Search - Various Artists :: Song Is You

GOOD LIVE JAZZ FROM COREA,DEJOHNETTE,KONITZ,VITOUS,BRAXTON,A

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 10/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Two discs-48,53 minutes each approximately. The sound is very good,recorded live at The Woodstock Jazz Festival in 1981. This sounds as if it was taken off the sound board directly-every instrument is clean and crisp sounding,including the bass,which in a live setting sometimes gets the short end of the recording stick. This set was manufactured in France,so the short set of notes is in both English and French. The notes give a short history of the jazz festival and these recordings,and how the musicians came together to raise money for the cash-poor Creative Music Studio,which was founded by Karl Berger (vibraphone-check out his playing with Dewey Redman,among others) and Ornette Coleman in 1971. These performances represent only some of the music performed that day before approximately 1,600 lucky people.



All the music on these two discs consists of standards. Most jazz listeners will be acquainted with titles such as "Impressions","No Greater Love","All Blues",(the first disc),and "Waltz","Isahan","Stella by Starlight",and "'Round Midnight",(the second disc). But they have been re-worked into a more modern setting,while still staying true to their roots in the jazz canon.



The first disc features Chick Corea-piano,Anthony Braxton-alto sax,Jack DeJohnette-drums,Lee Konitz-alto sax,Pat Metheny-guitar,and Miroslav Vitous-bass. Corea is featured on a number of these tracks on acoustic piano and,along with DeJohnette,lead the band through it's changes. Lee Konitz,who should be more well known than he is,stands out on alto sax. For those who are worried about seeing Braxton's name-don't be. He acquits himself well on these tracks when he plays-his style is at once "in the tradition",yet still retains some of his forward-thinking identity,which is different from Konitz's. All the musicians,with the exception of Metheny,get a lot of playing time. Metheny is heard to best advantage on "All Blues",where his identifiable sound comes to the forefront,and sets the tone for this track. All three tracks are very strong and visceral sounding,yet retain their jazz roots.



The second disc begins with the trio of Corea,DeJohnette,and Vitous. The first track consists of some very fine trio interplay-these three musicians sound as if they have been together for quite a while. The playing is effortless and each musician plays very intuitively,giving this track a real feeling of what a good jazz piano trio should sound like. The second track,"Isahan",is,likewise,a good primer on how a jazz piano trio should sound. Lee Konitz comes in for another good performance on"Stella by Starlight",his horn sounding very emotive,with the trio backing him up or filling in when needed. "'Round Midnight" is a duet between Corea and Konitz. This has a slightly different feel to it than the other tracks. The melody is familiar,only to have the arrangement venture off a bit while still being recognizable.



For listeners who like standards played in a modern,slightly modal way,this is something you should investigate. All the musicians came together to play some great music. There's no grand-standing,no lengthy solos just for individual egos sake. This is thoughtful,well played jazz-the kind that we don't here to often today,except in certain instances. This has been released under the supervision of Alan Douglas,who has recently released the three CD set of "loft-jazz" at Sam Rivers studio ("Wildflowers") in the seventies. Since both sets are on foreign labels,the availability is something interested listeners should consider. Do yourself a favor-pick this up soon."