Pianist Ted Kooshian reminds you of one of the overlooked joys of jazz; the ability to have some fun. Remember Louis Jordan? He made jazz a joy-that’s the attitude that Kooshian delivers with his team of Jeff Lederer/ts-ss-fl, Morrie Louden-Tom Hubbard/b, Scott Neumann-David Sillman-Warren Odze/dr and Paul Livant/g. The songs here are a mix of originals, a few standards and the rest are wonderful themes from the Golden Age of TV for Baby Boomers.
Want examples? How about a take of “Lost In Space” that takes you to wonderfully forbidden planets with Kooshian’s keyboards. A hip take of “Get Smart” has some shark skin suit crispness with keyboards, trumpet and sax. Percussion and flute come out of the bottle for “I Dream Of Jeannie” and Lalo Schifrin’s classic “Mannix” theme has deep groove for Ledere’s tenor to cruise in. Even more enjoyable is a ragtime and wonderfully hectic read of music froma Max Fletcher flick on”Koko” and even Wayne Shorter joins in on the frivolity with his “Three Clowns” coming off like a dreamy adventure. Dan Hick’s “I Scare Myself” has some glorious sensuality, as Kooshian’s keyboards coalesce with Stillman’s percussion.
Everyone drops out for the leader to close out the album with a shopping mall version of “When You Wish Upon A Star.” If you don’t get a smile on your face somewhere along this disc, go buy a whoopee cushion and work on your attitude.
Summit Records