Musicians: Russell Ferrante, keyboards; Jimmy Haslip, basses; Marc Russo, soprano and alto saxophone; William Kennedy, drums and percussion.
With: Alex Acuņa, percussion; Bill Gable, cello and percussion on "Wildlife", vocals on "Sightseeing"; Brenda Russell, Alex Acuņa, Diana Acuņa, Bill Gable and Jimmy Haslip, vocals on "Wildlife".
Not content to stick to the same successful formula of previous albums, Yellowjackets came up with a few new twists for Four Corners. The first change would be the addition of drummer extraordinaire William Kennedy, replacing Ricky Lawson. The other change is the music. While "Mile High" and "Indigo" still echo of classic Yellowjackets, the showcase pieces "Wildlife" and "Sightseeing" are considerably more complex than anything they'd attempted before. Layers of dense synthesizers, a battalion of percussion, and world beat influences abound throughout many of the tracks on this album. "Out Of Town" also gets a remote big band flavor--bop saxophone licks, and Russ' synthesizers providing the electronic equivalent of the horn sections. This was my personal introduction to the Yellowjackets' music back in 1987. At first listen, it didn't do much for me. But after several more spins, I was able to pick up more of the elements buried within the different layers, and began to appreciate everything happening within the music.
