Record Reviews

GINGER BAKER ~ HORSES AND TREES CELLULOID 6126 (Barcode: 5060767443576) ~ UK ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 1985 Released: 2022 This is a reissue / remaster of an album by British Rock / Jazz drummer Ginger BakerFind albums by this artist, recorded by an international team of musician, which included Indian violinist L. ShankarFind albums by this artist, American bassist Bill LaswellFind albums by this artist, who also produced the album, Brazilian percussionist Nana VasconcelosFind albums by this artist, American (of Greek origins) guitarist Nicky SkopelitisFind albums by this artist, Senegalese drummer Aiyb DiengFind albums by this artist and others. The album presents six tracks, composed mostly by Laswell and on some tracks co-composed by Baker and other participating musicians. The music is a unique amalgam of rhythmic motives and World Music melodic influences, with a strong ambient production influences, which was highly experimental at the time of the recording. The trance / hypnotic atmosphere features heavy drum parts by Baker and other percussionists, with ethnic melodic influences and Jazz improvisations on top, definitely a weird mixture, but hardly surprising as Baker proved always that he eschews all forms of conventional approach in music. This album is a singular document of Baker’s 1980s recorded output, which was a transition period between his interest in World Music and his gradual return to Jazz from the 1990s on. Overall, this is a very unique piece of music, which shows Baker as a non-conventional explorer, not afraid of new (at the time) musical approaches and of course as a great drummer, a status which he maintained for his entire lifetime. This album might prove to be revelatory to many young listeners and musicians, who never came across his name.

Updated: 11/06/2023Posted: 11/06/2023

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Remastered Recommend To A Friend

DON CHERRY / NANA VASCONCELOS / COLLIN WALCOTT ~ THE CODONA TRILOGY ECM 2033/35 (Barcode: 602517674202) ~ USA ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 1978 - 1982 Released: 2008 This wonderful Box Set contains the three albums by the legendary trio comprising of trumpeter / composer Don CherryFind albums by this artist, Brazilian percussionist / composer Nana VasconcelosFind albums by this artist and multi-instrumentalist / composer Collin WalcottFind albums by this artist recorded in late 1970s and early 1980s and released on the ECMFind albums on this label label, which are "CodonaFind albums with this title" (ECM 1132) recorded in 1978, "Codona 2Find albums with this title" (ECM 1177) recorded in 1980 and "Codona 3Find albums with this title" (ECM 1243) recorded 1982. These albums are magnificent examples of early Jazz-World Fusion, which precede what has become a trend on the contemporary music scene by decades. All three musicians are absolute virtuosi and the fact that they come from such diverse musical backgrounds and yet are able to create music together with such harmony and mutual understanding, is truly amazing. In the process of recording these albums all three musicians play several instruments each. The listener can hear Cherry play the flute for example, which is quite unusual and a plethora of various ethnic instruments like sitar, tabla, talking drum and many others are used throughout. This music lost absolutely nothing of its original charm and fascination and sounds every bit as enchanting as it did at the time of the recording. Walcott´s tragic death in 1984 unfortunately put an end to this unique trio, but their legacy stays with us forever. It is still one of the most profound and best examples of what Jazz-World Fusion is all about Side Note: These albums are not available on CD individually, so this is the only way to obtain them in CD form.

Updated: 26/01/2019Posted:

CD 3 Mini-Sleeve Box Set Recommend To A Friend

MORDY FERBER ~ ALL THE WAY TO SENDAI ENJA 6030 (Barcode: 063757603023) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1990 Released: 1990 This is the debut album as a leader by Israeli guitarist / composer Mordy FerberFind albums by this artist, recorded with a spectacular international lineup, which includes Japanese trumpeter Tiger OkoshiFind albums by this artist, American saxophonists Bob MintzerFind albums by this artist, keyboardists American Brad HatfieldFind albums by this artist and Swiss Matthias GohlFind albums by this artist, bassists Czech Miroslav VitousFind albums by this artist and French Gildas BocleFind albums by this artist, American drummer Marty RichardsFind albums by this artist and Brazilian percussionist / vocalist Nana VasconcelosFind albums by this artist. The album presents six tracks, all of which are original compositions by Ferber. Ferber, born in 1958 near Haifa, was one of the many young Israeli musicians, who frequented my home while growing up and getting into Jazz, partly under my influence. By the end of the 1970s and in early 1980s Ferber became a most sought after Israeli session guitarists and took part in recording many legendary albums at the time. He left to study at Berklee, like many other Israeli Jazz musicians, and decided to stay in the US, visiting Israel occasionally. The music floats between melodic contemporary Jazz and some more Fusion influenced pieces, all beautifully put together and performed by this highly talented team. His guitar performances are nothing short of stellar and the entire album is a great piece of delightful music, which sadly never achieved the proper attention on the US scene, which has always been flooded by way too many mediocre releases. He recorded several more albums but his output sadly does not reflect his great talent, which is a great pity. Overall, this is a beautiful album, full of great music and spectacular playing, which is criminally little known both in Israel and on the global scene. Of course guitar enthusiasts should be primarily happy with this music. A great piece of personal nostalgia for me.

