"to the max"
Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 12/30/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am sorry to hear that the previous reviewer didn't much care for this cd. I, on the other hand, think this cd is excellent. Murray's new arrangements are creative, inventive, and they swing like mad! Also, this particular line-up of the octet has quickly become one of my favorites.
I know this will strike some as blasphemous but I think the Giant Steps on this cd is better than Coltrane's original version. While Giant Steps was a peak display of Coltrane's hard-bop virtuosity I never found it to be particularly moving. I would never place it in the Top 50 as far as Coltrane's emotionally expressive compositions/solo's are concerned. It was a display piece for his outrageous level of technical virtuosity, but it was little else. I was actually a bit disappointed that Murray chose this as one of the tunes for this cd... until I heard it, that is. This version kills! It swings like a monster and the orchestration and new arrangement are fantastic! The Murray Octet works magic on this tune, plain and simple.
As with Giant Steps, I was initially a little bummed that Naima was one of the tunes Murray chose for this cd... until I heard it, that is. I just wasn't sure if it was a tune that could be successfully re-worked. Well, as successfully as I thought other Coltrane tunes could be. While the Giant Steps on this cd really utilizes the whole band, Naima focuses mainly on David Murray himself. David is just a brilliant player and he emerses himself into the soul and emotional content of this tune as deeply as anyone possibly could. This is an absolutely stand-out track on this excellent cd.
If I continue on about each track on this cd I am afraid I may start to sound repetitive. Afterall, how many times should one review use the words "creative", "inventive", "deep", "expressive", "beautiful", etc...? A couple things I will say though are that I found the Love Supreme section to work well, unlike other reviewers. Yes, the bass-line is indeed the same bass-line as the opening of the original album. I don't find this to hint at a lack of creativity though. The bass-line is the most "signature" thing about that section of the original composition and it was maintained here as a focal point. Murray's playing kills on this section, and he also composed some new melodic elements for the rest of the band to play. A Love Supreme is one of the cornerstones of modern jazz composition and I found there to be many things to love about the version on this cd.
And yes, you very well may think that the India on this cd is an improvement on the Coltrane versions. Murray's addition of both Middle Eastern and Indian musical elements are gorgeous.
If this had been my project I very well may have chosen other Coltrane compositions to re-work... maybe Lonnie's Lament, Syeeda's Song Flute, and Africa. But after hearing this cd I realize why Murray chose what he chose, because they are the perfect vehicles for Murray and his band. I second-guessed Murray before hearing this cd but after hearing it I realize he was right the whole time. This Octet is great, the whole band has what it takes."
