Archipelago's debut album on Germany's CCn'C label is almost too clever for its own good.
Fortunately, this New York-based trio has come up with a crazy-quilt program that makes the most of bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann's killer chops and William Schimmel's endlessly inventive arrangements.
Depending on when and where you grew up, pop standards like "Harbor Lights" and "Autumn Leaves" were part of the air you breathed. Now they're back, along with Joey Dee and the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist," an adaptation of Béla Bartók's 1943 Concerto for Orchestra, film music by Elmer Bernstein and Michel Legrand, and a heartfelt tribute to Lawrence Welk. |