Michael Ullman
I don’t know anything quite like Mehmet Ali Sanlikol’s Turko-jazz playing. (I invented the term.) I am glad it’s here for us to enjoy.
Pianist Larry Goldings’ repertoire on this trio album is expertly chosen for its variety and melodic appeal.
Throughout these bold solo performances, pianist Chick Corea exudes confidence.
At the time of these sessions the musicians themselves were celebrating the relatively recent advent of the long-playing record.
Perhaps “Izipho Zam (My Gifts)” might have become as well known as Pharoah Sanders’s “Karma” — if Impulse! rather than the tiny cooperative label Strata-East had recorded it.
These Stata-East recordings are the result of a special moment in the history of jazz, when some musicians brilliantly took charge of their own careers. Luckily for us, the music is still strikingly fresh and contemporary.
I must confess to hearing some of the Buenos Aires recordings on bootleg LPs, though their sound quality pales in comparison to this Resonance release.
“Blue Bossa in the Bronx” brings us into a jazz club on a good night. It’s unlike any other Kenny Dorham session, which makes it valuable indeed.
There are unplanned moments in this three LP collection, times when the musicians seem to be waiting to hear what is going to happen next. Something exciting usually does come out of their interactions.
What is most striking here is Paul Bley’s patience as a pianist, his practice of playing a chord or even a couple of notes and letting them hang in the air as if he were an outside observer, listening to their gradual fading.
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