A Turtle's Dream

Since her 1960 recording for Candid, Abbey Lincoln has brought an unequaled passion to the jazz vocal art, an ability to invest words with special shades of meaning that recalls the spirit of Billie Holiday. Her talent has long been appreciated more by musicians than by a large general audience (perhaps because her work is so focused on maximizing the emotional potential of a lyric rather than on treating the voice as an instrument, as many jazz singers do). That respect is reciprocal: her work has always featured the finest musicians, from Eric Dolphy to Stan Getz. Lincoln composed most of the music and lyrics on this 1994 set, and each song is a journey into the self, into the wellsprings of life, from loss to joy. Her accompanists rise to the emotional occasion: fine moments are contributed by Kenny Barron, Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, Roy Hargrove, saxophonist Julien Lourau, and Lincoln's frequent accompanist, pianist Rodney Kendrick.

-Stuart Broomer

Artist: Abbey Lincoln

Album: A Turtle's Dream

Year: 1994

Label: Verve

Personnel:

Abbey Lincoln: vocals

Rodney Kendrick: piano

Charlie Haden: bass

Victor Lewis: drums

featuring:

Roy Hargrove: trumpet on 4,8

Julien Lourau: soprano saxophone on 10 and tenor saxophone on 2,4,7,8

Kenny Barron: piano on 3,11

Pat Metheny: guitars on 1,5,6,11

Lucky Peterson: guitar and background vocals on 9

Christian McBride: bass on 4,8

Michael Bowie: bass on 7,9

String arrangements by:

Laurent Cugny on 1

Randolph Noel on 3

Track List:

1. Throw It Away
2. A Turtle's Dream
3. Down Here Below
4. Nature Boy
5. Avec Le Temps
6. Should've Been
7. My Love Is You
8. Storywise
9. Hey, Lordy Mama
10. Not To Worry
11. Being Me

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Khomsa

Khomsa is the heroine in the movie Bezness, and also inspires one of many musical themes from Tunisian films and theater documented on this CD. Oud player Anouar Brahem has performed these pieces across a decade with different ensembles, but for the first time they were recorded in one studio setting. The instrumentation varies in size and de-emphasizes Brahem's role as a frontman. In fact, upon listening, this could just as easily be credited under the direction of the brilliant accordionist Richard Galliano, for his role is heard more often as the lead instrument. The musicians combine here and there with the dynamic ECM signature rhythm team of bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen, or in certain instances pianist François Couturier, violinist Bechir Selmi, and on rare occasion soprano saxophonist Jean Marc Larché. The themes are luxurious, rich, beautiful, and organic, with no wasted motion or excesses, and there is a feeling of being on a journey. Galliano's solo "Comme un Depart," the solo oud of Brahem in "L'Infini Jour," and Selmi's "Regard de Mouette" get the caravan slowly started. "Claquent les Voiles" sports Brahem's mysterious Middle Eastern lines and chords with the masterful bassist and drummer, while "Vague" is hymnal in Galliano's ability to stretch long tied notes with his bellows. Couturier is a delicate stylist, matching theological timbres on "Vague," and working in tandem with Brahem during "Seule" and on the light 6/8 rhythm of "Nouvelle Vague" with Galliano. He also plays a little synthesizer, specifically during the circular "Un Sentier d'Alliance" aside overdubbed echoed piano and soprano sax. Most of the collective play on "Ain Ghazel," a sensitive and sensual musical sketch, features contrasting soprano sax from Larché, atypically animated drumming by Christensen, and Brahem's pensive oud as the period on a sentence. "Souffle un Vent de Sable" shows a group design in breathing, balanced tones led by Galliano, and Brahem coming in after the fact with the bass and drums. The title track displays a unified whole in the ECM spirit with Brahem, Galliano, Couturier, and Danielsson. Closest to jazz is "Des Rayons et des Ombres," a fast trio number with Galliano and the rhythm section approaching bop. "Comme une Absence" concludes the project with two overdubbed violin tracks from Selmi. The buyer should be aware that the personnel listed on the booklet cover does not reflect the entire combo at any one time. Otherwise, this is a beautiful contemporary statement reflecting the cinematic forms Brahem loves, mixed with European classical and improvisational sensibilities, professionally rendered, and well within the tradition of world jazz and the clean ECM concept.

~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide.

Artist: Anouar Brahem

Album: Khomsa

Year: 1994

Label: ECM

Personnel:

Anouar Brahem: Oud

Richard Galliano: Accordion

François Couturier: Piano, Synthesizer

Jean Marc Larché: SopranonSaxophone

Béchir Selmi: Violin

Palle Danielsson: Double Bass

Jon Christensen: Drums

Track List:

1. Comme Un Depart
2. L'Infini Jour
3. Souffle Un Vent De Sable
4. Regard De Mouette
5. Sur L'Infini Bleu
6. Claquent Les Voiles
7. Vague
8. E La Nave Va
9. Ain Ghazel
10. Khomsa
11. Seule
12. Nouvelle Vague
13. En Robe D'Olivier
14. Des Raysons Et Des Ombres
15. Un Sentier D'Alliance
16. Comme Une Absence

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Officium

Fearlessly searching for new conceptions of sound and not caring where he found them, Garbarek joined hands with the classical early-music movement, improvising around the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble. Now here was a radical idea guaranteed to infuriate both hardcore jazz buffs and the even more pristine more-authentic-than-thou folk in early music circles. Yet this unlikely fusion works stunningly well -- and even more hearteningly, went over the heads of the purists and became a hit album at a time (1994) when Gregorian chants were a hot item. Chants, early polyphonic music, and Renaissance motets by composers like Morales and Dufay form the basic material, bringing forth a cool yet moving spirituality in Garbarek's work. Recorded in a heavily reverberant Austrian monastery, the voices sometimes develop in overwhelming waves, and Garbarek rides their crest, his soprano sax soaring in the monastery acoustic, or he underscores the voices almost unobtrusively, echoing the voices, finding ample room to move around the modal harmonies yet applying his sound sparingly. Those with nervous metabolisms may become impatient with this undefinable music, but if you give it a chance, it will seduce you, too.

~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

Artist: Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble

Album: Officium

Year: 1994

Label: ECM

Personnel:

The Hilliard Ensemble:

David James: Countertenor

Rogers Covey-Crump: Tenor

John Potter: Tenor

Gordon Jones: Baritone

Jan Garbarek: Soprano and Tenor Saxophones

Track List:

1. Parce Mihi Domine
2. Primo Tempore
3. Sanctus
4. Regnantem Sempiterna
5. O Salutaris Hostia
6. Procedentem Sponsum
7. Pulcherrima Rosa
8. Parce Mihi Domine
9. Beata Viscera
10. De Spineto Nata Rosa
11. Credo
12. Ave Maris Stella
13. Virgo Flagellatur
14. Oratio Ieremiae
15. Parce Mihi Domine

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MoodSwing

Artist: Joshua Redman
Album: MoodSwing
Year: 1994
Description: On his first album with his own band and the first one to entirely feature his own material, saxist Redman finds ingenious ways of creating a mode of acoustic jazz that is both entertaining and enlightening. Accessible soul and blues riffs coexist with brainier moments, even including a touch of the avant-garde (a nod to his saxophonist father, Dewey). MoodSwing plays like an artistic journey. A- -Josef Woodard

Track List:

1. Sweet Sorrow
   
2. Chill
   
3. Rejoice
   
4. Faith
   
5. Alone In The Morning
   
6. Mischief
   
7. Dialogue
   
8. The Oneness Of Two (In Three)
   
9. Past In The Present
   
10. Obsession
    
11. Headin Home
    

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