Ivanhoe by Bunny Brunel Featuring... BUNNY BRUNEL: Fretless Bass & Electric Upright Bass CHICK COREA: Mini Moog & Fender Rhodes HERBIE HANCOCK: Piano STANLEY CLARKE: Piccolo Bass TONY WILLIAMS: Drums JOE FARRELL: Tenor & Soprano Saxes BILL WATROUS: Trombone STEVE KUJALA: Tenor Sax AL VIZZUTTI: Trumpet DANIEL GOYONE, KEI AKAGI, KEN SHIMA: Keyboards MICHAEL O'NEILL, BERNARD TORELLI: Guitars JEAN PAUL CECCARELLI, TOM BRECHTLEIN: Drums DON ALIAS, LAUDIR DE OLIVIERA: Percussion.
About Bunny Brunel.... When CHICK COREA watched BERNARD BUNNY BRUNEL play one night at an upscale London jazz club in 1978, Bunny was unaware of the ultimate significance Corea would play in his future success as a bassist. A few weeks after that visit to London, Chick called Bunny on the telephone and asked him to pack up and join him on a world wide tour. Bunny quickly accepted and went on to record the classics "Tap Step" and "Secret Agent" with the legendary jazz fusionist.
The roster of artists Bunny went on to record and perform with is practically a "Who's Who" of music industry giants. Notables include: HERBIE HANCOCK, WAYNE SHORTER, TONY WILLIAMS, AL JARREAU, NATALIE COLE, LARRY CORYELL, AL DIMEOLA, MIKE STERN, JOE FARRELL, and a list that goes on and on. Besides his work as a performer, he is equally at home in the roles of composer, arranger and producer.
As a soundtrack composer, Bunny collaborated with Clint Eastwood in creating the main theme ("Claudia's Theme") for the Oscar winning film, "The Unforgiven." He also worked on several TV shows, including the popular series "Highlander." As a designer, Bunny created a line of Electric Bass Guitars for Carvin Corp. And an Electric Upright Bass.
Bunny has released many albums. See his page on CD Baby or personal website at bunnybrunel.com for current list. These projects highlight his beautiful compositions and melodic solos and show off breathtaking bass lines.
'CAB2' was nominated for the "Best Contemporary Jazz Instrumental Album" Grammy award of 2002. Taking an active interest in helping bass players, Brunel regularly gives seminars and lessons on his unique approach to the instrument. He has written several books and instructional videos.
Great, great, great! Meaningful and well-constructed music for jazz-fusion aficionados. The overall sound is awesome and Brunel has it all: the sound, the groove, the compositional knack. The guests are well-chosen and used: Herbie Hancock on piano on two tracks, Chick Corea, Tony Williams, Joe Farrell etc. Tracks are in various styles: latin, funk, jazz... Track dedicatees include Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea.
As far as bass players are concerned, this is better than anything by Stanley Clarke (who plays piccolo bass here on the opening track), Marcus Miller or Victor Wooten. If I was to describe Brunel's sound on bass, I'd say he is somehow at the crossroads between Jaco Pastorius (for the velocity and groove) and Bill Laswell (for the BIG sound and some of the effects used), with a strong hint of Stanley Clarke thrown in. This record (which I discovered via the Hancock connection) has made me hungry for other Brunel recordings. This one's from 1986, still sounds fresh in 2009 and it sincerely is a blast.
Track listing:
1 Ivanhoe 4:48
2 Going Home 4:28
3 Dede 6:00
4 Latin 6:10
5 Magic Player 3:25
6 Song For Wayne 8:50
7 As My Brother 3:20
8 Nani 3:23
Personnel:
Bass [Piccolo] – Stanley Clarke (tracks: A1)
Bass, Producer – Bunny Brunel
Congas – Don Alias (tracks: A2)
Drums – Tony Williams* (tracks: A1, B4), Jean Paul Ceccarelli* (tracks: B1, B3), Tom Brechtlein (tracks: A2, A3, A4, B2)
Guitar – Bernard Torrelli* (tracks: B1, B3), Michael O'Neill (tracks: A2, A3)
Keyboards – Chick Corea (tracks: A2, A4), Daniel Goyone (tracks: B1, B3)
Percussion – Laudir De Oliveira (tracks: A2, A4)
Piano – Herbie Hancock (tracks: A4, B2), Ken Akagi* (tracks: A3)
Piano, Keyboards – Ken Shima (tracks: A1, A3)
Saxophone – Joe Farrell (tracks: B1, B3), Steve Kujala (tracks: B1, B3)
Trombone – Bill Watrous (tracks: B1, B2, B3)
Trumpet – Al Vizzutti* (tracks: B1, B3)
Vocals, Percussion – Nani Villa Brunel
