js “Nitty Gritty” is guitarist Russ Spiegel’s seventh album, and although most of his earlier albums contain mostly originals, for this album Russ wrote only four compositions with everything else being covers done in ways that are different than the usual versions of the songs he selected. It is an eclectic album and in Russ’s own words, “ I chose tunes that feature my guitar playing in different genres and styles of jazz - from swinging, earthy blues to folk and Latin rhythms to groovy and outright rocky tunes”. Russ mentions some favorite influences on the guitar, including Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Ed Bickert and Bola Sete. Accompanying Russ on this adventure is his usual trio with Jim Gasior on organ and piano, and Lucas Apostoleris. Guests, Tim Armacost on tenor sax and Kurt Hengstebek on bass, play on about half the tracks.

So lets take a look at the variety that Russ has bestowed on us here. “Soul Station” is classic Hammond B3 driven soul jazz originally composed by Hank Mobley. On Ellington’s “Prelude to a Kiss”, Russ eschews the tune’s usual ballad treatment and instead gives it an upbeat samba drive. Hearing ‘Prelude’ in upbeat mode gives the well known song a different flavor altogether. Whereas the Beatles, “Norwegian Wood”, is usually given an up tempo 6/8 modal vamp, Spiegel instead keeps it in a relaxed folk style workout for the acoustic guitar. Original, “Nitty Gritty”, uses distorted guitar in a heavy funk jazz style similar to Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood.

For the second half of the CD Spiegel settles into more of a fusion style which supplies a little more cohesion after the ‘all over the place’ nature of the first half. “Deep Brooklyn” is one of the best tracks on the album with it’s melancholy melody and Gasior’s post bop ride on the acoustic piano. “Epic” is another ‘big’ sounding fusion number with a rocky 5/4 groove and plenty of heavy guitar soloing from Spiegel. “26-2”, another jazz rock number, gives plenty of room for Armacost’s tenor sax solo. There are more tracks but let’s avoid an exhausting grocery list here, but the real surprise is lounge classic, “A Man and a Woman”, which Russ plays without a trace of irony or kitsch.

snobb Pianist/keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft, who was born half a century ago in a small town on the Norwegian southern shore, is one of the key people responsible for one of the significant modern trends in jazz, combining aerial Nordic folk-influenced grooveless piano jazz with contemporary electronics (often post-rock influenced), ie: so-called nu jazz or "future jazz".

On his newest album, "Am Are", Bugge continues developing his usual sound, offering a great collection of different formats (predominantly trios) in collaborations with some Nordic stars, as well as lesser-known musicians.

The album's opener, "How?",(the review is based on the digital album's version, the vinyl edition contains a different tracklist) is a rare Bugge piano/synth solo song, sounding very much like Chopin-like melancholic ballade, just adapted for the New Millenium. "ReiN" is a duet of Bugge, switching from Yamaha Synth to piano and back, and drummer Elias Tafjord. The piece is energetic and recalls synth-based space-themed jazz fusion compositions from the late 70s. "Is Anyone Listening?" is a different song - a piano/sax trio with r'n'b-influenced Norwegian singer Rohey Taalah. It's a bluesy ballad with a jazzy feel.

"BAG" is played by a more conventional trio with legendary acoustic bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Gard Nilssen on board. The song sounds very much like a traditional jazz fusion piece from 70-80s. The same trio is responsible for the next track, "Reel", which is a bit lazy and moody atmospheric ballad with a lot of deep acoustic bass soloing.

"Render" and "Vender" come from a different trio, with Bugge dominating heavily on electric keyboards (Fender Rhodes and Korg) and another Nordic jazz legend, drummer Jon Christensen, (plus electric bassist Sveinung Hovensjø) on support. Early Weather Report fans will be really happy with the sound of this one.

"JazzBasill" and the title track both come from the fourth different trio - Bugge plays piano with acoustic/electric bassist Jens Mikkel Madsen and drummer Øyunn. These two songs sound closest to the conventional modern jazz piano trio. The closer, "ThinkaHeaD", is the most unusual composition with feelable Indian rhythms from tabla player Sanskriti Shrestha. Other trio members on this track are Bugge (who plays organ besides piano here) and guitarist Oddrun Lilja. Still very much an atmospheric and ambient piece.

