Search - Lacy, Waldron :: Live at Dreher Paris 1981

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 02/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is arguably as important a jazz reissue as any in recent years. If you are a fan of modern/contemporary jazz, you should consider the purchase of this CD set immediately. For one thing, it is an excellent deal.

Since there are a multitude of mistakes with the way Amazon has listed this product, the first thing to do is provide you with some accurate info. Look at the product listing first. It states that there are four CDs in this set. That is accurate. HatOLOGY originally issued this music as two 2-CD sets back in the mid-1990s and they have reissued it as a nice little box set.

The song listing above is accurate for part two of the box, the double CD set that was originally issued with the subtitle: The Peak.

The contents of the first two-CD set (Round Midnight) are as follows:

CD 1

Let's Call This

Round Midnight

No Baby

Herbe de L'Oublie

Snake Out



CD2

Round Midnight

Deep Endeavors

A Case of Plus 4's

The Seagulls of Kiestiansund

Snake Out



The four CDs were recorded on August 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th of 1981 at Dreher, Paris. For those of you that like to know what was recorded on which night, the CD cover gives you all that.

There are a total of four Thelonious tunes (all played at least twice), six Steve Lacy compositions and 5 Mal Waldron compositions. They are all duets and all songs are played at length (at least seven minutes with Hooray for Herbie clocking in at over 17 minutes).

I have to admit that I have only recently discovered the duet music of Waldron and Lacy so a little of my enthusiasm is that of the recent convert. But even so, I think that it is fair to state that the pairing of these two musical minds was one of the great blessings of jazz history. I recently praised the pairing of Evan Parker and Barry Guy. Think also of Mingus and Eric Dolphy and you have some idea of how productive these guys were together. They simply seem to think and feel as one. Since Waldron is probably the lesser known of the two, I have been sitting here as I write listening to Waldron's solo on one of the versions of No Baby trying to think of how to describe his playing. It is a very personal style that seems to take melodic and harmonic ideas and constantly repeat them with variations with the result that they seem to fold in on themselves. At the same time, the music is very expansive as if he is showing you all of the various ways he can go with a phrase. The result is a kind of balance and logic that seems both surprising and inevitable. I give up. You are just going to have to listen to it yourself and then write me a comment explaining it all to me.

Seriously, find a way to listen to these CDs. I don't care if your taste in jazz runs to Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt or to Anthony Braxton and

Wolf Eyes. You will find some great music in here.

As always, if you have trouble finding this box at a reasonable price, drop me an email and I will make suggestions as to where to go. But you should kind of hurry. HatOLOGY releases are always limited to a few thousands. These bad boys will go away. Get them while you can.





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A little world

Von D | Tallahassee, FL USA | 05/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So much music seems to fall into a set of conventions, received and safe generic limits that give the listener a little lollipop for recognizing what is "good", that a set like this really can get you well; its a true tonic to hear playing that seems to be, particularly on Lacy's part, both completely inevitable and an absolute surprise. While they are playing pieces that have a discernable melody and tonal center, they never sound anything but singular, and if you need display and virtuosity as a "proof" of jazz value, listen and discover why in the 19th century the word "virtuoso" was an insult. Strong, clear, witty, passionate when necessary and never afraid to be absolutely as bleak and hard as they need tp be, Waldron and Lacy really are all for music."