Just when you think you’ve heard it all, along comes a release that renews your faith in the joys of jazz. Three stars of improvisation, coming from the worlds of fusion and beyond, get together for a gypsy caravan of an album that is a tribute of sorts to Django Reinhardt as well as simply the bohemian life.
You get material that takes the roots of modern music, bebop and purees it with abandon on a free spirited “Bit of Burd,” while John Coltrane’s brooding modal classic “Blue Train” is given a beret and pencil thin mustache of strings bouncing around the campfire. Ponty milks with the widest of vibratos on “ Too Young to Go Steady,” and Clarke bounces like a minstrel on “To and Fro” and “Stretch.” The trio gooses up the classic “Nuages” to freshen up the energy a bit, and even the soul classic “Mercy, Mercy Mercy” sounds like the caravan just pulled into town. Lagrene’s picking was predestined for this type of joy, and the mixture of strings is like the coalescence of sauces in a rich stew.
This disc is as fresh as a warm 6 am baguette in your hands.
Impulse! Records
www.umusic.com