Monthly Archives: August 1999

Phil Collins Big Band: “A Hot Night in Paris”

Phil Collins Big Band
A Hot Night in Paris

Atlantic (1999)
Time: 70:15

Musicians: Phil Collins (drums), the Phil Collins Big Band. Featuring Gerald Albright (alto sax).

Songs: Sussudio, That’s All, Invisible Touch, Hold On My Heart, Chips & Salsa, I Don’t Care Anymore, Milestones, Against All Odds, Pick Up The Pieces, Los Endos Suite.

Rating: * * * *

Many people are going to have problems with this CD. A lot of people know Phil Collins as the popular music artist who also played in the rock group Genesis. Some jazz fans will think yet another pop/rock artist is invading their territory. The pop/rock fans will accuse Collins of cashing in on the latest “Big Band” and “Swing” fad, and granted, what this album does will go over the heads of most Collins fans who know him only from Top 40 radio.

Collins started out in a very early edition of Genesis, joining the ranks as a drummer. When Peter Gabriel left for greener pastures (and a highly acclaimed solo career), Collins stepped out in front as the new lead vocalist for Genesis. On a brief hiatus from Genesis, and during a nasty breakup of his first marriage, Collins recorded some songs in his home studio, which resulted in his first big solo hit “In The Air Tonight.” Collins was also part of a cutting-edge jazz/rock group named Brand X. Recently, Collins had left Genesis, and put his solo career on hold.

The result of his activity for the past three years is this new CD, A Hot Night in Paris. Back in 1996, Collins travelled another musical path assembling a big band and making concert appearances around Europe, culminating in a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. On that tour, Quincy Jones conducted, and Tony Bennett was a guest vocalist. Dead serious is Mr. Collins!

Reassembled in 1998, the big band toured the US and Europe, and was captured on tape in Paris for this recording. The song selection taps various interests. Included are popular tunes like Collins’ own “Sussudio,” “Against All Odds” and “I Don’t Care Anymore,” the Genesis hits “That’s All,” “Invisible Touch” and “Hold On My Heart,” an original Gerald Albright tune called “Chips & Salsa” (from a recent CD entitled GIVING MYSELF TO YOU), and a couple of covers like “Milestones” (yes, the Miles Davis classic) and Average White Band’s “Pick Up The Pieces.”

For me, the centerpiece of this set is the “Los Endos Suite.” True Genesis fans will recognize this tune from their 70’s album Trick Of The Tail, and it translates well into a big band arrangement. “Los Endos” was an instrumental track to begin with, and anyone who’s familiar with the album will recognize the reprise of many themes from that album. From the crowd’s response, it’s evident that there were quite a few hardcore Genesis fans in the audience!

How do the other Genesis or Phil Collins tracks translate? Variable, I’d say. “Sussudio” gets a hip-hopped arrangement with the melody taking a few harmonic twists and turns. “Invisible Touch” gets a nice Basie-fied traetment, loping along at a gait that Basie and Freddie Green would be proud of; this one was arranged by Sammy Nestico. “Against All Odds” features the crystal clear alto of Gerald Albright. John Clayton Jr. provides a tripped-up arrangement of “That’s All.”

No Collins album is complete without a remake of a classic oldie. Here, the band rips into a funkified Arif Mardin (!) arrangement of “Pick Up The Pieces,” which again features Albright, and is also joined by George Duke on piano and James Carter on tenor. The energy on this track crackles! And it’s a near tie for this one and “Los Endos Suite” as my favorite of the set.

“Milestones,” perhaps my favorite Miles Davis tune, is covered here in a John Clayton arrangement that translates the tune well to a big band. This track illustrates why I feel the Collins big band is a success in the jazz idiom. If you’re familiar with “Milestones,” it starts off with several measures of a melody, then cuts into some serious soloing. And that’s the spirit throughout this album. While a lot of the melodies are familiar, these are not short three-minute big band covers of popular hits. Aside from the ambitious “Los Endos Suite,” the arrangements let the band state the melody, and then drop out of the way so the musicians can cut into some serious solos.

The musicians themselves are all top drawer. Longtime Genesis/Phil Collins touring guitarist Daryl Stuermer plays throughout the album in a rhythm capacity. Years ago, he played in one of Jean-Luc Ponty’s fusion ensembles, so jazz is no stranger to his talents. I’d also give musical director and trumpet/flugelhorn ace Harry Kim a tip of the hat for being the glue that spiritually holds this band together.

But what about the drummer? For one, Phil Collins sings not one note on this set, nor does he switch to the piano or pick up a tamborine. He’s 100% drummer here, doing what he does best, and playing jazz like the seasoned veteran that he is. Aside from a couple of solo breaks and the “Los Endos” workout (which borders on being orchestrated to begin with), there are no drum pyrotechnics, no flashy displays of misspent energy, and no banging on the skins for the sake of making noise. Just some damn good playing here!

So how would I sum it up for everyone? Hard core Collins/Genesis fans will realize this is a new avenue for him and will enjoy it. Jazz fans who don’t know a note of his music from his “day job”, or who can get over the fact that he played that devil rock and roll music, will probably also enjoy the fine musicianship and well-arranged charts. The fans who will be disappointed are the ones who were expecting Collins to sing all of his favorites in front of a big band…mainly, the Top 40 crowd.

As I see it, he hasn’t sold out into the latest “swing” fad, which is where I’m sure many nay-sayers would disagree with me (most who have probably never heard this CD, or did listen but don’t understand it) . The booklet states that he became smitted with one of Buddy Rich’s bands way back in 1966 and thereafter pursued a lot of other big bands (Basie Ellington, etc.), and now that he’s established and probably has all the money he’ll ever need, he has the freedom to play music that presents a new challenge, and have a little fun in the meantime. Which is what I did! My recommendation is to buy this as a big band jazz album and leave it at that. Because that’s exactly what it is!