Barre Phillips: Mountainscapes

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Dieter Feichtner (syn)
John Abercrombie (g, g syn)
Stu Martin (d)
John Surman (bs, ss, bcl)
Barre Phillips (b)

Label:

ECM

July/2019

Media Format:

CD

Catalogue Number:

1076

RecordDate:

1976

Phillips' spellbinding 2018 album End To End showed his mastery of the relatively rare solo bass format. This 1976 set is a reminder of one of his many achievements as a bandleader during an illustrious career. With multi-reedist John Surman and drummer Stu Martin in the group there is little surprise about the quality of the improvising, but the real trump card is the little known keyboardist Dieter Feichtner. If the metaphorical goal of the music is to evoke the majesty of mountains then he creates the swirls of mist at the summit by way of tantalisingly sustained chords, drones and string-like effects that are conspicuous without ever being obtrusive. This palette is a fine enhancement of the more loquacious statements of his accompanists who weave in and out of themes and passages of free playing on eight etude-like pieces, the last of which features guitarist John Abercrombie. Phillips brilliantly anchors the session, which occasionally calls to mind early Weather Report well tuned into L. Shankar.

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