Rokukai
"East Coast West Coast" extends the Thielmans tradition of classic, laid back, bop oriented albums. The idea here is to mesh east coast and west coast USA musicians on the same album. The cast is extraordinary--here's a recap if you haven't looked in-depth:
Toots Thielemans — Harmonica Ernie Watts — Sax (Tenor) Joshua Redman — Sax (Tenor) Terence Blanchard — Trumpet Jerry Goodman — Violin Mike Mainieri — Vibraphone Herbie Hancock — Piano Lyle Mays — Piano Bruce Barth — Piano Alan Broadbent — Piano Michael Lang — Piano John Scofield — Guitar Robben Ford — Guitar Charlie Haden — Bass Christian McBride — Bass Dave Carpenter — Bass Troy Davis — Drums Peter Erskine — Drums
Interestingly enough, this is the project that brought Scofield and Ford together for the first time.
The music here is what you'd expect-understated, lovely standards performed by first-rate professionals. The sound is clear and precise, and the album works well as background music or heavy listening.