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Formed in 1977 and known originally as the Robben Ford Group, the eventually-nam

ed Yellowjackets consisted of Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ri


cky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians. Ford had originally assembled
this lineup to record his 1979 solo album The Inside Story which was released un
der the name of Robben Ford. During this initial period the band s sound combined
elements of blues, jazz fusion, and progressive rock with Ford contributing voca
ls. Over the next year the group began moving in a more democratic direction, el
iminating Ford s vocals and embracing a more commercially oriented jazz-funk appro
ach overall and the band signed with Warner Bros. as Yellowjackets.
For some veteran bands, a live album can be a way to buy time until the next stu
dio release. For the Yellowjackets, Twenty Five offerns an opportunity to celebr
ate 25 years of growth, change and development. Following the addition of Bob Mi
ntzer on tenor saxophone in 1990, the band's evolution from smooth jazz to serio
us contemporary music was solidified. Since then, Mintzer's sax has become the p
redominant sound of the Yellowjackets, a decision that founding members pianist
Russell Ferrante and bassist Jimmy Haslip seem to have embraced without allowing
their egos to get in the way.
Among the CD's highlights are "Jacketown," drummer Marcus Baylor's "Free Day" an
d "Greenhouse." Live albums are by their nature an opportunity for the members o
f the band to flex their musical muscles, but the Yellowjackets temper the urge
to overindulge in gratuitous solos, preferring to keep things within the framewo
rk of the entire group.

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