Eberhard Weber: Stages Of A Long Journey (2007)

In March 2005 the Stuttgart Theaterhaus Jazztage Festival celebrated Eberhard Weber's birthday with two spectacular concerts. Stages Of A Long Journey is the recording drawn from these concerts and is comprised of some of the biggest hits of Weber's career newly arranged for soloists, small group and orchestra. The album also brings together an all-star group of musicians and long-term associates that includes Marilyn Mazur, Gary Burton and Jan Garbarek, with Burton and Garbarek together for the first time on disc. Stages Of A Long Journey is Eberhard Weber's first recording as a leader in seven years and is sure to delight long-term and first generation ECM listeners. Born in 1940 in Sttutgart, Eberhard Weber made his first record as a leader, and first ECM recording, in 1973 - The Colours of Chloë. Since then he has made 11 more albums under his name and all of these on ECM. He has collaborated with a who's-who of past and present ECM stars including Gary Burton, Pat Metheny and Jan Garbarek, as well as with the British pop star Kate Bush. Weber's compositions are known for blending elements of jazz, classical, minimalism and ambient music with lyrical melodies and an attention to color and dramatic detail.

Tracklist:

1. Silent Feet

2. Syndrome
3. Yesterdays
4. Seven Movements / Birthday Suite
5. Colours Of Chloe, The
6. Piano Transitino
7. Maurizius
8. Percussion Transition
9. Yellow Fields
10. Hang Around
11. Last Stage
12. Air
Personnel:
Eberhard Weber (bass instrument)
Jan Garbarek (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone)
Rainer Bruninghaus (piano, keyboards)
Wolfgang Dauner (piano)
Gary Burton (vibraphone)
Marilyn Mazur (drums, percussion)
SWRRadio Symphony Orchestra, Nino G, Roland Kluttig (conducted)
Stages of a Long Journey
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Chick Corea: Rendezvous in New York (2003) [2 cd]

One of Chick Corea's most ambitious projects was the recording of almost 60 hours of music with nine different groups over a three-week run at the Blue Note in December 2001; it must have been a challenge to choose the dozen performances for this two-CD set. The first disc begins with scat singer par excellence Bobby McFerrin joining the pianist to scat his way through three selections, including a stunning medley of an excerpt from Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" and Corea's "Spain." Bassist Miroslav Vitous and ageless drummer Roy Haynes provide the pulse to his extended work "Matrix." Corea's well-crafted tribute to Bud Powell, with Terence Blanchard and Joshua Redman in the front line, combines two of Powell's greatest works, "Glass Enclosure" and "Tempus Fugit." But Corea is at his most lyrical when old friend Gary Burton joins him to revisit the pianist's masterpiece, the shimmering "Crystal Silence." The second disc is also full of great music, though disc one clearly gets the edge, with the possible exception of the virtuoso duo piano interpretation with Gonzalo Rubalcaba of the same medley performed with McFerrin on the first CD. It is safe to say that no fan of Chick Corea will be disappointed with this wide-ranging compilation of live music, and itis also a great starting point for those not familiar with his voluminous works. Highly recommended.

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Rendezvous (RS) / Rendezvous (HF) vbr

Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, Antonio Sanchez: Quartet Live! (2009)

Quartet Live! is a revisited edition of the classic Gary Burton Quartet. The album features three original members and jazz legends Burton, Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow along with one new member, and perhaps one of the most prominent drummers of his generation, Antonio Sanchez. The eleven song album was recorded live at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland. The story begins in 1967 when bassist Steve Swallow joined with vibraphonist Gary Burton to form the original Gary Burton Quartet. In the early 1970s, then 19 year old guitarist Pat Metheny joined Burton’s band and one of the most celebrated careers in music began. This would be the start of a 35 year musical friendship between the vibist and guitarist that continues today. A decade ago Metheny discovered drummer Antonio Sanchez, inviting him to join The Pat Metheny Group, and the two have been playing together ever since. Metheny came up with the idea to revisit the Gary Burton Quartet, the band that had been his entry into the jazz world: "For me, as a teenager in Missouri just starting to appreciate jazz, Gary’s group was the most innovative band around". They decided to schedule a gig at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2005. The musicians’ rapport and the freshness of playing at Montreal was so energizing that the musicians took the act on the road in Japan and the US in 2006 and 2007, and the group reunited again for a European tour in 2008. What we have here is four legendary musicians, improvisers and composers all, each at the top of his game, bringing modern jazz history to life on Quartet Live!.