"Am Are" is another of Bugge's masterpieces, not deeply searching for new ground but trying to absorb all the best that has been done by him during the last decades, and present it in fresh and attractive form.

js Static music, and/or music as a continuum, may be a somewhat experimental idea in the western world, but in other cultures, particularly African culture, music performance that stays more or less the same from beginning to the middle and on to the end, is par for the course. Avant-garde composers such as John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Steve Reich have produced music that has no particular linear development, and in the jazz world, Miles Davis tried out a fusion approach to static music with albums like “On the Corner” and “Get Up With It”. This leads us to a new Swiss trio known as, divr, with band members, Phillipp Eden on piano, Raphael Walser on bass and Jonas Ruther on drums. These guys are taking a very fresh approach to music making that sets them apart from the field. Their improvisations are not ‘static music’ per se, but are similar in that linear development takes a backseat to thoroughly exploring the present moment.

What divr does is produce musical ideas and then loop them and slowly alter them while carefully interacting with each other. They describe their music as based around ‘sonic interdependencies framed by the practice of mindfulness and deep listening’. Although there is some obvious repetition at work, the music slowly morphs and changes in unpredictable ways. There is some post-production at work on this album, so it may be hard to tell what is exactly being played and what might be looped, but it really doesn’t matter, even if there is some technology involved, everything sounds organically human.

The music itself has a lot of variety to it, "As of Now", sounds like a mid 90s trip-hop track, while "Upeksha" uses interlocking minimalist piano figures that recall Terry Riley. "Supreme Sweetness" gets into some dissonant and very active free jazz and "Tea High" has pounding piano chords on top of a drumnbass type busy rhythm. The last two tracks don’t quite measure up to the rest of the album as they close with a ballad of sorts and some cliché ambient bits, but the rest of the album is top notch. divr do not sound like anyone else, they represent a different approach to music making, an approach that will be lost on many listeners, but will be welcome to those who prefer deep listening and music that expands on the moment rather than anxiously always moving on.

Matti P The second album of the Finnish instrumental rock/fusion group whose name means Tatu & the Explorers. Bassist and co-composer Tatu Back has also drawn the cover art for both albums.

Again the band colours their jazzy rock with hints of various musical genres. The debut had a little more blues flavour. Here 'Löylyn henki' is spiced up with flamenco, and accordion finishes the nature-inspired national-romantic spirit on the relatively emotional, melodic piece 'Vipulampi'. All in all, electric guitar is the "lead" instrument, as Hammond and other keys are mainly filling the overall soundscape.

The shortish opening piece starts with a beautiful, mysterious slowness, two guest musicians playing snare drums gently, and just as the piece sort of comes alive, it ends all too soon. But it's seamlessly followed by the determinant, rockier piece 'Homo Ludens' where the guitar associates with David Gilmour in and out of Pink Floyd. The final minute is a synth-centred spacey outro.

The longest, 11-minute composition is my favourite. The title refers to a plant blooming in midsummer night, but it's deliberately underlining the "magic" connected to the Finnish midsummer night, as fern plants do not bloom in real life. The composition progresses without any hurry and is occasionally milking a bit too long its motifs,but with some shifts in tempo and atmosphere it manages to create a narrative feel. In the end the band members shout together "Lähdetään juhannussaunaan!" (= let's go to midsummer sauna), and the next, flamenco flavoured piece continues the sauna theme in its title.

The final track pulsates almost like an Alan Parsons Project instrumental and has great interplay with Gilmouresque guitar and synths. Also the drums are deliciously strong.

Perhaps the lesser amount of blues flavour makes me prefer this album over the debut. The production is very good, one only wishes the arrangements to contain wider variety.

snobb Israeli trumpeter Avishai Cohen's newest album to date, "Ashes To Gold", contains his five-piece suite of the same title completed with "Adagio Assai” from Maurice Ravel’s Concerto in G major, and the closer “The Seventh", written by Avishai's daughter Amalia. The music is performed by Cohen (who, unusually, plays not only trumpet but the flugelhorn and a lot of flute as well) and his quartet, containing pianist Yonathan Avishai, bassist Barak Mori, and drummer Ziv Ravitz.

