GARY PEACOCK - Guamba
ECM 674 3123
Gary Peacock (double bass); Jan Garbarek (tenor& soprano saxophones); Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet, flugelhorn); Peter Erskine (drums, drum computer)
Recorded March 1987
I bought this album when first released and although a fervent Garbarek fan, for some reason I was unable to make any sort of connection with the music. It has remained overlooked and infrequently played, and until reviewing this reissue I had not heard the album for many years. On first hearing little appeared to have changed, but on further listening it is apparent that a reassessment is overdue.
The set opens strongly with the title track, a solo bass outing from Peacock that sets the bar high. 'Celina' is a beautiful ballad featuring just double bass and Palle Mikkelborg's muted trumpet. Treated with echo, this gives the melody and Mikkelborg's solo a wistful quality. The music is given a gentle nudge with 'Thyme Time' which is jointly composed by Peacock and drummer Peter Erskine setting up a strong rhythmic foundation for Garbarek's declamatory tenor solo.
Things start to unravel a little with the long 'Lilla' that seems to lack any real focus or obvious destination. It also brings forth the differences in Garbarek and Mikkelborg's playing, never quite gelling on the unison passages and some fractious phrasing from the trumpeter with which Garbarek cannot compete with, conquer or quell. A similar fate befalls 'Requium' in another composition that also never gets going with any sense of purpose.
The penultimate track, 'Introending' picks up where 'Thyme Time' left off with strong bass and drums, with Erskine also making use of the drum computer, with gentle unison melody from trumpet and saxophone, and the album concludes with the lovely 'Gardenia'. From Peacock's opening bass statement leading to a finely spun unison for the horns and the stoicism of Jan Garbarek's tenor saxophone in perhaps the most wholly satisfying performance.
As a follow up to his 1981 recording, Voice From The Past - Paradigm, also with an American/European quartet , Guamba's failure to gel highlights an apparent mis-match of musical personalities. The earlier recording ignites with a slow burn based on a mutual understanding and compatibility between Garbarek and Tomasz Stano along with the fluid and less rigid playing of Jack DeJohnette.
ECM 674 3123
Gary Peacock (double bass); Jan Garbarek (tenor& soprano saxophones); Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet, flugelhorn); Peter Erskine (drums, drum computer)
Recorded March 1987
I bought this album when first released and although a fervent Garbarek fan, for some reason I was unable to make any sort of connection with the music. It has remained overlooked and infrequently played, and until reviewing this reissue I had not heard the album for many years. On first hearing little appeared to have changed, but on further listening it is apparent that a reassessment is overdue.
The set opens strongly with the title track, a solo bass outing from Peacock that sets the bar high. 'Celina' is a beautiful ballad featuring just double bass and Palle Mikkelborg's muted trumpet. Treated with echo, this gives the melody and Mikkelborg's solo a wistful quality. The music is given a gentle nudge with 'Thyme Time' which is jointly composed by Peacock and drummer Peter Erskine setting up a strong rhythmic foundation for Garbarek's declamatory tenor solo.
Things start to unravel a little with the long 'Lilla' that seems to lack any real focus or obvious destination. It also brings forth the differences in Garbarek and Mikkelborg's playing, never quite gelling on the unison passages and some fractious phrasing from the trumpeter with which Garbarek cannot compete with, conquer or quell. A similar fate befalls 'Requium' in another composition that also never gets going with any sense of purpose.
The penultimate track, 'Introending' picks up where 'Thyme Time' left off with strong bass and drums, with Erskine also making use of the drum computer, with gentle unison melody from trumpet and saxophone, and the album concludes with the lovely 'Gardenia'. From Peacock's opening bass statement leading to a finely spun unison for the horns and the stoicism of Jan Garbarek's tenor saxophone in perhaps the most wholly satisfying performance.
As a follow up to his 1981 recording, Voice From The Past - Paradigm, also with an American/European quartet , Guamba's failure to gel highlights an apparent mis-match of musical personalities. The earlier recording ignites with a slow burn based on a mutual understanding and compatibility between Garbarek and Tomasz Stano along with the fluid and less rigid playing of Jack DeJohnette.
