Who woulda thunk it? When a 95-year old New York City jazz legend teamed up with a 28-year old punk rocker from New Hampshire to make a record, you’d think result might swing like a pendulum and rock like dynamite.
In truth the new Pine Hill recording, Your Wish Is My Command, is two different records. On six tracks, aging clarinetist Sol Yaged swings mightily. On the other four tracks—all cut in the studio—youthful vocalist Tino Valpa croaks out lyrics like Johnny Rotten.
Reedman Yaged—who played with Jack Teagarden, Phil Napoleon, and Red Allen among others—delivers a lively live set here backed by a top-notch band. Meanwhile vocalist/electric bassist Tino Valpa frontman of The Cryptics, rips through some tracks at blazing punk rock rhythms.
The album’s second track, “Takin’ a Swing,” shines as the record’s most effective example of trad-jazz/punk rock fusion. Valpa’s rollickin’ vocal style is punctuated by the pumping ska-like horn charts hitting stop times before exploding in a Lindy hop blowout. The jitterbug fun is complemented by brief allusions to jazz landmarks such as The Metropole.
“Takin’ a Swing” swings like mad, but Sol’s contribution—other than inspiration—is a mystery, as his clarinet is basically unheard.
Other studio tracks, such as the aptly named “Whirlwind,” like “Takin,’” do more to showcase Valpa and t
