CHESAPEAKE REVISTED by BILL WARFIELD and THE HELL’S KITCHEN FUNK
Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil
Some childhood memories are not soon forgotten. Baltimore, MD native, Bill Warfield cherishes a photograph of his father and uncle John in a fishing boat, tonging for oysters on the Chesapeake Bay.
“It was really a trip to grow up on Chesapeake Bay. Hell, I basically was down there a third of my life. The lifestyle was incredibly laid back and … really sweet people. … I just have so many great memories of that place,” Bill Warfield muses.
Composer, arranger, trumpeter and bandleader, Warfield decided to celebrate Chesapeake Bay with the help of the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra on this, their 4th album release, he simply titles it, “Chesapeake.”
Most orchestra albums open with an up-tempo production, but Bill Warfield opens with a quiet solo piano piece played beautifully by Eugene Albulescu. The next composition by Warfield, “Currents” features the bandleader on muted trumpet. The harmonic horn lines give motion to the music, washing back and forth like a current in the bay. The wordless vocals of Jasia Ries add mystery and depth to the tune, mixed into the horn arrangements.
Warfield mixes it up with a joyful rendition of “Terrestris” with a Latin rhythm that begs dancers to get on their feet. This tune was composed by Tom Harrell, but arranged by Warfield, who offers a swinging trumpet solo. He is followed by Kurt Bacher on baritone saxophone, and the legendary Gary Bartz on alto sax. Fellow Baltimorean, Gary Bartz also came up along the Chesapeake Bay. So, Warfield gave him a call and asked if he would join the project. They are separated by eleven years.
Warfield is 72 and Bartz is 83, so they didn’t know each other as youngsters, but met in the music business years later. Warfield’s arrangement is a fusion of blues and Latin jazz on this tune. If it’s funk you’re looking for, you’ll get that on their rendition of “Cissy Strut.” I love Bacher’s baritone saxophone solo, and they trade fours with drummer, Scott Neumann. The electric bassist, Steve Count, is playing his heart out and invigorating this arrangement.
Slowing the pace down a hair, they play a tune by pianist, composer Cecilia Coleman, that shuffles across my listening room in a bluesy kind of way. “Nusia’s Poem” is a smooth ballroom dance number written by Gary Bartz and featuring trombonist Conrad Herwig, Bartz on Alto saxophone, and Coleman on piano. Coleman also wrote the album’s title track.
This is a high-energy, excellent orchestra led by the multi-talented Bill Warfield. You get a variety of music, from funk to mambo, straight-ahead, swing, and you’ll shuffle a while. Bill Warfield and the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra play it all.
