Album Review: I'll Never Be the Same from Jack Brandfield
Album: I’ll Never Be the Same Artist: Jack Brandfield Label: Gut Strings Records Website: www.jackbrandfield.com Cool jazz finds another recruit in saxophonist-interpreter Jack Brandfield. His latest release I'll Never Be the Same is a pleasing elixir on the senses with reworkings of a handful of jazz standards. Accompanied by Randy Napoleon on guitar and Rodney Whitaker on bass, the smooth strut of Brandfield's music purveys a succor effect. Traditional bebop idioms can be heard in his verses in addition to his impulse to improvise, presenting ear-catching trajectories along the melodic progressions. "Nobody Else But Me," a music score written by Jerome Kern, brings out Brandfield's charismatic personality as his saxophone soars with vibrant swirls and twists that keep the melody active. The silky tresses of Brandfield's sax trotting along "Vignette" produce a merriment that leaves fond impressions on listeners, which then slows to a sl...