Savanna Jazz Club

This is one of the odder records in recent times. Pascal Bokar is a very talented guitarist and an occasional singer (slightly reminiscent of George Benson) who was raised in France and in Senegal, West Africa. In his career he has worked with the Barney Wilen Quintet and has had opportunities to perform with Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd, Roy Haynes, and Donald Brown. His goal has long been to blend jazz with West African rhythms. Bokar has a unique tone on guitar, almost a muffled ukulele sound (when he is not emulating Wes Montgomery or Benson), along with a great deal of fluency. He made his debut as a leader on a 1995 album and there is no doubt that he is a brilliant guitarist. But on evidence of this CD, he needs a producer to help straighten a few things out. While it is trumpeted that drummer Donald Bailey and the Cunninghams are on this CD, there is no mention in the general liner notes which selections feature Bailey (since another drummer is also utilized) or the other musicians. The Cunninghams only appear on a spaced out version of "How High the Moon." Other than pianist Mike Greensill (one of five utilized along the way) and the colorful percussionists (whenever they appear), the other musicians are mostly not on Pascal Bokar's level. The saxophonist finds it difficult to handle fast tempos, some of the tunes fade out in odd spots (did they fall apart afterwards?), and "Donna Lee" is robbed of its chord structure in favor of a rather dull rhythm which does not fit the melody. Perhaps Pascal Bokar's decision to emphasize jazz standards was a mistake and he should have focused more on originals and African melodies, or maybe he should have gathered together a quintet worthy of his talents. His solos are consistently excellent and he has no difficulty in finding his own voice in the jazz tradition. But Savanna Jazz Club is full of mixed messages and it falls short of what it should have been.