The album opens with an almost ten-minute melancholic chamber piece, quite typical for Cohen's previous works. Still, the rest of the Suite is more complex, more adventurous, and less predictable. Cohen's trumpet soloing often flies over the rest of the music, recalling contemporary Polish great trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's works. Still, Cohen is always a bit more intimate, softer, and melancholic.

The "Ashes To Gold" suite was written by Cohen in Israel right after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and recorded there as well in November. Without a doubt, the album's music is heavily influenced by that event. Surprisingly, besides sadness, melancholy, and pain, there is no anger in the music.

Almost eight minutes long, "Adagio Assai", opens with solo trumpet, soon joined by the double bassist. Piano and drums enter bringing some light and hope.

The final piece, “The Seventh”, refers to the beginning of the Israeli-Hamas war date. It's a lyrical song, composed by Cohen's teenage daughter.

Released on the ECM label, possibly the most prestigious one in Europe, the album demonstrates the label's return of sorts to it's roots. Decades ago ECM started their glorious way releasing some more ambitious and experimenting artists of the time. With time, they became high-quality comfortable and extremely safe music producers, possibly the times were too safe as well and required this sort of sound.

Suddenly, the whole world jumped into a period of unexpected turbulence, values crisis, bloody wars, and a future that no one can expect or imagine. As always, the musicians react among the very first. Avishai Cohen's "Ashes To Gold" came in time, and is one great evidence of the moment.

FunkFreak75 Substitute George Duke for the legend, the master, Herbie Hancock, and young funkmaster Alphonso Johnson for Buster Williams, and Eddie Henderson has pretty much retained the entire Mwandishi lineup for this album. And like most of Jazz-Rock Fusion, the tides have continued to flow, now into the realm of all things funky while retaining the flexibility and virtuosity that is still very much expected if not required of jazz musicians.

1. "Explodition" (6:34) and go! We're off to the races: with one funky, fully-loaded, Young newcomer Alphonso Johnson sure does make an impression right from the start as he essentially-leads this song, setting it's tone, pace, and sound, from the opening note to its close. (9.25/10)

2. "The Kumquat Kids" (4:30) more stanky funk with clavinet and horns filling some of the space on the sides. There must be something in the new Kool-Aid cuz I've never heard normally-straight-and-narrow Eddie Henderson play with such abandon! It's as if he's taken a page from Miles but taken it two steps further. And I'm not even talking about the inundation of multiple special effects poured over multiple instruments in the soundscape. Wow! And I mean, Wow! (9.3333/10)

3. "Sunburst" (5:46) what an opening: drums and high-octave keys support a two-bass funk attack (or perhaps one bass and one bass synthesizer but methinks it really all Alphonso). 90 seconds of this before swayrling synths and cymbal crashings provide a little spacey hesitation and reset. The next passage, built over that opening motif, whirls and spirals around Harvey Mason's drums and Alphonso's bass(es) while Eddie lets loose with some ear-piercing trumpet blasts and riffs before being sucked into the quagmire of the tar pit that is the funky cosmic mess beneath him. Julian Priester's long trombone notes in the spacious whirlpool of the final 90 seconds are quite welcome: something to anchor one's sanity to. It's just that there's so much going on: the precedent set by those expanded lineups established by Miles' Bitches Brew and then perpetuated by Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi lineup lead to so many more layers to each and every song--which is great for re-listens and the creation of thick, lush, full soundscapes like this. (9.5/10)

4. "Involuntary Bliss" (6:49) Alphonso's bass is once again given the job (and honor) of opening up another song-- establishing both pace, mood, and melody. This is simpler, slower, leaving lots of room for George Duke's keys to shine, Harvey Mason's drums to play, and a whole bunch of horn players to let their talents be "seen" and heard. While Eddie takes the first solo, playing some dreamy, long-held and reverberated notes, there are spaces for other musicians to shine: the horns as a section, George Duke on an extended MiniMoog solo, and a little Alphonso Johnson. (13.375/15)

