Record Reviews

SHLOMI GOLDENBERG ~ FLOWER NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 005500465083) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 1985 - 2004 Released: 2004 Israeli saxophonist / composer Shlomi GoldenbergFind albums by this artist is one of the most active musicians on the local scene. Shlomi released his debut recording on my JazzisFind albums on this label label almost 20 years ago, and he´s been recording and releasing albums ever since. This album presents his retrospective material as a composer / player during his stay in the US in the late 1980s, recorded with various ensembles Shlomi calls the Little Big BandFind albums by this artist. Here the players include mostly American Jazz musicians: pianists John MedeskiFind albums by this artist and Thomas McKinleyFind albums by this artist, bassists Weseley WorthFind albums by this artist and Gary PeacockFind albums by this artist, drummers Gordon GrothentallerFind albums by this artist and Alex DeutchFind albums by this artist. A few Israeli players are also present and include saxophonist Avram FeferFind albums by this artist, pianist Eli MeiriFind albums by this artist and others. The music, written entirely by Shlomi (except for one standard) is a set of modern Jazz compositions, which in retrospect emphasize Shlomi´s talent as a composer, which was evident already from the very start of his career. The performances are excellent, with Medeski delivering some incredible soloing, for which he is now famous. Shlomi proves again his versatility and talent as a player and a composer, firmly establishing his reputation as one of the leaders of the Israeli Jazz scene.

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MEDESKI SCOFIELD MARTIN & WOOD ~ LIVE: IN CASE THE WORLD CHANGES ITS MIND INDIRECTO 13 (Barcode: 891817001324) ~ UK ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2006 Released: 2011 This is the 2nd (and debut live) album by the American Jazz-Rock Fusion quartet Medeski Scofield Martin & WoodFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. MSMWFind albums by this artist), a spin-off of the trio Medeski Martin & WoodFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. MMWFind albums by this artist), which comprises of keyboardist John MedeskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist John ScofieldFind albums by this artist, drummer Billy MartinFind albums by this artist and bassist Chris WoodFind albums by this artist. The 2CD album presents twelve tracks, five of which were composed by Scofield, two are traditional tunes, and the rest are by the co-composed by MMW. The music is, sadly, quite a stale form of Fusion, which introduces nothing new, exciting or creative and presents mostly excessive doodling, which leads nowhere. Of course hearing this music live might be a way to have fun, but after a short while it really becomes quite tedious. As much as I like and respect John Scofield for his contributions to Jazz and Fusion for so many years, his involvement in this liaison is rather unnecessary IMHO. He does play some beautiful guitar soli herein, but sadly that is not enough to save the day. Overall, this is a great example of the death of Fusion, which is not dead, but smells really funny – to quote, or rather misquote, a very wise man. The worse thing about this music is that it is so boring!

Updated: 04/07/2026Posted: 04/07/2026

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