VOTD 12/11/2023

The Medieval Jazz Quartet: The Medieval Jazz Quartet Plus Three (Classic Editions)

Purchased at Jerry's Records

I can be a bit of a hoarder, and on top of it I'm chronically disorganized. Sometimes I get ahead of both things, other times it feels like a losing battle. Thankfully I've fought my impulses enough that I try to limit my purchases, both in number and category. I continue to buy records, which been fueled in part by picking pieces from the Duquesne University collection, on the cheap.

In my various stops by Jerry's, The Attic, and whatever record stores I might find, sometimes I'll spring from something that I later think, "well, maybe I didn't need that." But I'm always interested in oddities, and I guess that's what caught my fancy in this case.

The Medieval Jazz Quartet seems to have been a one-off project of Bob Dorough, mostly famously the vocalist for some installments of Schoolhouse Rock, and "Blue Xmas" the odd closer to Miles Davis' Sorcerer LP. He's a good vocalist but sounds a bit like a cartoon character. 

This is Bob mostly on tenor recorder, leading a quartet of recorder players (mostly) through jazz standards, plus a guitar/bass/drums trio. The recorder parts are largely through-arranged, though Bob solos occasionally. He's not bad, but it's an instrument with a limited range of expression. He wisely keeps solos brief, and cracks notes with some frequency. I mean, how could you not? He also sings a few times, which definitely breaks things up.

Strangest (and probably most interesting) of all the tracks is the arrangement of "Nature Boy" which includes bouzouki, two crumhorns, and a baroque flute. Hearing the latter whip a few lines around does serve to remind that the recorder is such a limited instrument.

While the guitarist's name is unfamiliar to me (Al Schackman), the bass and drums are very familiar: George Duvivier and Paul Motian. Paul does his work but at no time stands out. It's not a put down; a single strike of a tom or kick drum could destroy the entire front line of this group. George gets to show off a little more, albeit in the background. Hey, it's a paying gig, right? And who knew what Paul would go on to do? This was well before the days of the Liberation Music Orchestra and the Keith Jarrett Quartet, let alone the great Paul Motian Trio.

The record? It's pleasant enough, some of the arranging is pretty good. But in the end, it is recorders. How about more crumhorn?