Customer Reviews

Fluid Rustle

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of Weber's best, as fresh as anything he's ever done. Scored for Gary Burton on vibes and marimba, two singers (one is Norma Winstone) Bill Frisell at his most butterfly wing delicate, and Weber on that amazing acoustic necked electric bass, this record soars and glitters. High points are "Quiet Departures", really a suite of pieces that defines the sound of the CD. Contraputal melodies weave a pastoral gauze while Gary Burton's vibes solo is a miniature masterpiece. The title track has more overdubbed vocals, highly compressed to build a wall of harmony, voiced with Weber's instinctual ear for beautiful dissonance. Special mention should be made of Frisell's lovely guitar solo, a model of color and subtle volume pedal control. It just don't get any prettier...

Eberhard Weber,with Gary Burton and two female singers, painting gorgeous soundscapes. It's music for close listening, but at the same time music for enchantment. I listened to this album once while driving through the New Hampshire mountains...and will never forget the experience.

My tastes run widly through most genres of music though they merge quite handily in one album - Fluid Rustle. This album is a tasty stew of jazz, classical, a little fusion, some new age, some upbeat, and some experimental. If you have been disappointed with new age (too boring), found Kronos Quartet a bit too edgy, like your music to give you new ideas, and want a multi-purpose album for personal listening in all sorts of situations (driving, hiking, chilling), this is it. Don't plan on putting it on as background music during a gathering because it will become the topic of conversation.

I first heard this album 20 years ago, and the haunting lyricism of the Quiet Departures affects me as strongly today as it did back then, half a lifetime ago. The other tracks are fine, but the first alone is well worth the price of purchase.

While this is not Weber's best work (see my other Weber reviews), it is very pleasurable due to his extraordinary compositional and musical innovations, Gary Burton's contribution on marimba, Bill Frisell on guitar and Herman/ Winstone vocalizations. "Fluid Rustle" (1979) reminds me of Chick Corea's original "Return to Forever" (1972) which featured other worldly vocals by the great Flora Purim and wonderful bass work by Stanley Clarke. Both recordings are welcomed editions to my 1970s jazz collection.

Having read the above reviews, I was expecting to be knocked out by this album; instead it landed me a kid-gloves tap on the jaw. The lack of drums is not compensated for by the effete percussion work, and, oh, how the dexterity and edification of Bruninghaus's piano work are missed! The vocals,too,lend the tracks a lightweight and pop-like feel.

Prior to purchasing Fluid Rustle, I had spent three weeks being propelled through the nuanced musical wonderland that is Silent Feet, so perhaps my disappointment was inevitable. Weber is undoutedly a modern-jazz heavyweight, and much of his work is spellbinding, but this particular effort doesn't pack too great a punch.

I CAME HERE SPECIFACALLY TO RATE THIS ATMOSPHERIC RECORDING. I HAVE PLAYED IT OVER 500 TIMES.

IT IS QUITE MELLOW SO IF YOU ARE ALL HARD CORE YOU WON'T LIKE IT. GREAT TO SLEEP TO (I MEAN THAT IN

A GOOD WAY). EBERHARD WEBER'S DEEP RICH, RUBBERY BASS HAS NEVER SOUNDED SO APPEALING. COUPLED WITH

GORGEOUS BACK GROUND VOCALS OF NORMA WINSTONE (i.e. kenny wheeler). IT'S A RECORDING YOU REALLY NEED

TO LISTEN CAREFULLY TO AS THEIRS ALOT GOING ON (JUST IN A VERY SUBTLE WAY)..JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!

I first heard this album 20 years ago, and the haunting lyricism of the track "Quiet Departures" affects me as strongly today as it did back then, half a lifetime ago. The other tracks are fine, but the first alone is well worth the price of purchase... and you gotta purchase the whole album in order to get the first track anyway, since that's how the mp3s are priced here.