Record Reviews

AVISHAI COHEN ~ ADAMA STRETCH 9015 (Barcode: 013431901525) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 1998 Released: 1998 1st album by Israeli bassist / composer Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist, recorded while he was a member of Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist’s acoustic trio and the OriginFind albums by this artist sextet and released on Corea’s label StretchFind albums on this label Records. The core lineup, which participates in the album’s recording is a sextet with Cohen, Steve WilsonFind albums by this artist on soprano sax, Steve DavisFind albums by this artist on trombone (both Origin members), Jason LindnerFind albums by this artist on piano, another Israeli – Amos HoffmanFind albums by this artist on guitar and Jeff BallardFind albums by this artist on drums. In addition, some guest artists are also appearing, including Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau and Danilo Perez on piano. Cohen’s ability as a bass player is of course legendary and needs no further discussion here, but his true greatness is his extraordinary ability to compose superb Jazz pieces, which skillfully combine the American Jazz tradition with other musical elements, mainly folklore and World Music. Cohen’s Middle Eastern background is clearly evident in his music, although he is also wide open to other sources of inspiration. Of the twelve pieces on the album Cohen composed eleven using just one standard. The overall effect is truly refreshing and the combined skills of the musicians involved create an album of rare beauty, which contains an immense amount of new and exciting music. A truly remarkable debut, which announces many great things to come out of this extraordinary talent. A must!

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AVISHAI COHEN ~ COLORS STRETCH 9031 (Barcode: 013431903123) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2000 Released: 2000 3rd album by Israeli bassist / composer Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist and his most ambitious project to date. Cohen not only expands his personal musical range by adding electric bass and piano to the list of instruments he plays here, but also expanding the lineup of the participating musicians and even including a string quartet. The core lineup, which participates in the album’s recording is a septet with Cohen, Jimmy GreeneFind albums by this artist on reeds and flute, Steve DavisFind albums by this artist and Avi LebovichFind albums by this artist on trombone, Jason LindnerFind albums by this artist on piano, Amos HoffmanFind albums by this artist on guitar and oud and Jeff BallardFind albums by this artist on drums. In addition, some guest artists are also appearing. Cohen’s ability as a bass player is of course legendary and needs no further discussion here, but his true greatness is his extraordinary ability to compose superb Jazz pieces, which skillfully combine the American Jazz tradition with other musical elements, mainly folklore and World Music. Cohen’s Middle Eastern background is clearly evident in his music, although he is also wide open to other sources of inspiration, like Latin Music. Cohen composed all the thirteen tunes on this album. The overall effect is truly refreshing and the combined skills of the musicians involved create an album of rare beauty, which contains an immense amount of new and exciting music. This is a truly remarkable album, which portrays an extraordinary musical talent at work and shows a new path for the future of Jazz, which hopefully will open new horizons to the somewhat sleepy genre at the start of a new Millenium. A must!

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AVISHAI COHEN ~ DEVOTION STRETCH 9021 (Barcode: 013431902126) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 1999 Released: 1999 2nd album by Israeli bassist / composer Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist recorded while he was a member of Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist’s acoustic trio and the OriginFind albums by this artist sextet and released on Corea’s label StretchFind albums on this label Records. The core lineup, which participates in the album’s recording is a sextet with Cohen, Jimmy GreeneFind albums by this artist on sax and flute, Steve DavisFind albums by this artist on trombone, Jason LindnerFind albums by this artist on piano, another Israeli – Amos HoffmanFind albums by this artist on guitar and oud and Jeff BallardFind albums by this artist on drums. Cohen expands his usage of instruments here, adding electric bass, piano, synthesizer and percussion. Cohen’s ability as a bass player is of course legendary and needs no further discussion here, but his true greatness is his extraordinary ability to compose superb Jazz pieces, which skillfully combine the American Jazz tradition with other musical elements, mainly folklore and World Music. Cohen’s Middle Eastern background is clearly evident in his music, although he is also wide open to other sources of inspiration. Of the fourteen pieces on the album, Cohen composed twelve, adding to the repertoire just one folk tune and one composition by the pianist. The overall effect is truly refreshing and the combined skills of the musicians involved create an album of rare beauty, which contains an immense amount of new and exciting music. This is a truly remarkable follow up to the great debut, which announces many great things to come out of this extraordinary talent. A must!

