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Album Of The Week: October 5 - 11: "Witchi-Tai-To"


SEK

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Bobo Stenson - Witchi-Tai-To (click here to buy)

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My intention is to highlight the work of pianist Bobo Stenson, a jazz musician whose music has influences and inspirations from most of the planet.

My first thought was to make the Album of the Week one of his much more recent trio recordings, "War Orphans," that has frequently been in my cd player since it came out a few years ago. But I soon recalled this fine recording that the "Jan Garbarek-Bobo Stenson Quartet" made back in 1973, which, I think, still stands as a passionate milestone in both of their careers and has remained an atypical ECM staple over the intervening years.

I've been a fan of Bobo Stenson, starting back in the '70s with his mostly-Scandinavian collective, Rena Rama, and his participation in Turkish master percussionist Okay Temiz's Oriental Wind. Stenson's current trio has been together and has continued to develop their distinctive voices since the '80s.

Bobo Stenson also had important tenures with Charles Lloyd, Tomasz Stanko, and several others and has participated in what I think are some of their finest recordings.

So, while the Album of the Week for October 5 - 11 is officially "Witchi-Tai-To" by the Jan Garbarek-Bobo Stenson Quartet, I want this to also serve as a kind of temporary "Bobo Stenson Corner" where one may discuss any musical project that Bobo Stenson has been involved in.

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I have seen Stenson live about a year ago (with Jormin and Hart) in an intimate club setting. Quite impressive what these three achieved.

Long flowing and building tracks, they really seemed to breath together.

And by the way, just because we're entering ECM territory here: THEY DO SWING!

I hope I can pick this album up before leaving for vacation.

ubu

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Bobo Stenson is someone who I keep my eye out for but rarely see. His War Orphans albums is beautiful, but for my money his strongest outing was in support of Charles Lloyd on his ECM release Canto. Some truly inspired playing. And eventhough the lead track, Tales of Rumi, doesn't lend itself to a lot of exposure; when I used to play it on my radio show I always received at least a phone call or two on who these guys where. And unfortunately I don't find his name very often- used, new, or otherwise.

Like numerous others, undervalued by the masses (even in what may be considered the jazz masses).

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"Canto" is my favorite Charles Lloyd recording of recent years, and Bobo Stenson contributes a lot to the success of that wonderful program. The magic starts for me with that first cut, "Tales of Rumi", which rather seductively draws me in. I enjoy the dry, woody sound that Stenson's longtime colleague on double bass, Anders Jormin, has developed over the years. This and the dynamic and sensitive drumming of Billy Hart also deserve a lot of credit. Lloyd generally gives the folks he plays with a lot of room for expression.

The version of "Witchi-Tai-To" on this Album Of The Week is, for me, the most satisfying version of that Jim Pepper tune. It's part of an eclectic program that, I think, bears a strong Don Cherry influence, or, at least, demonstrates the simpatico environment that Don Cherry found for his poly-cultural explorations among the emerging generation of Scandinavian musicians of the 1970s. "Witchi-Tai-To" begins with a soaring, well-fleshed out version of A.I.R. (All India Radio), which had been a feature for Don Cherry in Carla Bleys sprawling opus, "Escalator Over The Hill". Also there is a marvelous, extended rendition of Don Cherry's "Desireless". Carlos Puebla's "Hasta Siempre" is the kind of Spanish (actually Cuban) revolutionary song that fueled Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra projects, and is given a passionate, often tango-like rendition, with everyone in the quartet firing on all cylinders (as is the case on most of this session).

While I am not generally a Jan Garbarek enthusiast, his playing on this recording is about the most energetic and passionate of his career. He's still identifiable, but Coltrane's muse is often also at work here; Gato Barbieri also comes to mind. I much prefer Garbarek's playing with Bobo Stenson to his work at around the same time with Keith Jarrett.

Edited by SEK
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I love Stenson and Garbarek but do not own this one...I nearly bought it when on a Garbarek binge in Oslo a few weeks back.

I have a special liking for 'Serenity', a beautiful 2CD on ECM with Jordan and Christensen. A little like Paul Bley's ECMs but a touch warmer. It also contains one of my favourite tune titles - 'Polska of Despair' - which gets played twice.

There's an ECM with Stenson due at any moment...I think its been ready to release for over a year (its there on the unspecified release schedule of Alankin's site)- with UK players Martin Speake (alto) and Mick Hutton (bass) and Paul Motion. I saw this group a couple of years back and they were excellent. Most definitely ECM territory but that's a compliment in my world!

Having read this thread I'll have to get "Witchi-Tai-To" now. Oregon have also done several nice versions of this tune.

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Well, as I will be off on vacation tomorrow, some thoughts on this album, though its week has not yet started.

Garbarek is blowing really hard and hot on these tunes. There is an underlying mood to much of the music reminding me (!) of the Coltrane quartet - some of Garbarek's lines bringing up Trane, and also some of Stenson's playing bringing up Tyner.

I found some resemblace to Gato Barbieri (!) in Garbarek's playing here.

Neither the Trane not the Gate thing are sort of audible through all the music, also he's certainly not trying to emulate them, but yes, I can (or at least think I can) hear some similarities (not to speak of influences, which might stretch things).

Well, I do not like the mixing of Christensen very much, but he and Palle Danielsson (sure one of the very best bassists around in the last decades) have a very strong influence on where the music goes. Danielsson's bass-vamps strike me as particularly strong, driving the music with quite much force, while Christensen rather has the "embellishing" part.

The tunes are a very fine bunch. One might call it ecclectisist, but I think things melt together just fine, creating a musical style/world/mood quite of its own.

