Album Features
UPC:    743431420428
Artist:    Ken Schaphorst
Format:    CD
Release Year:    1997
Record Label:    Accurate Records
Genre:    Pop Vocal, Show Vocals, Jazz

Track Listing
1. Out of This World
2. The Man That Got Away
3. If I Only Had a Brain
4. Lullabye
5. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
6. Come Rain or Come Shine
7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
8. Stormy Weather
9. Get Happy
10. Life's Full O' Consequences
11. That Old Black Magic
12. I've Got the World on a String
13. Over the Rainbow

Details
Playing Time:    68 min.
Contributing Artists:    Martin & Wood Medeski, Either/Orchestra, Charlie Kohlhase
Distributor:    Allegro Corporation
Recording Type:    Studio
Recording Mode:    Stereo
SPAR Code:    n/a

Album Notes
Liner Note Author: John Corbett .Recording information: Lawrence University Recording Studio, Appleton, WI; Studio A, Recording, Inc., Dearborn Heights, MI.Photographer: Bob Rueckl.Arranger: Ken Schaphorst.Ken Schaphorst certainly isn't the only jazz artist who has explored the Harold Arlen songbook; over the years, Arlen's songs have been beaten to death in the jazz world. So when Over the Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen came out in 1996, it begged the question: do jazz enthusiasts really need to hear yet another Arlen tribute album? In Schaphorst's case, the answer is "most definitely." The majority of songs that the bandleader/arranger embraces on this CD will be very familiar to jazz fans; anyone who is seriously into jazz has no doubt heard countless versions of "I've Got the World on a String," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "Out of This World." But Schaphorst, much to his credit, doesn't approach them in a knee-jerk, predictable fashion -- he doesn't rip off Buddy Rich's arranging style, and he doesn't feature some unimaginative Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald clones who are afraid to develop their own personalities. Instead, Schaphorst takes chances, and offers a post-bop tribute to Arlen that is, on occasion, mildly avant-garde. Joined by guests who include Medeski, Martin & Wood and the Either/Orchestra, among others, Schaphorst offers some surprises -- and they range from a somewhat Ornette Coleman-ish version of "Get Happy," to an eccentric arrangement of "That Old Black Magic," which features the adventurous singer Kitty Brazelton, and sometimes hints at East European gypsy music. While Schaphorst can be abstract at times, he isn't a radical avant-gardist -- mildly avant-garde when he feels it's appropriate, but not radically avant-garde. Schaphorst goes with whatever works for a particular song; on "Stormy Weather," that means lyrical solos and an accessible, Duke Ellington-influenced arrangement. Whether the playing is lyrical or abstract, Schaphorst wisely keeps his options open -- and that outlook helps to make Over the Rainbow one of the more interesting and unpredictable Arlen tributes of the '90s. ~ Alex Henderson

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