Music
Posted on Sun, Mar. 31, 2002
The Wichita Eagle
Music
**** EXCELLENT *** GOOD ** FAIR * POOR
Rick Gardner
"Fast Eddie's Rocket Ship"
*** (MP3.com)
Rick Gardner's resume is impressive. The Wichita trumpet-meister has performed with funksters Parliament, Grand Slam and Bootsy Collins' Rubber Band. Throw in Marvin Gaye, Albert King and Bernie Worrell and you begin to understand where "Fast Eddie's Rocket Ship" is based: all over the instrumental galaxy.
Smooth jazz provides the foundation as Gardner's silky trumpet takes the listener from funk to funky rock to space-age destinations.
The opening cut, a light, whimsical "Red White and Blue Comet," would be a perfect match for a Fourth of July fireworks show; "Robots at Play" has a driving, mechanical beat that easily conjures up the image of the song's title; "Alien Chat" is possibly the most difficult to digest for the discombobulatly challenged yet, once again, makes the listener easily picture the title; and "Floating in Blue" is pure space-age lightness.
While admittedly no fan of electronically enhanced music, "Fast Eddie's Rocket Ship" is impressive for the imagination that it requires. Add Gardner's trumpet, and the CD lands in the keeper category.
-- Kevin Sheedy
