The Quiet

Description

The Quiet is an instrumental album by the American singer, songwriter, and trumpeter Phil Driscoll, independently released by Phil Driscoll Music Group in 1999. The album was recorded and mixed by Chris Rich at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California; with Bill Maxwell of Koinonia fame producing. All tracks co-written by Phil Driscoll and Bill Mason except track 8 written by Phil Driscoll only.

Featuring Phil Driscoll on trumpet, flugelhorn, and flumpet, backed by a session band consisting of Billy Preston and Bill Mason on piano and organ, Greg Mathieson on synthesizer, Michael Thompson on guitar (with Dean Parks sitting in on guitar on tracks 1, 8, and 9), Abraham Laboriel on bass, Bill Maxwell on drums, and Alex Acuña on percussion.

Phil Driscoll always seems to have a new recording – there are 30 albums available from his website! He returns here with his first completely original instrumental album, featuring some of the best West Coast musicians around, eg, Abraham Laboriel and Alex Acuna. Personally, I’m a bit of a sucker for West Coast jazz so I’m biased towards this type of music to mellow to late at night when the lights are down low, but looking objectively, it’s not everyone’s thing. This is not a collection of jamming sessions, apart from the first track, where Phil plays the ramshorn, all the tracks feature his hallmark trumpet and flugelhorn being used mainly as a vocalist within a song structure. The mood, as suggested by the title, is contemplative and is paraphrased on his website as “The Quiet. In the stillness of the morning, with the quiet of the dawn, when gentle rains must fall.” Track names such as «Spirit Rain» and «Reflections» indicate the general direction. There are movements towards fusion a la early Terje Rypdal in the title track and similarities with much of Windham Hill’s catalogue. While not quite as completely polished as a Bob James record perhaps, and despite a couple of cheesy moments, this is well worth a mellow-out! [Matthew Cordle, Cross Rhythms, June 2000]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-quiet/1701348720)

CD tracklist:

01. The Prophet – 5:41
02. Hourglass – 6:02
03. Peaceful Waters – 5:43
04. The Flight – 7:09
05. Carefree – 6:43
06. The Walk – 5:38
07. Song For My Father – 5:30
08. Spirit Rain – 4:27
09. The Quiet – 5:46
10. Reflections – 5:02

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Phil Driscoll Music Group.