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| Full Review --SUITE WILLIAM |
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| Windsor/Detroit Jazz Society Newsletter |
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Suite William - A Jazz Cantata
by Art Stone
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 This is a most unusual CD; not the kind of music I´d normally review. But while I´m not qualified to comment on the quality of jazz these musicians create, I do recognize talent...and there is a lot of talent evident here. |
First there is the amazing talent of Bess Bonnier. Her playing on the CD is flawless, matching the changing moods of the music perfectly...but so it should. She wrote it, molding it to the words that Shakespeare wrote 400 years ago. She also wrote the lyrics to the introductory piece and the reprise, helped with the vocal arrangements and co-produced the entire undertaking.
In her role as producer, she hired some of the best musicians in the Detroit area and then gave them ample opportunity to display their interpretation of her music. And they take advantage of that opportunity. Listen to the trumpet solo on "Shakespeare Speaks"; the vibraphone on "All the World´s a Stage"; Benson´s sax line on "MacBeth´s Blues" and again on "Sonnet XVIII". Beautiful! And listen to Bonnier herself behind the vocal on "O Mistress Mine". This one is pretty enough to be issued as a single.
I have to warn you, if all you ever put in your CD player is Dixieland, this is probably not your cup of tea. If, however, you´re open to jazz in all its various forms; if you appreciate the kind of music Mel Torme wrote, or the kind of vocals the Hi Lo´s recorded, then you should give this one a listen. I think you´ll enjoy it.
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