the last goodbye 7:14
the healing 5:27
green dolphin street 6:41
moon river 5:36
tokyo nights 8:08
giorgio’s theme 7:35
sao Paulo 5:59
alpine sunset 7:06
the healing (alt.take) piano solo
reflections 5:31
Piazzolla 2:55
joyful sorrow 2:43
silent serenity 2:41
18th’s child 2:05
life’s dreams 2:28
total time 72:55
dave liebman : soprano sax, indian flute
ed saindon : vibes, piano and marimba
david clark : acoustic bass
mark walker : drums
Ed Saindon is indisputably a virtuoso 4 mallet
vibe player.
Brilliant playing, but alas, I am a sceptic
and all the time I wondered,
"Could this magnificent vibe playing
be transferred via a digital keyboard to something
easier to play and yet sound the same on a
CD?"
Well the answer to this naïve question
will not tax the minds of anyone who has dabbled
with electronic instruments and indeed the
old Fender Rose keyboard of the Seventies
springs unbidden to the aural memory.
But then, so do plastic pearls and bakelite
tortoise-shell combs, - all of which endure
as collectable items.
The differences between CDs and Live gigs
enter the same parallel universe.
Once it’s on the CD it’s no longer jazz.
Or is it?
With Depth of Emotion we are listening to
well controlled playing from everyone in the
ensemble.
Dave Liebman’s soprano sax is beautifully
in tune, and anyone who has chartered the
progress of that intrinsically temperamental
instrument must appreciate the skill and artistry
on this disk.
The trouble with the music is that everything
sounds too easy, too well planned and nicely
balanced for a 3 hour take...
It is both extraordinarily "listenable"
but at times strangely inhibited.
"On Green Dolphin Street" has had
so many Jazz treatments that it takes courage
to re-work this seminal tune. Consequently
the listener seeks a new slant.
This version is nice, but like a minor card
it falls into its pack of predecessors as
a competent effort, as opposed to an ace trump
of re-working.
"Moon River" is ironed out of its
Waltz Tempo, to which one can only cry, "Shame"
on the grounds that there are so few good
Waltzes worth a Jazz work-out and "Moon
River" still offers scope for enlargement
within a slow waltz. It is only on the final
recall of the tune that the haunting beauty
of the theme is retrieved from a routine solo.
But the best bits of this CD are the non-standards.
Ed Saindon’s Music takes the restricting corsets
off the ensemble and there are some lovely
sounds that live up to the statement on the
sleeve;
"The Music should hopefully take the
listener to places filled with a wide range
of moods, feelings and emotions."
Always technically splendid, that even with
Liebman’s Indian flute the expressive qualities
of the musicians’ intentions come at the listener
with love and care.
And it is good to hear a tribute to that fine
Tango-Man, Piazzolla.
If you think the final piano tracks are "fillers",
just listen and enjoy without thinking you
have been short-changed by the rest of the
gang, because these solos are in their own
way, little gems.
This is a, "Listen to a lot" CD,
and if your friends have different tastes,
you can always play it at a discreet level,
but someone will discover how rewarding it
is to really get immersed in such stuff.
Adrienne Fox
CD Reviews
World Improvised Music WIM
1005
