Customer Reviews

Moon Germs

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

 

 

For fans of Joe Farrell's work with the first version of Chick Corea's Return to Forever band and Elvin Jones' trio work on Blue Note, this is a real treat. The album finds Farrell at the peak of his powers during his tenure with CTI records. Although CTI did a lot of big productions, this is a quartet album recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey in 1972. The rhythm section is made up of Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Stanley Clarke on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Fans of Miles Davis' early electric work ( such as "Miles in the Sky" or "Filles de Kilimanjaro") will enjoy this, as will anyone who enjoys fusion in its early experimental phase when funky backbeats were evenly mixed with Coltranesque modal patterns.

Relistening to this CD after many years nearly brought tears to my eyes. According to the liner notes that accompany this version of this album, Joe Farrell's name has disappeared more or less into obscurity. That is unfortunate, because in his heyday I would have considered him the equal of other post-Trane hard blowers whose names have outlasted his, e.g. Dave Liebman, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Fortune (has he disappeared too?). This CD burns, as it has four hot musicians in their prime. The tunes are great too. I only noticed the squeaking, commented on by another reviewer, upon relistening after all of these years, but it doesn't bother me. In any case, Herbie Hancock plays less restrained than he did in some of his other outings during this period, and provides some of my favorite solos in this idiom. What is the idiom, anyway? Not really fusion, as their is too much jazz here, although some funk as well (Stanley Clarke plays upright strictly throughout, however). Jack Dejonnette has always been among my favorite drummers, for his aggressive style, and this is no exception. The title tune is a cooking modified minor blues in a modern swing groove with burning solos. And so it goes.

I am in agreement with previous reviewers that overall, this is an excellent early fusion album. The quartet is made up of stellar performers: Farrell (almost--see below) at the top of his game on soprano and tenor saxes; Herbie Hancock alternating funkiness and spaciness on Fender Rhodes keyboard; Stanley Clarke's instantly recognizable bass playing; and Jack DeJohnette typically mixing rock, funk and jazz elements in his drumming.

That being said, there is a noticable blemish on this album: Farrell seems to have had serious trouble with his reeds on the day of the recording. His solos flow smoothly with ideas, but his lines are marred with squeaks that can become quite unnerving at times.(Why didn't he switch reeds? Did no one notice the squeaking?) The frequent reed squeaks are all the more bothersome to me considering the otherwise hip playing on this date.

Farrell's squeaks prevent me from giving the album 5 stars. If you can ignore the squeaking saxophone reeds, you're in for a treat. _Moon Germs_ makes for great comparative listening alongside Return to Forever's first 2 albums, as well as Stan Getz's classic album _Captain Marvel_.

este disco es extremamente insano, desde el comienzo con el sonido de stanley clarke, para despues dar entrada a jack dejohnette y joe farrell acoplandose sutilmente el maestro herbie hancock, para todos los amantes del jazz este disco es una verdadera joya que no debe faltar en su coleccion, ningun efecto electronico, pura velocidad acustica, los musicos aficionados al jazz quedaran enamorados al escuchar este genial disco. 10,000 stars.

this album is the greates one of the series made for CTI (see my review of "Outback"). Lots of swing and drive, and great solo performances... in fact, everyone's contribution by itself would be worth buying this album (Herbie Hancock on the Fender Rhodes... hmmmm....).

I really wanted to like this album. I own the original Return to Forever album in two formats. The playing here is very energetic. It isn't unpleasant to listen to (once). Most of the songs have a good groove. However, these songs generally lack the lyrical quality of the first RtF album. Times Lie and Bass Folk Song in particular start out with a nice lyrical theme, but when the blowing starts, it begins to sound like a show-off competition. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I like improvisation that is more closely related to the theme and a little more thoughtful, rather than an exercize in mere technique and power and speed.

This is "far out" moon music, if that's what you like. I personally find it hard to relate to. Perhaps they should have confined themselves to the standard jazz repertoire.

Oh, I should mention that the recording seems very good, and I only heard one reed squeak, which was a major complaint of another reviewer who must have his eardrums tuned to the resonant frequency of out-of-control reeds. It simply is not a problem. The drum solos and accompaniment are also nicely separated, often in the right channel, for full enjoyment.

The original session was with Keith Jarrett and Tony Williams, but they got into an argument after a couple of takes and Creed Taylor stopped the session and rescheduled it with Herbie and Jack. Turned out pretty good, eh?

Loved Joe's playing from 1965 until he died. This is his best. When he started the band it was Joe Beck, Herb Bushler and a young drummer just starting, Steve Gadd. I heard it also with Tony on drums, before Jimmy Madison became the drummer. Great gigs!

For CTI, this is pretty out. Joe Ferrel gathered one hell of a band for Moon Germs. Herbie Hancock, Jack Dejonette, and a young Stanly Clarke.

The songs start here with melodic heads, but build steam into lengthy jams. This is not the free jazz of Impulse, but Hancock pushes the tempo on electric piano and provides a thick, chromatic bottom as each track extends into open space. Clarke here is particularly daring, doing a lot of double stops and playing AROUND the time Hancock provides, not locking into it. Ferrel flies with his saprano sax.

Moon Germs reminds me of mid-1970s Soft Machine. The freedom here does not crate abrasive dissonance, but a floating, racing whirl of sound.

You're enveloped. Become so.

I've been a Farrell fan since his stellar flute solo on "Spain".

Moon Germs continues with the same energy, and what a line-up!

liner notes also list

H Laws, B James, R Carter, D Friedman, A Moreira, G Bertoncini, S Scharf, and 3 bassoonist Kane, Taylor , Kane

If you are a 70's fusion freak, you gotta have this one.

Great mix too Gelder!!!