Live in Bremen 1983
| Live in Bremen 1983 | ||||
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| Live album by Woody Shaw | ||||
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| Label (s) | Elemental Music | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, 2 CD |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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Live in Bremen 1983 is a jazz album by Woody Shaw and his quartet that was recorded on January 18, 1983 in the Post-Aula in Bremen and released on October 9, 2018 by Elemental Music as an LP and (in an expanded form) as a double CD has been. Originally produced in two-track - stereo recorded recording of Michael Cuscuna , who was a close friend of the trumpeter in the last 15 years of his life.
background
Woody Shaw, who died in 1989 at the age of only 44, left a number of live recordings from archival finds that have appeared since his death. In 1980 the trumpeter formed his second quintet, with Steve Turre (trombone), Mulgrew Miller (piano), Stafford James (double bass) and Tony Reedus (drums). In January 1983, however, they toured without Turre, so they performed in a quartet format in the Post-Aula in Bremen. The recording "Live in Bremen 1983", published in 2018, documents Shaw on trumpet (and sometimes flugelhorn ) as the sole wind player; this allowed Shaw to perform in greater detail as a soloist.
Shaw's son, Woody Shaw III, curated Live in Bremen in 1983, as well as other releases in a number of historic recordings by Elemental Music , including newly discovered live performances by Shaw and other band leaders such as Dexter Gordon .
Track list
2-CD edition
- Woody Shaw Quartet: Live in Bremen 1983 (Elemental Music - 5990530)
- CD 1
- You and the Night and the Music ( Arthur Schwartz , Howard Dietz ) 14:30
- Rahsaan's Run (Shaw) 13:43
- Eastern Joy Dance (Miller) 15:49
- Pressing the Issue (Miller) 11:06
- The Organ Grinder (Shaw) 12:49
- CD 2
- Katrina Ballerina 1:42 pm
- Diane ( Ernö Rapée , Lew Pollack ) 10:14
- 400 Years Ago Tomorrow / The Theme 11:08
- Sweet Love of Mine 9:36
LP edition
- Woody Shaw Quartet: Live in Bremen 1983 (Elemental Music - 5990530)
A1 You and the Night and the Music 14:31
A2 Diane 10:16
B1 400 Years Ago Tomorrow / The Theme 11:08
B2 Sweet Love of Mine 9:20
reception
After its release, the album received consistently positive reviews in jazz critics; Maurizio Zerbo awarded him four (out of 5) stars in the Italian edition of All About Jazz . Richard Brody ( The New Yorker ) named Woody Shaw's album one of the best archive releases in the field of jazz of 2018. He went on to write: “Shaw builds his solos step by step and holds ideas, motifs and moods with contemplative energy in front of the light, which he unleashes in excitement and explosive bursts of tones that jump out of the soundscape with the highly relieved angular effect of a cubist extrusion. Shaw's outburst in double time is particularly exciting during Miller's light-hearted, unmistakably polyrhythmic 'Eastern Joy Dance', his high-performing, high-range effusions in 'Pressing the Issue' (followed by an excellent duet between Miller and Reedus), the lavish cadence-like fanfare of '400 Years Ago Tomorrow' and the rocking rhythmic punctuation of Shaw's undulating solo in 'Sweet Love of Mine'. This new version offers the thrill of a young artist taking advantage of the fortuitous circumstances of a concert and seemingly expanding his musical personality in real time - and the wonder that it was recorded. "
According to Marc Myers (Jazzwax), the album presents some of the group's best moments from that time. “The game is incredibly rich and bold, which makes the album an ideal entry point for those who are interested in Shaw but don't own anything about him. Interestingly, the least appealing pieces in this release are the Standards - You and the Night and Music and Diane . ”They'd come flat and dazed, probably because they'd have bored the musicians to tears, the author speculates. “The real art and tension”, however, can be found in the original compositions by Shaw and Miller. In these pieces, “the group speaks a familiar dynamic language that is filled with political feelings and inventions.” According to Marc Myers, they are completely in their element; the music boils and expresses warmth, "Dig Rahsaan's Run" for example. The piece revealed “all of Shaw's feeling and ferocity, with a delicate overlay. The sound of the album is terrific. "
Ed Enright pointed out in Down Beat that Shaw's quintet with trombonist Steve Turre, pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Stafford James and drummer Tony Reedus was "one of the great modern jazz ensembles of its time in the early 1980s, which was based on the straightforward tradition of bebop , but added newer music concepts from the avant-garde of the time. ”The recording was“ an interesting and exciting piece of jazz history . The enthusiasm of the group is immediately evident on the opening move 'You and The Night and the Music', a standard that was new to the group's repertoire at the time. Other memorable tracks include Shaw's 'Rahsaan's Run', a passionate blues full of ingenuity. Miller's 'Eastern Joy Dance' with its interesting melodic lines and unconventional shape. Miller's 'Pressing the Issue' with its dramatic, dark rhapsodic piano cadenza intro, which leads to a hard-working up-tempo thrill ride with challenging harmonic sweeps and a passionate solo; and Shaw's 'The Organ Grinder', on which the bandleader - forever remembered as a master of engineering and a source of endless slashes - reveals his ability to use tonal nuances, lyricism and finesse to make a powerful emotional statement . "
Peter Batten (Sussex Jazz Magazine) said that compared to the recording Tokyo '81 , which shows a good selection of the music that Woody Shaw developed with this quintet, but where despite excellent performances there is the feeling that the group is not yet an individual Character had developed that the double CD with the Bremen concert was much more interesting: “In the absence of Steve Turre, Woody and Mulgrew expand their solos. As a result, we can fully appreciate their talent and imagination. The pianist has a good solo in his own compositions' Eastern Joy Dance 'and' Pressing the Issue ', while Woody, who opens the concert in style with' You and the Night and the Music ', has his own composition dedicated to Larry Young ' The Organ Grinder 'is playing. The choice of melodies creates effective contrasts and there are strong solos in every track. Two great musicians are brought in to the full extent of their talents. Once again [the label] has found Elemental live jazz, which is of great interest and of the highest class. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Ed Enright: Woody Shaw Quartet - Live In Bremen 1983. Down Beat, November 1, 2018, accessed on March 18, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Information from Elemental Music
- ↑ a b c Richard Brody: The Best Archival Jazz Releases of 2018. The New Yorker, December 27, 2018, accessed on March 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Information at Discogs
- ↑ Maurizio Zerbo: Woody Shaw Quartet: Live in Bremen 1983. All About Jazz, February 27, 2019, accessed on February 1, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Marc Myers: Woody Shaw: Bremen, 1983. Jazzwax, November 21, 2018, accessed on March 17, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Peter Batten: Album Review: Woody Shaw - Tokyo '81 and Live in Bremen 1983. Sussex Jazz Magazine, February 1, 2019, accessed on March 18, 2019 (English).