Customer Reviews

Yellow Fields

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Four long, atmospheric jazz pieces. Weber plays a fretless electric bass with that interesting "owOWWoo" timbre, typically with electric piano, soprano sax (another interesting timbre, like the oboe) and drum kit. Composed stuff with sections, counterpoint, transitions...like a lot of good ECM jazz.

"Sand Glass" has a bass ostenato played with the lowest string and what must be very high on the top string, washed over and counterpointed against by the electric piano, moaned at with a low sliding synth, and then sung over by the sax...and at one point some crumhorn-like instrument--maybe a mute on the sax?

"Left Turn" has a drifty acoustic piano solo that leads into a section in groups of five measures of 9/8. The beat is driving, almost frantic and yet soprano sax chords arch over the long measures making it almost stately.

Sonically, rhythmically, melodically engaging and hypnotizing. Unhurried trips to large beautiful out-of-the-way places where interesting things are happening.

This was the first Weber recording I heard, owning it originally on vinyl, and it changed the way I listened to, and heard music for decades to come. Mariano's woodwind playing is some of the most melodic and haunting I have heard after all these decades. Weber to me has always defined the best of the Northern European ECM jazz; ethereal without the New Age saccharine. It takes place in a deep time and space. I don't think I have ever listened to this album during the daylight.
Long unavailable, congrats to ECM and Amazon for offering this in downloadable format.

Yellow Fields is Eberhard Weber's best, by far. Unfortunately it is the least available of Weber's efforts; a striking commentary on the state of the music business today. It was recorded in 1975 and features Charlie Mariano on soprano sax and something called the shenai nagaswaram; Rainer Bruninghaus on keyboards; Jon Christensen on drums; and of course Weber on bass.

Ted L. Nancy states in his most accurate review: Charlie Mariano plays "something called the shenai nagaswaram". The nagaswaram and shenai are similar classical reed instruments used in the temples of south India. The nagaswaram is typically called nadaswaram in India. They are both woodwind instruments; the nadaswaram being a double reed instrument while the shenai has four reeds. The shenai was first brought to jazz by Yusef Lateef in the late 1940's. Charlie Mariano is considered one of the most adept jazz players of these two instruments having studied with master players while in India. It is very obvious when Charlie switches from soprano to shenai and/or nadaswaram which makes this album even more amazing. Yellow Fields has never left my rotation since I purchased the LP in 1975. If you like Yellow Fields I suggest Silent Feet and Little Movements as well.

Feeling stressed? Work, family, relationship problems? Barricade the door, kick the shoes off, and slip into Weber's 'Sand Glass'. An insistent and hypnotic plucked bass/keyboard pulse provides a dreamy backwash against which Charlie Mariano's reeds arc, Christenson's percussion shimmers, and Rainer Bruninghaus keyboard runs arrive and depart like small wavelets on the beach. However,this is not a static piece, as Mariano gradually builds to his entry with the nagaswaram, which picks up on the increasing pace of the piece, with a warm-throated rattle, and leads you insistently to a higher level, before everything gradually begins to settle back down again into the refrain with which the piece began. If you're not re-energised enough with this, take the time out to enjoy the top quality musicianship of the other three tracks, less hypnotic, with greater bounce and lift, but equally fine, then get back out there and sort this increasingly disordered world!

This album, a yet to be released cd, is Eberhard Weber's most vibrant, alive and evocative of the European jazz scene's 1970's innovative sounds. All of the tracks make a complete LP; every track ties in a vibrant, high energy, evocative and brilliant composition and an unusually insightful view by this overlooked artist.I've been looking for this release on a CD for 20 years. Wade Gardner,Roseville CA