| Artist: | Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. United Jazz & Rock Ensemble | Feuerwerxmusik | | | | | |
| 2. Modern String Quartet | Sir Duke | | | | ||
| 3. Albert Mangelsdorf | Moon At Noon | | | | | |
| 4. Ralf Illenberger & Martin Kolbe | Sommerabend | | | | | |
| 5. Wolfgang Dauner | Zeitlaufe | | | | | |
| 6. Dauner-Mariano-Saluzzi | Trans Tanz | | | | | |
| 7. Larry Coryell | Sweet Shuffle | | | | | |
| 8. Charlie Mariano Group | Plum Island | | | | ||
| 9. Volker Kriegel | Balance | | | | ||
A Taste Of ... Vol. 3 is a modern jazz sampler album released on the Da Music label. The liner notes are a bit sketchy, but a quick perusal of the players involved would suggest that most of these acts are of European origin, with a particular focus on Germany. My own knowledge of these artists is quite limited, and I can do little to provide a historical context for this album (especially since no year of release is listed; subsequent research suggests that 1992 is the magic answer, but concrete proof of even this is lacking). My comments, then, will be generally limited to a discussion of the music.
As one might expect for an album of this sort, the quality of material shifts wildly from track to track. Five or six of the tracks here are very good, one is amusingly dire, one is forgettable, and one falls somewhere in the middle. This is probably a slightly better than average showing, as label samplers go.
The album begins with "Feuerwerxmusik", a piece of well-crafted German musical machinery by the United Jazz & Rock Ensemble (from their Round Seven album). The horn melodies are a curious combination of interesting composition techniques and regrettable pop sanitization -- somewhat of a Frank Zappa-meets-Phil Collins combination, if you can imagine this. Some elements of this track are obviously less impressive than other (some of the jazz is a bit to "'80s"), but the performances and the unconventional arrangement (a bass drum solo???) make it ultimately worthwhile. The rhythmic, trancelike drumming adds to the value of this number, and the maximalist-yet-still-"cool" horns transcend the barriers of the song on occasion. A good start, and an appropriate one.
The selection by the Modern String Quartet is taken from their Plays Duke Ellington album; if the rest of the album is as tragically middlebrow as their cover of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" (a classic song in its original form), however, one wonders why they would have undertaken the endeavour in the first place. This is essentially a "pop classical" number, containing a certain element of humour value but little else to recommend it. The best that one can say about it is that it isn't a total fiasco (this quartet can actually swing, even if they have a stunted sense of taste).
I think admit that by original take on Albert Mangelsdorff's "Moon At Noon" was not entirely favourable -- to the untrained ear, the track first sounds like little more than a chaotic jumble of notes, transfigured by a curious breathing technique. On further listening, though, the track reveals a strong degree of eclectic musicality (the man wouldn't have his reputation if he couldn't play, after all) -- and it turns out that what he's actually doing is singing while playing the trombone. I wouldn't quite rate it at the level of the sublime classics, but it's proven itself worthy to me.
"Sommerabend", by Rolf Illenberger and Martin Kolbe (from their Waves album) is an acoustic guitar duo with seems closer to the classical/folk styles than to "jazz" (until the "duet" section at the end, at least). Tasteful, and quite enjoyable. Following this, we have "Zeitlaufe", a keyboard showcase by Wolfgang Dauner (from his Zeitlaufe album) which shows him to be a gifted and proficient jazz-prog player. Many of these obsessive keyboard lines could have fit into the "Endless Enigma" passages without too much difficulty -- the shifting foci, the melodic virtuosity ... it's all there in spades, and it makes for an excellent track. I wouldn't mind hearing more by these artists.
The second side of the album begins with "Trans Tanz", by Dauner- Mariano-Saluzzi (from the Pas De Trois album). This begins with a piano line oddly similar to Peter Hammill's "Too Many Of My Yesterdays" in terms of its basic premise, though obviously much more developed and virtuosic. Following this, the track showcases solo performances by all of the musicians involved (including trumpet and violin) -- it's rather jazz-prog as well, with a certain element of freedom granted to the players. As such, it comes off rather well (the piano solo sections are probably the best parts, though).
After this, we find Larry Coryell's "Sweet Shuffle" (from his Standing Ovation album). This guitar piece is probably best defined as an old-style-meets-new-style number, with the slightly esoteric acoustic guitar jazz finding the space to include blues references and a fair level of complexity. The melodic developments in mid-song are quite nice as well, and it's possible that a "most hammer-ons per second" record was set towards the end. This is an excellent number, with quite a bit of internal diversity.
This leads, sadly, to "Plum Island" by the Charlie Mariano Group (from the Plum Island album). This is best defined as dinner music for the elevator set, with numerous lounge-jazz cliches adding up to very little -- the "chorus", so to speak, is a bit better than the "verse" development, but not by much. This would assuredly receive an even lower rating were it not for a fairly good Hammond solo which emerges near the beginning of the track -- what it's doing here in the first place, I'm not so sure. The solo aside, this one is worth skipping.
And, finally, the album ends with "Balance" by Volker Kriegel (from his Schone Aussichten album). This piece seems almost a summarization of the good and bad points of "Feuerwerxmusik" -- Zappa-isms in the composition, an overly laid-back development leading to listener disappointment, and mid-track soloing leading to a more substantial reprise of the general theme. Hardly anything special, this track is still "good enough" on its own. And so ends the album.
I can't imagine that this release would be easy to find these days, but those who do encounter it might easily discover some decent music within the nooks and crannies it explores. It's certainly worth forty minutes of the listener's time, in any event.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 13 May 1998)