Reviewed by Phil Johnson
Sunday, 5 April 2009SHARE PRINTEMAILTEXT SIZE NORMALLARGEEXTRA LARGE
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Perhaps surprisingly, saxophonist Sheppard’s debut for ECM offers much more of his own house style than it does the label's.
After the dramatic soundscape opening to “La Tristesse Du Roi”, Kuljit Bhamra’s tablas provide a familiar galloping rhythm for the subtle guitar atmospherics of John Parricelli and Eivind Aarset, followed by the leader’s melodious tootling.
And so it goes: beautifully played, easy on the ear, international jazz-folk fusion, with the masterly double bass of Arild Andersen a constant stand-out.
I agree.
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"Quality means doing it right when no one is looking" - Henry Ford
Listening tonight to two of Tomasz Stanko's greatest albums, Leosia and Litania (both available on ECM). Utterly wonderful music from one of the great musician-composers of our time. Stanko's trumpet-playing comes from Miles and much of his work seems to be very much infuenced by what the great man was working on in the mid- to late-Sixties (to my mind, Nefertiti is a big influence) but there's so much more to Stanko's music than pastiche. It really is music that begs to be savoured at length and over time. Deeply satisfying and built to last.
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.