Tom Varner Quartet

Tom Varner Quartet
Studio album by
Tom Varner
Released1980
RecordedAugust 29, 1980
GenreJazz
Length44:16
LabelSoul Note
ProducerTom Varner
Tom Varner chronology
Tom Varner Quartet
(1980) 		Motion/Stillness
(1983)

Tom Varner Quartet is the debut album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner, recorded in 1980 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

The AllMusic review by Ron Wynn stated: "Tom Varner turned heads and opened eyes on the jazz scene in the early '80s. There weren't, and still aren't, many French horn players who improvise and play with the facility he demonstrated on this 1980 session".[2]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote that the album "depend[s] on satisfying solos to make a modest impact."[3]

A reviewer for Billboard noted that the album "establishes Varner near the very top of the admittedly brief list of players committed to venturing into jazz with this symphonic instrument," and commented: "What distinguishes Varner is both his compositional focus... and astonishing technique. Rapid flurries of notes and raucous slurs may be routine on other brass horns, but on this instrument those effects represent obvious care."[4]

Track listing

All compositions written and arranged by Tom Varner
  1. "The Otter" - 7:43
  2. "Radiator" - 8:26
  3. "12 12" - 7:39
  4. "TV TV" - 10:05
  5. "Heaps" - 10:28
  • Recorded at Sorcerer Sound in New York City on August 29, 1980
  • Cover photo by Vittorio Sacco, back photos by Lee Snider and Carlo Verri

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Tom Varner discography accessed June 2, 2011
  2. ^ a b Wynn, R. AllMusic Review accessed June 2, 2011
  3. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1441. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ "Top Album Picks". Billboard. August 29, 1981. p. 70.