FunkFreak75
A second quartet pulled together by Eberhard for some November of recording dates in 1976 in Ludwigsburg, Deutschland. He include previous quartet collaborators Rainer Brüninghaus and Charlie Mariano as well as Nucleus/The Soft Machine drummer John Marshall sitting in the place occupied by Jon Christensen on the previous year's Yellow Fields. The result is magical. 1. "Seriously Deep" (17:47) besides benefitting from the amazing talents of Eberhard and John Marshall in the rhythm section, Rainer Brüninghaus' performance is one of his finest--not only in support of Charlie Mariano's beautiful and fluid saxophone soloing, but in his solo as well. (It is probably important to point out at this juncture that the man was only in his late 20s at the time of these sessions.) The melodic choices of the chord progression and soloists' themes throughout the middle section of this (Rainer and Eberhard, predominantly) are so gorgeous that I find myself fighting to hold back the flow of my tears. And it just keeps building and building as John's drumming becomes more and more animated, as Charlie rejoins and starts to soar into the stratosphere with his wonderful melodies and style. I wish this section never had to end! (I never thought I'd ever be able to like soprano saxophone ) The insistent play of John and Eberhard continue to remain at a high output level while Rainer and Charlie trade solos, finally turning into a duel--an all out war--in the 14th and 15th minutes, only starting to peter out in the sixteenth (though John shows no signs of tiring) and then settling down into a soft, gentle afterglow for the 17th and 18th, slowly taking us out to its compositional end. (33/35)
2. "Silent Feet" (12:10) the song starts out slowly, with contemplative Eberhard and Rainer each soloing off of one another. The conversation seems to become more delicate for a bit while John steps in to play his supportive cymbals after the first two minutes. Then, as Rainer seems to be carving out some momentum with his piano melodies, John begins to lay down some very jazzed up rock drumming. Rainer's piano phrasing and chord selection seem so much more dynamic and confident than he did two years before. And Charlie Mariano seems to effortlessly carve out such (to me) beautiful, upbeat and positve melodies, that I find myself brimming with emotion (and my eyes with tears) as I listen and re-listen to this song. And then there's the amazing repeat-glitch motif that starts at the eight-minute mark-- which John Marshall eventually takes advantage to add his creative cymbal play. But, disappointingly, in the 11th minute it develops into something more plodding, militaristic, and simplistic--almost pop musical like. The final minute is occupied with further development of this Mr. Rogers Neighborhood/"pop" theme by Rainer and Eberhard before drawing delicately to a close. (22.5/25)
3. "Eyes That Can See In The Dark" (12:19) there's that ocarina again! or is it an Indian flute? Both! accompanied by percussion noises coming from scratchings inside the body of a piano as well as those from odd metal percussion before real piano, real saxophone, real bass and bowed bass, and real cymbals from a drum kit set up take over the provision of slowly-developing, slow-played melody of long-held notes and delicate cymbal play in support. Finally, at 5:20, Rainer's piano and John's cymbal pattern signal a turn into some real jazz, which is joined by Eberhard's buoyant and bubbly "underwater" fretless double bass play. Rainer's play is beautiful but it is Eberhard's unusual and unique phrasings that pull on the listener's attention. Charlie finally re-enters at the eight-minute mark with a gorgeous soprano saxophone melody that is doubled up by Rainer's piano. John's drum play--especially the snare--is a bit too rock 'n' roll for me--especially as Charlie goes soaring into the stratosphere à la Jerome Richardson on Gino Vannelli's "Storm at Sunup." I love how beautifully-melodic all of the musicians stay with and in support of Charlie's wonderful play. Now this is the kind of jazz I can get into and really enjoy! At 11:15 John cuts out and Eberhard moves to bowing technique as the band return to long-held note play to the finish. There are some real exuberant and joy-filled parts of this song--especially when Charlie is flying around on his sax--and then there are the "artful" patches of theme-suiting play that was obviously created for theatric effect (the two-minute intro). Overall, I come away with a very positive feeling--having thoroughly enjoyed the six minutes of upbeat, uptempo, beautifully-melodic in the second half-- especially the Charlie Mariano-led section. My favorite piece on the album. (23/25)
Total time 42:16
It feels as if there has been significant maturation of the playing styles of Charlie, Rainer, and Eberhard in the two years since their previous quartet album, Yellow Fields, sessions. As much as I love the drumming of John Marshal with Nucleus and The Soft Machine, and as awesome as he is on the opening song, "Seriously Deep," I think Jon Christensen was a better fit for Eberhard's music. And yet, as a whole, I love the use of so many more-accessible melodies and themes on this album. I do have to add the approbatory comment that I can think of few jazz or predominantly-jazz albums that I've heard in my lifetime in which the whole-band's melodic sensibilities connects with me, personally, as well as this one. Though each long suite is jinxed by less-than-pleasing parts, the overall impression left on me after each listening of this album (or even each of its individual songs) is one of joy, excitement, and exhilaration, which says something, right? What's more, these sentiments have only increased with each and every listen to the music--with headphones and without! Could this be my favorite Eberhard Weber album of all-time? Until recently, I'd never even given much of a chance to any of Eberhard's albums because of my undying and devoted love of The Following Morning, but hearing his performances as a sideman on those
A/five stars; a masterpiece of mature and calculated Jazz-Rock Fusion that comes across as something totally fresh and unique. What a great trio are Eberhard Weber, Rainer Brüninghaus, and Charlie Mariano! True simpaticos!
