Guitarist Samo Salamon has two different quartets on this double cd set; one being an American team with Donny McCaslin/ts, John Hebert/b and Gerald Cleaver/dr, and the European band fatureing Dominique Pifarely/vio, Bruno Chevillon/b and Roberto Dani/dr. Both recordings are from concert performances,yet each band takes a different approach to pleasing the audiences.
The US band performs in essence three songs in its 60+ minute set, a medley that clocks in at over 30 minutes, and two other tunes that go over the 15 minute mark. The remarkable thing about this setup is that the solos by McCaslin and Salamon, while indeed long, never seem over indulgent and there are no real gratuitous drum or bass solos in which to get up and take a walk outside for some fresh air. “My Rain/Kei’s Blues” lumbers along quite nimbly, as Salamon’s guitar goes from lithe to caustic, and McCaslin is rich as milk chocolate throughout. The closing “Ice Storm” has a modal Coltrane-ish yearn to it, but the energy never implodes. Hot, but kept cool.
The European quartet divides their set between 8 songs that range from 6 to 13 minutes. The moods change much more quickly than their American counterparts, with some of the songs like “No Photos!” and “The Land of the Artichokes” jumping from lithe romanticism to cuboid percussion at the drop of a plectrum. Pifarely’s violin is rich and yearning, and can at one point milk a note bel canto, and the next turn the melody upside down. The drum/bass team get a chance to work out a bit together in solo/duet format a bit more here, and just when you think a piece such as “Pointe Du Raz” is going to spontaneously combust, they bring it all back home. Exciting and challenging
Sazas Records