Back in the day I worked at a record store where the sales reps pounded with us with free CDs. Everybody fought over the latest cool stuff while I snagged boxes of classical, world music and jazz. Along the way I picked up a Ryo Kawasaki disk or two and was generally quite impressed. (He's the guitarist, by the way) He's got chops galore and he's definitely partial to driving runs and churning beats. Artsy-fartsy guitar jazz ain't for everybody but if you feel like getting into some, Kawasaki is a good place to start.
As for this piece specifically, the sound is a little screwy early on (the pounding percussion overwhelms) but it quickly evens out and sounds pretty good. The composition is fun, the drummers are flying, everybody gets to solo (as always in gentlemanly jazz) and you just don't hear enough horn sections these days. And the ballet…well, honestly of all the art forms out there ballet is the one that makes no sense to me: I understand trying to physicalize music, trying to physically express the innate joy and energy, I just don't understand any of the actual movements. And with this massive stage it seems like it would've been better on ice. At any rate, enjoy.
Ryo Kawasaki -- composition for jazz ballet
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