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Joe Lovano and Us - Five Folk Art *** |
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Wednesday, 29 April 2009 13:20 |
Blue Note | Joe Lovano (ts, as, acl, taragato, aulochrome, gongs), James Weidman (p), Esperanza Spalding (b), Otis Brown III (d, bells, gongs) and Francisco Mela (d, perc, bells). Rec. 18-19 Nov 2008
The new Lovano album is a considerable contrast to both his last Blue Note release ( Symphonica) and his outings under the leadership of McCoy Tyner last year. It also represents a new touring group due to hit these shores soon, in which a quartet line-up is enlivened by two very un-cliché-prone performers on piano and bass and by the sometimes simultaneous use of two very different percussionists. The material is all by Lovano himself and covers a number of different bases, the opening ‘Powerhouse’ sounding most like a traditional quartet with the drummers mainly alternating, while the title-track has a memorable one-bar riff.
Two tracks reference other saxophonists, ‘Dibango’ (as explained in Joe’s interview in this issue) and ‘Ettenro’ (a second cousin of ‘Ecaroh’?), and the first of these features the otherworldly sound of the double-bell aulochrome. Elsewhere, Lovano sounds very much like himself, which is good enough for me – probably for you too – while the quintet is slightly different from anything else you’ve heard. Review: Brian Priestley
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Last Updated on Friday, 29 May 2009 09:38 |