Updated: 11/08/2024Posted: 11/08/2024

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

MORDY FERBER ~ MR. X HALF NOTE 4205 (Barcode: 015095420527) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 1995 Released: 2000 This is the 2nd album as a leader by Israeli guitarist / composer Mordy FerberFind albums by this artist, recorded with a spectacular lineup, which includes American saxophonists Dave LiebmanFind albums by this artist and George GarzoneFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Brad HatfieldFind albums by this artist, bassist Eddie GomezFind albums by this artist, drummer Jack DeJohnetteFind albums by this artist and Brazilian percussionist Nana VasconcelosFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by Ferber and one is by Charlie HadenFind albums by this artist. This is a second edition of the album. Ferber, born in 1958 near Haifa, was one of the several young Israeli musicians, who frequented my home while growing up and getting into Jazz, partly under my influence. By the end of the 1970s and in early 1980s Ferber became a most sought after Israeli session guitarists and took part in recording many legendary albums at the time. He left to study at Berklee, like many other Israeli Jazz musicians, and decided to stay in the US, visiting Israel occasionally. The music floats between melodic contemporary Jazz and some more Fusion influenced pieces, all beautifully put together and performed by this highly talented team. His guitar performances are nothing short of stellar and the entire album is a great piece of delightful music, which sadly never achieved the proper attention on the US scene, which has always been flooded by way too many releases. He recorded several more albums but his output sadly does not reflect his great talent, which is a great pity. Overall, this is a beautiful album, full of great music and spectacular playing, which is criminally little known both in Israel and on the global scene. The contributions by Eddie Gomez are especially stunning and alone worth getting a copy of this album. Of course guitar enthusiasts should be also fully satisfied. A great piece of personal nostalgia for me.

