Search - Charlie Haden, Joe Henderson, Al Foster :: The Montreal Tapes

Acoustic Jazz live, as it's meant to be

Southern Man | Raleigh, NC | 10/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
I love Charlie Haden's Quartet West recordings and I enjoy all the work I've heard by him. He may be the most innovative contemporary bassist and is a superb band leader to boot. Joe Henderson did not always get the critical respect he deserved, as witnessed by his excellent playing on this session.



This is a fine recording that effectively underscores why acoustic jazz is usually more compelling in a live, rather than studio, setting. The playing is warm and spirited throughout and Al Foster (drums) gets to really stretch out on a couple of occasions.



Unfortunately, "In The Moment" is the type of pure improvisation that comes across better in a concert setting than out of your stereo speakers. Nevertheless, a very worthwhile concert document overall."

Solid live jazz, unfortunately beyond my grasp.

Eric C. Sedensky | Madison, AL, US | 08/19/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Charlie Haden is not an artist I'm terribly familiar with, but he shows up in the Core Collection of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition (Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings), so when I had a chance to pick up this CD for a song (sorry), I decided to go for it to experience and learn about this artist. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase, but I have to warn you, gentle readers: this is live jazz, four songs over sixty five minutes, so you have to be a true live jazz connoisseur to appreciate this recording in any measure. Unfortunately, I'm not much for recorded live jazz. That said, on this CD I really enjoy when the trio is going full steam, and we've got melody and harmony and rhythm going, and then when the players improvise with the others backing them, I like that too. But, when Charlie takes a twelve minute bass solo, I'm lost in the forest of improv and after about two minutes, I just don't care anymore. Amazingly, I even tried counting to see if he was still with the song or just looping around. That was no help. There were drum solos of similar meanderings, and sax solos with moments of clarity, but for the most part, when the individual musicians are playing on their own without accompaniment, they leave the average listener (me) confused and disoriented. As the title of this review suggests, I just do not possess the awareness and knowledge of jazz necessary to appreciate this type of recorded live music. Many years from now, when my jazz experience has doubled or tripled, I've no doubt I'll pull this out, put it on, and go, "Wow!", but today is not that day. Live jazz fans and fans of Haden and the feted Joe Henderson will likely enjoy this CD a lot, but I can't recommend it to casual jazz listeners."

Trio Live

Christopher Henrici | Washington, DC United States | 04/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Joe Henderson seemed to have a period of wide popularity during the late 80's and early 90's, greater than he enjoyed during his 60's heyday. I remember getting some of the recordings he made during this period and was'nt all that impressed, the only one I thought was ok was the one with McCoy Tyner. Then I discovered this '89 Montreal concert that had been recorded for radio broadcast but not officially released on cd until many years later. Well this is some of the better playing I've heard Joe Henderson do. The whole trio is great, Charlie Haden always remarkable on bass, and Al Foster drums- who also plays on Henderson's recording with McCoy Tyner (New York Reunion). Considering Haden's association with Ornette Coleman and Henderson's own ventures into modal playing one might think there would be more of an avant garde style to the performance, but the only out tune is "In the moment". Other than that this set reminds me more of Sonny Rollin's trio work of the late 50's and early 60's. Live recording quality is generally good- Joe wanders off mike a number of times, particularly during "Round Midnight" and there is an edit/fade out on "all the things you are" that I could have done without- why do they edit things out that would fit on the disc anyway, since it was recorded for radio the complete performance was recorded, why not release the complete performance? Anyway I digress. There are bass and/or drum solos on all tracks, which some may find tedious, but I thought the solos were all very good. I'd recommend this CD to any jazz fan who likes Henderson or Haden. I'd also suggest "Alone Together" which is a nice Bass/Sax/piano trio recording that Haden made with Lee Konitz (also recorded live)."