Product description Gary Burton - For Hamp, Red, Bags, and Cal - CD .co.uk In For Hamp, Red, Bags and Cal vibist Gary Burton salutes four other masters of the mallet--Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson and Cal Tjader. He captures the essence of each player's genius while allowing himself space to demonstrate his own. For the three Tjader cuts Burton uses musicians expert in Latin rhythms, whereas for Hamp and Bags he uses pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash. This grouping makes for fresh and imaginative readings of such classic tunes as "Flying Home" and "Django". But it is, rather surprisingly, the five Norvo tributes that shine most brightly. Three of them feature a drumless trio completed by McBride and guitarist Russell Malone: the drive they achieve on "Indiana" is awesome. The remaining two are duets with pianist Makoto Ozone, featuring Burton on xylophone for "Hole in the Wall" and on marimba in "Dance of the Octopus", the latter proving a suitably arresting finale to the session. Burton's previous Concord, Libertango, was one of the outstanding jazz records of 2000, and in its very different way this is every bit as resplendent. --Richard Palmer
