Zumbi Naná Vasconcelos

Like the echo of a grand landscape, Metheny and Mays create an atmospheric meditation on traveling across the great open expanse of America As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls. By turns introspective and hymn-like, soaring and transcendent, the music resonates with a rural spirit, to which the Brazilian percussion of Nana Vasconcelos brings a more universal feel. Both "It's For You" and the epic title track evoke sonic vistas that touch a nerve with their layered keyboards and guitars. "Ozark" is a dynamic track featuring piano propelled by gentle percussion, while "September Fifteenth" is a quiet and deeply moving dedication to pianist Bill Evans. "Estupenda Graca" is like a gentle prayer sung both as closure, and in anticipation of the travels to come.

Now well into its gliding Brazilian-tinged mode, the Pat Metheny Group hits the road, as this two-CD set catches the band live in Dallas, Philadelphia, Hartford, Sacramento, and Nacogdoches, TX. Percussionist Naná Vasconcelos is still listed as a "special guest," but ever since Wichita Falls, he had not only been a part of the group, he was the transforming element in the Metheny "sound," adding his various shakers, effects and ethereal vocals. Sidekick Lyle Mays gets deeper into floating, glistening synthesizer textures, but he is still able to take formidable and touching solos on acoustic grand piano. Still experimenting with new hardware, Metheny's work on a detuned guitar synthesizer gives the live "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls" an exotic Balinese-like sound.

Enrico Rava - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (2010) {5CD Set CAM Jazz BXS1002 rec 1972-1994}
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© 1972-94, 2010 CAM Jazz / Black Saint / Soul Note | BXS 1002
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Trumpet

Good news! Five of Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava's Black Saint and Soul Note recordings have been reissued by CAM Jazz in one of those pretty white box sets with each LP reproduced as a separate CD tucked into a miniature record jacket. Born at Trieste in 1939, Rava later attributed his lifelong pursuit of modern jazz to the influence of Miles Davis. One might add Don Cherry and Freddie Hubbard to that equation, along with maybe Richard Williams and Lee Morgan. In order to fully comprehend what he was up to from the '70s onward, it is important to consider the artistic company that Rava kept during the ‘60s. Take a moment, for example, to ponder the blended influences of Chet Baker and Gato Barbieri.

Bassist Arild Andersen may not be one of ECM's best-known bandleaders (to Americans, that is), but that hasn't stopped him from amassing an impressive catalog as one of the label's senior statesmen. Andersen himself comments in the liner notes at how fortunate and surprised he was when looking back over his catalog and realizing how many younger players graced his sides. The evidence, however, is that Andersen is too humble: his guidance is like a beacon in bringing the best out of many who would become leaders in their own right. A fine example is on "Vanilje," which opens the album and comes from the Masqualero album. Here Andersen, Jon Balke, and drummer Jon Christensen host two stunning players on the front line, young saxophonist Tore Brunborg and a fresh-faced Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet.

Sagn was the result of a commission for the 1990 Vossajazz festival that sealed the collaborative spirits of singer Kirsten Bråten Berg and bassist Arild Andersen. Blending folk songs from their native Norway, along with jazz and rock elements, the two shared the stage with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, saxophonist Bendik Hofseth, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, and guitarist Frode Alnæs. While we don’t have (so far as I’m aware) a live recording of what was surely an historic occasion, we do have this ECM studio rendition, buffed and polished to a mirror’s shine. Sagn is a massive effort, one of ECM’s fullest on a single disc, and stands as Andersen’s most personal statement to date.

Bassist Arild Andersen's epic Nordic folk and jazz fusion, with Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Kirsten Brеten Berg on vocal, munnharpe, langeleik, Bendik Hofseth on tenor and soprano saxophones and guests Bugge Wesseltoft (voice) and Paolo Vinaccia (percussion). It's austere, sparse beauty offers a haunting sound, and gives Braten Berg an perfect platform for her voice. The moods shift constantly from cool Nordic jazz to warm Brazilian rhythms, then overlaps them in something completely original and yet somehow welcoming and familiar. Recorded in 1993, this was his final recording for KKV before moving into the ECM stable.

Danny Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is a freelance drummer who has performed as part of the Pat Metheny Group, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Elements. He is also a member of the University of North Florida jazz faculty, where he teaches as a full-time Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies. This great followup album has an incredible list of sidemen, featuring John Abercrombie, Trilok Gurtu, Nana Vasconcelos and many others.

Walter Davis, Jr. - Illumination (1977) {Denon–Nippon Columbia ‎DC-8553 rel 1989}
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© 1977, 1989 Denon / Nippon Columbia ‎| DC-8553
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

Since Walter Davis, Jr. had relatively few opportunities to lead recording dates of his own, one would hope that conditions would be ideal for the occasional recording session. Sadly, he's stuck with a badly out of tune instrument on this occasion, making it almost excruciating to listen to his performance of his best-known work, the normally exciting hard bop vehicle "Scorpio Rising." Davis utilizes several different rhythm sections, including the likes of Buster Williams, Art Blakey, and Tony Williams.