Bill Warfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra Smile

Bill Warfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra
Smile
Planet Arts

 Jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator, Bill Warfield, was a student of the late Lew Soloff. After Warfield gave up the trumpet when he lost his front teeth after an auto accident, Soloff became an inspiration. After he heard Soloff's solo on Blood Sweat & Tears recording "Spinning Wheel," Warfield regained the desire to play trumpet again. In addition to playing in various bands, the Baltimore native studied for four years at Towson State with Hank Levy, an arranger for Don Ellis and Stan Kenton.

Moving to New York in 1980, he began subbing in the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, playing and arranging for the Bill Kirchner Nonet, and copying music for Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, and others, as well as earning a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He has been teaching since 1987, including stints at Brooklyn College, Towson State University, and the University of North Florida. He joined the faculty at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1996.

Warfield is currently involved in several bands, including the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra, a little big band. Besides Warfield (leader, arranger, trumpet, and flugelhorn), players on this recording are John Eckert (trumpet and flugelhorn), Andrew Gould (alto sax and flute), David Rickenberg (tenor sax, baritone sax, flute, and clarinet), Matt Hong (baritone sax, alto sax, and flute), Blue Lou Marini (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute, and clarinet), Matt Chertkoff (guitar), Cecilia Coleman (piano), Paul Shaffer (Hammond B-3, Fender Rhodes piano), Steve Count (acoustic and electric bass), and Scott Neumann (drums). Jane Stuart is the band's vocalist, with singers Julie Michels and Carolyn Leonhardt, each guesting on one song. Marini and Shaffer are special guests on this recording.

With a mix of what Dave Stryker might call 8-track classics, assorted other songs, and the leader's intriguing originals, Warfield leads a band on a thoroughly engaging and funky program. [The recording is bookended by two versions of “Smile,” one featuring vocalist Michels and the closing one a duet with Shaffer's airy electric piano providing a setting for Warfield's lovely trumpet. ]While there is a superb cover of a Weather Report recording, "Cucumber Summer," Warfield's original "Mad Dog 245" will also evoke the legendary band with its mesmerizing bass riff and Rickenberg's riveting tenor sax solo." Then there is a stone-cold funky rendition of Booker T & the MG's "Hip-Hug-Her," with Hong's down-in-the-alley baritone sax solo, the leader's fiery trumpet, and Shaffer's chicken-fried organ.

Bobby Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" is taken uptown with a marvelous vocal from Stuart and Marini's fervent tenor sax. Stuart also is featured on a cover of the Gladys Knight hit, "I've Got to Use My Imagination." John Eckert contributes the blistering trumpet on this last tune. Carolyn Leonhardt is heard on "Rainbow Connection' from "The Muppet Movie." Pianist Coleman's delicate solo intro leads to a lush horn setting for her captivating vocal.

Arguably the standout track is Warfield's reharmonization of "Theme From Law and Order," with a guitar chorus before Marini's Coltrane-ish soprano sax solo as the band sings a chant based on the "Acknowledgment" section of "A Love Supreme." The chant segues into the band's accompaniment to the climax of Marini's solo before the group restates the theme. It is a sterling performance among the imaginative, first-rate performances heard on "Smile." "Smile" is a superb recording of straight-ahead jazz that should also have considerable appeal to a general listening audience.

I received a review copy from a publicist. Here Bill Warfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra perform "Hip-Hug-Her."