Album Review: My America 2: Destinations from Jim Self

Album:  My America 2:  Destinations
Artist:  Jim Self
Websites:  bassethoundmusic.com
facebook.com/JimSelfMusic

The second installment to tuba player Jim Self's 2002 recording My America, which featured iconic melodies reflective of America's early songwriters like Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward's perennial "America the Beautiful" and Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King's country classic "Tennessee Waltz," changes course on his recording My America 2:  Destinations.  His second installment in his America series concentrates on iconic melodies descriptive of America's states and cities, of which Self had lived or worked like the luxurious and bucolic destinations of Kansas City and Georgia.  The recording is a collaboration between Self and arranger Kim Scharnberg, who offer the ensemble of musicians ample space for soloists to play stirring improvisations and demonstrate their fluency in the jazz language.

The album starts off with Scharnberg's Dixieland-inspired arrangement for “Chicago,” personifying the party atmosphere of what bands during the roaring '20s would have been playing in the halls of the night clubs.   Self's tuba begins the jamboree with a phat wail that leads his fellow travelers into a bubbly romp that turns sedate and reflective along Jimmy Webb’s classic gem “By the Time I Get to Phoenix," beautifully versed in glistening horns and graceful trickles by the piano keys.

Continuing along, “Kansas City” is a medley of two songs by the same name, one by Mike Stoller and the other by Richard Rodgers. The arrangement moves between bluesy textured horns and a boogie woogie shuffle.  The track showcases a beefy solo from Bill Booth on trombone, bolstered by the cheerful synapses performed by John Chiodini on guitar.  Self articulates swing-laden rumbles on the tuba while Feather's alto sax moves the dialogue into a blues rock shuffle, and Steve Fister digs in with fiery guitar chords.

The harmony crafted by Bill Cunliffe's soothing melodica notes and Self's toddering fluba puffs, an instrument he created that is a combination of a flugelhorn and tuba, polish Bill Joel's pop standard “New York State of Mind” in elegant jazz hues.  “Blue Bayou Bossa” is equally harmonious with the island sway of the horns performed by Tom Peterson and Ron Stout, complimented by the sleek percussive rhythmic swells that lull the listener into a dreamy trance.  The lounging strokes of the tuba and piano keys kindle "Georgia on My Mind," a staple in Ray Charles' repertoire, with finely threaded embers, resonating a tranquilizing sonorous.

Produced by Jim Self and co-produced by Talley Sherwood with arrangements by Kim Scharnberg, the recording highlights the soulful voicing of the musicians and their stirring improvisations.  A prolific musician, Self has produced 20 albums as a leader. He has also worked for many major Hollywood studios since 1974, performing for over 1,500 motion pictures and hundreds of television shows and records, including being the “Voice of the Mothership” from Spielberg’s flix Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Self's vast musical experiences are present in the recording, equipping him with a flair to play jazz with a fluency that appeals to the global community.

Musicians:
Jim Self - F tuba, CC tuba, fluba, F “Jimbasso” and BBb cimbasso
Kim Scharnberg - baton
Ron Stout - trumpet and flugelhorn
Bill Booth - trombone and euphoniums
Scott Whitfield - trombone
Phil Feather - alto saxophone and English horn
Tom Peterson - soprano and tenor saxophones
John Chiodini - guitars
Steve Fister - guitars
Bill Cunliffe - piano and melodica
Ken Wild - string bass, electric bass, and fretless electric bass
Kendall Kay - drums
Brian Kilgore - percussion