Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Richard Baratta: Off The Charts

Richard Baratta: Off The Charts

By Neil Duggan
September 18, 2023
View read count

After more than three decades as a Hollywood film producer, drummer

Richard Baratta

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Richard Baratta seemed ideally placed to bring together the worlds of film and jazz, releasing two albums focusing on songs from the movies. The first of these, Music In Film: The Reel Deal (Savant Records, 2020) gained a Grammy nomination for pianist Bill O'Connell's arrangement of the Euphemia Allen composition, "Chopsticks." Baratta followed this up with Music in Film: The Sequel. His third album, Off The Charts, changes focus completely; the film tunes are discarded as he targets compositions by some of the well-known jazz composers and performers of the '60s and '70s. To his credit, he has curated an inspired set-list of some of the lesser known and seldom played tracks from the period. He also covers the styles from this time, ranging from straight-ahead to funk to Latin.

Used to dealing with A-list actors, Baratta brings the same approach to assembling his musicians, forming a core piano trio with pianist

David Kikoski

piano
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">David Kikoski and bassist

John Patitucci

bass
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">John Patitucci. This trio is enhanced by tenor saxophonist

Jerry Bergonzi

saxophone, tenor
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Jerry Bergonzi, on five of the nine tracks, together with percussionist

Paul Rossman

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Rossman.

Opening with "Herzog" from

Bobby Hutcherson

vibraphone
1941 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Hutcherson's album, Total Eclipse (Blue Note, 1969), they set off at a bustling pace which grows in intensity as Bergonzi and Kikowski make the most of their time in the spotlight, while Baratta offers plenty of embellishments and some furious solo flurries. There is a change of pace with the bossa-flavoured rhythms of Joe Ferrell's "Molten Glass," with a notable bass contribution from Patitucci. "Blackberry Winter," written by pianist

Alec Wilder

" data-original-title="" title="">Alec Wilder and lyricist

Loonis McGlohon

b.1921

" data-original-title="" title="">Loonis McGlohon, is a gentle delight. Bergonzi and Kikoski are at their lyrical best over Baratta's brushes.

"Peresina" is another album highlight. It is taken from

McCoy Tyner

piano
1938 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">McCoy Tyner's Expansions (Blue Note, 1970) and is the perfect vehicle to showcase Kikowski's fluent and flowing piano. The shifting Latin rhythms and swing are enhanced by Rossman's percussion.

Charles Lloyd

saxophone
b.1938

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Lloyd's "Sombrero Sam" is a drum and percussion pleasure which has more flowing piano from Kikowski with Bergonzi interjecting sax before going on to solo. Kikowski is nimble and fluent on a top-class swinging trio version of

Chick Corea

piano
1941 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Chick Corea's "Tones for Joan's Bones."

Elsewhere, the band plug-in for

Joe Henderson

saxophone
1937 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Henderson's "Afro-Centric";

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter's "Lost" features the trio format with a neat solo from Patitucci and they close an outstanding session with "Out of This World," written by

Harold Arlen

composer / conductor
1905 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Harold Arlen and Johnny Burke, which first appeared on

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's album, Coltrane (GRP, 1962). All of the composers featured on the album, with the exception of Charles Lloyd, are no longer with us, but their compositions live on with Baratta and his vibrant cast bringing them up to date for the attention of present-day audiences. Highly recommended.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Herzog; Molten Glass; Blackberry Winter; Peresina; Afro-Centric; Lost; Sombrero Sam; Tones for Joan��s Bones; Out of This World.

Personnel

Richard Baratta

drums

John Patitucci

bass

David Kikoski

piano

Jerry Bergonzi

saxophone, tenor

Paul Rossman

percussion

Additional Instrumentation

Jerry Bergonzi: Saxophone (1, 3, 5, 7, 9); Paul Rossman: Percussion (2, 4, 5, 7).

Album information

Title: Off The Charts | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Savant Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Introducing Drummer Mecadon McCune
< Previous

A.R.C.
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.