5. "Hop Scotch" (3:52) it's as if the band had the idea of throwing themselves into the making of a big vat of NewOrleans gumbo with this one as there is a lot of funk and N.O. jazz being thrown at us--as if from multiple streams of "flavor" providers--often at the same time! Yeah, give me some of that gumbo! (9/10)

6. "Galaxy" (6:35) long-held spacey synth chords with long trumpet notes opens this for about 75 seconds before bass, drums, keys and the rest of the gang stumble in. The horn sounds being generated by Julian and Bennie are so unusual--though more like swamp insect sounds instead of radiotelescope signals. I love the presence of the marimba in this mix! Bennie Maupin is given the majority of the lead time for his saxello in the middle three minutes well the rest of the crew certainly entertain from beneath. What surprises me even more about this song is how funky it is while Alphonso does not play a funky bass! Instead he's playing an underwater bass that is far less domineering than his usual front-running funkbass. I like this song but it's not developed enough to receive high marks: it's more of a vamp showpiece for everyone to show their weirdest sounds. (8.875/10)

7. "We End in a Dream" (3:10) A long introduction that really shows little or goes nowhere takes a turn at the end of the second minute, establishing a mellow little weave through Alphonso (and Buster?), George, and Billy Hart on drums. And then it just dies. My guess is that Eddie and producer Skip Drinkwater didn't like enough of the new material Eddie's band had conjured up during the allotted paid for studio time so they resurrected something trite but satisfactory from the vaults of previous recording sessions (thus accounting for the presence of both Buster Williams and Billy Hart on this tune only). Not really a complete song, more like a two part idea being explored but never getting past its infancy. (4.375/5)

Total Time 37:16

I have the feeling that the practice and recording sessions for this album were quite limited--especially with respect to new hot-shot "star" Alphonso Johnson's availability--as there are four great funky Jazz-Rock Fusion songs (two of which are credited to Alphonso compositionally) followed by three loose, fun, highly-experimental "knock-around" songs, any one of which might not have made the final public release had there been more songs available "in the can." I can imagine that touring (and recording) with Weather Report would have been pretty demanding

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of funked up jazz but also like Alphonso Johnson's breakout album--despite the fact that he'd already participated in the recording of Weather Report's Mysterious Traveller as well as the world tour that followed, as well as the recording sessions of their followup album, Tale Spinnin', which was recorded and released at nearly the same time as Sunburst. Those first five songs are so creative, so alive and entertaining, that I cannot recommend this album more highly.

FunkFreak75 Co-opting the "Oakland sound" of Paul Jackson-Mike Clark--the rhythm section that Herbie Hancock had been using on his post Head Hunters Headhunters albums (Thrust and Man-Child)--is an indisputably brilliant idea. Add Patrice Rushen, Julian Priester, and Mtume and you have the formula for instant magic.

1. "Inside You" (4:49) reminds me quite a little of FREDDIE HUBBARD's wonderful version of The Stylistics' "People Make the World Go Round" from Polar AC, his final album for Creed Taylor's CTI production team. Like Hubbard's song, this is soothingly hypnotic with some nice ARP synth strings work from Patrice Rushen throughout. (8.875/10)

2. "Acuphuncture" (3:42) there is no mistaking the Smooth Jazz influence of GEORGE BENSON's recent MONSTER hit, Breezin' on this one. Nicely melodic and funky in an early Smooth Jazz kind of way. (8.875/10)

3. "Time & Space" (5:16) a beautiful and contemplative opening to this one opens the door for some great play from Eddie and Patrice. I feel a bit sad for the constrictive restraints spirited bass player Paul Jackson finds himself under. Great soprano sax work from Hadley Caliman. Still, this is an eminently enjoyable Smooth Jazz tune. A top three song for me. Patrice Rushen's multiple instrument contributions should not go without appropriate praise. (9.3333/10)

4. "Nostalgia" (4:10) Yes, sometimes you just can't help but go back to reminisce--which, of course, conjures up inspiration for new songs from the spirit of 1917-73 and the Mwandishi-Crossroads-Sextant-Realization sessions with Herbie and the gang. I love this though it's not very dynamic or fresh. (8.875/10)

