Keegiam, I completely agree with your reaction to the Mintzer recordings and I appreciate the reasonableness of your comments, especially those about “Lil’ Darlin“. You are relatively new to the thread, so allow me to explain in case it is not obvious.
Personally, I sometimes like to post certain clips to try and inspire reactions and commentary and not necessarily because I think the clips are particularly great. When I do think they are great it will be obvious. So, thanks for “biting”. BTW, given the subject of the thread (Hefti) it should be noted that while the Mintzer’s recordings are the same tunes they are not Hefti’s arrangements, they are Mintzer’s. That was the whole point of posting Mintzer; the different generational approaches to the same tunes. I do like Mintzer’s own compositions/arrangements in a modern bag, but that’s a different story.
Now, re your comment “unbearably slow and I engaging”. Basie recorded Hefti’s “Li’l Darlin” several times at many different tempos including some very slow versions. That chart became a staple of many working big bands’ repertoire and, for better or for worse, it became “a thing” to see just how slowly the band could play it without things falling apart. I posted this a while back. Same Hefti arrangement, almost as slow as Mintzer’s. Engaging? You bet. (Snooky Young kills me on this):
https://youtu.be/RlX0b-AJWz4
Slowest recorded “Li’l Darlin” I’ve heard. Engaging? Different vibe altogether. Engaging in a typical Ray Charles funky way:
https://youtu.be/zHZnt8S6Xzc
Personally, I sometimes like to post certain clips to try and inspire reactions and commentary and not necessarily because I think the clips are particularly great. When I do think they are great it will be obvious. So, thanks for “biting”. BTW, given the subject of the thread (Hefti) it should be noted that while the Mintzer’s recordings are the same tunes they are not Hefti’s arrangements, they are Mintzer’s. That was the whole point of posting Mintzer; the different generational approaches to the same tunes. I do like Mintzer’s own compositions/arrangements in a modern bag, but that’s a different story.
Now, re your comment “unbearably slow and I engaging”. Basie recorded Hefti’s “Li’l Darlin” several times at many different tempos including some very slow versions. That chart became a staple of many working big bands’ repertoire and, for better or for worse, it became “a thing” to see just how slowly the band could play it without things falling apart. I posted this a while back. Same Hefti arrangement, almost as slow as Mintzer’s. Engaging? You bet. (Snooky Young kills me on this):
https://youtu.be/RlX0b-AJWz4
Slowest recorded “Li’l Darlin” I’ve heard. Engaging? Different vibe altogether. Engaging in a typical Ray Charles funky way:
https://youtu.be/zHZnt8S6Xzc