Howard Reich Reviews
of
Bill McFarland and The Chicago Horns
"Fire Horns" CD
Sopro Records
Chicago Tribune
Sunday, August 27, 1995
Arts Section:
Recordings Review by Chicago Tribune Critic:
Howard Reich
The incendiary first track alone makes this recording required listening.
Written by Chicagoan Bill McFarland, "Harold The Great" has become an anthem for
The Chicago Horns and a popular repertory piece among a variety of Chicago bands.
With its incantatory backbeats, anthem-like main theme and combustive brass variations,
the piece epitomizes everything that is thrilling about McFarlands's Chicago Horns.
The rest of the album unfolds in similarly dramatic fashion, with an irrepressible
rhythmic drive in "Hip Hop Swing," profoundly melancholy lines in "Maho's
Dream I" and gripping rhythmic grooves in "Mild Wind." Add to that
the jubilant harmonies and Latin cross-rhythms of "Mardi Gras" and the
heaven-storming brass lines in the title track and you have one of the most viscerally
exciting Chicago jazz bands to come along in years.
By: Howard Reich; Chicago Tribune.
Article by Chicago Tribune Arts
Critic:
Howard Reich:
It's a wonder the fixtures are still attached to the ceiling at the
Green Mill Jazz Club after Saturday night's show.
Though Bill McFarland and The Chicago Horns were making their debut at the club, they
played as if they owned the joint. And it wasn't just the group's penchant for
fortissimo blasts of sound that gave this performance its air of authority.
This band's taut rhythms, its front
line's muscular quality and its rhythm sections's aggressiveness made The Chicago Horns
sound more like a small jazz symphony than the hard-hitting sextet it is.
Though the band has been playing
around Chicago for the past couple of years, its front line dates back much further, with
trombonist McFarland, tenor saxophonist Hank Ford and trumpeter Kenny Anderson having
virtually grown up together musically.
The years they've spent in one
another's company have paid off. When these three horns are playing unison lines,
the force of their sound is matched only by their finesse: They phrase, shade and taper
lines almost as if a single player were at work.
The most jolting performance of
Saturday night's show came in a relatively new number that may yet emerge as the band's
signature piece: "Harold The Great," a McFarland original.
"Harold" refers to the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, to whom the piece
is dedicated.
But this work is much more than a
pious homage to a fallen hero. Rather, its volatile rhythms and raging energy recall
the fire and fury that made, Washington unique as an orator and leader. More
important, in the work's reliance on African horn calls and on themes more reminiscent of
African chant than Western melody, the composition effectively links Washington to black
leaders of African antiquity.
To hear McFarland improvising
vigorously on trombone while Ford's tenor and Anderson's trumpet blared forth with
glorious horn calls was to understand the communicative power of this band and this
composition. The exultant melody lines, wide-open textures, peak volumes and
unrepentant rhythmic drive inspired generous ovations from the large crowd.
Elsewhere in the show, the band took
Miles Davis' "All Blues" at an unusually fast clip, turned up the intensity a
few degrees more on John Coltrane's "Impressions" and basked in the deepest
shades of blue in "Hank's Theme," a Ford original. Among the solo
passages, Anderson's trumpet work proved particularly effective, especially in his tender,
muted reading of "Round Midnight"; here's the rare trumpeter with the technique
to explore the legacy of Dizzy Gillespie, who's clearly Anderson's prime inspiration.
The band is backed by Osamu Sam Soda's
great waves of sound on piano, Mike Staron's feverish bow work on bass and Rick Vitek's
unflagging energy on drums.
By: Howard Reich; Chicago Tribune.
Bill McFarland and The Chicago Horns -
Excerpt
By Chicago Tribune Art Critic:
Howard Reich
Earlier in the
afternoon, before Lester Bowie had taken the stage, Malachi Thompson and friends offered
key selections from their growing repertory. The hightlight came in trombonist Bill
McFarland's "Harold The Great," named for former Chicago Mayor Harold
Washington.
This tune, mesmerizing in its
repetition and dynamic in its chord changes, is one of McFarland's most effective
creations. His own version, with his Chicago Horns, is viscerally exciting, whereas
the Africa Brass treatment sounded plush and virtually symphonic. The tune seems
capable of changing character according to the occasion, and it's little wonder that
Thompson and Africa Brass have adopted it.
By: Howard Reich; Chicago Tribune.