Search - LA 4 :: The L.A. Four - Concierto De Aranjuez

The L.A. 4's Masterpiece

ausculapius57 | Yorba Linda, California | 01/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is unfortunate that Amazon has contributed to the somewhat confusing discography of the L.A. 4 by mislabeling this as a "live" album. This album is actually the first studio album by the L.A.4, originally released in 1976 as simply "The L.A.4."

The L.A.4 released a total of 10 albums. The original quartet, evolving from sessions at the Los Angeles club Shelly's Manne-Hole, consisted of Laurindo Almeida, Ray Brown, Shelly Manne, and Bud Shank. Their first album was a live recording at the Concord Summer Festival in 1975: "The L.A.4 Scores!" The first studio album was released in 1976, and was simply titled "The L.A.4." When Concord re-released this album in 1990, it was renamed "Concierto de Aranjuez" to avoid confusion with the rest of Concord's L.A.4 catalogue. Two other studio albums with Shelly Manne were released in 1977: "Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte," and "Going Home." These were released in Japan under the East Wind label. (To find these in Amazon, search "The La4" rather than "The L.A.4.") Shelly Manne was replaced by Scott Hamilton in 1978, and their subsequent output included one live album ("Live at Montreux") and five studio albums.



I tend to mentally divide this album into the first 5 tracks and the title track. The first 5 tracks include Jobim's "Dindi", the crossover JPE Bach's "Rondo Expressivo," and highly original interpretations of Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" and Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas." These are all superb, and among the best recorded by either version of the L.A.4.

The title piece stands apart. Each of the four masters puts in viruoso performances, but it is Bud Shank on the Alto Sax that brings the piece to the emotional climax missing in other jazz interpretations by Miles Davis and Jim Hall. He carefully builds the intensity in each solo until he finally lets loose in a final, breathtaking restatement of the theme. This is the L.A.4's Masterpiece."