AMG Review of Buenos Aires Concerts

Ken Dryden
All Music Guide

Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco was not only warmly welcomed upon his 1980 visit to Argentina, but concert presenter Estanislao de la Torre provided him with a superb local rhythm section for this series of live performances heard on this CD reissue. Even though the master tapes for the original LPs (part of which appeared on the Hep LP Mood Indigo) had deteriorated somewhat by the time of this 1995 re-release, the high level of playing carries the day. A high-spirited take of "Billie's Bounce" proves to be a sizzling opener, with a choice solo by guitarist Richard Lew following the leader's opening statement. The program is a wide-ranging one, from bossa nova ("Triste"), to early jazz favorites ("Ja-Da"), to timeless standards ("Yesterdays" and "The Song is You"), and jazz classics like "Mood Indigo," most of which stretch out to around nine or ten minutes without the feeling of one chorus too many. The only flaw is that the song titles of "The Song Is You" and "Scrapple From the Apple" were inadvertently switched. This English release is well worth acquiring.