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Larry Carlton / Tak Matsumoto: Take Your Pick
It's a shame that artists' careers are reduced to oversimplifications of who they are and what they're capable of. Guitarist Larry Carlton, for example--despite releasing kick-ass blues-centric records like Sapphire Blue (Bluebird, 2004) and, more recently, the exciting yet unfailingly tasty Live in Tokyo (335 Records, 2007), not to mention delivering iconic solos on m: Steely Dan albums like The Royal Scam (MCA, 1976) and Gaucho (MCA, 1980)--is, more often than not, associated with the smooth jazz of albums like Alone/But Never Alone (MCA, 1986). Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, especially when it's real players playing music that's easy on the ears but has its own set of challenges, but it's too easy to forget that Carlton can play through changes with the best of them, as his still-stunning bop-centric solo on "Mulberry Street," from Strikes Twice (MCA, 1981), amply proved nearly thirty years ago...
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Dan Berg and The Gestalt: Manifesto
Manifesto, the debut release from Dan Berg and The Gestalt, may be one of 2010's best recordings. The composer/keyboardist--a Brooklyn native and former student of reed man m: Marty Ehrlich--has created a smart, versatile and accessible collection that bridges genres and techniques, while remaining at home in the jazz idiom. With touches of m: Tin Hat Trio, bits of rock, Latin and the occasional operatic vocal, Manifesto has a broad appeal that fits contentedly within the overall scheme of the collection. Berg's eclectic tastes would not be a surprise to those aware of his cultural studies in Havana, or his work as an activist. Those tastes, as the album title may suggest, are manifested throughout the collection...
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Soft Machine: NDR Jazz Workshop a€'Hamburg, Germany 1973
By May, 1973, Soft Machine was well on its way from being a truly remarkable outfit to being a comparatively anonymous fusion band. This CD and DVD set goes to show this, but at least the music is played with the kind of fire that wasn't apparent on their studio albums of the time.
While the rhythm section--bassist m: Roy Babbington and drummer m: John Marshall--was a lot more "correct" than its predecessors, the pair does inject a kind of redeeming energy into "Link 1 / Link 2," while m: Karl Jenkins, on baritone sax, proves that he did, indeed, have equal facility on reeds and keyboards. In such company, Soft Machine's sole surviving founding member, keyboardist Mike Ratledge, plays it a lot straighter than he did in earlier incarnations of the band...
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