Customer Reviews

Tales From the Hudson

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tales from the Hudson is the strongest of Breckers recent jazz releases, following a return to acoustic improvisation after ealier fusion releases with the Brecker Brothers. A modal jazz-fest, with admirable support from bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack Dejohnette and percussionist Don Alias, the album is packed with great tunes including a passionate acoustic reworking of African Skies and Metheny's Song for Bilbao, both featuring McCoy Tyner.

You could criticise it though for being a light-weight production, heavier on lyricism than rhythmic and harmonic complexity, but complaining that the music is not challenging enough misses the point. This is simply a straight foward album of great jazz, and one that i'd happily recommend to both the casual listener and the jazz aficionado.

If you never got the chance to experience '70s and '80s jazz club scene in NYC, then get this CD. You can almost taste the smoke and leather, although recorded/engin'd w/late 90s gear. Top notch horns by Michael Brecker (as always), piano by Joey Calerazzo and a cameo by Pat Metheny. Give it a listen. 15 bucks is not a bad cover charge for this, and you get to keep the CD.

This Cd is after all the years I own it, still one of my all time favorite Cds. "Tales from the Hudson" captures outstanding performances not only by Brecker himself, but also from the featured top-act musicians: Pat Metheney, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette ( smoking!), Joey Calderazzo and the great McCoy Tyner.
Great performances, compositions - hard swinging and lyrical!
Get it!

This may be Brecker's best album - making it the best of the best. It reminds of the midfifties and sixties, a very high point in jazz. when I first became a fan. At that time, at that age, one simply assumes successors to the greatest will come along; but of course with art that good and difficult, in a form not highly popular and requiring nurture, its not that easy, it doesn't just happen. On this album, such jazz comes back. Beau Rivage (track 4), with its Monk-like segments, most resembles that great jazz. To me, Brecker's playing on that track, on African Skies(# 5) and Naked Soul (#7) is at the highest possible levels of sax performance, very reminiscent of Coltrane's best work, with all the inventiveness, spirit and immeasurable skill required for such playing, and also with discipline and coherence lacking in Coltrane's final stage work.

I have played the saxophone for many years and have listened to a lot of recordings. Michael Brecker was the premier saxophone player of our time. I'd strongly recomend anything he plays on. That combined with the incredible all-star assortment of players on this album makes it a must have for anyone who listens to music.

Brecker assembles a top-notch lineup to produce one of his finest studio recordings. The opening "Slings and Arrows" is the kind of break-neck-velocity performance we expect from this renowned saxophonist. "Midnight Voyage" is cooler and bluesier, emphasizing Brecker's command of the tonal quality of his instrument. Guitar great Pat Metheny gets some deliciously jazzy solos in both numbers. "Song for Bilbao" features unison sax lines - but since Brecker's sax honks and howls with the best of them, the closing electronicized solo seems unnecessary and out of place. "Beau Rivage" is a more introspective piece, which to my taste drags on much longer than necessary. For a slight change of pace, "African Skies" features an African-inspired theme and rhythms. "Naked Soul" clocking in at 8'45", is the longest track on the disc, and feels like it, too. Slow, ponderous and melancholic, it's my least favorite track. "Willie T" isn't much shorter or much more interesting, being a little too "smooth" for my taste, but it's not unlistenable. The closing "Cabin Fever" finally picks up the pace again, covering its melodic shortcomings with frenetic rhythms and impressive soloing by all. There's nothing very innovative on this disc, but despite a couple of weaker numbers, the overall quality is pretty darn high. Four and a half stars.

WOW, what a recording. Michael Brecker (may he rest in peace!), as everyone who heard him knew, had his own style and tone, and could be recognized pretty quickly. he stood out from the beginning, along with his brother, Randy. "We're Only Human", although commercial, is a very funny funky and great song. rare, for a jazzter. This recording, as i'm sure has been pointed out is choc-full of brilliant musicians like Dave Holland and DeJohnette and Tyner. wonderful ensemble playing classy and intelligent music. This is a reminder of the great talent we will all miss, but who left us many gems, this one not excluded. Moody yet moving, flowing, just like the Hudson River on whose banks he walks on the cover of the cd, this music is diverse in its offering, from ethereal to funky, just like his life's recording - also as a guest on many, many other recordings that vary extraordinarily.

Brecker is in the top with this album . Song for Bilbao , Slings and Naked soul ate the best tarcks of this innovative album . Excellent work and best supported musicians ; Pat Metheny , Calderazzo and Dejohnette are by themselves a secure guarantee for you to buy this collector item.

Michael Brecker joins with an all star cast: Dejohnette, Holland, Metheny, Calderazzo, Tyner and Alias and together creates an album whose sum is greater than its parts, yes, this is a collectors item for up beat jazz lovers.

This certainly ranks as one of the best jazz CDs of recent times. Michael Brecker never disappoints on any recording and is in top form on this one. No other tenor man holds a candle to Brecker. He is the undisputed successor to Coltrane. The chemistry between Pat Metheny, Mccoy Tyner and Brecker is dead on. If you like this CD you should check out the collaboration on Mccoy Tyner's Infinity. Jazz lovers should not hesitate to buy Tales From the Hudson.