5. "Kudu" (6:07) a slow sustained intro leading into a very funky motif started by Paul Jackson's bass at the one-minute mark reveals a song that is very fitting to the Miles Davis school of jazz-rock fusion. Nice clavinet and trumpet accents and flourishes during the next 90 seconds before there is a James Brown-like R&B bridge that shifts the band into support for an even-wilder Miles-like performace from Eddie. Patrice Rushen's electric piano work beneath is so lively that it threatens to distract from Eddie's superlative outbursts. Then Paul Jackson seems to take over at the end of the fifth minute with Patrice amplifying her rhythm guitar-like clavinet play to take us out. Despite the similarities in sound and style to those of 1970s Miles Davis, this is a great Jazz-Funk tune! (9.75/10)

6. "Dr. Mganga" (7:29) the Swahili name that Eddie self-adopted while living in the Mwandishi world, the band pull together a very full, very active, very funky motif that feels as if it's incorporating a variation on Eumir Deodato's "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" My other top three song. (14/15)

7. "Dark Shadow" (6:54) opens with Hadley Caliman playing bass clarinet sounding like a cross between Herbie's "Hidden Shadows" and Weather Report's "Birdland." Eddie throws in a "Nature Boy"-like melody with his muted trumpet to add to the mut-like mélange feeling of this tune. Julian Priester's contributions on trombone in the second and third minutes is awesome. (I've always loved trumpet and trombone way more than that of any saxophone or clarinet.) Patrice Rushen is also doing some very clever and interesting things beneath the horn soloists. The main bass-and-bass clarinet "Birdland" melody playing beneath it all, however, begins to feel a bit worn out: by the time we're approaching the end (which is, thankfully, quite dynamic) I've about had enough of it. Even Patrice and drummer Billy Hart seem to go to sleep around this point--and then, in the middle of the sixth minute, they do! They crash! Everything falls apart: rubbernecks before popping back to action. Unfortunately, they choose to just pick up the same parts they were all playing--the very ones that brought on the group narcoleptic fit! Not my favorite--and a sad way to close an album (cuz it leaves me with a sour feeling of disappointment). (13/15)

Total Time 38:27

Despite Eddie's tendency to "borrow" themes from other songs/artists in order to start/build his own songs, I cannot ignore the contributions to the progression of Jazz-Rock Fusion that Eddie Henderson and his collaborators have made.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion that falls into the category of early Smooth Jazz.

FunkFreak75 Two guitar virtuosos blending their sensitive-yet-fluid styles for an album of duets. It's hard to imagine anything better.

1. "Fable" (8:41) like a stripped down "Blue in Green." Absolutely beautiful in every aspect imaginable. (19.5/20)

2. "Avenue" (5:19) veering into the Spanish/Flamenco traditions. (And these guys aren't even Spanish! That's what I'm talking about when I use the word "virtuoso": an artist's ability to easily morph into a variety of styles while convincing the listener that that style is the one and only/best style that he/she plays.) (9.5/10)

3. "Sargasso Sea" (4:01) opening with discordant chords doesn't faze me: the sounds are too good. (It's kind of hard to make a 12-string sound discordant--unless it's out of tune.) Ralph's piano tinkers away beneath both 12-string and volume-pedal-controlled electric guitar. The construct is what I imagine a song made in which the musicians only play half of what is on the song charts: skipping half of everything in each measure. The sounds being produced the electric guitar in the second half, coupled with the discordant chords being played on the 13-string, are a bit weird and, to me, nonsensical. (8.75/10)

4. "Over and Gone" (2:51) four tracks, four guitars, starting with a classical guitar soloing over the gentle support of a second strummed classical guitar, but then the duo are joined by two steel-stringed acoustic guitars playing with and within the melody lines that make up the weave of this brief but beautiful song. (9/10)

5. "Elbow Room" (5:11) strummed steel-string acoustic guitar supports a soloing twangy, echo-effected electric guitar. Not my favorite though I love listening to creative, reactive rhythm guitar play like this. (8.66667/10)

6. "Staircase" (6:25) the same instrumental sound palette as the previous song with much gentler playing styles to both the acoustic guitar support and the twangy-electric guitar soloing. The song definitely gets better in the second half when only acoustic guitars are being played (again deploying more of a Spanish chord and melody structure and style as in "Avenue"). (8.875/10)

