Live at the Olympia - June 27th 2012 (The Music and the Film of the Complete Concert)

Description

Product Description Olympia, Paris, 27 June 2012. In this mythical concert hall, the Ahmad Jamal quartet played in telepathic mode to reinvent the Blue Moon repertoire. Then, before giving the audience a transformed rendering of Poinciana, a hit from the Chess era, the pianist brought on stage Yusef Lateef who played with him in the glory days of the Atlantic label. The pioneering world fusion wind player then conjured up some magical moments and took us on one of those mystical journeys to which he has the key. This recording offers the entire historic concert, illuminated by these two jazz greats inspired by groove and the spirit of the sacred. The passing of Yusef Lateef on 23 December, 2013, at the venerable age of 93, adds poignancy to this set, as a testimony to a true jazz legend. Review The ways the former chart-topping pianist Ahmad Jamal develops variations on a song stick closely to a trusted and popular script: start with a catchy unrelated hook, slip the tune in stealthily, jam on it, swap licks with the drummers, come back to the hook. That script regularly surfaces on this set, which devotes a disc to each half of the octogenarian's 2012 L'Olympia concert, plus a complete video DVD. The first set features the current Jamal quartet on originals like the dreamy I Remember Italy and standards including a discreetly romantic Laura and a dynamically funky This Is the Life, full of spirited exchanges with percussionist Manolo Badrena. The second half introduces pioneering world-jazz reeds-player Yusef Lateef, 18 months before his death, and respect for the honoured guest is palpable on the less coquettish character of the grooves. Lateef adds divertingly grumpy tenor-sax blurts and slithers to the quirky Exatogi, and quavery flute to the riffy Masara. But it's his passionate, yodelly vocal implorings and abstract flute effects on the gospel-steeped Brother Hold Your Light that gives this set a special character, less urbane than usual for Jamal. His 1950s pop hit Poinciana makes an obligatory, and rapturously received, appearance at the end.' --John Fordham, The Guardian4 stars More evidence of the glittering renaissance of the octogenarian pianist as his quartet explore the tunes from his Blue Moon album of 2012 on this double CD and DVD. Jamal drops catchy hooks into lyrical improvisations that float above an intricate web of percussion. The energy level drops with Lateef s guest slot and some sparse sax and flute interventions on the seemingly unending Exatogi. Jamal s quartet dazzle again, however, with a reworking of his 1958 hit Poincinia. --John Bungey, The TimesAs it was back in the heady days of bebop, American jazz musicians tend to receive particularly warm welcomes in France, and none more so than Ahmad Jamal. The legendary Pittsburgh-born pianist, whose influence on what he calls American classical music has been incalculable, is now in his 80s. Over the past decade he has enjoyed a new lease of life with a string of well-received albums recorded in France. This live three-disc audio and video release, with a guest appearance from veteran saxophonist Yusef Lateef, brings nothing particularly new to the table. But those who like shivers up their spine will appreciate hearing and seeing two giants of American classical music bring a Parisian audience to its feet without breaking a sweat. --Cormac Larkin, The Irish TImesTwo CDs and a DVD capture this concert before a packed and wildly enthusiastic Paris audience. Jamal, then approaching his 82nd birthday, is as adventurous and surprising as ever. A great pianist and one of the true pioneers of modernism in jazz, he creates formidable structures that grow like plants from the tiniest melodic seeds. Yusef Lateef, playing various flutes, saxophones etc, joins Jamal's quartet for the second set. His solos are long and rather disjointed, but Jamal keeps it all together with a few discreet touches. This may be Lateef's last recording; he died the following year. **** --The ObserverAs it was back in the heady days of bebop, American jazz musicians tend to receive particularly warm welcomes in France, and none more so than Ahmad Jamal. The legendary Pittsburgh-born pianist, whose influence on what he calls American classical music has been incalculable, is now in his 80s. Over the past decade he has enjoyed a new lease of life with a string of well-received albums recorded in France. This live three-disc audio and video release, with a guest appearance from veteran saxophonist Yusef Lateef, brings nothing particularly new to the table. But those who like shivers up their spine will appreciate hearing and seeing two giants of American classical music bring a Parisian audience to its feet without breaking a sweat. --Cormac Larkin, The Irish TImes