The Sweetness of the Water

Spring Heel Jack

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 2004)
• Original Release Date: June 8, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thirsty Ear
• ASIN: B0001WENIM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #283,249 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Sweetness of the Water is electro-acoustic jazz at its finest --All Music Guide

Product Description

The Sweetness of the Water is Spring Heel Jack's fourth contribution to Thirsty Ear's Blue Series. It is their most unabashedly beautiful album yet, showcasing the elegant phrasing of Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and Evan Parker on Saxophone, accompanied by John Edwards' meaty and textural bass playing and the sensitive drumming of Mark Sanders. The album clearly reveals the evolution that resulted from Spring Heel Jack's 2003 UK tour, which allowed them to realize their electroacoustic free jazz vision in a more spontaneous setting. Not only does The Sweetness of the Water sound more live and intimate, it also displays a fully developed compositional sensibility, with a muted, meditative atmosphere that results from the masterful Spring Heel Jack production touch. John Coxon's guitar figures heavily, providing a rough juxtaposition to the delicate playing of Smith and Parker. Slow, delicate chord progressions provide the backbone for focused, introspective improvisation. The Sweetness of the Water is another confident step forward for one of the most thought provoking and innovative groups working in music.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drum N' Bass no more ..., June 13, 2004

By	Troy Collins (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John Coxon and Ashley Wales gradual nine year transformation from electronic duo to electro-acoustic improvisational unit finds it's apotheosis in this album. Featuring legendary guest trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and saxophonist Evan Parker, Spring Heel Jack have created a sound environment both subtly dissonant yet achingly beautiful.

While the guest improvisors are old school free jazzers, the leaders of this session come from a background more firmly rooted in contemporary pop music. The resulting combination yields an album rich in horn-based interplay, with a melodic and structural foundation that is as richly textural as it is nostalgically bittersweet. There is a sense of buried musical traditions in the organ chords, samples and feedback that add a level of emotional depth rarely heard in modern improvisational meetings like this. A summit meeting for the times, perhaps their most mature and impressive album to date.

4.0 out of 5 stars "Sweetness" is sweet!, November 2, 2005

By	Marvin Ray "Marvin" (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This is a great album (if you like this sort of thing); it is "In a Silent Way" meets "Yellow Shark"; track 3, "Lata", is about one-half of one degree from being noise, and yet it sings so fine . . .