Search - Eberhard Weber :: Stages of a Long Journey (Ocrd)

Weber with Orchestra and some very Special Guests-

Brian Whistler | Forestville, CA United States | 08/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whenever a jazz artist teams up with symphony orchestra I grit my teeth and hope for the best. All too often, the results are a less than swinging compromise, as a large orchestra when attempted to harness itself to the groove of a small ensemble is a bit like trying to drive a semi tralier hitched up to a mini. There have been notable exceptions, of course. Charlie Parker with strings, Miles' recordings with Gil Evans, Bill Evans with symphony, Oregon's work with the Moscow symphony and Vince Mendoza's "Epiphany" quickly come to mind as marvelous examples of the potential sonic rewards this symbiosis presents .



Eberhard Weber is no stranger to latching the large ensemble to his work. He first did so on the the third stream classic, Colors of Chloe and later on the understated (and overlooked) masterpiece, The Following morning, in which he added cellos , oboes and french horns to his duo with pianist Rainier Brunninghaus. His deceptively simple compositions are well suited to the development and extended colors of the orchestral palette, and are here are given the full treatment in this, his latest ECM release.



In many ways, this is a restrospective and summation of his considerable composing and performing career. This is evidenced both by the special guests from various periods of his playing career and by his choice of expanding largely existing compositions. Indeed the core group consisting of Jan Garbarek, Marilyn Mazur and Rainer Brunninghaus is the longstanding lineup of the Garbarek group. Gary Burton's crystal clear vibes are added to that ensemble. Burton has recently retired from his teaching post at Berkeley in order to focus on performing. I recently had to the opportunity to hear him with Chick Corea and am happy to report that the man is on fire! He is playing like a guy in his 20's. His performances on this disc are further evidence that this man's authority and heartfelt virtuosity are unmatched when it comes to four mallet technique on the vibraphone.



Highlights include a free wheeling, swinging romp through Carla Bley's Syndrome, a deeper more probing version of Maurizius (off of Later that Evening,) a lofty re-imagining of Colors of Chloe and a pared down duo on the standard, Yesterdays. I find it amusing when critics take a patronizing tone in describing their surprise that Weber can swing with the best of them on a walking bass line or that Garbarek or Brunninghaus can blow over traditional changes. Hello! These are master musicians-they were doing that when they were kids! That they veered away from the standard repertoire to help create today's european jazz language is what makes them great.



The album is not without its awkward moments. The opening track illustrates the pitfalls of coupling the nimble quartet with the great lumbering orchestral beast. Silent Feet is one of Weber's great small ensemble pieces, but sadly, this version loses some of the freedom and openess of the original, trading fleetfooted abandon for weightier orchestration. Happily, the CD picks up from there.



One of the most successful arrangements is the expanded Last Stage of a Long Journey. This tune started off as a quartet composition on the third Colors album, Little Movements, was further expanded on Later that Evening and now has evolved into a fully orchestrated arrangement here. It is expansive and cinematic in scope. It unfolds like Weber's own artistic career, probing, growing, ever deepening and integrating the wisdom of a lifetime spent in pursuit of the muse. Let us hope that this is indeed only another 'Stage' of his artistic journey and not the Last one. I am looking forward to more new music from this important performer and composer.



I just found out that Mr Weber suffered a stroke last april. He is recovering well, but unfortunately had to cancel his participation in the Garbarek tour this fall. However, he plans to tour this project in 2008-2009 with the same players and orchestra. I wish him a speedy recovery."

Eberhard live at last

Prof M. Duby | Bathurst, South Africa | 09/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been listening to Mr Weber's music since the 1970s, when the ground-breaking "Colours of Chloe" first appeared. As a young bassist and composer, that recording (and the earthy yet ethereal sound of Weber's electrobass) literally changed the way I heard music, and I have followed his career since then with the greatest interest. "Stages of a Long Journey," his 65th birthday concert recorded in Stuttgart in 2005 and released this year, combines the forces of an improvising quartet with the wide range of colours of the orchestral palette, and represents a retrospective of Weber's career in a kind of "greatest hits" format, in the sense that there is only one new piece, the spirited "Hang Around," which mostly features the vocal gymnastics of Nino G on beatbox, apart from the brief linking material provided by Bruninghaus and Mazur respectively.



The most revelatory element of the concert for me is Weber's deft orchestrations of familiar pieces, which sometimes however lack space by comparison with their original, sparser versions and occasionally sound a little cluttered and over-busy. This is perhaps to be expected, since there is obviously a vast difference between the more traditional quartet format and the resources of a 90-piece orchestra, and it is difficult not to compare these newer versions with their familiar (definitive) versions.



These minor reservations aside, there are stunning moments on the recording and the sound quality is good, considering it is outside the bounds of the recording studio where editing and balancing after the fact are routinely available. As an introduction for the uninitiated to the oeuvre of a definitive European jazz bassist and composer, it rates very highly indeed. As a new twist on pieces that may be very familiar to those who admire his music, such listeners may experience "the shock of the new," in hearing his music fleshed out with innovative orchestrations which sometimes seem a tad overdone and sit uneasily between the Scylla and Charybdis of Western art music and European improvising. Such problems may well be endemic to ambitious fusions of this nature, but the attentive listener will be well rewarded by hearing anew Weber's compositions in their new colours. I join the other reviewers in wishing him a speedy and complete recovery from his health problems."

Eberhard's retrospective.

Wilcar | Massachusetts | 10/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eberhard's work through the last three decades are represented beautifully here. The recording is top notch as are the individual players and the Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra performances. Some of the most familiar pieces are reworked into alternate arrangements , yet the chamber music feel is maintained throughout the proceedings. An enjoyable recording worthy of the stature of both the musicians involved and the arrangements of these truly magnificent compositions."