Customer Reviews

Playground

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

 

 

So, what's changed since Manu Katche's Neighbourhood? Well, the tunes are generally better (some even "swing" with very good changes of tempo & dynamic), Manu's playing is less busy & more supportive, we don't have the huge expectations of great Trumpet & Saxophone artistry (because Stanko & Garbarek have been replaced by the relatively unknown & generally excellent Matthias Eick & Trygve Seim) & both the arrangements & playing "breathe" a lot more. What's the same? Well, Wasilewski's piano playing is still a highlight & the music overall is still best classed as "mellow jazz" (in fact the opener "Lo", beautiful as it is, sounds like a Neighbourhood offcut) so we can't quite say the handcuffs are completely off but this is a definite improvement. Tracks best highlighting the improvement/"change" in direction are "So Groovy", "Snapshot" & "Inside Game".

"Neighborhood" was Manu Katche's first album for ECM Records and was to some degree a little bit of a let down or at least for me it was. Don't get me wrong, there were some great songs and great musicianship on that album, but for whatever reason, I thought it wasn't as good as one would expect from those musicians. That album had some fantastic players like Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and Norwegian sax legend Jan Garbarek and of course Stanko's pianist, Marcin Wasilewski and bassist, Slawomir Kurkiewicz.

This time around Katche has a new frontline with Norwegians Trygve Siem on saxophone and Mathias Eick on trumpet and guitarist David Torn on two songs. The rhythm section is the same as "Neighborhood." The musicians on this album are all top-notch and deserve wider recognition.

I can't talk too much about the music, because words can't describe music, but I will say that this album is great from start to finish. If you like European jazz, then you will not be disappointed.

If you own "Neighborhood," then pick this one up too. You'll probably find yourself listening to it more than his first one.

This CD is a beautiful sonic landscape. It marries gorgeous tonal brass melodies over lovely rhythmic foundations. I enjoyed it better than Manu's first, and it bears no resemblance to his work with Peter Gabriel. It stands alone with melodious solos and are a treat from start to finish, which as a rarity these days.

Carry on Manu!

I eagerly awaited this CD, as I heard the quintet live in Amsterdam, a couple of months after they had been recording this in New York. I am happy to say the same atmosphere of the concert pervades this record. The brilliant rhythm section I already knew from Neighbourhood, and recent Tomasz Stanko recordings, creates an exciting and beautiful soundscape. The Norwegian horn line up was a revelation, however. Clearly from the school of Jan Garbarek, these Vikings show mastery and a fine sense of style. Although playing generally in service of the collective, it is clearly Katche who is responsible for the restraint that these players exercise. It is the enormous reserve you are hearing behind the deceptively simple lines, that makes you want to listen to this group again and again. It the same secret that Miles Davis but also somebody like James Brown used to great success. I hope these guys keep touring and recording for some more, as an advertisment for how European jazz has come into its own.
Why not 5 stars? It's a matter of taste. In addition to the composure and style, I would have liked to hear one track where they would really have gone wild, cuffs off, messing things up. Like Stanko said in an interview, next to a little bit of mess, you appreciate beauty even more fully...

As a long-term, real jazz lover, (think Roland Kirk, Miles, Charlie Haden), it is nice to know that younger musicians exist who have both the compositional as well the playing skills and abilities that for so long had been missing in jazz. After hearing his most recent CD (2010), I was forced to go buy Playground. Even with a totally different ensemble, Manu Katche's ability to consistently caress beautiful, sweet and arousing jazz out of his groups is simply beyond words. This guy has much, much to say, and I look forward to purchasing his albums for years to come. Thank you Sir.

Playground

This is a haunting piece of Euro Jazz that somehow fits the times in which we live. Manu Katche's compositions and the technical ability of the musicians playing with him use their instruments to speak of the world-weariness so many of us feel and to the quest for spiritual connection we seek with each other and with the universe in which we live. I especially liked the trumpet solos by Mathias Eick. Katche's drumming is steady, inventive, yet never overpowering.

This is the first time I hear of Manu Katche. Am I surpised? Yes; as a second release for this young drummer, he fits well among the great Jazz drummer composers, like Cobham, Williams and Roach. His music is by far different yet it is simply; beautiful.
Would I recommend this album? You bet, if you are a Hardcore Jazz listener, you will find this album extremely fresh, tight and well arranged.
Playground

Manu Katche was known to me as one of the grooviest drummers on the planet. So why would you put your name to a band that doesn't reflect your own personal style and display those fantastic groves that you are famous for? Surely I am not the only drummer who has bought this album on the strength of your reputation as an innovative drummer.

This album could have redeemed itself had the compositions been of a standard worthy of such a musician. The horn section seriously is enough to put you to sleep.

This album is beautifully recorded, it's just a pity the musical content doesn't match the standard of the recording.

Manfred Eicher...what are you doing?!

This is the first ECM record that I have bought in the last 20 years and I think it'll probably be another 20 years before I revisit your label.