THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

[Alon Marcus]

It was one of my favorite albums since I first started to listen to jazz. It took some time for stuff over there to sink till I understood it but the teaming of two of my favorite artists Wayne Shorter and Michel Petrucciani is irresistible. I like very much Shorter's soprano on that album.

The Manhattan Project

[bertrand]

It's an excellent recording indeed. Although Clarke is not one my favorites (I just don't like his bass sound very much), Shorter and Petrucciani are fantastic on this. I'm glad Blue Note paired them up twice; it's still not enough.

The two standout tracks, in my view, are 'Virgo Rising' (I prefer this version to the one on High Life) and 'Michel's Waltz'.

Did you ever notice how Cindy Blackman is visible in the audience at some point?

Bertrand.

[Alon Marcus]

It's an excellent recording indeed.  Although Clarke is not one my favorites (I just don't like his bass sound very much), Shorter and Petrucciani are fantastic on this.  I'm glad Blue Note paired them up twice; it's still not enough.

The two standout tracks, in my view, are 'Virgo Rising' (I prefer this version to the one on High Life) and 'Michel's Waltz'.

Did you ever notice how Cindy Blackman is visible in the audience at some point?

Bertrand.

No, I couldn't notice. I'm talking about an album which I had on a cassette since the 90's. You are probably talking about the DVD.

I agree with you about Clarke, he is not my favorite electric bassist either and I think that this is one of the best Wayne Shorter recordings from his pre - Footprints Live era.

Edited February 12, 2005 by Alon Marcus

[JSngry]

An interesting album, to be sure. The participations of Gil Goldstein & Peter Levin gives it a strong late-period Gil Evans flavor, which makes for an interesting intersection w/Wayne's contributions. Arrangements by Lennie White & Goldstein

Think about it - in one meeeting, you get a combination, in one form or another, of several of the major compositional strains of the electric jazz movement ("fusion" seems wholly inadequate and/or inappropriate) coming together. Some of it is ultimately a little lightweight, but there's some very intersting things going on as well. The arrangements were by Lennie White & Goldstein; think of how the particpation of Marcus Miller, then farily fresh from his work w/Miles, might have bumped the potential for "summitry" up another notch or two.

Glad to see that this is coming back out again. Don't think it was real "high profile" the first time around. If there was a buzz, I missed it. Not that it's necessarily "great", but I do think that has a lot of interest in terms of displaying some directions for composing/arranging for electric jazz, showing as it does that the pyrotechnics and hyperactivity that became the albatross around the neck of "fusion" was indeed only one side of the electrical coin.