Search - Various Artists :: Between Or Beyond Black Forest

Essential Funky Jazz Listening

Stavros Zanos | Thessaloniki, Greece | 01/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, the cover image on this page is from the 2nd volume, released by Crippled Dick in 2000, so don't get confused with your copy when you receive it. The first pleasant impressions of this marvelous CD release arise right after having a brief look at the liner notes-which are simply amazing, as with every Crippled release. LP covers, along with side info and detailed player & production info are given for every track in the compilation.The selection of tracks is the jazz dancer's dream: restless, dynamic, rhythmic jazz-funk of the highest caliber. Mike Nock Underground contribute a spacey, electric trio piece, while jamaican pianist Monty Alexander takes Miles Davis' classic `So What' to another (funky) level. Peter Herbolzheimer and his rhythm & brass band give us another frenzied, energetic funky jazz tune, and jazzrock top-notch drummer Antolini showcases his obsession with precision under a great brass setting. George Duke's monumental LP `Inner Source' is also represented with a groove-soaked electric piece. A marvelous afro-brazilian guitar track by Rosinha de Valenca, a perfectly arranged jazzy orchestral work, alternating between 4/4 and 5/4 sections, by Erwin Lehn, a loungy but deeply energetic obscure vocal take on Hancock's `Maiden Voyage' by the Third Wave, and an uptempo flute/2-guitar Latin-jazz piece by Ira Kris, provide extra satisfaction for the non-purist as well.Overall, this 13-track compilation from the long, and painfully under-researched, catalogue of the MPS label will with no doubt boost public appetite for more CD re-issues of those excellent recordings."