Search - Alan Pasqua, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker :: Milagro

One of the most beautiful jazz albums ever recorded

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 07/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Is there such a thing as "Southwest Jazz"? No, there isn't, but if there was, it might sound like this. At least three of the songs, "Acoma," "Rio Grande," and "Milagro," have specific Southwest references in their titles. "Acoma," of course, refers to Acoma Pueblo, one of a few dozen Native American Pueblos still functioning. Spectacularly set on a mesa in Northern New Mexico, it is certainly worth a side trip off US 40 to visit. Of the three Southwestern pieces, this one strikes me as the most evocative: The trio of Pasqua, Holland, and DeJohnette brilliantly conjure up both the big sky feel and the underlying sadness of the Indians' plight, deftly eschewing mawkishness. "Rio Grande" features the full complement of players, the core trio plus Michael Brecker on tenor sax and a brass choir that very subtly and effectively provides telling fills. Since this isn't really "program music"--where abstract notes and beats strive to conjure up landscapes and moods, such as Sestina's famous "The Moldau"--there's no real correspondence between titles and realities. Nevertheless, the Rio Grande is a magnificent river, especially as it flows through middle and southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, which is the feel of it that I get here. Thus the music, like the river, is leisurely flowing, meditative, and somewhat sinuous. "Milagro," the title cut, likely an intentional reference to Robert Redford's sophomore directorial effort, "The Milagro Beanfield War," which takes place in New Mexico, solidifies the Southwest jazz sensibility. Delicacy has been a word used to describe Pasqua's music, but what it really is is delicacy with underlying strength. That's the definite feeling of this, for me, the strongest cut on the disc. Opening with a very attractive dancing melodic piano line, the piece morphs into a showcase for the full ensemble at their most evocative and mysterious. There's a really cool vibe here of triumph prevailing out of real struggle. Really, this is sensational music--vibrant, mythic, healing.Even the non-specifically Southwest titled songs still maintain the vibe. "A Sleeping Child," a gentle waltz, evokes the kind of rural sensibility one might encounter in Michael McGarrity's fine Southwest mystery novels featuring New Mexican native Kevin Kerney. "The Law of Diminishing Returns," certainly something the unspoiled Southwest must deal with as it faces increasing encroachment and development by Easterners, Texans, and Californians, is brilliantly realized musically with the clash of sensibilities between Brecker's assertive tenor and the trio's more traditionalist sensibilities. As one who lives in Monument, Colorado, a Colorado Front Range town, I can identify with the culture clash that development vs. preservation brings. Twilight, a magical time of day in the Southwest, is wonderfully brought to life in this eponymous cut. One thinks more naturally of Kansas as the heartland of America, but a case can be made for the Four Corners as the nation's true heartland, with its mixture of Native American, Spanish, and Anglo cultures. "Heartland" the song gently evokes Middle America (no irony intended) as a place of integrality, assurance, and hope.Again, this may be THE most beautiful jazz disc ever recorded. Holland and DeJohnette, of course, are monster players, and they give their absolute best to make this a very special and appealing jazz recording."