Glenn Zottola has had an impressive career serving as a sideman on trumpet, tenor and alto sax for artists ranging from Benny Goodman to Chick Corea. Here, he reaches into the heart of bebop founder Charlie Parker and focuses on the rarely appreciated side of the artist, that of a romantic. Zottola takes the original transcriptions of the historic 1949-50 recordings and breaths a fresh life into them. His sound is warmer and clearer than Bird’s, so that’s a major plus, while his solos and melodic statements are on a par with the originator.
The sweetness and freshness that mix between strings and horn are in abundance here. The lithe freedom of “April in Paris,” or pensive dreaminess of “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” is captured perfectly by Zottola, while “Summertime” is a dramatic aria and “Laura” is fit for Dana Andrews. Zottola’s sound embraces you like a rippling wave foaming at the shore. If you don’t have the original, try this one instead for an intro to a sound that changed American recordings.
Classic Jazz Records