Gary Burton & Pat Metheny - 2009 "Quartet Live"

Quartet Live is a 2009 live album by American jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton. The record also features Pat Metheny on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass, and Antonio Sanchez on drums. The album was recorded in June 10–11, 2007 at the Yoshi's jazz club and released in 2009 via Concard Jazz label.

When Gary Burton finally retired from his career as a Berklee administrator and professor, he also cut back on regular touring with a quartet, instead assembling groups for shorter durations. These performances come from two nights at Yoshi's in Oakland, reuniting the vibraphonist with former sidemen Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow, along with Metheny's regular drummer at the time, Antonio Sanchéz, who joined them for what was intended to be a one-shot concert a few years earlier at the Montreal Jazz Festival. The music includes both old and new material, with the former sounding fresh rather than a mere autopilot run-through that some reunion bands might offer, while the recent works prove to be just as enticing. The quartet's interpretations of Swallow's compositions include an intricate, fast-paced take of "Falling Grace" along with a lively "Hullo, Bolinas" (both of which Burton has played many times over his long career). Duke Ellington's "Fleurette Africaine (Little African Flower)" has been a part of Burton's repertoire since the mid-'80s, and though the vibraphonist's approach is brighter and played at a faster tempo than the composer's brooding recording, this updated look builds upon Ellington's magical gift for melody with brilliant improvising all around. Burton contributed the funky blues "Walter L," which finds the musicians having a lot of fun with its catchy theme. Metheny's "Question and Answer" also appeared on an earlier recording with Burton and Chick Corea, but the omission of piano gives this version a simmering, more intricate air. This reunion will hopefully lead to future recorded reunions by these four gifted musicians.

This much-anticipated quartet gathering, the New Quartet Live Album with Burton, Metheny, Swallow and Sanchez, is simply great! I love the flow of songs and the 4 sound wonderful together and sport-on. Pat has 3 songs; Gary has 1 song, as does Chick Corea - Neville Potter, Keith Jarrett and Duke Ellington. Carla Bley has 2 songs, as does Steve Swallow. Altogether there are 11 songs and IMO, Missouri Uncompromised is Super as is Little African Flower. The Album ends with Question and Answer and @ 13:02 in Length it is really performed smoking Hot! Pat plays his guitar synth on Q & A and I think it caps off the album really well and in my view, he sensitively plays his guitar synth to the scale of Yoshi's. The sound quality is excellent and the album was recorded in June of 2007 at Yoshi's in Oakland, CA. This new and hot Quartet Live album is highly recommended!

The album features three original members and jazz legends Gary Burton, Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow along with another new member, and perhaps one of the most prominent jazz drummers of his generation, Antonio Sanchez. The 11-song album was recorded live at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland, CA. Quartet Live! starts off with Chick Corea’s “Sea Journey,” one of many songs Corea wrote for the Burton group, and features songs written by Carla Bley (“Olhos de Gato” and “Syndrome”) and Keith Jarrett (“Coral”). Metheny’s composing talents are also represented here by tunes composed during his Burton Quartet years: the fast and furious “Missouri Uncompromised,” the haunting “B and G,” and “Question and Answer,” one of Pat’s most well-known pieces. The story begins in 1967 when bassist Steve Swallow joined with vibraphonist Gary Burton to form the original Gary Burton Quartet. In the early 1970s, then 19-year old guitarist Pat Metheny joined Burton’s band and one of the most celebrated careers in music began. A decade ago Metheny discovered drummer Antonio Sanchez, inviting him to join The Pat Metheny Group, and the two have been playing together ever since. The result is four legendary musicians, improvisers and composers all, each at the top of his game, bringing modern jazz history to life on Quartet Live!

This group sounds as if it's on even more of a roll on this California live recording than it was at a thrilled Barbican last summer. A guitar/vibes dialogue might sound like a recipe for lots of notes and chamber-jazz, but this band is as hard-grooving as Gary Burton's original 1970s quartet - which also featured this group's bass guitarist, Steve Swallow, and a 19-year-old Metheny. Burton, one of the most creative figures in the first wave of jazz-rock, achieved a near-perfect balance of striking tunes, jazz fluency and country-rock conviviality - and Metheny's singing sound and blues/rock licks were the ideal foil. This group recaptures all that, with help from Metheny's fiery young drummer Antonio Sanchez. There isn't a dud track, with the skimming groove of the opening Sea Journey bearing beautifully phrased and flowing solos from Burton, Metheny and Swallow, and the Latin ballad Olhos de Gato and the smoky Coral drawing gentle ruminations from vibes and guitar that are too fresh for smooth jazz. There's a storming blues on Walter L, a staccato postbopper over scalding drumming and Swallow's gleeful walk on Missouri Uncompromised, a glistening Burton dance over the lightest brushes groove on Hullo, Bolinas, and Carla Bley's chiming Syndrome is a bonus.

The combination of musicians sets this up to be a winner. The set list gives good distribution of compositions by Gary, Pat and Steve, with Antonio riding on his incredible skills. I agree with the growing swell of accolades that characterizes him as among the best (if not THE best) drummers currently on the jazz scene.

http://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot.com/search?q=Gary+Burton

http://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot.com/search?q=Pat+Metheny

Track listing:

01 Sea Journey 9:00
02 Olhos De Gato 6:36
03 Falling Grace 7:18
04 Coral 6:23
05 Walter L 5:30
06 B And G (Midwestern Night's Dream) 6:53
07 Missouri Uncompromised 7:34
08 Fleurette Africaine (Little African Flower) 7:34
09 Hullo, Bolinas 4:48
10 Syndrome 4:42
11 Question And Answer 13:02

Personnel:

Vibraphone – Gary Burton
Guitar – Pat Metheny
Electric Bass – Steve Swallow
Drums – Antonio Sanchez

Chick Corea & Gary Burton - 1973 "Crystal Silence"

Crystal Silence is an album by Chick Corea and Gary Burton. It was recorded in November 1972 and produced by Manfred Eicher for ECM Records. Their collaboration went further in 1979 with the albums Duet and In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979, also on ECM Records. Nearly 30 years later they followed up again with The New Crystal Silence in 2008, this time on Concord Records.

For Crystal Silence, the first of several partnerships between Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton in the 1970s, the two musicians selected an interesting array of material. The compositions on this record are all modern ones, either by Steve Swallow, Mike Gibbs, or Corea himself. It is a mostly downtempo affair, which allows each player to stretch out and play highly melodic solos over the often difficult changes. In keeping with most ECM releases, there is a distinct presence of European elements to the improvisations. There are few overt blues or bebop phrases, Corea and Burton opting instead for modern melodies to fuel their improvisations. Burton has managed to internalize the Spanish and modal implications of Corea's tunes with little difficulty, and solos with joyful ease through such tracks as "Señor Mouse." Corea himself is absolutely burning. His solo contribution on the same track is both fiery and introspective, combining in one statement the poles for which he is best-known. The title track is also the centerpiece of the album, a nine-minute exploration of the Corea ballad that first appeared on his Return to Forever record in 1972. In keeping with the tradition of the great masters of the ballad form, time seems to disappear as Burton and Corea lovingly caress the song's simple melody and dance effortlessly around the chords, building intensity only to let it subside once more. Crystal Silence is a sublime indication of what two master improvisers can do given quality raw material, with the first side of this record being particularly flawless. Improvised music is rarely this coherent and melodic. Essential for fans of Corea, Burton, or jazz in general.

This is the original killer collaboration between Chick Corea on grand piano and Gary Burton on vibraphone. Chillout music before it was called chillout. Make no mistake though, it's not limp, tame smooth jazz aka muzak. They play a couple of tunes from Chick's originals done by Return To Forever lineup, a couple of Gary's, some co-written, and some written by Chick with then prominent bassist Steve Swallow.

This is an essential album for any serious jazz collection.

While I have had several albums by Chick Corea for over 30 years starting with "Return to Forever", I never heard about this album until Pat Metheny mentioned it in an interview. Remarkably this album was issued the same year as "Return to Forever" (1972) which may be why it never made it to the surface for many of us.

This is a transcendent piece of music. There are many levels of melody created by enormous virtuosity of two musicians feeding off each other in an amazing interplay. The sound is excellent and the recording has plainly been remastered by someone who really knew that they were doing. Played in a dark room with good headphones it takes you places that you want to return to regularly. How I missed it all of these years I don't know but thank you Pat Metheny.

You can't do better in the new age world than 500 Miles High and the title piece. Chick can play Mozart with aplomb, and the techniques of improv on the 25th piano concerto are echoes here in post-classical harmonies and an occasional 12-tone scale. The album is a classic of its genre.

I could never say enough about this CD. When it first came out, it was never off my turntable. The songs are great... top notch Chick Corea originals. And as far as I know there has never been a piano/vibes duo that played so well together. Sometimes it almost feels like it's one instrument. Corea and Burton are just the best in the business. This might very well be in my all time greatest jazz albums list. Buy it!

I was very much surprised, to say the least, when I discovered, that this work-of-art was available, through Amamzon, and I decided, that I had to have it. I first this on vinyl, close to 31 years ago. I was already facinated, the sounds of Chick Corea, and coupled with the expertise "Vibe virtuoso," Gary Burton, I was completely sold. If you enjoy listening to the sounds of jazz/fusion music, then this CD, should be in your collection! Thank you Chick & Gary!

I was fortunate enough, many years ago to be in NYC during the Jazz festival time. We had tickets one night to a show featuring the Woody Herman Big Band, then Chick Corea with the MusicMagic line-up. Anyway, there was an hour delay in setting up Chick after Woody that had an unbelievable resolution. Gary Burton was there, and he & Chick played basically the entire Crystal Silence album on stage while they set-up Chick Corea's band.

This is an unbeleivable album, probably one of my top five all time albums of any genre. It's also an amazing album for any aspiring drumkit player to practice with.

Track listing

    "Señor Mouse" (Chick Corea) - 6:20
    "Arise, Her Eyes" (Steve Swallow) - 5:08
    "I'm Your Pal" (Steve Swallow) - 4:02
    "Desert Air" (Chick Corea) - 6:26
    "Crystal Silence" (Chick Corea) - 9:05
    "Falling Grace" (Steve Swallow) - 2:42
    "Feelings And Things" (Mike Gibbs) - 4:46
    "Children's Song" (Chick Corea) - 2:11
    "What Game Shall We Play Today" (Chick Corea) - 3:46

Personnel

    Chick Corea – piano
    Gary Burton – vibraphone      

Chick Corea & Gary Burton - 2008 "The New Crystal Silence"

The New Crystal Silence is a 2008 live Jazz album by Chick Corea and Gary Burton. It was released in a 2-disc set. The first disc was recorded May 10 & 12, 2007 at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. The second disc was recorded on July 7, 2007 at Bjornsonhuset in Molde, Norway, except for the track "Señor Mouse", which was recorded July 13, 2007 at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Canary Island, Spain.

The album peaked number eleven in the Billboard Top Jazz album charts and also won the Grammy awards for the Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.

When Crystal Silence first appeared in 1972 on the ECM label, its cover photograph depicted a stellar shot of the sun, which appeared to be setting. That duet album featured two already-seasoned jazz veterans who were in their thirties, and had been part of many of the developments in the music for a decade. Corea's credits included Miles Davis, his own Return to Forever, the "Is" sessions, Circle, and many others; Burton's included tenures with George Shearing and Stan Getz as well as Larry Coryell. But the duet album they recorded for ECM was so utterly striking and arresting because it highlighted not only an entirely new way of playing duets between piano and vibes -- which had been done previously and well by others -- but a new way of hearing them as well.
After 35 years, five duet records, and countless tours together, the pair revisit the notion of the duet in two different contexts on this delightful, compelling double-disc package from Concord. The first disc finds the pair playing live in Sydney with that city's symphony orchestra conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer and arranged by Tim Garland. The program includes five tunes, all of them composed by Corea. While it is disconcerting on first thought as to how an orchestra could add to the special intuitive communication this duo has developed since its first accidental performance at a festival in 1971, those fears disappear quickly after the orchestra's intro, when Corea's piano makes its entrance and Burton responds. It's striking there was so little rehearsal time, and that Garland's arrangements are so spot-on and attuned to the intricacy of what happens harmonically between these two. "Duende" opens the set with an enormous introductory sweep that feels more like a crescendo, but it gives way within two minutes to the exploration of extrapolated minors when Corea plays a single note that initiates his speaking voice on the piano. Burton answers and moves them into another direction, painting from the inside and pulling on certain notes as he quotes a melody that feels strangely like "The Shadow of Your Smile." Then the pair are off, the orchestra brooding and shimmering behind them, opening up spaces where there would be tension in such a focused space of minor keys that sweep this way and that way, and then they engage fully with the orchestra. This continues through "Love Castle" and the speculative intro to "Brasilia," which feels like a question. The rhythmic interplay is built layer upon layer, however sparely by the harmonic striations of vibes and piano as strings hover and cautiously seem to follow into a much more romantic and exotic flight of fancy. Of course, the title track, while seemingly an entirely new piece when played with this symphony, is no less limpid than its predecessor. The compositional notion is simply eased into more tentatively, but the interpolations between Burton and Corea are even cannier than one might expect. Everything begins in shade and shadow and is revealed in the full light of day. The set ends with a driving rendition of "La Fiesta," begun with an intensely intricate series of counterpoint exchanges between the pair.
Disc two contains a live performance from the Molde Festival in Norway, with one cut, "Señor Mouse" (also from the Crystal Silence debut), recorded in the Canary Islands. Far more breezy but perhaps more taut and far less tentative, the set starts off with Corea's "Bud Powell," and Burton shines with his solo, moving through the lyric phrases as Corea punches in spaces with tough, jaunty chord masses. It swings like crazy before giving way to a stellar reading of Bill Evans' "Waltz for Debby." The melody, instantly recognizable in Corea's hands, is nonetheless a bit heavier in touch, but that's what makes it sound new as well. The solo he opens with carries the basic lyric frame in his two-handed chords and runs before Burton slides the melody in solo, as expressive and intimate as one could ever hope for before it opens wide and sings. This happens on the other standards here as well, the deeply emotive reading of "I Loves You, Porgy," with Burton's solo as tender as a singer emoting the words, and "Sweet and Lovely," where the pair just dig in and let the tune guide them on a wonderfully engaging, swinging ride through its harmonic possibilities. The other four Corea tunes here include a very different version of "La Fiesta" as a set closer; "No Mystery," which is more mysterious in some ways because of its use of arpeggios, space, and counterpoint; and the all-too-brief rhythmic invention of "Alegria." The bottom line, of course, is that this set, as different as its two mirroring discs are, is nearly magical in both its intensity and creativity, and in its wonderfully relaxed manner of walking through the deep passageways of improvisation. Anyone who is a fan of the duet recordings between these two should own this. Anyone not familiar should check out the ECM disc first, and then move straight here, filling in the gaps later. They are wonderful counterparts to one another and immensely satisfying listens.

The circumstances that led to pianist Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton collaborating on Crystal Silence (ECM, 1973) are the definition of serendipitous happenstance. Neither thought the record would have wide appeal, yet it's gone on to become not only a classic for the label, but for both artists, who have since built large discographies with plenty of individual milestones. Recording infrequently as a duo, they've played together every year since that first meeting, with some significant globe-trotting in 2007 to commemorate their thirty-fifth anniversary together. The double-disc The New Crystal Silence documents that celebration with performances culled from dates in Australia, Norway and the Canary Islands.

The duo revisits material from Crystal Silence through to their most recent and fifth recording, Native Sense (Stretch, 1997), in addition to a new Corea tune and three standards. The second disc, from the Norway and Canary Island shows, finds the duet on their own and in top form. Anyone who caught a 2007 show knows—as their Portland Jazz Festival performance amply demonstrated—that amidst the stunning virtuosity, empathic interaction and subtle nuances is an almost mischievous playfulness. Some of this may be serious music, but Corea and Burton are clearly having fun.

The "new" comes with the first disc, where Corea and Burton have a silent third partner in British woodwind multi-instrumentalist/composer/bandleader Tim Garland. Garland doesn't perform, but was recruited by Corea to arrange five tunes from the duo's repertoire for the pianist, Burton and symphony orchestra—in this case, the Australian Sydney Symphony. This isn't the first time Garland has scored Corea material for orchestra—his "Fantasy on Crystal Silence" was a highlight of his own The Mystery (Audio-B, 2007), and also featured Corea as a guest. Here, his orchestration of "Crystal Silence" is more reverential, although there are moments of unexpected power during a tune that has always been more of a tranquil tone poem.

It's to Garland's credit that he finds the perfect blend of orchestration and improvisation. While there are open-ended sections that allow Burton and Corea to go where they will, Garland has turned Corea's compositions into miniature concertos, where the symphony weaves in and around solo and duet sections. Just how different the approach can be is clear with the two versions of Corea's Spanish-tinged "La Fiesta" included—a more form-based version with the orchestra on disc one and a looser, more fully extemporaneous duet version on disc two.

That Corea and Burton are in-tandem improvisers capable of taking great risks while consistently delivering near-perfect performances is what made their first recording a classic. It's hard to live up to Crystal Silence's iconic stature. Still, The New Crystal Silence proves that, as with any committed relationship, these two are never at a loss for fresh and relevant dialogue. The addition of Garland's orchestral arrangements only provides an even more expansive context around which Corea and Burton can continue to build and strengthen a pairing that's destined to last a lifetime.

When they teamed up in 1972 to play in a piano-vibraphone setting, little did Chick Corea and Gary Burton realize that 35 years later their duo would continue to expand its modern chamber music approach to jazz with full introspection and exhilaration. Even though their serendipitous debut, Crystal Silence, was released on Germany-based ECM Records, which at the time did not have a distribution deal in the U.S., the album not only forged the alchemic partnership, but also brought to renown the deep and insightful collaboration of the two virtuosic improvisers. After their premiere outing, they recorded four more albums and have never skipped a year performing together.
In celebration of the Corea-Burton duo’s 35th anniversary, they released The New Crystal Silence, a double CD featuring the pair performing with the Sydney Symphony and as a duet captured in a sublime performance at the Molde Jazz Festival in Molde, Norway. The orchestral concert bears the fruit of an invitation from two symphonies in Australia, in Perth and Sydney, which offered the twosome the opportunity to perform and record their repertoire in an orchestral setting. As for the duo disc, Corea and Burton marked their long relationship onstage of anticipating each other’s musical ideas by embarking on a worldwide tour and then chose one of their best performances to document.
Writing in The New Crystal Silence liner notes, Burton reflects:

I’ve always held the theory that all musical collaborations, particularly among jazz musicians, eventually run their course as players evolve and everyone moves on to new ventures. But, I’ve come to believe that what Chick and I have together is going to break that rule. The performing we have done over the past year has been our best in 35 years, and we are very pleased to make it available on these CDs.” He adds, “We both feel that our music has evolved in the last 10 years more than it did before. We play the tunes very differently, with fresh concepts and new inspiration.Gary Burton

Corea agrees:

The way we were approaching the music during our 35th anniversary concert tour was so different that I thought it warranted documentation. Gary’s playing continues to amaze and inspire me. The tours we’ve done over this past year are my favorites of all that we’ve done. There’s more to come, but here is a slice of what we’re into these days.Chick Corea.

 Track listing

Disc one

    "Duende" (Corea) – 10:54
    "Love Castle" (Corea) – 12:41
    "Brasilia" (Corea) – 9:38
    "Crystal Silence" (Corea) – 14:09
    "La Fiesta" (Corea) – 13:35

Disc two

    "Bud Powell" (Corea) – 7:55
    "Waltz for Debby" (Bill Evans) – 8:03
    "Alegria" (Corea) – 5:49
    "No Mystery" (Corea) – 9:12
    "Señor Mouse" (Corea) – 9:10
    "Sweet and Lovely" (Gus Arnheim, Charles Daniels, Harry Tobias) – 6:56
    "I Love Porgy" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin & DuBose Heyward) – 4:09
    "La Fiesta" (Corea) – 10:41

Personnel

    Chick Corea – piano
    Gary Burton – vibraphone
    Sydney Symphony Orchestra
    Jonathan Stockhammer – conductor

Gary Burton & Friends - 1992 "Six Pack"

Gary Burton's peculiar connection and affinity for great guitarists is a proven historical fact, as he has been responsible for bringing such fantastic musicians to the world stage as Larry Coryell and Pat Metheny. On Six Pack, he joins with six different six-stringers for some decidedly varied modern jazz. Kurt Rosenwinkel makes like Metheny on the first track, the up-tempo Mitch Forman composition "Anthem." Any predictability to the song disappears in the presence of the rhythm section of Jack DeJohnette, Steve Swallow, and Mulgrew Miller. One doesn't generally think of the vibes as a blues instrument, and to be fair, it's really not, but Burton gives it the old college try on the title track, where his vibes intersect surprisingly well with Bob Berg's tenor sax and B.B. King's guitar. There is absolutely nothing weighty about this song at all, but it is fun and swinging nevertheless (who says jazz has to be serious all the time?). John Scofield also shows up on the track, and his distinctive tone and phrasing work perfectly in this setting. Other selections include such notables as Jim Hall, Ralph Towner, and Kevin Eubanks, and all of their contributions are solid in their own way. One sometimes wishes that this record was a little less GRP, with Larry Goldings' keyboards and Berg's sax being the most frequent offenders, but there are plenty of hot moments on Six Pack that make this record worth searching out, especially for fans of jazz guitar. Where else will listeners find all of these great players on a single record?

Gary Burton also has brought along a lot of kids. His leadership at Berklee`s School of Music makes it natural for him to help younger musicians find an audience. The musical results have been passable, but not as nice as the work he does on this new disc with a group of stars as distinctive as guitarists Kevin Eubanks, Jim Hall, John Scofield, Ralph Towner and B.B. King. Paul Shaffer and Mulgrew Miller join in on piano and keyboards. The mood changes with the sideman, but all of them are interesting.

Track Listing:

  01. Anthem
  02. Six Pack
  03. Summertime
  04. Jack's Theme
  05. Lost Numbers
  06. Double Guatemala
  07. Asphodel
  08. Redial
  09. Invitation
  10. My Funny Valentine
  11. Something Special
  12. Guitarre Picante

Personnel:

Gary Burton - Vibes
John Scofield, B.B. King, Jim Hall, Kevin Eubanks, Ralph Towner, Kurt Rosenwinkel - Guitar
Jack DeJohnette - Drums
Larry Goldings - Keyboards
Mulgrew Miller - Piano
Steve Swallow, Will Lee - Bass
Bob Berg - Saxophone
Paul Shaffer - Piano, Organ

Chick Corea - 2017 "The Musician" [Audio & Video]

Chick Corea first laid eyes on New York’s Greenwich Village in 1959, fresh from high school, with a head full of music that only he could have imagined. With this new release The Musician, recorded in the epicenter of Chick’s original NYC haunts and more than 50 years later, Corea finally brings all that music together at once.

The live 3-CD and Blu-ray set captures Corea’s 70th birthday celebration at the famed Blue Note Jazz Club in 2011, where he assembled a staggering lineup of musical friends and fellow-travelers – among them Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin and Stanley Clarke – for a month-long residency featuring 10 different bands, including triumphal sets by his own Chick Corea Elektric Band and Return to Forever. All of it is captured brilliantly in the first feature-length documentary on Corea’s life, music and genius musical partners. The film takes you inside the heads and “hangs” of some of the greatest artists of our time – backstage and personal – and the CDs capture almost four hours of live recordings of every band.

Over the course of an artist's lifetime, especially one well into their fifth decade like Chick Corea, it's not uncommon to see a great musician look back and take stock of what he’s done and who he’s worked with, and that's exactly what Corea does on 2017's The Musician. To mark his 75th birthday in 2016, the lauded pianist played a six-week stint of shows at the Blue Note in New York city. During the event, he was joined by a bevy of guests including many longtime friends and collaborators like Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin, Stanley Clarke, and others. The shows were filmed, recorded, and released in 2017 as part of The Musician four-disc album/video and documentary project. It's fascinating to hear Corea take this time-traveling odyssey through his career, and despite the epic nature of the six-week event, he never sounds anything less than engaged, always playing with his trademark intensity and playful spontaneity. His duets are particularly engaging; just listen to his enthralling interplay with singer Bobby McFerrin on "I've Got the World on a String" and "Spain" and you'll be captivated. Similarly compelling are his head-to-head sparrings with pianist Herbie Hancock on "Hot House," "Dolphin Dance," and "Cantaloupe Island." Elsewhere, Corea revisits one of his most popular ensembles, Return to Forever, with bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White, and guitarist Frank Gambale. A pre-eminent fusion group, here they take an unexpected acoustic approach to several of their best-known tunes, "Captain Marvel" and "Light as a Feather." We also get a taste of Corea's trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Brian Blade, who deliver a nuanced version of "I Hear a Rhapsody." Other discs showcase equally compelling collaborations with luminaries like pianist Marcus Roberts and vibraphonist Gary Burton, and a reunion with his Elektrik Band featuring drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci. We also get a thrilling homage to early Corea employer, jazz trumpet legend Miles Davis, with his From Miles band featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and other Davis alum. Indeed, The Musician is a superb live document spotlighting Corea in settings that recall the best of his classic albums and proving how remarkably well both he and his music have aged.

Track listing/Band/Personnel:

1-1 Return To Forever– Captain Marvel

Bass – Stanley Clarke

Drums – Lenny White

Guitar – Frank Gambale

1-2 Return To Forever– Light As A Feather

Bass – Stanley Clarke

Drums – Lenny White

Guitar – Frank Gambale

1-3 Chick Corea, Gary Peacock, Brian Blade– I Hear A Rhapsody

1-4 Chick Corea, John McLauglin*, Kenny Garrett, John Patitucci, Brian Blade– Spirit Rides

1-5 Chick Corea, John McLauglin*, Kenny Garrett, John Patitucci, Brian Blade– Special Beings

1-6 Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin– I've Got The World On A String

1-7 Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin– Spain

2-1 Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Harlem String Quartet*– Overture

2-2 Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Harlem String Quartet*, Gayle Moran Corea– Your Eyes Speak To Me

2-3 Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Gary Bartz, Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette– If I Were A Bell

2-4 Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Gary Bartz, Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette– Nefertiti

2-5 Chick Corea, Concha Buika, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Niño Josele, Jeff Ballard– Zyryab

2-6 Chick Corea, Concha Buika, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Niño Josele, Jeff Ballard– Mi Nina Lola

3-1 Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts, Wynton Marsalis– CC's Birthday Blues

3-2 Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts– Caravan

3-3 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock– Hot House

3-4 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock– Dolphin Dance

3-5 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock– Cantaloupe Island

3-6 The Chick Corea Elektric Band– Ritual

Bass – John Patitucci

Drums – Dave Weckl

Guitar – Frank Gambale

Saxophone – Eric Marienthal

3-7 The Chick Corea Elektric Band– Silver Temple

Bass – John Patitucci

Drums – Dave Weckl

Guitar – Frank Gambale

Saxophone – Eric Marienthal

Various Artists - 1993 Gold Encore Series - "Guitar Fire!"

Being a huge fan of Larry Carlton, Special EFX, Acoustic Alchemy and The Rippingtons, I was already familiar with several of the tunes on this compilation. The smooth, even flow from one song to the next was mostly upbeat and relaxing. My favorites on this album were the adventurous "Essence" by Kevin Eubanks and the Larry Carlton/B. B. King duet "Blues for TJ" written by Larry for his son, bassist Travis James Carlton. The inclusion of "The Chief" was a bit of a head scratcher since it was taken from the album "Reunion" by vibraphonist Gary Burton. Although the song was written by Pat Metheny, it features Burton on vibraphone with a short, tasteful solo by Metheny. Minor complaints aside, this disc would be an excellent addition to any smooth jazz collection.

This very well-balanced group of nine tracks from many different contributing artists is a worthy addition to the libraries of those seeking nonthreatening guitar-oriented smooth jazz/fusion background music. It's a very even mix, with some standout numbers. Acoustic Alchemy's reading of Paul Desmond's "Take Five" has a strong funk component while not losing sight of the comfortable five-beat meter. Chieli Minucci's "Jamaica, Jamaica" (guesting the composer and George Jinda) is very nicely rendered by Special EFX in a quite frankly enticing effort. I bought the CD for that track alone, and it's well worth it. Kevin Eubanks contributes the self-penned "Essence." It's a medium tempo burner with a smoky edge. The fine "Blues for TJ" track, featuring Larry Carlton and B.B. King, closes out slightly over 45 minutes of worthy ear candy. If you buy it and don't like it, somebody you know will. 

Track Listing:

1. Smiles and Smiles to Go - Larry Carlton 5:47
2. Take Five - Acoustic Alchemy 4:38
3. Early A.M. Attitude - Dave Grusin/Lee Ritenour 4:58
4. Affair in San Miguel - Russ Freeman/The Rippingtons 5:09
5. Jamaica - Chieli Minucci/George Jinda/Special EFX Jamaica 4:04
6. The - Gary Burton Chief 4:16
7. South Beat - Rene Toledo 5:23
8. Essence - Kevin Eubanks 5:37
9. Blues for TJ - Larry Carlton/B.B. King 5:18

Personnel:

Larry Carlton (guitar, keyboards);
Greg Carmichael , Lee Ritenour , Nick Webb , Pat Metheny, Rene Toledo, B.B. King (guitar);
Russ Freeman (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, drums, keyboard programming);
Chieli Minucci (acoustic guitar, electric guitar);
Kevin Eubanks (acoustic guitar);
Michael Bearden (flute, string synthesizer);
Brandon Fields (saxophone);
Ludwig G”tz (trombone);
Michael Orta (piano);
Joe Sample (Fender Rhodes piano);
Brian Mann (organ);
Dave Grusin, Mitchel Forman, Richard Eddy, Terry Disley (keyboards);
Terry Trotter (synthesizer);
Gary Burton (vibraphone);
Marcus Miller (electric bass, fretless bass);
Will Lee (electric bass);
Steve Bailey (fretless bass);
Orlando Jr. Hernandez, Peter Erskine (drums, percussion);
Dave Weckl, Jeff Porcaro, Rick Marotta, Carlos Vega (drums);
Tony Morales (cymbals, hi-hat);
George Jinda (cymbals, tambourine, bells, chimes);
Steve Feid, Anselmo Febles, Errol Crusher Bennett, Mario Argandona, Michael Fisher, Ralph MacDonald (percussion)

Various Artists - 1993 Gold Encore Series "The World of Contemporary Jazz Groups"

GRP Records is an American jazz record company, owned by Universal Music Group and operates through its Verve Music Group. The company's name has had different meanings. In its early days, it stood for "Grusin/Rosen Productions," after the founders. By the middle 1990s, after Grusin and Rosen left the company, GRP used the marketing slogan "Great Records Period."

Dave Grusin, a pianist and producer, and Larry Rosen, a drummer and recording engineer, established a production company in 1976 that recorded nontraditional jazz musicians like Earl Klugh and Lee Ritenour. When they founded GRP in 1978, they continued to concentrate on this fusion of jazz, pop, and rock.^[1]
GRP was distributed by Arista until 1982. It was independent until 1987, when it made a deal with MCA Distributing. In 1990 MCA bought GRP, giving the latter use of the catalogues of Impulse! and Decca, which GRP began to reissue on CD. New recordings at GRP included music by David Benoit, Michael Brecker, Gary Burton, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Eddie Daniels, Mercer Ellington, Kevin Eubanks, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Haslip, Eric Marienthal, Gerry Mulligan, John Patitucci, the Rippingtons, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, and Dave Valentin.^[1]
GRP's use of Soundstream and digital recording contributed to the success of the label. Grusin's album Mountain Dance (1979) was one of the earliest all-digital recordings outside of classical music.

