Search - Warne Marsh :: The Unissued 1975 Copenhagen Studio Recordings

A new disc by an underrated master

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 04/26/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"An interesting if second-tier addition to the Marsh oeuvre. This 1975 sojourn was well-documented: there's also recordings from the Cafe Montmartre & a trio studio set from the same period in existence. This recording features the English guitarist Dave Cliff, the Danish bass player Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, & the American drummer Al Levitt; the material is a mix of Tristanoite staples like "It's You or No One" & "Lennie Bird", plus a few slightly unusual choices--older tunes like "Without a Song" & "After You've Gone"; & "Be My Love", rarely played as a jazz tune.It's a good session: Marsh got more & more skilled as a player as the decades went on, & some of his playing here is amazingly quick--on already-fast numbers like "Lennie Bird", he'll insert dizzying sixteenth-note runs without warning, & his lines are almost Byzantine in their complexity & harmonic obliquity. His tone is typically grizzled & dour, except on the surprisingly affecting ballads "God Bless the Child" & "You Don't Know What Love Is"--surprising because Marsh has never been known as a highly emotional player. Those are probably the highlights of this session. -- NHOP is his usual impeccable self; I'm less enthusiastic about Cliff & Levitt. Cliff seems simply surplus to requirements (he might as well not have comped behind Marsh's solos at all); Levitt keeps rather sibilant & off-kilter time, neither quite bop drumming nor in the mode of 1960s drummers like Tony Williams & Jack DeJohnette.An interesting disc, but perhaps not revelatory. Still, given that so much of Marsh's output remains buried on obscure & out-of-print LPs, I'm glad it's out there. Newcomers to Marsh's music should probably head first to early sessions like _Intuition_, the Atlantic duet with Konitz, & the Konitz _Live at the Half Note_ set on Verve. But those enthusiastic about Marsh's music will want this."

Bizarre, Wonderful

N. Dorward | 11/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording, as obscure as it is, is a landmark jazz recording, showing the mettle of Warne Marsh like no other recording does. The tunes progress generally from excellent to astounding reaching a pinnacle with an astonishing "You Don't Know What Love Is", a tune I've generally never liked!For more opinions on Marsh see the CD "I've Got a Good One For You""