The
Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band covers ten selections written by various composers for movie soundtracks on this CD reissue. However, unless one is a devotee of Italian films, most of this music will be unfamiliar to jazz fans, although the perfunctory arrangements (nearly all under four minutes) don't leave room for a lot of solos. Since no list of band personnel is provided, discography research hints that the soloists include
Sahib Shihab (on flute), tenor saxophonist
Johnny Griffin, and trumpeter
Benny Bailey, though almost all of the solos are a chorus (or less) long. The best known composition is probably "More," heard in a slow rendition with
Boland's busy piano buried in the mix, followed by
Piero Piccioni's ballad "Your Smile," covered by a number of other jazz musicians, including
Gato Barbieri (with its composer on piano) a few years earlier. The most prominent composers represented are
Nino Rota ("Passerella di Otto e Mezzo")" and
Ennio Morricone ("Questi Vent' Ani Miei"). The music is good, but there are higher priority recordings by the
Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band available on both CD and LP. ~ Ken Dryden