While I don't know anything about Don Cherry and his stay in Scandinavia, it is certainly evident that these four musicians have huge open ears and succeed in melting together influences from several different musical cultures and styles.

The Carlos Puebla track really is in a Haden/Liberation Orchestra mood (did he do it, too?), and is marvellous.

In short I think this a hauntingly beautiful and at the same time very strong record. Thanks very much SEK for chosing it! I will return to it many times in the future, I hope!

ubu

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Don Cherry lived in Scandinavia (Sweden) for some time, playing and recording with scandinavian musicians, and his free and "world music" approach obviously

was an influence.

Re Garbarek, he has told that listening to Coltrane on the radio made him discover jazz, and yes - Gato Barbieri also was an admitted influence, as was hearing Ravi Shankar at a concert in Oslo in the sixties. Very important also was being exposed to the music of George Russell at the Molde Festival in the sixties, an event that lead to Garbarek playing and recording with Russel in the years to come.

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I don't have this album, but as this seems to be a discussion about Stenson's work in general, who does he compare to? Or, put another way, who is he influenced by, and does he show those influences in his work?

I hope to hear Serenity this week, and would like to think that at SOME point in the near future I'll actually hear the album for this week as well.

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I think that when a reviewer tries to identify the influences and inspirations of an artist, one often finds out more about the reviewer's reference points and stereotypes than about the musician in question. The task becomes more difficult and complex with a musician like Stenson who has been blazing his own evolving path for almost 40 years (ie. "Serenity" bears few resemblances to "Witchi-Tai-To", except in the range of its material; "Serenity" contains a broad spectrum of music, from Wayne Shorter's "Swee Pea" to compositions by Hanns Eisler, from Silvio Rodriguez's "El Mayor" to the title track by Charles Ives).

A Google search turned up these useful links and more:

Bobo Stenson Interview

Europe Jazz Network Stenson Overview

Touche Music Stenson article

"Serenity" Review

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Anybody heard Stenson's "Underwear" from 71,with Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen?Not exactly a typical ECM title,I wonder if they'll ever get around to reissuing it-the masters must be OK as one track off it appeared on the Rarum comp.Witchi Tai To's an old favourite and much less Nordic than the "Dansere" follow-up.,look forward to seeing what everyone makes of it.

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Not the sort of music I listen to. But I have the record on the top shelf where all the lps I rarely play are stored. I don't find Garbarek very attractive these days. Perhaps when I first bought the album in the mid-seventies it was fresh and new sounding and had some appeal.

That said the title track is very attractive and they do make a good job of Don Cherry's beautiful "Desireless" although the composer's version can't be beaten. Christensen's splashing cymbals and drum work are fine by me as is Danielsson's bass. Not sure that the recorded sound is that sympathetic.

Now, this is not really for me but I doubt I'll ever want to discard the disc.

As an afterthought, I caught Stenson live last year and expected quite a lot, I came away rather disappointed.

Edited by JohnS
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I have Bobo Stenson's LP, "Underwear", and I do enjoy that trio session, though I've listened to it more often since I copied it to a CDR. At this point, I doubt that the album will ever be reissued.

That Bobo Stenson Rarum comp has some impressive sound. The program has better continuity, for me, if I reorder the tracks chronologically.

"Dansere" was quite a letdown after "Witchi-Tai-To". I got rid of it long ago. Some of Bobo Stenson's work with Rena Rama and with Okay Temiz's Oriental Wind serve as much better follow-ups to "Witchi-Tai-To" and are, I think, significantly more evolved and musically successful.

My two favorite Rena Rama recordings are "Landscapes" (JAPO 60020, 1977) and "Inside-Outside" (Caprice CAP 1182, 1979). On these records, Bobo Stenson plays piano (of course), Palle Danielsson fortunately still plays bass, Lennart Ã…berg plays saxophones with a tone more reminiscent of Wayne Shorter than of Jan Garbarek and a broader and deeper musical palette (and he also plays flute), and Leroy Lowe plays drums marvelously (often sounding quite a bit like Billy Hart). The music has African, Scandinavian, and Turkish influences with a definite "jazz" base.

Bobo Stenson and Lennart Ã…berg often played together in Turkish master percussionist Okay Temiz's group, Oriental Wind. My favorite record by Oriental Wind is "Chila-Chila" (Sonet SNTF809, 1979) where the Turkish-African-Scandinavian brew is maybe even richer. I especially like Stenson's playing on a song from Mali, "Julu Kara Nayni", where the trills from his right hand combine with the bassline from his left hand to form a beautiful swinging, loping raga-like tune.

I fear that these excellent recordings have even less of a chance of being reissued than "Underwear".

By 1987, Rena Rama was a trio. Anders Jormin was already on bass, and their low-key effort, "Very Early" (Dragon DRLP148), shows a group tentatively evolving in the direction of Bobo Stenson's later ECM trio recordings.

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Lucky you-I've tried tracking down some of the Rena Rama stuff,as with Underwear to no avail,although I do have Dona Nostra which is the group with Cherry added and the Very Early set.There's some good more recent Stenson on the two Sister Majs Blouse CD's,with Joakim Milder,Danielsson and the great Freddy Noren-playing the music of Swedish tenorist Borje Fredriksson.

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I thought that "Dona Nostra" was quite weak compared to the work of 20+ years before. It didn't sound like the old Rena Rama or Oriental Wind recordings. Okay Temiz was especially disappointing...

I've never heard of Sister Majs Blouse. I'll try to check it out.

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There is something about Garbarek's tone that I'm not really comfortable with...at times his playing almost seems "new agey" to me on this disc. That being said, I really dug this album and am thankful it was chosen as AOW. I also picked up Stenson's Serenity and War Orphans based on this AOW. Serenity has resonated the most with me, so far.

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