Disc of the day: 05-11-09
Oliver Nelson & His Orchestra: The Kennedy Dream (Impulse! Originals 0602527069999)
In the original liner notes Oliver Nelson remembers where he was when he heard that John F Kennedy had been shot. He was in the studio working on an album with many of the musicians who would, three and a bit years later, work with him on this recording dedicated to the man who, until recently, had been the most charismatic and inspiring US president in the lifetimes of those still living today.
Nelson uses clips of speeches by Kennedy as introductions to some of the tracks, which have names like Let The World Go Forth and The Rights Of All and The Artists’ Rightful Place. (I can’t imagine that last named being inspired of George Dubya – can you?) There is even a track dedicated to Jackie – or Jacqueline as she is called here.
There is a lot of cheer in a lot of these tracks, which capture the buoyant vibes of the times. But, of course, there is the death of the dream here, too, and the brief (3 minute 39 second) Day In Dallas is a masterful evocation in an orchestral jazz arrangement of the despair of that day.
The album ends on a more poignantly uplifting note with Phil Woods playing a liltingly optimistic solo over the orchestra in the John Kennedy Memory Waltz.
The music has always been better when there has been a Democrat in the White House. And ‘Retha at the inauguration was a fine start to the current brave new era. The Kennedy Dream acts as a salutary reminder not only of previous sunnier times but also of the dangers lurking in the shadows.
