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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CHICK COREA & STEVE GADD BAND ~ CHINESE BUTTERFLY STRETCH 888072042186 (Barcode: 888072042186) ~ USA ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is a 2CD studio album recorded by a band co-led by two legendary American musicians: keyboardist / composer Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist and drummer Steve GaddFind albums by this artist, who recorded together many times before, but never co-led a band together. They are joined by guitarist Lionel LouekeFind albums by this artist, saxophonist / flautist Steve WilsonFind albums by this artist, Cuban bassist Carlitos Del PuertoFind albums by this artist and Venezuelan percussionist Luisito QuinteroFind albums by this artist. Vocalist Philip BaileyFind albums by this artist joins them on one tune. The album presents eight tracks, six composed by Corea, one co-composed by him and Loueke and one is a John McLaughlinFind albums by this artist composition. The music is all highly melodic, with a strong Latin tinge, dominated by typical Corea’s Fusiony compositions and lengthy improvisations, which allows the excellent musicians to show their chops. Three of the tracks last for well over quartet of an hour and document the “jam like” atmosphere of this recording session. Most of the music is new, written by Corea especially for this album, but a new and much extended version of the classic “Return To Forever” song, which features Bailey, is certainly one of the highlights of this album. In some respect this album could be regarded as a preamble to the “Antidote” album recorded a couple of years later and features some of the musicians present on this album. Overall, this a great and highly rewarding album, which offers the familiar Corea’s musical explorations between Fusion and Jazz-World Fusion, to which he returned in the few last years of his life. Superb compositions and performances, which never fail to bring a smile. Highly recommended!

Updated: 13/04/2022Posted: 13/04/2022

CD 2 Digipak 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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