Customer Reviews

The Jewel in the Lotus

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

 

 

I have waited longer than I can remember for this ECM masterpiece from
the early 70's to be issued on cd, and now I can thank Manfred Eicher at
ECM for finally making it available. Like Julian Priester's "Love, Love",
also recently released on cd from ECM, it's a brilliant work of art for
open minds. Gorgeous, deep meditations from the reedman from Herbie
Hancock's Mwandishi and Headhunter bands along with Miles Davis' "Bitches
Brew". "Jewel in the Lotus" has been on so many request lists for cd
issue for so many years, it will make many happy this has at long last
finally happened. The sound and clarity on the new cd is breathtakingly
beautiful. Herbie Hancock, Buster Williams, and Billy Hart from the
brilliant Mwandishi band are all here, along with Charles Sullivan on
trumpet, Bill Summers on percussion, and Frederick Watts on drums and
marimba. It's an unforgettable, mind-bending collage of gorgeous sounds
and images. An ECM classic from 1974 that sounds better than ever. I will
be framing on the wall my vinyl cover of this that I still have and love
to look at. Thank you Manfred for hearing our pleas to finally get this
out on cd. Several months ago, I contacted Bennie about my admiration
for "Jewel" and why this masterpiece hasn't yet appeared on cd. He warmly
responded that he was in talks with ECM about getting it out and optimis-
tic it could happen soon with support from many fans of this recording
who have written ECM about it. And now it has happened! My cd player
has never sounded so good. A billion stars for "Jewel in the Lotus".

The early 1970s was an era of commercial and artistic exploration of spirit and consciousness, opened up by the mid 60s drug-influenced cultural revolution. Time and space became more fluid and indefinite; the meditative aspects of Asian, i.e., traditional Japanese and Hindustani, musics entered jazz, too. Miles Davis' In a Silent Way (1969) had helped lead the way, and Pharoah Sanders in 1980 would actually include koto and sitar in his Journey to the One. And, of course, there was the recent font of free jazz. The group Oregon, beginning in 1970, would mesh jazz and world music into high art. Nothing, however, could prepare the listener in 1974 for this recording from artists as Herbie Hancock, Buster Williams, and Billy Hart. Structures and silences, form and emptiness, pulses and flows: it is like sensing something in peripheral vision but when turning to focus, the impression disappears. Always interesting, often surprising, sometimes frustrating, the CD is out-there and yet in-here. In fact, it reminds me of Japanese court music, gagaku. Such experimentation would pass and the coherent features would enter the realm of classical and world music and persist in the sound of ECM jazz. In short, this recording is more for historical, intellectual, and spiritual study than for simple pleasure, which is why, I suppose, it remains timeless, pointing toward a deeper significance, as the Buddhist jewel in the lotus.

Beautiful meditative music. This expressive tone poem is a delight to hear. If you're looking for bebop or the fusion/jazz/rock, this is not your record. If you like the music that brings a sense of relaxation to your home and heart, this is it.

Jewel in the Lotus is part of a little universe of experimental recordings made by members/alumni of Herbie Hancock's early 70s sextet - the group that recorded Mwandishi, Crossings and Sextant. Despite some obvious links in terms of personnel and music, Jewel in the Lotus definitely has a different feel than those three albums. And it's hard to believe that around the same time as this album was recorded, Maupin, Hancock and percussionist Bill Summers were recording the Headhunters and Thrust albums.

This album has an introverted, meditative feel that in some sense anticipates new age music (check out the beautiful opener "Ensenada"), though stylistically it clearly lies in the experimental jazz-rock of In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Mwandishi and the early Weather Report albums. That's despite only sparing usage of electric instruments on this almost entirely acoustic album. There isn't much emphasis on individual solos, though Hancock's avant-garde piano solo on "Mappo" is among the best in his career. The two ballads that close the album - "Song for Tracie Dixon Summers" and "Past Is Past", showcase Bennie's sensitivity on soprano saxophone and bass clarinet respectively.

One of my favorite acquisitions from the past few years, and among the best I've heard from ECM.

Overall a classic, worth listening

I remember this "album" when it first came out and being a former musician myself; this was one of those "special albums" that other musicians listened to and shared with each other.

If you were lucky enough, you got to see Bennie's band live when he played in the parks around Pasadena (he lived in Altadena at the time)and this was a man who played for the love of it and not to make the big money and go commercial.

