Following the disbanding of
the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1967, drummer
Joe Morello had more opportunities to record as a leader, though this 1969 session isn't a particularly memorable one.
Morello still has plenty of chops, though an overblown chart of
Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" gives an immediate indication that there's trouble in store for jazz fans. The arrangements contributed by
Bob Ojeda or
Les Hooper also sound badly dated, whether mixing the leader with a string quartet ("Baroque") or laboring through the repetitious "The Beginning of Time" with uninspired brass, a piece that would have sounded perfect as a soundtrack to a mediocre detective film in the early '70s.
Morello's funky "I Don't Know" is little better. Two things are especially annoying about this record: the unaccredited, wheezy organ that sneaks in from time to time and the awkward fades used on some tracks. Anyone who enjoys the work of
Joe Morello is advised to seek out his work with
Dave Brubeck or
Marian McPartland, or his solo albums for RCA Victor or DMP, instead of this disappointing release. ~ Ken Dryden