Allan Songer Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 This one is a followup to 2004's "The Great Divide," which gets my vote for the best jazz album of the past 5 years!! Vonski is backed by the same band, Jimmy Cobb's "Cobb's Mob." This one was recorded in April and is available now only through the Premontion Records website. I ordered my CD on Saturday right after hearing about it!!! http://www.premonitionrecords.com/vfreeman/goodForever.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Allan, thanks for the heads up. I have been wanting to get come Von, and this was the push I needed. They have free shipping and if you buy the new album you get $2 off other VF albums, so I picked up "The Great Divide" too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Good for Von! Let me know how it is guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted August 7, 2006 Author Share Posted August 7, 2006 JAZZ REVIEW A mind-blowing sound experience Freeman's history lesson proves he's still the king By Howard Reich Tribune arts critic Published August 5, 2006 The indestructible Chicago tenor saxophonist Von Freeman stepped up to the microphone, introduced himself to a crowd that already revered him, then spoke five words that amounted to a battle cry: "I came here to blow," said Freeman, who put his horn to his lips and unleashed a torrent of sound and ideas, free-flowing improvisations that summed up whole epochs of jazz history. At 83, the great Vonski -- as he's known to fans across Chicago and around the world -- doesn't have much left to prove. Yet he seems determined to convince each audience anew that he still commands his instrument, still knows how to push past listener expectations and the conventions of the art form. Thursday night at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Freeman played at the top of his remarkable form, though more extravagantly than he might during his ongoing Tuesday-night gig in the intimate New Apartment Lounge, on East 75th Street. Performing on the grandest scale possible, italicizing his gestures and dramatizing his rhetoric to the thousands gathered before him, Freeman sounded bigger, bolder and, in some ways, more accessible than ever. At the same time, though, he sacrificed none of the idiosyncracies of his famously eccentric style, summoning the high-register squeals, rumbling low-note exhortations and slightly flat midregister pitches that are his signature. Through most of this quartet performance on Millennium Park's "Made in Chicago" series, which has become a staple in the city's summertime music schedule, Freeman reminded listeners what Chicago tenordom is all about. The beefy sound, bristling bebop language, deep-swing rhythm and vast, magisterial solos all referenced a long history of tenor saxophone playing in this city. Yet Freeman -- celebrating the release of his aptly named new CD, "Von Freeman: Good Forever" (Premonition Records) -- so radically reconceived the standard tunes he played that an unsuspecting listener may have mistaken them for originals. If Freeman occasionally hinted at the original melodic profile of "Georgia on My Mind," for instance, he utterly transformed the tune with his opening, high-flying soliloquy. "When You're Smiling" reaffirmed Freeman's ability to produce a thrilling tone in even the most fleet passages. The evening began with Chicago trumpeter Corey Wilkes leading his Young Lions Project, which vigorously merged experimental and mainstream idioms. When Wilkes joined Freeman, toward the end of the evening, two generations of Chicago jazz communed with each other, to striking effect. ---------- "Made in Chicago" continues with Grazyna Auguscik's Orkestra Universale at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Randolph Drive and Michigan Avenue; free; 312-742-1168. hreich@tribune.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 just listened to a few audio samples. . thanks for the heads up. hard to believe he is 83 years young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shload Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Both this and The Great Divide arrived yesterday, just great music! Only way to make it better would be to get it on Vinyl. I do have the Freeman on Nessa, which is great also. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 I've listened to Good Forever once a day since it arrived on Saturday. I have to get to Chicago this fall to hear him again . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Once again Thanks Allan for the heads up. I just ordered "The Great Devide" and "Good Forever" Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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