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BOB COZZETTI & TIM GEMMILL,
TIMELESS,
ROCKA COZGEM 101
Tree Leaves* / Blue Jay / Cyclops /
Captain Pike / China / For the Rock
Artist* / Soft Flower in Spring* /
Contemplating Raindrops / Colony Four /
Tunes Just for You / Sweet
Dreams*. 66:26.
Gemmill, ts, ss, Moog synth, el p, p; Cozzetti, tpt, Moog synth,
p;
Steve Bartlett, el b; Fred Taylor or Bob Merrihew*, d.
1,2,6,7,10,11:
1984; 3,4,5,8,9:/16/81, Seattle, WA.
Timeless presents a reissue of what is apparently the collected works (except for a track called "Concerto for Padre" that's
listed in Lord's discography) of Seattle-based musicians Cozzetti and Gemmill (9/82, p.16 & 5/85, p.69). And if anyone were to be
looking for a soundtrack of the period from the mid-seventies to the early eighties, this music would be fine. The use of the Moog
synthesizer provides an especially eerie evocation of the time.
Cozzetti and Gemmill specialize in simple, song-like melodies with modal harmonics and vamps underneath. There's bits of funk as on
"For the Rock Artist" and Miles-rock on "Cyclops." The latter is one of the few cuts (the ballad "Soft Flower..."
being another) to feature Cozzetti's trumpet. Mostly he lays down simple piano lines. Gemmill is the most often featured horn, but he never
rises much beyond the borders of the tunes, which are the centerpiece of this session. Of the solos, bassist Steve Bartlett's fluid,
guitar-like spots leave the strongest impression.
The songs, all co-written and arranged by the leaders, are carefully conceived and delivered. Each makes a point, strikes a mood, and reaches
no further. This is certainly not prophetic music, and yet it has integrity far beyond the commercial music of its time. It manages to speak
of a particular era with out being dated, and hearing it makes me wonder what Cozzetti and Gemmill have been up to in the past ten years.
David Dupont
Cadence
April, 1995
Cadence Jazz magazine
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