Transition

by Scott YanowThe music on Peter Erskine's second recording as a leader (all but two songs are by either the drummer-leader or Vince Mendoza) is disappointingly forgettable, including Erskine's five-part, 22-minute "Suite: Music from Shakespeare's 'King Richard II'." With such fine players as Joe Lovano and Bob Mintzer on tenors, guitarist John Abercrombie, keyboardists Kenny Werner and Don Grolnick, bassist Marc Johnson and Peter Gordon on french horn, the solos are generally quite good, but the lack of any memorable melodies and the dated-sounding synthesizers largely sink the effort.