Updated: 07/09/2024Posted: 18/07/2024

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

JOACHIM KUHN ~ HIP ELEGY (MOST PERFECT SOUND EDITION) MPS 9808186 ~ GERMANY ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Joachim KuhnFind albums by this artist ranks among the most famous European jazz musicians. Brilliant pianist and composer, he has been active on the German jazz scene since the mid-1960’s, first playing with his older brother Ralf KuhnFind albums by this artist (a superb jazz clarinet player – see their excellent album on the American Impulse!Find albums on this label label, if you can find it) and later enjoyed a spectacular solo career, playing and recording with all the best jazz musicians around the world. As many of his German colleagues he played mostly free jazz in his early days and later expanded also to Jazz-Rock. For this 1975 recording Kuhn assembled a stellar group of musicians: Japanese trumpeter Terumasa HinoFind albums by this artist, Belgian guitarist extraordinare Philip CatherineFind albums by this artist, Brazilian percussionist Nana VasconcelosFind albums by this artist and an all-American rhythm section with John LeeFind albums by this artist on bass and Alphonse MouzonFind albums by this artist on drums. Together they play a set of Kuhn’s superb compositions, executed with elegance and virtuosity rarely heard elsewhere. Kuhn’s superb piano technique, of the classical concert hall scale, sets the tone, but he also uses electronic keyboards to paint layers of atmospheric backgrounds. Everybody enjoys plenty of space to improvise and the result is a Fusion fan’s dream come-true. On a side note: the album was produced by Joachim BerendtFind albums by this artist and the music was first played at the jubilee concerts celebrating his 5,000th radio jazz program on the Sudwestfunk network – where Berendt worked for many years. Side Note The legendary German MPSFind albums on this label (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald) label, founded by Hans Georg Brunner-SchwerFind albums by this artist (HGBS) in 1963, first as SABAFind albums on this label Records and later on from 1968 as MPS Records, was the most important independent European record label, which had an enormous contribution to the development of European Jazz. For many years MPS cooperated with the legendary German producer / author Joachim BerendtFind albums by this artist, my Friend and Mentor, whose visionary approach and open-mindedness brought the crème de la crème of the Jazz (in the broadest meaning of the word) musicians from all over the world to the label. Between 1963 and 1983 MPS produced about five hundred albums, many of which are among the most important Jazz recordings on this planet. In 1983 the MPS catalog was sold to UniversalFind albums on this label, which sadly resulted in all those artistic treasures to almost disappear from the face of the earth – a situation not only tragic but culturally criminal. Universal reissued a part of the MPS albums (probably 128 titles) on CD between 1999 and 2011 under the "Most Perfect Sound Edition" moniker. Since 2008 the German Promising MusicFind albums on this label label released some of the MPS recordings, but at a very slow pace. In 2014 the German company Edel AG bought the MPS catalogue from Universal and released a series of 25 MPS albums on CD with a new slipcase graphic design, which brought all those excellent albums back to life. In 2015 Edel AG started to record and release new albums under the MPS moniker. In 2016 Edel AG released a series of 10 classic MPS albums on CD, which were beautifully remastered and re-packaged, presenting the original artwork and liner notes, as well as new liner notes and photographs. An obvious labor of love, these reissues are what the MPS catalogue truly deserves. This project was continued in 2017 with another series of 10 classic MPS albums released on CD. In later years some new reissues were released sporadically. Over the years many SABA / MPS albums were reissued in Japan, which is often the only available source for these albums today, but that is a story in itself.

Updated: 28/05/2018Posted:

CD 1 Digipak Oversampling Remastered Recommend To A Friend

JEREMY STEIG & EDDIE GOMEZ ~ MUSIC FOR FLUTE & DOUBLE BASS / RAIN FOREST ART OF GROOVE 80242 (Barcode: 885513802422) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Rock-World Fusion Recorded: 1978 - 1980 Released: 2015 This is a reissue of two excellent albums recorded by the two American Jazz Masters, flautist / composer Jeremy SteigFind albums by this artist and bassist / composer Eddie GomezFind albums by this artist. "Music For Flute & Double BassFind albums with this title", recorded in 1978, is a duo album which finds Steig and Gomez exchanging licks in an intimate setting, while "Rain ForestFind albums with this title", recorded in 1980, finds them in the company of several musicians: Austrian guitarist Karl RatzerFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Mike NockFind albums by this artist, drummers Steve GaddFind albums by this artist and Jack DeJohnetteFind albums by this artist and percussionists Nana VasconcelosFind albums by this artist and Ray BarrettoFind albums by this artist. Both albums are remastered and each features one bonus track recorded by the duo live during the 1978 Berlin Jazz Days. Both albums were originally released on the German CMPFind albums on this label label and present all original material composed by Steig and Gomez. Steig and Gomez go together way back to the 1960s, when they were members of the proto Fusion band Jeremy & The SatyrsFind albums by this artist, and their paths crossed regularly over the years. They have developed over time a rare affinity and understanding between themselves, which comes into beautiful fruition on these albums. The duo album is a superb opportunity to witness the incredible virtuosity these two players are capable of delivering, as well as enjoy their telepathic dialogues. The studio environment enables them to multi track and overlay several instruments in parallel, producing a richer and more impressive sonic result, without disturbing the intimacy and delicacy of that session. The group album presents several different lineups from the list of participants above, and is an orgy of brilliant performances, polyrhythmic complexity and joy of life. Many excellent solos chase one another and everybody gets an opportunity to show their chops, as appropriate for the occasion. It is much more Fusion oriented than the intimate duo album. Musically these albums amalgamate many different influences, obviously based on the Jazz tradition but incorporating many World Music characteristics, some Fusion tendencies and even contemporary Classical music vistas. Sadly these two albums never enjoyed the popularity they truly deserved and therefore this is a great opportunity to get hold of them again for a very fair price. After all this music should definitely be part of every serious music collection.

Updated: 28/06/2016Posted: 28/06/2016

CD 2 Digipak Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend