Ah some real jazz! With Miles Davis, Art Blakey and friends. This album kicks off with a rendition of Autumn Leaves that is different to the others out there, as Adderley and Davis trade solos. Where Adderley runs up and down the scales frenetically, Miles leans back and puts the chill back into the album, while the bass drives the performances forward relentlessly. I'm always struck by Miles Davis ... I know nothing about trumpet playing, but I instantly know its him, he has such a standout style of his own. A year ago, I might have dismissed this music as nothing more than self indulgent, albeit pleasant, twoddle. These days I listen to a lot more jazz than I ever used to and I am starting to understand it, making this record a joy to listen to. Quick mention for the pianist and drummer, they rock too!
Standout Tracks: All of them. This is quality music
Jazz! But with a destinctive Middle Eastern tinge to it, both in the percussion and the scales these cats are playing through. It's pretty laid back stuff, nice tension building between the horns, with the use of more exotic style scales. It's an odd listen, in that it feels like jazz but it's jazz from somewhere .... else. Some lovely violin and cello stuff in there too. It's nice, I like it, but I think it'll take a few listens to fully understand and appreciate this mixture of jazz and eastern culture, which at times is rather soft and gentle, and at others a manic flurry of saxophone and dissonance to bring to mind a bustling market or street somewhere in the Middle East. On a side note (no pun intended!) I love the cover to the album, a sort of Islamic style simplistic cover that looks very cool.
Standout Tracks: Fraises et Creme Fraiche, Go to go home
No comments:
Post a Comment