Unbelievable
hbaker | Denver, CO United States | 01/16/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I prefer this disc to the in-print, selftitled VSOP album. Each track is excellent, with much-altered and original readings of tunes that you've heard a thousand times before. Eye of the Hurricane blazes. The Shorter ballad is my least favorite track, but only in comparison to the rest of the disc- it showcases him on soprano. 81 has a laidback heavy groove supplied by Tony, but it swings for the solos, and doubletimes as well. Maiden Voyage is interesting, and Herbie provides a Latin feeling with much of his comping- this tune also goes into doubletime during the solos. Lawra is by and for Tony Williams- they play the head and then he gives a clinic for about 6 or 7 minutes- his drums sound (and are) HUGE. Red Clay (from Freddie's album of the same name) is about 1 1/2 times as fast as the original, and once again Tony plays a tight funk beat. Everyone is in fine form on this one; Freddie's lines smoke, Shorter's lyricism is at its best, Herbie compliments everyone and plays some great solos, Ron Carter's quarter note is THICK and he slides all over his bass, allowing Tony Williams the freedom to bend, stretch, and generally mess with the time and beat. The sound quality is SUPERB on this disc, especially for it being acoustic jazz in a huge colosseum. The only complaints I could see anyone having about this album is that they don't own it yet, or that Tony Williams wore a yellow jump suit when they played this show."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1