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ANDY NARELL
And Calypsociation
THE PASSAGE
Music For Steel Orchestra
Heads Up HUCD 3086
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Andy Narell and Steel Orchestra with
guest soloists:
Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone, Paquito D'Rivera
- alto saxophone, Hugh Masekela - flugelhorn.
Recorded Paris and New York
1. The Passage
2. Song For Mia
3. The Long Way Back
4. Sea Of Stories
5. Mabouya
6. Oee Mwa Wee
7. Coffee Street
I must confess that generally I am not the world's
greatest lover of steel bands. This stems from
two factors - in the first place I was privileged
to know and work with some of the finest pan
players in The Caribbean whilst working on a
cruise ship. In more recent years I have been
subjected to the decidedly amateurish attempts
of school children performing a type of music
for which they have no real feeling or understanding.
Having made this statement I must say that this
disc has revived my appreciation of a very distinctive
musical genre and I have found myself listening
to this disc repeatedly with renewed enthusiasm
and interest.
Andy Narell is one of the major contributors
to the modern style of steel pan music and a
jazz variation with a Caribbean influence. He
is quite obviously a player, composer and arranger
of outstanding ability and originality. The
tracks on this disc are varied in their style
and presentation, but never lose the essential
West Indian overtones with the subtle rhythms
inherent to this most individual kind of World
Music. "Coffee Street" is perhaps
my favourite ensemble track - one could almost
wallow in the lush sound produced by the massed
pans here.
The guest tracks are a real bonus as they provide
welcome variation in terms of timbre and attack.
Paquito D'Rivera is an obvious choice for this
session as he is of Caribbean origin and accordingly
finds it easy to fit into the group. Hugh Masakela
has made a career of crossing different barriers
and so it is no surprise that his selection
is of a high standard. In many ways it is the
appearance of Michael Brecker that could cause
the most raised eyebrows. It is a measure of
his superlative musicianship that makes his
contribution so truly excellent- this must surely
negate some of the comments from his detractors
who would have us believe that he is a limited
player in terms of his approach, relying mainly
on his amazing technical facility. It is on
recordings such as this that it is possible
to understand just how much Brecker has learnt
to control and utilise his prodigious talents
in the last ten years or so.
This is a disc that is certainly worth listening
to - like me you might be most pleasantly surprised.
Dick Stafford
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