Tony Guerrero: Blue Room is a collection of jazz standards, performed capably by Guerrero on flugelhorn and trumpet. His choice of flugel on many tunes begs comparison to a long line of jazz innovators, including Art Farmer, Tom Harrell, and Chuck Mangione. Unfortunately, Guerrero doesn't create nearly enough spark in his solos to be compared yet to anyone on this list. As a stylist,
Tony Guerrero is capable, but saying this puts him in league with most top-notch college players and weekend warriors.
Blue Room is a collection of performances that would not sound out of place at a classy dinner party or similar society event. There's always room to put one's mark on the classics; just look at what players like Tom Harrell have done in the past when turned loose on standards... Guerrero doesn't appear to have ambitions in the direction of disrupting tradition, which will serve him well as a background musician and ultimately do more to pad his bank account than if he spent time pushing the envelope.
Blue Room abounds with light and cute renditions of songs like "Carumba," "It's Only A Paper Moon," and "Blue Room," that seem tailor-made for this treatment. All the same, listen to Sonny Rollins' take on "Blue Room" (from his 1965 album on Impulse!) to hear how a lightweight song can be repackaged in the right hands. The best moments are when Guerroro tackles ballads like "Body and Soul" or channels great soul and blues influences on a song like "Flugel Bugle Blues." How you respond to the album depends on what you came to the party expecting. Technically unimpressive and pushing no boundaries musically, Guerrero still does a fine job intepreting the standards and releasing an album that is very true to tradition. Sure, Wynton Marsalis has already done a truckload of records that fit this description, but each generation gets its share of historical reenactment. Jazz is still a relatively fragile and misunderstood art form, so we probably can't have enough able bodies willing to uphold tradition. Tony Guerrero: Blue Room is a nostalgic tribute to 100 years of great jazz music, and Guerrero's facility on the flugelhorn and trumpet is supported by a group of fine backing musicians. As albums go, it's as pleasant as can be, but there's nothing here to show us the future of jazz music.
