Jack DeJohnette plays drum set. The first song, Take Ten, a variation of the Take Five theme Desmond wrote, is amazing. I find myself humming it in my head a great deal and often switch to its melody in the middle of humming Take Five. Romance de Amor is a well-organized and beautiful piece with an interesting sound. Was a Sunny Day is a wonderful cut with a great motivated solo by Desmond. It's hard to sit still while listening to it (or any part of this album). Music for a While is a fine, beautiful song with some strings. The melody is an adaptation of the classical Dido's Lament. Finally, Skylark, the last and most definitely the most awesome. Desmonds playing on this song can only be described as heavenly. One melodic line in Skylark has kept me awake late into the night before, almost too gorgeous to seem real. This is truly one of the greatest albums in jazz recorded by one of the greatest artists of all time, Paul Desmond. I was just looking at the reviews for Kind of Blue...take my word for it, buy this album, if Kind of Blue gets 5 stars then Skylark gets at least 7.

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Tracklist:

1: Take Ten
2: Romance De Amor
3: Was A Sunny Day
4: Music For A While
5: Skylark
6: Indian Summer
7: Music For A While (Alt. Take)
8: Skylark (Alt. Take)
9: Indian Summer (Alt. Take)


Another fine CTI 6000 series album:
CTI 6000 series
(CTI 6039)




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