Customer Reviews

In Montreal

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

 

 

This CD was recorded live at the International Festival of Jazz in Montreal on, get this, July 6th 1989. A mere eleven years later, ECM records decided that it would release this to the public. Thanks guys, even if a little belated.
The CD features the duo of Egberto Gismonti and the sensational Charlie Haden. However, while Haden is given the top billing on the CD, perhaps because he is so well known to Jazz fans everywhere, it is really Gismonti that shines throughout. Listen to the brilliant playing on "Em Familia" to remove any doubts. Gismonti graces us with his presence on the 10 string classical guitar as well as the piano, playing both with seemingly ease. A good example of his piano prowness can be found on "Loro" and "Frevo". There is no doubt that after listening to this, you will seek out other Gismonti CD's. I already have my eye on "Solo". Haden, not to be overlooked, is consistent throughout and offers a nice balance to Gismonti.
In any event, the listener is treated to 78:55 minutes of a remarklably fresh sounding blend of classical and jazz music.
My only knock on the CD has to do with the sound quality and not the concert or the performers themselves. You will find that you have to crank the volume somewhat to fully hear and enjoy the experience. If you are playing this on a multi-disc you will need to have the remote ready and turn down the volume just prior to the next CD. As such, I deducted one star from this otherwise flawless performance.

. . . but I agree with others that this is really Egberto Gismonti's record. And what a record it is!

It's not that Gismonti's been underrecorded, but his last four or five records for ECM (Infancia, Meeting Poing, Zig Zag, etc.) strike me as being more than a little eccentric, and not in a good direction. Whatever happened to the magical music found on Magico, Folk Songs, Sanfona, Danca Das Cabecas, Sol Do Meio Dia, and Duas Vozes? Well, it's back, and in spades on this remarkable disc.

One of the reasons I love this record so much is because almost half the songs ("Maracatu," "Em Familia," "Loro," and "Frevo") come from Sanfona, Gismonti's most accomplished recording, and one of the all-time greatest records in the history of jazz. They're given fresh readings here, and a couple of them approach or even surpass the originals ("Maracatu" and "Em Familia").

By the way, the sound on this disc is some of the purist I've ever heard of a live recording. Not to be missed.

...that is actually not so simple. The fact that there are only two musicians playing here, and that this is a live recording, with no overdubs, belies the complexity of the compositions. There's a lot going on here - Haden's reputation has been well-established, as has that of Gismonti, and they each live up to every bit of it in this performance. Gismonti's guitar work alone makes this disc worth the price - joined with Haden's stellar bass playing, the level of compositional achievement by both (Gismonti wrote or co-wrote seven of the nine tracks - Haden wrote the other two), the quality (crystalline, as always, from ECM) AND quantity (79 minutes) of the recording, it adds up to a disc that's hard to pass up.

I agree slightly with one or two of the reviewers below - those who prefer Gismonti's guitar pieces to those that feature the piano - but I would hardly dismiss the latter as `Keith Jarrett knockoff'. Simply because there are similarities to be heard - or even influences - doesn't mean that Egberto's work should be slighted as `derivative'. The echoes of his Brazilian roots can be heard throughout most of his work - he has taken that foundation and built upon it a strong, individual portfolio of his own creativity. It shines with the unique qualities of his soul, as the work of any true artist does. His guitar playing - on a specially designed 10-stringed instrument - never fails to make my jaw drop. I would swear at times that there is more than one guitarist playing - but I know from listening to Egberto's other recordings that this is not the case.

Even though Charlie Haden contributes only two compositions to this set, those two pieces are striking in their beauty and depth - his sense of melodic structure is breathtaking. His work - both writing and playing - places him in the highest ranks of performers and composers in jazz or any other genre. He has distinguished himself throughout his career as a sideman, composer and leader.

This is a wonderful opportunity to hear two masters at work - or, considering the joy that is so obvious in this recording, `at play' - in a setting that is wonderfully uncluttered and honest.

Egberto clearly has such a thorough command of the guitar that he could have made a respectable career playing classical, flamenco, Jobim standards, or spacey raga-jazz -- instead he chose to roll it all up into one genre -- his own. And we should be glad that Haden's on the planet, because he's one of the few people one can think of with the musicianship to keep up with Egberto. There's enough going on here that I have to take a break half-way through this CD -- I can't imagine how the front-row audience must have felt -- maybe like St. Paul falling of his horse. A very good pianist, too -- a bit derivative of Jarrett, perhaps, as another reviewer points out, but without the notorious noisemaking that makes Jarrett's work irritating -- at least for me. Apparently Egberto is thought of in Brazil as a combination of Clapton and Copeland -- it's tragic his work isn't better known here.

There are many venues for Charlie Haden's talents, from the large, politically charged ensemble, Liberation Music Orchestra (co-founded with Carla Bley) to the trios with Enrico Pieranunzi, Paul Motian and Gerri Allen, Egberto Gismonte and Jan Garbarek, Metheny and Billy Higgins and early Keith Jarrett trios and quartets. Along the way there have been a number of one-time smaller group projects aside from the Quartet West group. These have featured the likes of Brad Mehldau, Ornette Coleman, Lee Konitz, Michael Brecker, etc.

While many of these recordings are among the best jazz you can hear, it is in the duo format that you can best enjoy the beautiful deep, rich and intricate sound that Haden creates better than any other jazz bassist in the genre. Check out Haden and John Taylor's superb piano/bass Nightfall, or None but the Lonely Heart with Chris Anderson and, of course, there's ...Missouri Sky with Pat Metheny. Even Steal Away with Hank Jones, though it sounds a bit dated now, still demonstrates Haden's sensitivity to the duo context.

At the top of that duo list is In Montreal, reuniting Haden with Egberto Gismonte. Brazilian born Gismonte is primarily considered a guitarist and a spectacular one he is but his keyboard skills are beyond impressive. As a duo, Haden and Gismonte have created a recording with some of the best live engineering you can hear even in comparison to the typical high ECM standards.

From the opening track, Salvador through the 12+ minute closer, Don Quixote, the music is excellent, movingly beautiful without ever losing a sense of excitement. The duo's version of Gismonte's Palhaco surpasses the original. If there is one nit-pick it is that the applause goes on a bit too long and too loud. But that is a nit and all in all, if there were only one jazz recording I could keep, it wouldn't be Kind of Blue or the Köln Concert. (well...maybe I'd try to sneak the Köln Concert in too).

Being a long time Egberto Gismonti fan,"Sanfona" remaining as my to date favorite, it is such a pleasure to hear these performances with Mr. Haden. Impeccable, inspired performances that are a joy to hear. Thank you again Manfred Eicher for bringing all of ECM's beautiful music to the world.

This duo of Charlie Haden (bass) & Egberto Gismonti (piano/guitar) is great. It is a calm blend of an upright bass and piano and guitar. Charlie Haden is a simple player but very musical. Egberto Gismonti is a very talented player who has many angles to his playing

Listen to Keith Jarrett's "Sundial/Sand" album and you'll find that Gismonti's style owes a great deal -- perhaps a bit too much, actually -- to Mr. Jarrett's earlier grooves.

I loves the bass/guitar pieces on this album: They're fantastic. But when Gismonte hits the boards, I feel like I'm hearing a cross between a Jarrett knockoff and a late-80s Windam Hill album.

Definitely a mixed bag.