Customer Reviews

Colours of Chloe

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Maybe it's silly to review an album that's "no longer available," but I feel the need to vent. What kind of world is this when you can walk into a record store and buy 35 copies of the new Brittany Spears, but even Amazonfrikkin'dot com, the world's most complete record store, can't secure you a CD of what is arguably one of the best albums of all time?

If you've never heard Weber's work, I suggest you start with "Silent Feet" or maybe "Fluid Rustle," though that one is atypical stylistically. "The Colors of Chloe" hails from Weber's most fruitful period, the mid-70's, when he also recorded "Yellow Fields," "The Following Morning" (my personal favorite), and several teriffic albums with Gary Burton and Pat Metheny. His later work ("Chorus" onward) never quite put all the elements together as effectively.

This music typifies everything that was good about Manfred Eicher's ECM label. The music is complex without being technical; melancholy without being maudlin; reflective without being self-absorbed. This is the music that new age could've been, if it had been less concerned about soothing the listener and more concerned about saying something substantive. Every track on this album drips with atmosphere and intrigue. Like most truly great music, though, "The Colors of Chloe" provides the listener with cake under the icing; with some musically valid substance justifying the ear candy. If, on some glorious morn, you find that Weber's classic albums are once again in print, I suggest you sneak into your son or daughter's room, steal his or her N'sync CD's, and trade them in on a complete Eberhard Weber library. One day, the kid will thank you.

"Colours of Chloe" caused a sensation when released and was the album that launched ECM into the stratosphere among top production studios. It remains my favorite album of all time. Years ago a bass player with the Indiana University School of Music who lived in my dorm introduced me to Eberhard Weber's 1974 masterpiece "Colours of Chloe". I don't remember his name but wish to thank him in this review. At the time, I had been listening to a lot of fusion and Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Birds of Fire", which in comparison seems harsh and unrelenting. I was mesmerized by the hypnotic sound of the piano, bass and horn on this album. I continue to be hypnotized by this stunning concept album today as I listen for the eight hundredth time.

Weber is one of a handful of innovative composers for bass and the creative force behind bringing the bass "out of the closet" and up front and center, Weather Report's Jaco Pastorius aside. Weber's playing is brilliant. Bruninghaus' contribution on keyboards is glorious. The interaction between all the musicians is seamless. One movement flows effortlessly into the next. If you can only buy one jazz CD, this should be it. Extrodinary music and beyond catagory!

I remember when I first picked up the cool cover and checked out the credits on the back. As soon as I saw the 5 string upright(I am a bass player by the way) I put it in the stack I was purchasing. I put it on (we are talking vinyl)as soon as I got home and was blown away. This album and Eberhard became a huge influence in both my musical and private life. I have all his works and as many albums and cds he has played on in my collection as I can find. I had the pleasure of meeting him after a Colours gig in the earley 80,s and seeing in 1999 with Jan Garberek. When people compare his work to Jaco, I think they have totally missed the point, Eberhard is a composer first and a virtouso second. Hs compostions have a timeless quality and are original in the extreme. I hope in the grand scheme of things he will be recognised as the grand master in all things relating to making the bass a leading melodic voice.

Sometimes a set of music on an album or cd will get inside you, change you. This is one of those cases. I will always cherish the pieces on "Colours of Chloe". E.W.'s compositions are haunting; the piano work is excrutiatingly beautiful - the musicians are totally integrated.

I have been listening to this album for 20 or so years now and I still love it. It really touches your soul at times. Another favorite of mine from Eberhard Weber is "Following Morning". I sure hope it comes out on CD someday, it is also excellent! Eberhard takes you through many moods.

...years after these other reviews were written and over 35 years since it was released, this album is still as transcendent and ephemeral as the day it was released. Much anguish has been proffered over the current state of modern music, and with good reason. With so much audio dreck floating over the airwaves it becomes really difficult to find something of substance among all the aural meringue that we are exposed to. There are some programs like NPR's "Echoes" that are real life savers, but little to guide one on the classics; and this is one of them. Do yourself a favor and take a break from the current Disney cherub or whoever is the flavor of the day, and acquire this disc. One can only imagine how far back in his mind Weber went to find these colors and paint them all over our ears. Intriguing without being too inaccessible, innovative without being soaked in electronica, it was a landmark in the 70's and stands the test of time. Along with Jade Warrior's "Way of the Sun", and Jah Wobble's Snake Charmer, the Colours Of Chloe will serve as one of the gems of the era in progressive music, albeit from diverse vantage points.

Thanks to David Starns for his excellent reviews.

He, and others, may like to know that ECM claim
to keep all titles in print, in Munchen at least.

I ordered this title in the UK recently, and, of
course, amazon still list it in the US - so
hopefully it can now found there!

The album is really excellent. Although nominally
obscure, Weber's talent has been heard in the
mainstream, as he did session work with Kate Bush
in the [i think!] eighties. Check it out!

This was Weber's first ECM album. It was revolutionary because it combined classical or Third Stream elements with fusion, something that hadn't been ecplored previously. The result is a whole new tonal pallette that since then has been explored by a number of ECM artists such as Egberto Gismonti and countless others. This is the record that started it all, and for the most part it has weathered time well. Not so for the long final piece, No Motion Picture, which was always my least favorite and now sounds dated to my ears. Still, "side 1" is worth the price of admission and hopefully will lead the listener to some of Mr Webers' other neglected gems such as Fluid Rustle (one of Pat Metheny's favorite albums,) and the Following morning to name a couple. These are masterful examples of Weber's ability to straddle the classical minimalist and jazz genres with spectacular results. Get them all!!

Bonus anecdote:

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Weber when he was on tour with Jan Garbarek in 1987. Because of a mixup with transportation to the Russian River jazz festival in Guerneville CA ,my friend had the honor of picking them up at the airport and delivering them to their hotel after the gig. We hung out by the pool, and for the most part i listened in rapt attention to my heroes as they traded stories, or sat in cool eurpean silence while sipping strong coffee by the pool. As the hotel they were staying at had a reputation for car breakins, I drove my friend's van back to my little cottage in the country and parked it in my space in the garage. It was surreal. Sitting parked in my space were Jan Garbarek's sax and Eberhard weber's magical 5 string bass! I couldn't resit it. I opened the van and reverently carried the bass into my little house. Gingerly I laid it on the floor of my studio. Just one look, I thought but alas; the case was locked. Still, I can say with all certainty that Eberhard weber's bass slept in my house.