Customer Reviews

Satori

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

 

 

This date is full of wonderful moments of rich interplay as well as outstanding solos. Lee Konitz never fails to amaze me - he always seems to bring out the best in the group he is playing with, both individually and collectively. Some of Konitz's collaborations with Martial Solal are really very abstract and way out there compared to this recording which contains some pretty straight ahead playing - plus that extra spice that Martial Solal's wonderful lines and harmonisations bring to the procedings. Alongside that, you also have unpredictable and exuberant tunes that could only be Solal. Then add to that the quite remarkable Dick Katz on electric piano and you have some pretty amazing moments to savour. Martial Solal does know when to lay back and often sits out to let Konitz work with bass or drums or both - great variations in textures. However, it is the interplay between Konitz and Solal which is so outstanding and Solal's wide vocabulary of amazing pianistic effects. I have over 70 Konitz albums on CD and this is one of the best despite some offensive words in one of the other reviews. Just listen to the samples to see what I mean.

this was the first konitz record i bought and i spent many a night learning about jazz with this record. i totally disagree with the other reviewer. this after all is konitz,dejohnette holland and solal i learned a lot from this record and records by the members of this band,they started a lifelong voyage with jazz for me.

I hoped this would be a challenging, exciting album, especially with the line-up (Konitz, DeJohnette, Holland, etc). As it turns out, Satori is just a boring exercise in shapelessness. The standards here are supposed to be played conceptually, but the group plays like it had no idea what it was going to do prior to beginning. Any interesting musical ideas that pop up on the album are abandoned almost immediately in favor of wanking. Particularly atrocious is Marital Solal's gross overplaying and lack of ability to listen to the other musicians. Further weakening the album is the poor sound quality, typical of 70's jazz. Holland's bass and DeJohnette's drums sound thin and empty. This one belongs in the bargain bin.