"Cherry": Oh Baby!

 

I first heard Josh Roseman play his trombone on Charlie Hunter's 2000 self-titled release. And then, serendipitously, a CD came across the counter at the shop featuring Roseman as the leader of the Josh Roseman Unit. I was intrigued by both the players---John Medeski, Joey Baron, Lester Bowie---and the tune selection---songs written by Otis Blackwell, John Lennon, Page & Plant, Sun Ra and Kurt Cobain. That CD, "Cherry" quickly went into heavy rotation.

It's been years since I've listened to it, but after a few minutes of dialing up some tracks on YouTube, I remembered exactly why I loved the record. Roseman takes familiar melodies and turns them inside out. The "Unit" sounds like the Mingus Big Band and The Skatalites through a grunge machine. Roseman actually toured with The Skatalites for a bit, as well as appearing on records by Don Byron, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto, Jason Moran, Ron Sexsmith, Sheryl Crow and countless others.

I imagine "Cherry" won't be everyone's cup of tea. But hopefully some of you will turn it up loud and have as much fun with it as I did.