Tracklist

    1. The Rippingtons - Curves Ahead
    2. Acoustic Alchemy - Reference Point
    3. Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance
    4. The Crusaders - Shake Dance
    5. The Brecker Brothers - Song For Barry
    6. Special EFX - Daybreak
    7. Gary Burton - Reunion
    8. Chick Corea - Inside Out

Personnel:

    Russ Freeman - Synthesizer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards
    Eric Marienthal - Saxophone
    Marcus Miller - Bass, Programming
    Chieli Minucci - Synthesizer, Guitar (Acoustic), Producer
    Tony Morales - Drums
    Dave Samuels - Marimba, Drums (Steel)
    Fernando Saunders - Bass
    Bert Smaak - Drums
    Klaus Sperber - Guitar (Bass)
    Kim Stone - Bass
    Steve Szabo - Trumpet
    Nick Webb - Guitar
    Dave Weckl - Drums
    Kenny Werner - Piano
    George Whitty - Keyboards
    Ted Reinhardt - Drums
    Don Alias - Percussion
    Jimmy Haslip - Bass
    George Jinda - Cymbals, Shaker, Producer, Sound Effects, Bells, Triangle
    Alex Acuña - Percussion
    Mario Argandona - Percussion
    Rubens Bassini -  Percussion
    Jay Beckenstein -  Saxophone, Producer
    Randy Brecker - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
    William Bubba Bryant - Drums
    Greg Carmichael - Guitar
    Lenny Castro - Percussion
    Chick Corea - Synthesizer, Accordion, Producer, MIDI Piano
    Lionel Cordew - Drums
    Steve Croes - Synclavier
    Terry Disley - Keyboards
    Wilton Felder - Synthesizer
    Russell Ferrante - Synthesizer
    Mitchel Forman - Piano, Keyboards
    Jeff Kashiwa - Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
    William Kennedy - Drums
    Kim Kurzdorfer - Bass
    Michael Landau - Guitar
    Armand Sabal-Lecco - Bass, Piccolo Bass
    Mark Ledford - Vocals
    Will Lee - Bass (Electric)
    John Tropea - Guitar
    The Brecker Brothers - Producer, Performer
    Michael Brecker - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Sax (Tenor), Programming
    Gary Burton - Producer, Vibraphone, Performer
    Peter Erskine - Percussion, Drums

GRP - 1992 "All-Star Big Band"

The GRP Band was a group compiled in the late 1980s under the direction of Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, principles of GRP Records. The band was a full band, and they mostly played well-known jazz pieces from the 1950s and 1960s written by famous musicians and composers. Many of these pieces were rearranged presenting a character of their own.

GRP is best known as a label specializing in slick and accessible jazz, but, in 1992, labelheads Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen decided to put together a conventional but star-studded big band comprised of their company's top players. The recordings featured such musicians as Arturo Sandoval, Randy Brecker, Chuck Findley, Dave Grusin, Ernie Watts, Bob Mintzer, Dave Valentin, John Patitucci, and even Tom Scott, Eric Marienthal, Nelson Rangell, and Lee Ritenour playing straightahead charts of jazz standards from the 1950s and '60s. The recordings actually offer few surprises (other than the fact that Scott and company still remember how to play bop), but are enjoyable outings.

Lee Ritenour, Tom Scott, Randy Brecker and other big names from Dave Grushin's jazz label gather for a one-day, en masse blow-out. The repertoire includes be-bop, post-bop and contemporary standards, with Coltrane's "Blue Train" and Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" highlighting a disc that's markedly more spirited than the GRP norm.

Wow! I first heard this album ten years ago while a fledgling jazz musician in high school. This album went on to become the best of my collection - I even spun it so many times in my player that I had to buy another copy of it. What makes this album so amazing is not neccessarily the setlist, but the musicians! GRP assembled some of their great label performers and got them together for this project (with a few more to follow). All of the musicians are incredible, but you'll notice some standout performances from Eric Marienthal (Alto Sax), Arturo Sandoval (Trumpet), Randy Brecker (Trumpet), and Bob Mintzer (Tenor Sax). I read somewhere that music is the closest thing to magic there is, and after listening to this album, you'll see why.
"Airegin" sets the stage nicely, followed by a perfect rendition of Coltrane's "Blue Train", with the best 24 bar blues solo I've ever heard from Bob Mintzer on Tenor Sax. "Donna Lee" features some blistering solo work by Nelson Rangell, Gary Burton, and Eddie Daniels. "Maiden Voyage" is easy and laid back, leading right up to one of the true gems of this album, "Sister Sadie", a crowd-pleaser if ever there was one. Marienthal's amazing Sax work still knocks me back every time I hear it! Up next is "The Sidewinder", and this is an excellent arrangement that Randy Brecker lights up on Trumpet. The next three tunes take it down a notch - "Seven Steps to Heaven" features a great (and rare)Marienthal Tenor Sax solo, and "I Remember Clifford" stands out as the album's premeire ballad. Sandoval is inhumanly good as always, and leads right up to an amazing climax! "Footprints" follows, featuring some great jazz guitar by Lee Ritenour. The last great showstopper of the album is next - Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca". Across the board amazing performances by the ensemble, featuring Dave Valentin (Flute), killer Piano by the Killer Kenny Kirkland, and the ultimate Trumpet battle royale by Sandoval and Brecker! The album is rounded out with more great work on Sax by Ernie Watts on " 'Round Midnight", and closes with a smooth version of Chick Corea's "Spain".
I have a very diverse music collection, and I'm proud to seat this album up at the top with other masterpieces of rock, jazz and classical music. I challenge you to listen to this CD and try- just try not to enjoy it. I dare you!

This album is an absolute must-have for everybody, who likes jazz, because, after you will listen to it, it will make you not just like jazz, but LOVE jazz and become devoted to it. I've had this CD for a couple of years by now, but still I keep listening to it at least five days a week. It's just gorgeous. My favorites are The Sidewinder, Sister Sadie and Blue Train. If you buy this one, you'll never regret it. Guaranteed.

When this CD was released, it was a major surprise. GRP is a label whose initial reputation was made on pop-ish jazz. However, co-founders Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen always had a love for the sound of big bands and for hard bop. For this set, they gathered together some of the most notable players on their label to play 12 jazz standards dating from the mid-'40s ("Donna Lee") up to the early '70s ("Spain"). The lineup of musicians is quite impressive, comprised of trumpeters Arturo Sandoval, Randy Brecker, and Sal Marquez; trombonist George Bohanon (who had to be imported since GRP did not have any trombonists); a reed section of Eric Marienthal, Nelson Rangell, Bob Mintzer, Ernie Watts and Tom Scott; bassist John Patitucci; drummer Dave Weckl; and several alternating pianists (Grusin, Russell Ferrante, Kenny Kirkland, and David Benoit), plus such guests as guitarist Lee Ritenour, flutist Dave Valentine, vibraphonist Gary Burton, clarinetist Eddie Daniels, and percussionist Alex Acuna. On the strictly straight-ahead set, which has such tunes as "Blue Train," "Sister Sadie," "The Sidewinder," and "Manteca," all of the musicians are featured adequately. It is a particular revelation hearing Marienthal and Rangell sound passable in this setting. Easily recommended to hard bop and big band collectors.

Track listing:

  01 - Airegin
  02 - Blue Train
  03 - Donna Lee
  04 - Maiden Voyage
  05 - Sister Sadie
  06 - The Sidewinder
  07 - Seven Steps To Heaven
  08 - I Remember Clifford
  09 - Footprints
  10 - Manteca
  11 - 'Round Midnight
  12 - Spain

Personnel   

Lee Ritenour (guitar);
Nelson Rangell (flute, piccolo, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone);
Bob Mintzer (flute, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone);
Tom Scott (flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone);
Eric Marienthal, Ernie Watts (flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone);
Dave Valentin (flute);
Eddie Daniels (clarinet);
Randy Brecker, Sal Marquez, Arturo Sandoval (trumpet, flugelhorn);
George Bohannon (trombone);
Dave Grusin, David Benoit, Kenny Kirkland, Russell Ferrante (piano);
Gary Burton (vibraphone);
Dave Weckl (drums);
Alex Acuña & the Unknowns, Alex Acuña (percussion)
John Patitucci - Bass.

GRP All-Star Big Band - 1993 "Live!"

Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live! is a jazz live album by the GRP All-Star Big Band.

What a gathering of heavyweights, doing tasteful interpretations of some of the best that jazz has to offer! I saw the video of this performance in Japan (1992) before youtube took it down on a copyright beef, and what comes through is the sheer joy and respect that these players demonstrated in performing this bad boy together. Very nicely edited and remastered for CD.

As I said when I reviewed another GRP All-Star Big Band recording, the whole idea was to do big band arrangements of the greatest bebop tunes ever written. The only difference is that this one was performed live.
The musicians are among the finest jazzmen in the world, the arrangements magnificent.......The only tune that wasn't especially for bop is "Sing, Sing Sing" but it's not the way Benny Goodman would have played it. "Oleo" is one of my favorites. They do a few tunes which were on the other one, like "Blue Train"; "Manteca"; "Sister Sadie" but it doesn't take away from the CD itself. If you like big band music, bebop & listening to the world's best jazz musicians, add it to your collection.
  
This recording puts together the best soloist and bandsmen nxt to each other. Sandoval, Marienthal, Brecker, Finley, Rangell, Scott, Mintzer, Pattituci, Grusin, just to name a few. Some of the best solo work I have ever heard.  

One of the best modern big band executions to date. Plenty of energy and lots of brief and exciting solos. Will get you jumping with the complex rythms and improvisations. World class collection of musicians make this one of my very favorite CDs in any category.  

