Alexander Zonjic, Smooth Jazz, флейта Опции

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Джазовый флейтист Alexander Zonjic.

Jazz flutist Alexander Zonjic is known for his smooth playing style, in addition to composing and performing his own original songs on solo albums since the mid-'80s. As a youngster growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Zonjic was first enraptured by guitar, as he played professionally in a R&B band as a teenager. At the age of 21, Zonjic purchased a flute on a whim, and within a year had become quite proficient at the new instrument, leading soon after to a successful audition for the University of Windsor (where he studied with the second flutist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra). Although Zonjic continued to play guitar at nightclubs to make ends meet, flute soon became his main interest, influenced by the likes of Hubert Laws and Herbie Mann. After college graduation, Zonjic often played at jazz clubs in the Detroit area and one evening, renowned jazz keyboardist Bob James caught Zonjic's act, which led to an immediate invitation into his own band, which the young flutist accepted.

Recording sessions with such jazz greats as Earl Klugh, Kirk Whalum, Harvey Mason, and Angela Bofill soon followed, as well as performances throughout the world, including Japan, England, Philippines, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, as well as appearances at some of the U.S.' most esteemed venues: Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Apollo Theater. Since the late '70s, Zonjic has been issuing solo albums, including such titles as 1978's self-titled debut, 1982's Elegant Evening, 1987's Romance with You, 1988's When Is It Real?, 1990's Neon (the latter a collaboration with Bob James, Earl Klugh, vocalist Angela Bofill, and producer/saxophonist Kirk Whalum), and 1993's Passion. Zonjic has also been part of different projects with his early flute mentor, Ervin Monroe: 1981's The Classical Album, 1995's Piper's Holiday, and 1997's Christmas and Night. In 2001, Zonjic released Reach for the Sky. He kept busy throughout the next decade releasing Seldom Blues in 2004 and Doin' the D in 2009. In addition to his recording and performing career, Zonjic has his own morning radio show on WVMV-FM, Smooth Jazz V98.7 in Detroit, which he hosts during the week from 5:30 to 9:00 in the morning.

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Review

by Alex Henderson

It isn't hard to see why some jazz listeners might approach Doin' the D with trepidation. Flutist Alexander Zonjic is a smooth jazz artist, and one of the musicians featured on this 2009 release is the saxophonist so many jazz musicians love to hate: Kenny G. However, the album's title song boasts Brian Bromberg on acoustic bass -- and keyboardist Jeff Lorber co-produced many of the tracks in addition to helping with the composing, arranging, and engineering. So with that much participation from Lorber, could Doin' the D really be all bad? It isn't. Lorber's presence is definitely a plus, and groove-oriented tunes like "Tourista," "Good as Goldie," and "Tongue Twister" (all of which Lorber composed and co-produced with Zonjic) balance commercial and artistic considerations. The track that features Kenny G is an ethereal version of Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower," which Lorber arranged. Kenny G, who is heard on soprano sax, still sounds like a poor man's Grover Washington, Jr. -- which is the same problem that Najee, Boney James, and the late George Howard have all had -- but Lorber's appealing arrangement of the Hubbard standard is the track's saving grace. Actually, Lorber is the saving grace on much of Doin' the D. As a flutist, Zonjic has a long history of fluctuating between the funkiness of Herbie Mann and Hubert Laws on one hand and the blandness that has often plagued Tim Weisberg on the other -- and Lorber seems to bring out a bit more of the Mann/Laws side of things on the tunes that he contributes to. Unfortunately, Lorber doesn't have nearly enough solo space as a keyboardist; one wishes he had a lot more room to stretch out. And most of the tracks that Lorber is absent from are run-of-the-mill smooth jazz fluff. But this 40-minute CD has more pluses than minuses -- and for all its slick, glossy commercialism, Doin' the D still has more integrity than many of the smooth jazz discs that were released in the late 2000s.

Участники:

Alexander Zonjic: flutes;
Jeff Lorber: keyboards, guitar, synth bass (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10);
Dwight Sills: guitar;
Lenny Castro: percussion;
James Lloyd: keyboards, synth bass; percussion (2, 9) ;
Kenny G.: soprano saxophone (3);
Tony Moore: drums;
Chieli Minucci: keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars (4);
Bob James: piano (4);
Leo Tizer: keyboards (4);
Jerry Brooks: bass;
Maysa Leak: vocals (6);
Jay Rowe: keyboards (7);
Ken Navarro: nylon string guitars, percussion, programming, additional keyboards (7);
Rick Braun: flugelhorn (5);
Brian Bromberg: acoustic bass (7);
Kevin Prince: bongos (7);
The Motorcity Horns (4, 8):
John Rutherford: tenor and bass trombone;
Bob Jensen: lead trumpet, flugelhorn;
Mark Byerly: trumpet, flugelhorn;
Keith Kaminski: tenor saxophone.

Alexander Zonjic
Doin' The D (2009)

01. Top Down (3:57)
02. From A To Z (3:56)
03. Little Sunflower (4:19)
04. Passion Island (3:49)
05. Tourista (4:04)
06. Undun (4:42)
07. Doin' The D (3:57)
08. Good As Goldie (4:41)
09. River Raisin Nights (3:43)
10. Tongue Twister (3:26)

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