Robert Mazurek [Badlands]Rather than a Robert Mazurek record, this is almost a duo led group with Eric Alexander, as you can see from the booklet cover, however in the track writing credits it's Mazurek who penned four originals, and probably called the other tunes as well, and what a tight Bop session this is.
Recorded in of all places Edinburgh Scotland, on the Scottish label HEP Jazz, this is my first introduction to Robert Mazurek, he has a nice tone, strong fat sound, great soloing ideas, nice balladeering too, he uses a mute on a few of the numbers for variety as well, the Quintet becomes a great vehicle for the other musicians to show off their wares.
I so much enjoyed track 5 'Badlands', the inspiration for the music is supposedly the Sioux ancestral homeland in the Dakotas, Trumpet and Sax play the funky theme tune, and then Mazurek goes off on his solo [1:10-2:33], building up a strong fierce intensity, his short solo is the most enjoyable part of this track, then it's Alexander's turn on Tenor Sax [2:36-5:18], his solo is thoughtful, but a bit muted, and then Randolph Tressler gets a solo on the Piano [5:18-7:12], again his solo seems a tad restrained, he doesn't use the treble notes much, doesn't seem to want to play loud and intense either, but it's an enjoyable solo nonetheless, and then Drummer George Fludas has a go [7:12-8:28], before Mazurek and Alexander come back in with the theme again, to take the track out to a satisfying fade.
