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 A Taste of Jazz in the Park - Milwaukee 2006 $16.99 20 Tracks on 2 Discs: DISC 1: 1)Samba de Beef; 2)I Remember Miles; 3)Blues at Caroline's; 4)I'm Your Honey Boy; 5)Across the Bridge; 6)You're Always There; 7)Sweetness #34; 8)Born to be Blue; 9)8:00 Clock Hustle; DISC 2: 1)Still By Your Side; 2)Beating the Odds; 3)Jump & Bump; 4)Mambo Italiano; 5)IHOP; 6)My Kind of Town; 7)Get Up; 8)El Parrandero; 9)Song for my Father; 10)Makin' Whoopee/The Glory of Love; 11)On the Edge  The Rocker Yes, drummers definitely march to the beat of their own drum (a fitting metaphor). By and large they're anti-authority, eccentric, immature partay animals; but a good drummer can hold a band together like super glue. And into this quirky realm enters Rainn Wilson as Robert Fishman (Fish)--the original drummer of legendary rock band Vesuvius, which summarily dumped him 20 years before as the band was entering its heyday. Fish has a grudge, he detests normal things like. . .working. . .and he never wants to grow up. So when his high school nephew (Josh Gad) appeals to Fish to bail out the nephew's band by playing the drums for the prom, Fish agrees, then readily gets bit by the rock 'n roll bug. Subsequently a sight gag (not pleasant to watch) gets on YouTube, the band (named ADD) gets a following, then a sleazy agent (Jason Sudeikis), then goes on tour--and THE ROCKER takes off as a vehicle for Wilson's irreverent antics. With a predictable plot and ADD's maddening bubblegum music and lyrics, I still got a hoot watching Wilson dominate scene after scene. This guy really has a knack for physical comedy, and enough facial expressions to form his own area code. He's often over the top, but it's needed to offset his surprisingly stoic and composed fellow band members (Gad, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone), and a traveling band mom (Christina Applegate is gorgeous). I really got a kick out of Will Arnett and Bradley Cooper playing self-absorbed, perpetually stoned, Vesuvius front men, and it's great to see Howard Hesseman still commanding a pulse. Yet this is Rainn Wilson's baby, and THE ROCKER is grand fun to watch because of it. --D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning The Rocker Yes, drummers definitely march to the beat of their own drum (a fitting metaphor). By and large they're anti-authority, eccentric, immature partay animals; but a good drummer can hold a band together like super glue. And into this quirky realm enters Rainn Wilson as Robert Fishman (Fish)--the original drummer of legendary rock band Vesuvius, which summarily dumped him 20 years before as the band was entering its heyday. Fish has a grudge, he detests normal things like. . .working. . .and he never wants to grow up. So when his high school nephew (Josh Gad) appeals to Fish to bail out the nephew's band by playing the drums for the prom, Fish agrees, then readily gets bit by the rock 'n roll bug. Subsequently a sight gag (not pleasant to watch) gets on YouTube, the band (named ADD) gets a following, then a sleazy agent (Jason Sudeikis), then goes on tour--and THE ROCKER takes off as a vehicle for Wilson's irreverent antics. With a predictable plot and ADD's maddening bubblegum music and lyrics, I still got a hoot watching Wilson dominate scene after scene. This guy really has a knack for physical comedy, and enough facial expressions to form his own area code. He's often over the top, but it's needed to offset his surprisingly stoic and composed fellow band members (Gad, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone), and a traveling band mom (Christina Applegate is gorgeous). I really got a kick out of Will Arnett and Bradley Cooper playing self-absorbed, perpetually stoned, Vesuvius front men, and it's great to see Howard Hesseman still commanding a pulse. Yet this is Rainn Wilson's baby, and THE ROCKER is grand fun to watch because of it. --D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning |
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