Mellow
and Melodious Steig
---------------------------------------
In
1967 I had a conversation with another great flautist, Harold McNair, who
recommended that I should listen to Jeremy Steig. A short time later, I saw
Jeremy at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England, and that night he was the
star of the show. In the 1960s, Jeremy Steig was the John Coltrane of
flautists, in that he was introducing new sounds and techniques to jazz flute
playing; not just vocalizing the notes that he played, but also overblowing to
the third and fourth partials. This "Flute on the Edge" CD
from 2005 is a more mellow, melodious Jeremy than the Jeremy Steig of the 60s
and 70s. On this CD he actually plays through chord progressions, which I don't
think he has done since "Flute Fever" and "What's New"
with Bill Evans; he even plays a Latin tune. It is not as easy to overblow to
the third and fourth partials when playing through chord progressions, it is
much easier when playing "free", and therefore I do not detect much
of this type of overblowing on this CD. Apart from the vocalize, Jeremy's
playing here is much more conventional. The outstanding tracks on this CD are
"Felonious Funk" a 24-bar blues in the key of F, and "You
Don't Know What Love Is", in which Steig creates a tour de force from
the complex chord progression. "Samba de Orfeo" is a
refreshing rendition in that Steig is playing, for the first time, a
universally recognized Latin-American piece. The opening track on the CD is
"Mr. Go", which has a funky rhythm and an unusual
construction. Other interesting tracks are "Moonscape",
written by the guitarist Vic Juris; and "You`re My Thrill",
the Billy Holliday song. Cameron Brown, who played with the brilliant George
Adams/Don Pullen Quartet, and Anthony Pinciotti form a very solid, together,
rhythm. This is a very enjoyable CD with, of course, some technically
magnificent flute playing. ~ Amazon Customer, 5 Stars.
[Translated from Japanese]
Steig
Music,
2005
Recorded
August-September, 2005
Musicians:
Jeremy
Steig - Flute
Vic
Juris - Guitar
Cameron
Brown - Bass
Anthony
Pinciotti - Drums
Tracks:
1.
Mr. Go {Jeremy Steig} (7:23)
2.
Rancho Swampo {Jeremy Steig} (8:35)
3.
You're My Thrill {Sidney Clare, Jay Gorney} (8:02)
4.
Felonious Funk {Jeremy Steig} (7:03)
5.
Moonscape {Vic Juris} (6:45)
6. Samba De Orfeo {Antônio Maria, Luiz Bonfá} (7:13)
7.
People Dust {Jeremy Steig} (5:56)
8.
You Don't Nnow What Love Is? {Don Raye, Gene de Paul} (8:05)
9.
Elliott's Dilemma {Jeremy Steig} (5:28)
Total
Time: 64:30
Credits:
Engineer
& Mastering - Manfred Knoop, Chris Sulit
Design
- Abby Getman
Photography - Asako Steig
Felonious Funk
