CD ECM Records Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Larry Goldings: Saudades

2004

Trio Beyond:
Jack DeJohnette - tobe
Larry Goldings - claviaturi
John Scofield - chitara electrica

A blistering live set, recorded in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2004, with music originally presented under the rubric “Lifetime and Beyond: Celebrating Tony Williams.” Project initiator Jack DeJohnette replaced his good friend Tony Williams in the Miles Davis group in 1969, when Williams left to launch Lifetime, the explosive and short-lived group that had a powerful impact at the dawn of electric jazz. Although jazz critics comprehended Lifetime’s achievement only retrospectively, the band’s confrontational cross-referencing of jazz improvisational fluency and rock dynamics was enormously influential amongst musicians. Only Bitches Brew, which paved the way for diverse progressive jazz-funk hybrids, was as highly regarded by players at the time.

100greatestjazzalbums:

"The occasion of the "Saudades" set is a live concert on 21st November 2004 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, UK, during the London Jazz Festival. Released in a two disc package, it offers almost two hours of superlative playing. The "live" presence is important, giving freshness and spontaneity, yet the sound quality is never anything other than superb. The music making is altogether brilliant. No wonder the album was nominated in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category in the Grammy awards of February 2007. 

From the opening track, "If", it is clear that though the approach is a tribute to the Tony Williams / John McLaughlin "Lifetime", the scope of the project has gone beyond this. "If" is a Joe Henderson composition from his years with Milestone which was featured on Larry Young's classic Blue Note album 

"Unity". Here it is played more or less as a standard with no rock overtones. John Scofield is in rare form. The abiding image of Sco is of that somewhat hunched, constricted, player squeezing highly enigmatic phrases from out of some unknown but unavoidable constraint. Yet here he is open, fluid, breaking into long rippling solo lines in a way that we have almost never heard before. Larry Goldings and Jack DeJohnette fill out a memorable opener with perceptive organ and drum mini solos. "