7. "Romantic Descension" (3:17) as suggested by the title, this is a duet of stunning beauty, supple interaction; two musicians expressing while on the absolute same wavelength. Even prettier than anything on John McLaughlin's tribute to Bill Evans, Time Remembered. (10/10)

8. "Parasol" (5:24) a song that sounds like something that might come from Pat Metheny: brilliant, erudite chord phrasing from Ralph's gentle and respectful acoustic guitar while John solos up top with his slightly twangy electric guitar. Piano joins in around the half-way point while the support guitar continues, eventually moving to the front for some Chick Corea-like soloing while the two guitars support with uncommon elegance. I'm not as much a fan of the melodies in this one, but the structure and respectful interplay is gorgeous. (9.333/10)

Total Time 41:09

What I appreciate the most about this album is the way the artists seem to prize beauty over flash and flair: the egos never became more important than the emotional inputs and elegant results of every song. I feel as if this is such a rare achievement in the world of music. Perhaps this is one of the gifts that Manfred Eicher and his ECM label were able to bestow upon the world: a label that seemed to value the way their published product soared and resonated above money, time, and egos; where timeless beauty was prized over commerce and fame. The only negative of taking the time to get to know this album (and write its review) is the fact that I'm looking for Jazz-Rock Fusion, not so much straight folk-jazz like this.

A/five stars; an album displaying the stunning connection between two guitar masters. It DEFINITELY doesn't get any better than this!

FunkFreak75 An album sans drums or percussion! And essentially an all-acoustic guitar song--this Larry performing 85% of the tracks.

1. "Larry Boogie" (3:32) bass and two acoustic guitars weaving around one another. I'm sure they're having fun but this Americana folk stuff is not my kind of preference. (8.6667/10)

2. "Stravinsky" (3:15) nice classical-sounding guitar phrasings on steel-stringed acoustic guitars. Interesting but a little too loose and bluesy for me. (8.75/10)

3. "Toy Soldiers" (7:40) two gentle acoustic guitars (one belonging to Danny Toan) to sounding like they're playing something for the Windham Hill label--or one of Pat Metheny or John McLaughlin's solo acoustic pieces (New Chautauqua or As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls and My Goals Beyond or Shakti, respectively) (or future Steve Tibbetts or Michael Hedges). A very nice piece that keeps me engaged and interested from start to finish. (13.875/15)

4. "Short Time Around" (4:03) a nice gentle pop-folk song with Larry singing his wife's lyrics. I've always liked Larry's voice: He sounds like an unrefined Stephen Bishop or like Randy Newman or Elvis Costello. The doubled-up ERIC CLAPTON-like electric guitar stuff in the "C" section and through to the finish are actually kind of cool. (8.875/10)

5. "Improvisation on Bach Lute Prelude" (2:00) a very nice, pleasing rendering. (4.5/5)

6. "Song for My Friend's Children" (2:46) sounds like a Stephen Stills jam Graham Nash and David Crosby or maybe something early America would have done. (4.375/5)

7. "Bicenntenial Headfest" (3:19) strummed acoustic guitar chords supporting a second track of lead steel-stringed acoustic guitar. This one sounds more GRATEFUL DEAD or RICHIE HAVENS with anybody (though there are little elements of John McLaughlin in there as well). (8.75/10)

8. "The Fifties" (3:26) awesome spacious guitar guitar chords with strong bass notes involved turn into a blues tune at the one-minute mark. The blues motif is disposable, the chord progression motif is priceless. (8.875/10)

9. "Domesticity" (2:12) sounds like DJANGO! With Larry using two guitars to play what Django would play with one (except for those runs). (4.33333/5)

10. "The Lion & The Ram" (4:25) guitars, synths, bass, and Larry singing again: this time sounding more like GIL SCOTT-HERON. Fiddle courtesy of Michal Urbaniak! Then at 1:05 it turns more like Little Feat/Lowell George. The added electrified instruments and fiddle/electric violin are nice but they really add little to what the song would have been with just Larry doing all the tracks himself with his guitars. (8.75/10)

Total Time 36:38

I like the acoustic guitar--and I love Larry Coryell's acoustic guitar playing--both rhythm and lead--I just don't really enjoy the blues or country/folk base of many of the motifs.