I can only agree with everything said here because this is an album that one loves and meditates that goes into your soul and never leaves.

At first; it may sound like "noise" for the casual listener, but once you got into the music, it just has so many layers of sound and depth that the album (now beautifully done on CD) could be heard on any level of intellect or emotion.

It's hard for me to believe that this is now nearly 40 years old and it stills sounds as fresh as the day it was released.

This CD is nirvana, the 10 bulls, shangri-la and LSD all rolled into one.

Recorded back in 1974 but making its first appearance on CD in 2008 is this vintage recording from ECM that features the impressive lineup of Bennie Maupin on reeds, voice, and glockenspiel; Herbie Hancock on piano and electric piano; Buster Williams on bass; Freddie Waits on drums and marimba; Billy Hart on drums; Bill Summers on drums and percussion, and Charles Sullivan on trumpet. Although the appearance of three percussionists might make it seems as though this would be some sort of Latin/funk rave-up, a glance at the title offers a more revealing clue. This is music that is inwardly directed, expressive of reflection rather than reflective of expression. Still, with three percussionists, Herbie Hancock, and a trumpet, you are reminded that jewels, even when encased in flowers, are hard and brilliant.

Buster Williams on bass really drives this music, creating not so much a foundation as a core around which the other musicians add layers of sound. The end result sounds, to use an overused term, organic. The whole truly is greater than the sum of the parts. Bennie Maupin put together a wonderful recording back in 1974, making The Jewel in the Lotus quite a welcome re-release from ECM.

The Rapture is here and those who look back will turn to stone (metaphorically speaking, of course)! This music is ravishing and revelatory. However, contrary to the suggestive title and another reviewer's comments below, I do not think it meditative in the Zen-like sense of the word. This is NOT quiet, relaxing, contemplative music. If you're looking for meditative music, look no further than Tony Scott's "Music for Zen Meditation" (Verve, 1964). Act 2, "Mappo", reminds this reviewer of jazz flautist Herbert Laws' powerful interpretation of Igor Stravinky's masterpiece "Rite of Spring" (CTI, 1971) in its intensity and fervor.

Traveling from one glorious passage to another, the listener can construct his or her own meaning and story line from hauntingly beautiful notes. My story came from the book of Genesis~ the creation, the Garden of Eden, Satan's temptation, Adam & Eve's fall from grace, Noah's call of purpose from God, the construction of Noah's ark, the "march" of the animals, the chaos of the deluge, the morning after the flood, and the dove's flight over receding water to dry land and back. Dante Alighieri's literary masterpiece also comes to mind. However you "mine" this music and whatever your story, it is bound to be rich.

"The Jewel in the Lotus" (ECM 1974) is a gem (No pun intended!) among a multitude of experimental efforts in 70s jazz. Recorded a year after Herbie Handcock's "Head Hunters" (Columbia/Legacy 1973) and retaining many of the same musicians, it sounds nothing like its predecessor save for the fact that both break the boundaries of the background lounge music that popular "jazz" had become by the late 60s. The edge and energy is paralleled in few other contemporaneous recordings. All members graciously contribute their best but it is Buster Williams' bass that drives Bennie Maupins' brilliant compositions. Act 3, "Excursion", echoes bassist Charles Mingus' "Let My Children Hear Music" (Columbia/Legacy 1971). In fact, after listening to both "The Jewel..." and "Let My Children...", listeners can find many comparisons. Though there is no historical commentary of which I'm aware that links Bennie Maupin's band with that of Charles Mingus' orchestra, these musicians could not have been ignorant of this sage's later day masterpiece (See my review).

This CD was reissued by ECM in 2007 but sounds as vital and contemporary today as it did when first recorded and should be considered a "classic" from the 70s decade. This is ART for the ears!

Truly original works of music do not fit easily into existing genres. This 1974 recording may be described as progressive or avant-garde jazz, but it really lies far beyond such boundaries. There is an organic mysteriousness pervading this suite of Buddhism-inspired sound meditations that is really unlike any music I have heard. Though there are many musicians from the 'Headhunters' ensemble, this is musically nearly unrelated to the excellent fusion created by that group. "Jewel..." features tempos that flow freely like water, melodies that fall and flutter like leaves in the wind, and an overall sense of being shaped by the forces of nature. In this sense it is a miraculous work both in terms of composition and execution by its artists. ECM and Bennie Maupin deserve the highest praise for this daring, innovative recording.