A priceless document of the master's work
The Mascara Snake | Deepintheheartof Appalachia | 09/10/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Just picked this one up and man, it's worth every penny! This is a live gig from a jazz festival in England around 1986. The sound quality is not bad, but it's not incredible. You can, however, hear everything thats going on and enjoy the music. This was probbably one of the first gigs for this band. It's basically an Ornette style ensemble: Cherry on trumpet, the extremley underrated Carlos ward on alto and a little flute, Mark Helias on bass, and everybody's favorite master Ed Blackwell on drums augmented with Brasilian master percussionist Nana Vasconcelos. What a great band! They cover a lot of bases here with just this simple lineup, and everything is extremely funky (especially the first track). Other highlights include, Ornette's tune "Traffic", Nana's berimbau solo, and Cherry singing and playing Dousoungouni later on in the performance.
This really is one of the best single performances I've yet to hear from master Don. You get a lot (about 75 min.) of good music here and I think it's a good affordable option if you want a serious dose of Don Cherry, but aren't willing to take a chance spending serious coins on the more obscure import stuff. If you like Ornette's band, you'll love this!"