This is my favorite big band album. Awesome performances all around. Highlight for me was Manteca with Arturo Sandoval notes that are off the charts!
  
For big band lovers, this is it ! A very beautiful collection of professional musicians at the peak of their art with Gary Burton as a bonus. Excellent atmosphere, excellent choice of material and excellent sound. A must. Enjoy !

Track listing

1. "Oleo" (Sonny Rollins) - 7:39
2. "My Man's Gone Now" - 7:05
3. "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Louis Prima) - 6:58
4. "Manteca" (Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo) - 7:33
5. "Blues for Howard" - 8:31
6. "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) - 5:10
7. "Blue Train" (John Coltrane) - 4:43
8. "'S Wonderful" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) - 6:31
9. "Sister Sadie" - 7:00
10. "GRP Band Introduction/Dave Grusin" - 2:41

Personnel

• Dave Grusin - piano
• John Patitucci - bass
• Dave Weckl - drums
• Gary Burton - vibraphone
• Tom Scott - conductor, soprano, tenor & baritone sax
• Eric Marienthal - soprano & alto saxophones
• Nelson Rangell - soprano & alto saxophones, flute
• Bob Mintzer - soprano & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet
• Ernie Watts - soprano & tenor saxophones
• Arturo Sandoval -trumpet, flugelhorn
• Chuck Findley - trumpet, flugelhorn
• Randy Brecker - trumpet, flugelhorn
• Byron Stripling - trumpet, flugelhorn
• George Bohanon - trombone
• Phillip Bent - flute
• Eddie Daniels - clarinet
• Russell Ferrante - piano

Larry Coryell - 2004 "Tricycles"

Jazz über-guitarist Larry Coryell has been hinting at a studio set like this for a long time now: a solid, top-to-bottom six-string jazz date with a crack rhythm section. Drummer Paul Wertico was on board for the dates that produced the Power Trio album, but the addition of bassist Mark Egan in the studio balances this equation perfectly. Interestingly, Wertico and Egan are both former sidemen from the Pat Metheny Group (albeit at different times). One thing both players have in common, and makes them so integral here, is their love of lyricism. Coryell, who has an astonishing variety of styles at his ready disposal, concentrates on it here in spades. Whether the tune is a smoking, bluesy swinger like the opener "Immer Geradeaus," the ultramodern "Good Citizen Swallow," that graces the edge of soft jazz-rock but never goes there, or the edgy arpeggiattic workout in "Spaces Revisited," the deeply haunting read of Monk's "Round Midnight," Coryell is virtually singing through his instrument. His focus on sonority and lush harmonic extrapolations is given weight by his rhythm section, who dance and weave around one another as a unit. The balance of Tricycles is its most startling aspect. These cats sound like they've been playing together for decades. Nuance, impression, and subtle suggestion are all incorporated in the mix for a wonderful melodic approach to modern creative jazz. The other Monk tune here, "Well You Needn't," is given an entirely new dimension by this approach because Coryell can concentrate on Monk's extrapolated harmonic ideas in his solo, yet roots the entire thing in a deft, gritty, bluesy frame. This is a straight-ahead date that is full of fresh ideas and compositions, as well exciting playing that points toward a new era for Coryell, and it numbers among his finest recordings.

Why guitarist Larry Coryell isn’t a bigger name is a mystery. Emerging in the ‘60s around the same time as John McLaughlin, Coryell’s forays into fusion actually predate McLaughlin’s, first fusing jazz with rock and country sensibilities in Gary Burton’s quartet, most notably on ‘67’s Duster and Lofty Fake Anagram. McLaughlin and Coryell even duked it out on Coryell’s Spaces , considered by many to be a classic fusion record. But Coryell’s career has strangely existed just below the radar, enough of a name to develop a rich body of recorded work, but never quite able to make the leap into broader exposure.
Maybe it’s because at the heart of things Coryell is really a jazzer. As eclectic as he can get, his roots are never far from the forefront. He has a clean but edgy approach that suits a broad range of styles, but harmonically and rhythmically it owes more to the tradition. And while he has straddled the fence on a variety of contexts over the years, there is no doubt on Tricycles , his latest release, where he’d fall if he lost his balance.

Accompanying Coryell are bassist Marc Egan and drummer Paul Wertico, both alumni, from different periods, of the Pat Metheny Group. Some artists are born to be leaders, others are best heard in support of others. While both Wertico and Egan have forged modestly successful careers as leaders, they are inconsistent at best—but in support of Coryell, who has a more focused conception, they clearly shine. Wertico demonstrates a sheer sense of power that he never had the chance to show with Metheny. His solo on “Spaces Revisited” gives Billy Cobham, who played on the original ’97 recording of the same name, a real run for his money. And Egan contributes some of his loosest playing in years, witness the group improvisation, “Three Way Split,” where he manages to emerge from a free-style intro into a fast swing with Wertico that gives Coryell all the room he needs.

In a programme that liberally mixes Monk standards with Coryell originals past and present, Coryell demonstrates a biting and compellingly distinctive style. On “Good Citizen Swallow,” originally from Burton’s Lofty Fake Anagram , he plays with a slight country flavour; on the blues-based “Immer Geredeaus” Coryell combines his roots in Wes Montgomery with a more angular approach. “Spaces Revisited” and “Dragon Gate” were originally recorded as quartet pieces, but both benefit from the more harmonic freedom of the trio setting. “Stable Fantasy,” another new composition, blurs the bar line, and features a lyrical melody from Egan.

Tricycles may not do anything to bring Coryell to the broader audience he deserves, but it should. With a personal style that is clearly as identifiable in its combination of energy and elegance, concept and commitment, as those of his more popular contemporaries, Coryell belongs in the spotlight that has eluded him for nearly forty years.

Anyone remember when Larry Coryell was one of the youngbloods of jazz guitar? Sheesh, I must be getting a bit “advanced” in age, eh? Through the years, there’s never been a doubt in my mind that Larry’s chops were as strong as anyone’s. There were times when I couldn’t follow, though, usually because the tunes weren’t that strong. Well, here the songs, the band, and Larry’s playing are as strong as can be.

There are six Coryell originals, and every one of them is interesting with fine changes and themes running through them. There are nice covers, too. Thelonius Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” has a great feel, with wonderful playing all the way around. The oddest piece, and the one that at first seems out of place, is the Lennon and McCartney chestnut, “She’s Leaving Home.” Larry’s acoustic work shines on the familiar melody, and the soloing is created from that melody. His electric playing is slightly chorused, not unlike some players who came up right after him, like Metheny and Scofield. The solos, though, are pure Coryell. Listen to him navigate the changes of “Immer Geradeaus,” where he solos around them wonderfully, and then lets loose with an impeccable chord solo.

And we should mention the band; on bass is Mark Egan and Paul Wertico mans the drums. The trio setting is perfect, whether it’s bop heaven like “Dragon Gate” or a beautiful, light, ballad like the title cut. The interplay between Egan and Coryell is real fun to listen to. They double each other on occasion, and all three lock in on pretty much every cut to create great music.

This is one of the best jazz guitar albums of the year so far. Great songs, great band, and great soloing.

Track listing:

1 Immer Geradeaus 6:38
2 Dragon Gate 8:31
3 Good Citizen Swallow 6:11
4 Tricycles 6:23
5 Stable Fantasy 4:31
6 Spaces Revisited 8:55
7 Round Midnight 8:38
8 Three Way Srlit 3:43
9 Well You Needn't 5:30
10 She's Leaving Home 3:02

Personnel:

Guitar – Larry Coryell
Bass – Mark Egan
Drums – Paul Wertico

Dewa Budjana - 2016 "Zentuary"

New studio album (double cd) by the iconic Balinese guitarist Dewa Budjana, featuring TONY LEVIN, GARY HUSBAND, JACK DEJOHNETTE with special guests TIM GARLAND, DANNY MARKOVICH, GUTHRIE GOVAN, SAAT SYAH, UBIET, RISA SARASWATI, CZECH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.

Indonesian guitar legend, Dewa Budjana is offering his most ambitious album to date, "Zentuary." Supported by an all-star cast of enormous proportions -- including jazz legend, Jack DeJohnette (over forty years on the ECM label), the iconic progressive bass and stickman, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel; King Crimson), and the extraordinary superstar sideman talents of Britain's Gary Husband (Allan Holdsworth; John McLaughlin) -- Budjana offers a profusion of cross-cultural delicacies which tease, cajole, enthrall and, ultimately, satisfy listeners. Special guests include guitarist Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats; Steven Wilson, Tim Garland (Chick Corea; Bill Bruford) and Danny Markovich (Marbin).

