Review by Claude October 27, 2006 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
This 1972 album is one of the best of McCoy Tyner's career, recorded in his most innovative and original phase. The quartet with reedist Sonny Fortune, bassist Calvin Hill and drummer Alphonse Mouzon uses african rhythms, asian sounds (there is a solo track with Tyner playing a japanese Koto) and plays extended solos on the long title track. If you are looking for something similar to McCoy Tyners mainstream jazz SACDs on Chesky and Telarc, this disc is not for you.
I was surprised when this MFSL reissue was announced, as I thought this recording sounded quite poor. I only had a german ZYX CD, a label which is dreaded for it's often dilettant remasterings.
The SACD highly improves over the sound of that CD, it is much more crisp, present and clear. The treble and bass have more extension and the dynamics are more pronounced. However it is still a problematic recording. McCoy Tyner's often thunderous playing is difficult to record, and here the piano sounds quite distant and flat. The title track uses tape overdubs and sounds a bit worse than the other tunes.
So this SACD is recommended for jazz fans who want the (probably) best sounding version of this essential album (I haven't heard the original LP or the US OJC CD) and for MFSL collectors, but not for audiophiles who are looking for great sounding SACDs.
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Review by Barb December 28, 2007 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
M. Tyner p & koto & ft & per, S. Fortune ss & as & ft, C. Hill b & per & reeds, A. Mouzon ds & per & tp & reeds, Milestone 1972 The band plays four Tyner originals and another one, A Prayer For My Family is played by Tyner unaccompanied. The musicians are experimenting with various “exotic” instruments (e. g. a koto, a Japanese string instrument) and sometimes are playing very free. That was hip in the psychedelic era of the early seventies. The result is a little less than 50 minutes of very interesting music that`s far from easy listening. Unfortunately the sound is really bad, compressed, no dynamics, no imaging, timbre or air. 70`s multi-track-pulp. I wonder why MFSL is wasting their skills on such bad recordings.
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