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

CHICK COREA ~ ANTIDOTE CONCORD 888072103351 (Barcode: 888072103351) ~ USA ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 As 2021 nears its end it’s time to commemorate the passing of one of the greatest heroes of American Jazz, keyboardist / composer / bandleader Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist, who sadly passed in February this year. This is the last studio album by Corea, recorded with an octet, which includes also drummer Marcus GilmoreFind albums by this artist, bassist Carlitos Del PuertoFind albums by this artist, saxophonist / flautist Jorge PardoFind albums by this artist, guitarist Nino JoseleFind albums by this artist, trombonist Steve DavisFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Michael RodriguesFind albums by this artist and percussionist Luisito QuinteroFind albums by this artist. Tap dancer Nino de los ReyesFind albums by this artist and vocalists Ruben BladesFind albums by this artist, Gayle MoranFind albums by this artist and Maria BiancaFind albums by this artist also appear on selected tracks. The album re-visits Corea’s compositions from the albums “My Spanish HeartFind albums with this title” and “TouchstoneFind albums with this title”, presents two newly composed pieces for this album and also two pieces by other composers (Paco de LuciaFind albums by this artist and Antonio Carlos JobimFind albums by this artist) and finally a short treatment of a Classical composition, together eleven tracks. The music is distinctly more Latin oriented that the original albums, taking it somewhat away from the Jazz facet and deeply into the grooves and rhythms of Spanish, Cuban, Brazilian and other areas of Latin music, all beautifully arranged, orchestrated and performed by these splendid musicians, under the guidance of the leader. This international team, which includes players from Cuba, Spain and American based musicians born in Latin countries, adds the authentic flavor, which was somewhat more hinted on the original albums. In the liner notes Cores says: “I might be of Italian heritage, but my heart is Spanish”, which certainly explains his adoration for the Latin zest. Although the album does not introduce anything innovative as far as Corea’s musical heritage is concerned, it certainly confirms his unique talents as composer and player, which have always been beyond reproach. Overall, this is certainly a proper document of one of the many facets of Corea’s music, which embraced a plethora of styles, genres and approaches, from Avant-Garde to Fusion, always brilliant and completely unique. His Artistry will be sadly missed and his sweet personality, to those who met him, will be always a cherished memory.

Updated: 28/12/2021Posted: 28/12/2021

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

CHICK COREA ~ THE CONTINENTS – CONCERTO FOR JAZZ QUINTET & CHAMBER ORCHESTRA DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 028947799528 (Barcode: 028947799528) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2011 Released: 2012 This is another piece of music by legendary pianist / composer Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist which amalgamates Jazz and Classical music, a tendency Corea seems to favor since a few years back. There are few surprises here, as Corea continues to write excellent melodic music which is so easy to like by a wide range of listeners, performed by a great quintet, which comprises of saxophonist / flautist Tim GarlandFind albums by this artist, trombonist Steve DavisFind albums by this artist, bassist Hans GlawischnigFind albums by this artist and drummer Marcus GilmoreFind albums by this artist and a chamber orchestra. The six-piece concerto takes up the entire first CD of this set. On the second CD the quintet performs four pieces, this time without the orchestra, three of which are standards and one is by Corea. The rest of the CD is taken by 11 solo piano improvisations, composed and performed by Corea. Since the second CD has nothing in common with the first one it should be seen as a kind of "bonus", which of course is welcomed by Corea fans, enjoying everything he records. For people who like the Jazz-Classical Fusion this is a treat, others might find this out of their sphere of interest. Whatever Corea does, he is simply too good to be ignored, so I can´t help but recommend this.

CD 2 Recommend To A Friend

CHICK COREA / ORIGIN ~ LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE STRETCH 9018 (Barcode: 013431901822) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 1998 Released: 1998 Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist’s acoustic sextet OriginFind albums by this artist was formed in late 1997 by expanding his acoustic trio (Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist – bass and Adam CruzFind albums by this artist – drums) with the addition of trombonist Steve DavisFind albums by this artist and two reeds players Bob SheppardFind albums by this artist and Steve WilsonFind albums by this artist. After a brief period of rehearsals and one club performance the band was booked to play for six nights (two sets each night) at the NY Blue Note club, which was to be the band’s official premiere. All the music played at Blue Note was recorded, initially mainly for the sake of documentation, but upon listening to the results Corea decided to release this album, which presents just a taste of what happened there. A much more comprehensive recording project, capturing three entire nights (6 sets) was released as a 6 CDs set under the title “The Complete 1998 Live At The Blue Note RecordingsFind albums with this title”. Origin proved to be indeed an “origin”, a new beginning for Chick, who hasn’t led an acoustic sextet for over 20 years. It served as a perfect vehicle to develop and present a set of new compositions, which show an older and seasoned Jazz Master at work. The music is complex, somewhat dark, serious and multi-layered, requiring attentive listening. In many respects it often resembles some contemporary Classical Music influences. The players have plenty of space to develop both individual and collective extended improvisations, which of course are quite brilliant. Corea is not featured as the main soloist and steps back to become just one of the band’s members. All the music presented on this album, except for one standard, was composed by Corea, who re-examines his life’s achievements here, moving skillfully between his various musical activities, as diverse as Latin music and Free Jazz. All together this is a splendid example of modern Jazz at it’s best, with great music and excellent playing all the way. Corea’s fans don’t need any encouragement here and others should definitely investigate.

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