B/four stars; an excellent display of Larry Coryell's range and talents, especially if you enjoy slick acoustic guitar work peppered with a couple vocals and some blues.

FunkFreak75 Herbie is back with two of his cohorts from Miles Davis' "Second Great Quintet": drummer extraordinaire Tony Williams and bass legend Ron Carter--plus long-time collaborator and Miles replacement, Freddie Hubbard.

A1. "One Finger Snap" (7:21) Freddie Hubbard can sure get inspired by a spirited swing! He's on fire--prompted, to be sure, by the play of Tony Williams and Ron Carter. Only Herbie feels a little out of place (which may have something to do with his one minute of silence beneath Freddie's solo). But then he shows that he's certainly improved and matured with his own great high-speed solo in the fourth and fifth minutes. He definitely has a gift for cleverly and subtly varying the melody with each pass through the phrases. Tony's amazingly entertaining solo in the seventh minute is so cleanly recorded, top to bottom, that it feels as if the sound of a full drum has never been captured so well. So cool! (14/15)

A2. "Oliloqui Valley" (8:30) here's an interesting song whose opening sounds so much like the clip from THE DRIFT's 2008 song "Uncanny Valley" that is used as the main theme song for The Moth Radio Hour podcast! Herbie is the front man from the very start and, I must say that his gift for pleasing melodies (despite his penchant [and talent] for varying them with each and every recapitulation) is quite remarkable. At the end of the fourth minute Herbie finally relinquishes the spotlight in lieu of Freddie's cornet. Freddie's great--quite dynamic and exciting--but he still can't prevent me from gravitating to the extraordinary play of both Herbie and Tony. At 5:40 all but Tony's cymbal play and the odd piano chord step aside to allow Ron Carter to be heard in solo. Ron chooses to take the melody and rhythm off into an mind-bending psychedelia of pitch distortion and pace warp. Never expected that! When Herbie and the others return and push Freddie back to the front the song is about over and I'm sad! That was one of the fastest 8:30's I've ever experienced! (18.75/20)

B1. "Cantaloupe Island" (5:33) We are here once again (like "Watermelon Man") exposed to Herbie's genius for pop-friendly melodies and earworm "hooks." It sounds to me like a bit of a combination of variations on the main melodies of the famous samba-inspired songs, "Mas que nada" by Jorge Ben (released in 1963; later, in 1966, made famous by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66) and Billy and Gene Page's "The 'In' Crowd" (which was, coincidentally being recorded for the very first time by and for Doby Gray just before Empyrean Isles was released). Nice cornet soloing over the two-part Brasilian-influenced song. (9/10)

B2. "The Egg" (14:01) built over one of the strangest rhythm motifs I've come across: there is a third-world (African) tribal ecstatic dance feel to this--a tense environment that Herbie's piano play is only encouraged and --until 5:15 when things "break" for another creative Ron Carter solo--this time with his bow on his double bass--while Tony (or someone) adds percussive accents and support to the odd "Aquatic Astronaut" sounds Ron is playing. Around the seven minute mark Herbie re-enters and steps up front to play some very angular, mathematical 20th Century "classical" piano stylings before turning it into jazz in the ninth minute as Ron and brush-handed Tony return to jazz-like support. The tneth minute sees a run in which Herbie parades a cascade of more unconventional "classical"-sounding chord progressions before heading off into a mouse/bug-like scurrying mode of play runs on the right handed keys. In the 12th minute Ron and Herbie (mostly) cut out to allow Tony to channel some of his own "weird hee-bee-gee-bee" ideas/inspirations. By the arrival of the 13-minute mark, Freddie is returning and the band is recongealing into a variation of the opening motif for the song's close. Interesting! Fun for a live performance or an internal band exercise, but not so much for the gentle listener. Of the musicians' performances I can say that only Herbie's really wowed me; the rest of the improvised expositions felt a little forced, faked, or soulless. (25.75/30)

Total time: 35:25

Though the growth of all four musicians is on keen display, I find myself a bit let down and turned off by the final piece, "The Egg."

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of melodic and yet sophisticated and often experimental jazz. Highly recommended for its first three songs.