How about a CD review?

I recently filed away With Love, by the Charles Tolliver Big Band. It was a Valentine's Day gift from a former girlfriend--how could she resist the title when she saw it on my Amazon wish list? I had put it on the wish list for consideration after reading a friendly review in the New York Times online, not necessarily planning to buy it, but I do love big-band music--especially the stuff produced since the late '60s. It's a shame the disk isn't more enjoyable, since it was a very thoughtful gift and she deserved better for her efforts.

The disk begins with a big, brassy peal of trumpets offset by blaring, diving trombone counterpoint and filigreed saxophone riffs. But right away, it hits you that the big noise isn't joyous, that it carries the same, flat, one-dimensional hint of minor keys familiar from the less-than-fun world of heavy metal (where you need to be exceedingly intense and serious). The band itself is an impeccable machine, sleek and powerful as it runs through its paces: loud, soft, fast, slow, smooth, rough. Yet the arrangements seem overly bombastic and lacking variety after a while as Mr. Tolliver (trumpet soloist and writer as well as leader) never seriously changes pace with a different harmonic approach or steps away from his use of the three wind sections in blocks (trumpets, trombones, woodwinds), rather than mixing the voices for some different sounds. The band roars impressively, but never really swings, which is quite odd since the rhythm trio is plenty strong in spots. Mr. Tolliver is an odd soloist, using a blaring, smeared sound on the trumpet as he never quite seems to find a way to string together coherent phrases that are more than a few moments long. At times, he seems lost in his own arrangements, aimlessly tossing out comments as the band punches accents (and boy, can this band punch!) rather than assembling an interesting phrase that meshes. The other soloists are stronger, thankfully, and the overall sound is hard to resist, although a bit sterile like a good college ensemble rather than the more confident, loose sound of seasoned pros.

4 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta
• Bill Watrous: Space Available
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica
• stellastarr*: (eponymous)
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Requiem