A veteran player whose career has already been marked by collaborations with a virtual "who's who" of musical luminaries, Budjana still manages to raise the stakes and elevate the level of his game on his fifth solo album.

Budjana's compositions are as detailed, finely honed and richly designed as ever, but Zentuary also features some of his most open-ended work to date. The easygoing groove and singable theme to "Uncle Jack," for example, deceptively bookends an 11-minute collective blowout, where DeJohnette puts down his drum sticks and, bolstered by Husband's equally inimitable kit work, moves to piano for the flat-out freest track of the set. Ebbing and flowing with a chemistry all the more remarkable for a core group of musicians—well-known names all—who have never played together before in any permutation or combination, it's a clear demonstration of Budjana's increasing comfort in such improv-heavy environs.

Zentuary's opener, "Dancing Tear," begins with a soundscape of plaintive vocals layered atop fretless nylon-string guitar and synth bolstered by Husband and Levin's foreboding rhythm section work. But within a mere sixty seconds everything changes as a more frenetic vibe emerges, with Levin's electric upright and Husband's effusive kit work driving a thematic, arpeggio-driven construct clearly referencing John McLaughlin's lifelong west-meets-east explorations...though this time, it's more appropriately east-meets-west.

Budjana takes the first solo, and it's a career-defining turn that still, fuzz-toned and staggeringly virtuosic as it is, never dissolves into flashy excess; instead, it's one of the most impassioned, beautifully constructed solos he's ever delivered—and it's still just Zentuary's first track. If there are any suggestions that his masterful technique is relegated solely to overdriven electric instruments, Budjana immediately follows that solo with a second, this time on nylon-string guitar, building to its own thrilling climax. Husband closes the tune with a synth solo of epic Mahavishnu Orchestra proportions...no surprise, perhaps, given that Husband has been keyboardist and percussionist of choice for over a decade in MO founder John McLaughlin's current 4th Dimension group—which is, coincidentally, in preparation to revisit the Mahavishnu Orchestra's legacy for an upcoming North American tour.

Knotty contrapuntal ideas mesh with the complex polyrhythms that drive Zentuary's largely episodic writing. Zentuary may shine a strong spotlight on Budjana, but it also provides plenty of space for Husband—a musician who first garnered a reputation for his unrelenting virtuosity behind the drum kit, but who has increasingly proven just as impressive on keyboards, whether it's contributing a motif-driven acoustic piano solo to the ferocious "Solas PM" (also featuring fellow Moonjune label mate/soprano saxophonist Danny Markovitch) or mind-bending synthesizer work on the following "Lake Takengon," where DeJohnette assumes Zentuary's drum chair for the first time on the record, demonstrating that as stylistically far-reaching as his reputation has long been considered, at nearly 75 he still has the capacity to surprise in the best of ways.

The album's more aggressive stance finally takes a breather on "Sunikala," with its more ambling groove driven as much by Levin's muscular but spare bass lines as it is Husband's similarly spartan backbeat. Introducing the first of two appearances by the Czech Symphony Orchestra, its lush textures lean more towards a progressive rock feel...no surprise, given Levin's long association with the genre as a member, in addition to his tenure with Peter Gabriel, of all but one King Crimson lineup since 1980. The tune's progressive ambience is further supported by guest guitarist Guthrie Govan, who contributes a solo as viscerally soaring as any of his existing work as a member of the power trio Aristocrats and as a former member of progressive singer/songwriter Steven Wilson's band from 2012-2015, heard on the ex-Porcupine Tree founder's The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) (Kscope, 2013) and 2015 follow-up concept album, Hand. Cannot. Erase (Kscope), amongst others.

Beyond contributing a wonderfully finger-picked acoustic guitar solo that follows Govan on "Sunikala," the idea that Budjana would recruit such a highly regarded, masterful and evocative guitarist—truly a guitarist's guitarist—into his own project only speaks to the Indonesian's innate humility and desire to do everything possible to serve the music. By this time in his relatively short career on the international jazz scene, he's already well past the need to prove himself, but recruiting a guitarist of Govan's repute is as much a reflection of Budjana the man as it is Budjana the musician.

Levin's reputation has, for the past four decades, been largely in the progressive rock sphere, so it's easy to forget that he first emerged as a jazz bassist in the mid-to-late '60s, with an early career résumé filled with impressive names ranging from Mike Mainieri, Buddy Rich and Deodato to Herbie Mann, Ben Sidran and Gary Burton. Driven by DeJohnette's signature cymbal work and coming before Budjana's own searing, linguistically rich work on "Dear Yulman," the bassist takes a commanding electric upright solo whose lyrical touches, deep-in-the-gut resonance, personal idiosyncrasies and reverence to the heart of the song would be unmistakably identifiable, even if his name wasn't listed in the credits.

If it's true that we are all the confluence of our own lives' experiences, then Levin is but one of Zentuary's many examples of how these exceptional players prove not just capable of bringing any and all of their extant career work to bear, but are equally adept at meeting new contexts head on, in this case Budjana's infusion of Gamelan—though, in Levin's case, his early days in Crimson were informed by this specifically Javanese and Balinese music—and other musical concepts unique to Indonesia.

Track Listing:

CD 1:
1. Dancing Tears;
2. Solas PM;
3. Lake Takengon;
4. Sunikala;
5. Dear Yulman;
6. Rerengat Langit (Crack in the Sky).

CD 2:
1. Pancaroba;
2. Manhattan People;
3. Dedariku;
4. Ujung Galuh;
5. Uncle Jack;
6. Zentuary.

Personnel:

Dewa Budjana: all guitars, soundscapes;
Tony Levin: electric upright NS Design bass (CD1#1-5, CD2#1-5), Chapman Stick (CD1#6);
Gary Husband: drums (CD1#1-2, CD1#4, CD1#6, CD2#1, CD2#4-5); keyboards and acoustic piano (CD1, CD2#1-4);
Jack DeJohnette: drums (CD1#3, CD1#5, CD2#2-3), acoustic piano (CD2#5);
Danny Markovitch: curved soprano saxophone (CD1#2, CD2#4);
Tim Garland: tenor saxophone (CD2#2);
Guthrie Govan: guitar solo (CD1#4);
Saat Syah: custom-made Indonesian suling flute (CD1#6, CD2#3);
Ubiet: vocals (CD1#3);
Risa Saraswati: vocals (CD1#6);
Czech Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michaela Růžičková: orchestra (CD1#4, CD2#6).

Larry Coryell - 1972 [2001] "Offering"

Offering is Larry Coryell's seventh album as a leader. The album was released 1972 on the Vanguard label featuring Steve Marcus soprano sax, Mervin Bronson on bass, Mike Mandel playing electric piano with fuzz-wah and Harry Wilkinson on drums. The album was produced by Daniel Weiss and engineered by Jeff Zaraya. The album reached number 20 on the Jazz Albums chart.

 Recorded in 1972, guitarist Larry Coryell's Offering has often been overlooked because it was the album that was released just before the debut of his legendary fusion band the Eleventh House. It's too bad, too, since Coryell's playing here is so inspired and free of the intellectual trappings of some of his later work. The band on Offering is a crack jazz-rock outfit made up of drummer Harry Wilkinson, bassist Melvyn Bronson, soprano saxophonist Steve Marcus, and electric pianist Mike Mandel (also a founding member of the Eleventh House). The vibe on this set is akin to the rugged jazz-rock forging of Soft Machine beginning on Fourth. And while it's tempting to lump this set in with the rest of the fused-out fare of the time, Offering is a distinctly -- and consciously -- more melodic record than those issued by Coryell's contemporaries at the time. Compositions such as "Foreplay," with its loping soprano and keyboard lines, stand apart from most of the Miles Davis-inspired crowd (Hancock, Corea, et. al), and "Ruminations" with its knotty, striated bop lines, comes on strong from the middle of three entwining harmonic figures to reach out and create a melodic framer from the pathos; Coryell's solo, which is equal parts Jimi Hendrix and Sonny Sharrock, is a wonderfully scorching and elusive sprite. Beginning with "Scotland I," which closes out side one, the jams get a bit more abstract and a bit more involved with the primacy of improvisation without losing their lyrical sensibilities. Offering is, in its own way, every bit as strong as the Eleventh House's debut and deserves to be considered hand in hand with it.

