Customer Reviews

Swiss Movement: Montreux 30th Anniversary Edition

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those recordings that seemed always to be on someone's stereo when I went to college. Lots of people who ordinarily didn't listen to much jazz had it and loved its mixture of funk, soul and jazz improvisation.

Sometimes these recordings don't age well, and I picked up this CD with just a bit of wariness, thinking its hipness might have gone the way of tie-dyed shirts and bottles of Mateus. I'm happy to report that the 1969 concert still packs plenty of punch.

This 30th anniversary edition in particular is worth buying because it contains detailed notes on how pianist McCann, saxophonist Harris and trumpeter Benny Bailey came to be on the same stage that night in Montreux. Turns out it was very impromptu -- to the point that Bailey didn't even know most of the tunes and had to follow Harris's lead as he searched for the changes.

Given that, Bailey's performance is especially impressive. His solos not only are crisp, they crackle. He's particularly effective on the date's best known tune, "Compared to What," on which he delivers a very sharp plunger mute solo that adds spice to an already very hot performance.

Harris is in fine form throughout, delivering plenty of unforced soulfulness on each track, especially "You Got It in Your Soulness." His solos have a fluidity that makes the tunes sound rehearsed, although they really weren't.

The date is not long on compositional surprises (there's no way it could have been; bassist Leroy Vinegar's "The Generation Gap," was so new it didn't even have a title on that night), and that makes it a four-star release for me. McCann's piano is funky but not particularly inspired -- although his vocal on "Compared to What" is -- but overall the group displays some genuine fire that I think many listeners will find just as enjoyable as I did when I first heard it.

I was a 14 year old rock and roller when this album came out, and it changed me forever. The opening track showed me that jazz can have as much or more energy than rock, and when I first heard the dissonant harmonies of Harris' solo on "Kathleen's Theme", I started to understand the harmonic possibilities of jazz.

The newly remastered edition is a wonderful treat for those of us who have been listening to the original LP and CD versions of this for 30 years. Even if you have the original, buy this one.

It's a good thing there are still a few radio stations in the country, such as WXRT in Chicago, that dig up great nuggets like "Compared to What", the leadoff track on this great CD. I'd never heard the number before, but liked it so much when I heard it in my car I ordered the CD as soon as I got home that day. If you like cool '60s-era jazz, the kind of music your folks might have listened to if they were hip; this is your album. This impromptu collaboration of the Les McCann Trio and horn players Eddie Harris and Benny Bailey, taken from a live performance at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1969, holds up well. OK, the sardonic lyrics in "Compared to What" are dated, but the music still packs a wallop. McCann's piano playing compares favorably to Ramsey Lewis', and that's saying something. Throw in Eddie Harris' tenor sax, Benny Bailey's trumpet, Leroy Vinnegar's bass and the uptempo beat of most of the tracks, and you have a nice, tight package here that will not disappoint. This is not "new age" jazz; this is straight-ahead music that you can move to. Very highly recommended.

This is my very first Les McCann CD. I'd heard of him before but hadn't heard anything by him and didn't really bother to search anything out. Then I got "Mint Jam", the 2001 live album by Yellowjackets and the breathtaking opening song, "Les Is Mo", is a tribute to the great man. I knew then that I had to search him out but I still didn't do anything for years. Silly me.

Then, earlier this year, I heard this album in a friend's house and I immediately knew where my Les McCann collection would begin. "[O]ne of the most stimulating and serendipitous live jazz performances ever captured on record," says Mike Hennessey on the CD cover and he's not exaggerating. Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, back in June 1969, McCann is joined here by the tenor sax giant Eddie Harris. He's another one I have to start looking for. Apart from his appearance on the 1994 John Scofield album "Hand Jive", coincidentslly an album which itself opens with a nod to McCann in "I'll Take Les", I'm ashamed to say I have nothing by him either. I obviously still have a long way to go.

Produced by Nesuhi Ertegun & Joel Dorn, Benny Bailey plays trumpet, Leroy Vinnegar plays bass and Donald Dean is on the drums. The opening song, "Compared To What" is a real swinger with a vocal performance that just makes the heart smile. Good music never grows old and though this album was recorded almost 40 years ago, it still sounds fresh and is much more engaging than a lot of the stuff that is passed off as music today. You hear the applause and cheering of the audience lucky enough to have been there that day and you just can't help but smile. Each of the six songs on this album is simply brilliant.

Granted, I've come to this one very late but I intend to spread the word. If you love stomping jazz piano that you can literally dance to or even if you just love jazz, you must have this CD.

A thoroughly enjoyable CD. Great fun, but still deep. "Compared To What" is the kind of track that blows away anyone who hears it -- everyone I've played it for has immedietly bought this CD! Like the rest of the album, "Compared to What" is intensely groovin', passionate, nicely loose, positively upbeat with just the right hint of righteous '60s revolution vibe.

June 21, 1969. Summer Solstice. The longest day of the year. Many consider this to be the greatest live jazz performance ever to be captured on tape. A conglomeration of musicians was assembled for the final night of the Montreux festival. These cats said hello to each other, sat down, and proceeded to wail. The mood here is electric. This was my introduction to what Jazz can be like. Thank God Almighty for Improv Jazz!

"The president, he's got his war.....Nobody knows just a-what it's for..."
So sang funky pianist Les McCann. The time is not 2005, however. It was 1969. The scene was Montreaux and the war in question was Vietnam. The tune, "Compared To What," highlights this timeless relic of a jazz fest date put together on the spur of the moment that resulted in one of the coolest, grooviest live jazz dates ever put on record. Get this remastered update. It's superb. I used to play drums on "Compared To What" and "Cold Duck Time" in my college jazz band in the early 1970s at Colby College in frigid Waterville, Me. I hadn't heard the album for years until I recently purchased the CD. (I originally heard it on vinyl.) It brings back so many cool memories. This is one of the great ones. Saxman Eddie Harris really hit a groove.

Les McCann, Eddie Harris, Donald Dean, Benny Bailey, and Leroy Vinegar were superb at Montreaux and get an A+. "Compared to What" just tore it up and most likely set the mood and tempo for the whole festival. I would have hated to go on after these ALLSTARS performed. The music on this disc is timeless. People will be enjoying it long, long after all of them are gone.

I heard "Compared To What" a few times before buying the album, and that was the track that really turned me onto this excellent jazz album. "Compared to What" has a great beat and is just an overall amazing song. The song that follows, "Cold Duck Time" is a great jazz tune because it has a cool mellow feel to it. The rest of the album from there is excellent, I reccomend this album to everyone that likes jazz and even for some that may not, it is hard not to appreciate the great musical pieces on this album.

This is one of the best jazz performances I've ever heard. It's especially amazing given the fact that the musicians had never played together or rehearsed before performing live. This is a must have CD for jazz lovers.