Yellowjackets: Timeline (2011) CD Review

[admin]

It's hard to believe the quantity of high quality original music the Yellowjackets have turned out over the past 30 years. Timeline has CD quickly become one of my all-time favorite Yellowjackets releases, and I bet I listen to it an average of once a week. I believe that drummers are the heart and soul of a group, and I think the essence of the Yellowjackets can be found in the grooves of William Kennedy over the last 20 years or so. Unfortunately, this may be the last release to feature both Kennedy and Haslip, as Jimmy Haslip has now officially been replaced in the bass chair by Jaco Pastorius' son, Felix. Only time will tell if this mix yields similar results, but I'm sure many long-time Jaco fans are dreaming of the possibilities. Great music, great sound quality, get this CD!


Discuss "Yellowjackets: Timeline (2011) CD Review" here. Read the article.

[Irvrobinson]

Nice review. I'm a big Yellowjackets fan. I have every one of their CDs. Their albums are also very effective subwoofer exercisers, which makes them double fun.

[Stanton]

Agreed. They also image well in multi-channel processor modes (found on many DSP amps/receivers), which is another testament to a good mix job. I typically don't listen to stereo mixes with surround-sound processing, but Yellowjackets CD's seem to "play well" in those modes.

[afterlife2]

Thanks for the review. Can someone recommend 3 other good CD's by them?

[Stanton]

Thanks for the review. Can someone recommend 3 other good CD's by them?

Here are 3 others I've done that can be found on this site (search under "Pro Reviews/Music, Movies, Software"): Blue Hats, Politics, and their self-titled debut album. It's much harder to find a BAD Yellowjackets CD than a GOOD one!

[afterlife2]

Twenty Five (Bonus Dvd) and Yellowjackets [CD on Demand] Thanks Stanton got these 2 to start. Looking forward to the bonus concert DVD. If they are anything like Spyro Gyra I will like it alot.
Oh snap I see Amazon Prime Video has this Concert for free. http://www.amazon.com/Yellowjackets-...=Yellowjackets

[Irvrobinson]

Here are 3 others I've done that can be found on this site (search under "Pro Reviews/Music, Movies, Software"): Blue Hats, Politics, and their self-titled debut album. It's much harder to find a BAD Yellowjackets CD than a GOOD one!

I highly recommend Blue Hats too. If you have a subwoofer, track 2, With These Hands, shakes the room.

I also enjoy the album "time squared".

[Irvrobinson]

If they are anything like Spyro Gyra I will like it a lot.

They are a lot like Spyro Gyra, in that they're very lively contemporary jazz. I think the Yellowjackets are more consistent, both in the musical content and the sound quality of their albums.

If you really want to try a few different albums in this genre, you might consider trying the albums Herb Alpert did on his second label, ALMO: Second Wind, Passion Dance, and Colors. Alpert is one awesome musician and producer.

[Stanton]

I highly recommend Blue Hats too. If you have a subwoofer, track 2, With These Hands, shakes the room.

Possibly my favorite Yellowjackets song of ALL TIME; a close second would be Geraldine (from The Spin). Not coincidentally, both tunes were written by the keyboard player, Russell Ferrante.

[afterlife2]

Thanks alot Irvrobinson and Stanton. I'll pick those up guys. I got to see Spyro Gyra once and they were amazing! Irv I have Passion Dance on DVD-A, but haven't listened to it yet because I don't have my 5.1 setup yet. I have a 3.1 right now. I will remedy that sometime this week, I hope. I always heard the name Yellowjackets, but never heard their stuff. Thank you for the heads up gentlemen.