Imani Winds - Josephine Baker - A Life Of Le Jazz Hot! (2007)

In its third release for Koch, wind quintet Imani Winds has put together a tribute to the remarkable Josephine Baker. The album celebrates the 2006 centennial of her birth and features two new works by members of the ensemble, as well as arrangements of three of the songs that were Baker trademarks. In hornist Jeff Scott's clever and idiomatic arrangements of "Don't touch my tomatoes," "Donnez moi la main," and "Je voudrais," the quintet is joined by singer René Marie and percussionist Joseph Tompkins. The songs are a pure delight -- the singer and players perform with abandon and loads of flair. Scott's seven-movement suite, La belle Sirène Comme le Comedienne, was written to accompany scenes from two of Baker's films, La Sirène des Tropiques and Princesse Tam Tam, and flutist Valerie Coleman's Suite: Portraits of Josephine depicts scenes from her life. Both works also use Tompkins. They are attractive, inventive, and skillfully scored, and are welcome additions to the repertoire for wind quintet, even though their virtuosic demands will probably limit their performance to the most experienced professional ensembles. Koch's sound is clean, crisp, and spacious.

Review by Stephen Eddins