Passage (Hybr) [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Andy Narell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 23, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Heads Up
• ASIN: B0001JXQF6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,230 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Passage

2. Song for Mia

3. The Long Way Back

4. Sea of Stories

5. Mabouya

6. Dee Mwa Wee

7. Coffee Street

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUCH RESPECT!, April 24, 2004

By 

Huneebee (Bermuda) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Passage (Audio CD)

My roots go back to Trinidad -- my father is Trinidadian -- and while I have visitied the island, I never have during February -- the annual Carnival and Panorama festive season. I have always wanted to visit during that time, not just to participate in the festivities, but more importantly to be a part of the music, to hear for myself what my father has always talked about -- the bands of Panorama! To hear that many drums all playing their parts, and see the musicians rocking to the music, is an incredibly awesome experience.

Having heard Andy's latest outing, I feel that I have been to Trinidad in February!

No, this is not injecting the steel drum into the jazz genre, it is Andy in his element playing the steel pan how it was meant to be played -- melodically and beautifully in a steel orchestra. As a lover of calypso and steel pan music from childhood, thanks to my father, this album gives me nothing but joy.

If your only exposure to steel pan is through Andy or others weaving the instrument into the jazz genre, then you may not appreciate or like this album. However, if you are an islander like me or one who appreciates the cultural experience of the sound and roots of steel pan music, then close your eyes, have a listen, and this will take you home.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The world may be divided into two groups . . ., April 6, 2004

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Passage (Audio CD)

. . . those who love steel drum music, and those who don't. I belong to the former group. My favorite practitioner is Andy Narell. I believe I have every one of Narell's discs as leader except an obscure out-of-print recording originally released on the defunct Uptown label which I heard on NPR in 1979, the name of which slips my mind. I also own all of Monty Alexander's Ivory and Steel discs, as well as Oliver Lake's astounding Kinda Up and Othello Molineaux's solo disc, plus Ahmad Jamal's disc featuring the latter artist, Nature: The Essence Part 3. I remember these details so precisely because my first encounter with this magical music, wrapped, as it was, in jazz garments, completely enthralled me, and continues to do so to this day. It was also one of my main and first entry points to creative improvised music. Thus, I feel, as a listener, a tremendous debt of gratitude to Andy Narell. All told, including Sakesho (which is billed as a band, and not an Andy Narell disc), I believe I have 12 discs featuring him as leader. This also doesn't include the first two or three Caribbean Jazz Project discs, on which he was a prominent member, or either of the Dave Love Smooth Africa recordings, on which he was also prominently featured. He plays a key part as well on Steve Erquiga's brilliant outing, Erkiology, and has a strong supporting role on Joe Pass's wonderful disc, Whitestone (all of which I own).

So you can see, I am somewhat of an amateur expert on jazz-oriented steel drum-band music. How does this latest Narell outing stack up? Somewhere in the middle, I'd say. Not as mesmeric and totally engaging as my two favorites, Slow Motion and Light in Your Eyes, probably superior to Fire in the Engine Room and Behind the Bridge, about on a par with Live in South Africa. Thus, it has the energy and drive of the latter disc, but lacks the magic of Narell's best efforts.

I will give him this: he has created perhaps the most engaging large-band steel-drum music on disc to date. Let's face it: It's not that easy to write for and perform with a steel drum orchestra. There's a kind of cultural history that remains somewhat inaccessible to North American ears, what one might consider as being on a par with Trad jazz. In other words, there are shibboleths, protocols, benchmarks that must be met, if one is to be regarded as an authentic steel drum band practitioner. These do little to endear the music to North American jazz ears. That Andy Narell has cracked the code, so to speak, by remaining conversant with and faithful to these protocols while still advancing the music into new and uncharted musical territory deserves the highest praise. Unfortunately, it doesn't often make for absolutely essential jazz listening.

Nevertheless, I'm still going to give this disc a full five stars, not least because of its success vis-?-vis Narell's continuing project to express steel band music in a jazz idiom, perhaps most difficult to do in a steel-band orchestral setting. Yes, it helps to have brilliant guests Michael Brecker, Paquito D'Rivera, and Hugh Masekela on board. But I really and truly do believe the major kudos belongs to Narell, that intrepid explorer and practitioner of native Caribbean musics. You?ll certainly want to check it out if you have even the slightest affinity for this kind of music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His Best Yet, August 15, 2006

By 

NotSoft918 (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passage (Audio CD)

I have listened to samples of his other CD's after purchasing this. He has successfully mixed steel band with jazz. I never get tired of listening to this CD. I hope he would record another very soon. I love it. Don't hesistate to buy this.