I’d never heard of Yuri Honing before I came across this album but Vince Mendoza and I go way back. I think I have just about every album he’s released in his own name and every album by any other artiste he’s had a hand in; people like John Abercrombie, Stefano di Battista, Peter Erskine, Jimmy Haslip, Jane Monheit and even Joni Mitchell. He is without a doubt, my favourite jazz/jazz orchestra composer and arranger. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who holds him in such high regard as the list of jazz greats who have literally lined up to play on his interesting compositions and arrangements reads like a who’s who: apart from the aforementioned Abercrombie and Erskine, we’re also talking people like Michael Brecker, Marc Johnson, Bob Mintzer, Will Lee, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, John Scofield, John Taylor, Ralph Towner, Kenny Wheeler and Yellowjackets, just to name a few.

Within the first few seconds of the first song on this album, I knew I wouldn’t regret buying it and while it is definitely largely saxophonist Honing’s party, with support from other soloists like Martijn Vink on percussion/drums, Eddy Koopman and Murk Jiskoot on drums, Peter Tiehuis on guitar and Jasper Soffers on piano and with the Mendoza conducted Metropole Orchestra filling in the blanks, this is definitely the joint project that the title suggests.

Every tune is a winner in my book but special surprises were the versions of Wayne Shorter’s “Elegant People”, the Joe Zawinul-penned Miles Davis classic, “In A Silent Way” and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”. Honing himself pens one of the tunes and the others are by Chico Barque & Francis Hime, Wayne Shorter again and of course, Mendoza who also arranged and conducted the whole album. This is great stuff and why Mendoza hasn’t got a higher profile than he does have and why he isn’t putting out more albums than he is doing will for me, remain two of life’s biggest mysteries.

Though I loved it personally, Mendoza’s last album 1997’s “Epiphany” with the London Symphony Orchestra, got some very harsh reviews. I think this one is better though so I definitely recommend it. If you like modern exciting jazz with strings or better still, if you’re a Mendoza fan like me, you’ll love it. There are also two bonus mpeg file movies on the CD which you can play on your PC. They are videos of an alternate takes of “Elegant People” and “Diana”.

A note of warning: The music on this CD lasts for only 37mins and 7secs. It’s satifying but will definitely leave you wanting more. Is that a contradiction in terms?

This one didn’t do it for me, and I’m a huge fan of Vince Mendoza. His arrangements save this from becoming a really dull excursion. Honig plays like he’s heavily burdened by something…no excitement to these ears, and nerves could have been the issue. The real disappointment is the drummer who plays so heavy-handed without complimentary dynamics, no bounce, like he was having lots of trouble following the charts and dared not add anything at all to the pieces. Maybe nerves also contributed to his conservative approach. I wonder if Mendoza in this context would have a choice in contracting the musicians?

Anything with Vince arranging, though, is worth a listen, so 2 stars for him and the nice mastering.