Track Listing

1. No Room For Argument
2. Homage & Acknowledgement (Love Supreme/Filles De Kilimanjaro)
3. Straight No Nothing
4. Metropolis
5. Christina
6. NeuBeings
7. Cygroove
8. He Who Knows
9. Virtual Chocolate Cherry
10. Midnight Blue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226978 in Music
• Released on: 2000-10-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Because the brilliant trumpeter Wallace Roney emerged on the jazz scene at the same time as Wynton Marsalis, it took a little while for his star to shine (and not be in Marsalis's shadow). Roney recorded for Muse and Warner Bros., and with No Room for Argument, he's found a new home on Chick Corea's Stretch label. He's backed by a first-rate ensemble that includes his wife, keyboardist Geri Allen, his brother Antoine on saxophones and bass clarinet, and several Miles Davis alumni: bassist Buster Williams, drummer Lenny White, and synthesizer wizard Adam Holzman. With his piercing Milesian Harmon mute and full-bodied open horn at the helm, Roney delivers 10 tracks that blend 1970s-style fusion with cutting-edge technology and good old-fashioned bebop licks, with samples of speeches by Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and Malcolm X sprinkled on most of the tracks. From the martial title cut and Prince riffs to the brilliant blending of John Coltrane and Miles on "Homage & Acknowledgement (Love Supreme/Filles De Kilimanjaro)," Wallace Roney sets his sights high and ascends. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews

Good musicianship, highly derivative
I agree with the previous review. Roney tries just too hard to sound like Miles, though I don't know about him sitting in his room with Miles posters etc. etc. I noticed the same problem with Cindy Blackman, her albums sound just too much at times like Miles' mid-60's quintet. Actually a lot of musicians copy it; Wynton copied it too, when he was starting out, oddly enough trashing Miles in the press all the time. That was before he started playing Dixieland.

Anyway, this is a pretty good album, but I've heard many of these musicians on other albums and know they're capable of more when pushed to really produce. Here, they have a mission to sound like Miles' groups, and they do a good job of it, but I don't think it's worth a purchase unless you're a diehard Roney fan and want to hear him in this context.

No Room for Imitations
This CD asks the musical question, "What's the difference between homage and ripoff"? If you're Wallace Roney, the answer is--not much. This disc would more appropriately have been entitled, "I wish I were Miles Davis". I can just picture a young Roney practicing his horn surrounded by Miles posters and paraphenalia perfecting his imitative technique.There's nothing on this disc that you can't find, done much better, by Miles in any of his electric sessions. Granted, I don't write jazz reviews for the New York Times, but I am a serious collector and listener of jazz music and to my ear, there is nothing new here. I defy the average jazz fan to find a unique voice here.The technique is excellent to be sure, and the imitation is spot on, but if you want Champaign, why drink sparkling cider? Spend your CD dollar wisely, go to the Miles Davis section, and avoid [poor] imitations.

Mr. Roney goes "Out there"!
With this release, Wallace seperates himself further from his contemporary trumpeters. "No Room for Argument" is an excellent, multi-faceted, gem. The added layers of sound and voice float in and out of the slightly subdued (except track 9), instrumental virtuosity. It all blends into a very modern sound. As a Trumpeter/leader/composer, Mr. Roney is definitely headed "Out there"! Long live the Committee.