Years before the term jazz-rock fusion existed, American guitarist Larry Coryell was playing a pioneering role. As early as 1966, Coryell co-founded Free Spirits, an early jazz-rock band, before recording three seminal progressive jazz albums with Gary Burton. In 1969, prior to recording the first album under his own name, Coryell toured with Cream bassist Jack Bruce, Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell, as well as keyboardist Mike Mandel, combining the influences of rock into a jazz framework. By the early 1970's, Coryell put together a remarkable band of his own including Harry Wilkinson on drums, Mervin Bronson on bass, Steve Marcus on soprano sax, and Mike Mandel on electric piano. During the next several years, these musicians developed a hybrid of jazz and rock, free of preconceptions. The results displayed plenty of virtuosity, but were also interspersed with enough of the fiery playing style of rock musicians to attract a younger audience not as comfortable with the overly intellectualized forms of jazz. Coryell's group, known collectively as Foreplay, recorded several groundbreaking albums in the early 1970s, proving that these musicians had a gift for invention, some of it quirky, but nonetheless impressive from both a technical and musical standpoint. By 1973, a peak year of creativity in the jazz-rock fusion movement, thanks in no small part to the innovations of Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report, Coryell continued blazing his own path, free of formulaic limitations. Recording the final album with the Foreplay lineup, 1973's "The Real Great Escape," Coryell embraced jazz, rock, pop, electronics and he was even taking the questionable plunge of singing, a bold move to say the least. By the end of 1973, Coryell would revamp the band, only retaining the services of keyboardist Mike Mandel. Future legendary trumpet player Randy Brecker and the powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Danny Triffin and drummer Alphonse Mouzon fleshed out his next band, The Eleventh House, which would become Coryell's most recognized and commercially successful venture. Their debut album, 1974's "Introducing The Eleventh House," contained some of the most adventurous and technically hypercharged playing of Coryell's career.
Which brings us to this performance, recorded at The State University of New York, when Coryell and Foreplay opened for the Mahavishnu Orchestra. This recording captures Coryell at a crossroads, performing some of the finest material from both "Offering" and "The Real Great Escape," as well as developing material that would feature on the first Eleventh House album the following year. This recording serves as a musical bridge between two of the most memorable stages of Coryell's career.
They kick things off with Coryell's composition, "Yin" a song that would become a highlight of his next album with Eleventh House. Comparisons to the original Mahavishnu Orchestra are inevitable and Coryell's intensity and compositional framework are elaborate and just as melodically sophisticated. However, the comparisons end on "All My Loves Laughter," a Jim Webb song that not only features Coryell on vocals, but also clearly veers off in a smooth bluesy direction less interested in acrobatic solos than group improvisation. The next three pieces, all of them Coryell compositions, display the exceptional improvisational skills of the group, beginning with "Foreplay," a signature track from 1972's "Offering," and the title track from "The Real Great Escape." Dipping back to 1969 material, they deliver an exceptional reading of "Lady Coryell." Here, Coryell's unerring sense of swing, finesse and brilliant, blues-inspired style are undeniable. These performances all display what an impressive band this was. In both tone and execution, Marcus' solos are exceptional, Mandel's processed keyboard playing is humorous and original and the rhythm section of Bronson and Wilkinson are relentlessly inventive.
Also featuring a vocal from Coryell is "Makes Me Wanna Shout," one of the most overtly non-jazz based pieces on "The Real Great Escape, but incomplete due to tape stock running out. When the recording resumes, the group is blazing into a continuous sequence that begins with a second high velocity reading of "Yin," which then segues directly into an unidentified number, serving as a showcase for Mandel's fresh imaginative keyboard playing. This continuous sequence (nearly 25 minutes altogether) culminates with the Harry Wilkinson composition and title track from "Offering." Wilkinson's crackling and pummeling make for an engaging call-and-response counterpoint to Coryell's solos and at nearly twice the length of the studio recording, contains some of the most free-form performances of the night.
After introducing the band members, Coryell announces that they will conclude the set with another Mike Mandel composition, "Joyride." Considerably different from the version that would surface on the Eleventh House album the following year, the compositional framework is elaborate and melodically sophisticated, with Coryell and Mandel's dynamic interaction and intricate playing at the fore. If one listens closely, hints of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone From The Sun" can almost be discerned amidst the fiery fretwork. This is a blazing conclusion to the set, leaving the audience clamoring for more.
For many, Coryell has never sounded better than during his tenure with these particular musicians. They are all inspired and inventive but Coryell is clearly the front man here. Although his next band, The Eleventh House would become one of the most famous fusion bands of the 1970s, here Coryell still stands independent from the standard jazz-rock approach many musicians were embracing. Although he does emulate certain elements of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Coryell had long been working in an idiom that pre-dated McLaughlin's innovations. Though Coryell remains one of the most creative and accomplished electric guitarists, he would never achieve the popularity of many less capable but better promoted musicians. Other groups would attain much greater commercial success, but there's no mistaking the fact that Coryell was very much a visionary in his own right. Some of Coryell's most entrancing melodies, lightning fast phrases and spectacular solos can be found right here, in addition to a band capable of playing with guts and urgency. This live recording captures the tail end of an era when Coryell's music was most free of preconceptions and ripe with creativity.

A bit overlooked,this recording. In my opinion the best Coryell Jazz-album.
Here is a fierce and strong enthusiastic playing to be heard.
No boundaries and this band was clearly going to storm and change the world with their music!
Good recording, great sound. Listened to it a thousand times!!
The real thing for jazz-rock lovers and it was deary, new and fresh in it's time of coming out. Maybe too good!? . After this LP (Now replaced for a CD, because the LP became more cracking than sound after all the parties it had to turn trough..) I always tracked and listened everything coming out from Coryell.. In the hope that he would revisit this great music of course.. Well,he did a lot and became well known, but this particular energy-giving level never returned. The sax of Marcus was an ideal equal partner and Larry a great leader.. The only time he really came very close to a breakthrough towards Influential New Jazz and step-up of his clearly rich-gifted personal musicianship was on this recording. Very sad for us that they didn't challenge it out. On the nice but then strongly Miles-influenced(although re-issued on CD, very hard to find) "Barefoot Boy", the force comes back.. Next came "The Eleventh House". I personally think Coryell became a bit explored and over winged by the other members of that band. Good but not original like this one. Later on in his musical search he made recordings with Indian Masters that came out real nice and contemplative. 

Back in the early 70's, Coryell put together a strange little band that, in addition to himself, included Harry Wilkinson on drums, Mervin Bronson on bass, Steve Marcus on soprano sax, and Mike Mandel on, of all things, electric piano with fuzz-wah. Those were the heady days before fusion became a formulaic and boring refuge for technically hypercharged cokeheads, the days when people who wanted to play both jazz and rock didn't really have preconceptions about what the hybrid should sound like. The result was at times a kind of virtuosic grandiosity, as in Tony Williams' Lifetime's early sessions, with their bad-poetry raps interspersed with fiery playing by Williams, Larry Young, and John McLaughlin. At other times, in the quirkiest way, players hit the mark. Offering is one of those records. Wilkinson is no virtuoso, but his snapping and pounding make quite an interesting call-and-response counterpoint to Coryell's solos; each had an exceptional ear for the other. In tone as well as execution, Marcus is exceptional, so much so that I wonder what he's doing now; Bronson is quite good(listen to his bent-note but solid backing on "Begger's Chant"), and Mandel's playing is humorous and bizarre in a kind of Don Preston-Zappa way. Coryell has never been better. His playing is relentlessly inventive. Listening to the astounding accumulation of ideas and the beautiful architectonics of his solos on "Beggar's Chant," "Foreplay," and the title track, I'm taken back to those days when Coryell was jazz-rock music's hidden treasure. The current crop of guitarists of any stripe would benefit from an attentive listen. Some of Coryell's most innovative playing on record.
 
Tracks Listing

1. Foreplay (8:10)
2. Ruminations (4:17)
3. Scotland I (6:41)
4. Offering (6:46)
5. The Meditation Of November 8th (5:12)
6. Beggar`s Chant (8:03)

Total time 39:09

Line-up / Musicians

- Larry Coryell / guitar
- Mike Mandel / electric piano with fuzz-wah
- Steve Marcus / soprano saxophone
- Mervin Bronson / bass
- Harry Wilkinson / drums