Homage to John Coltrane - Dave Liebman

Apr

8

Homage to John Coltrane - Dave Liebman

≡ Category: 1980s, Essential, Fusion, Post Bop, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

In his original 1987 liner notes, Dave Liebman stated that he felt he was finally “artistically mature enough” to tackle a date of nothing but Coltrane tunes. Since Liebman has been making great music almost since he began his career as a recording artist in the late 60s, I’m not sure he needed to wait so long, but I’m glad he did. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to assemble this exact group of musicians.

Liebman chose an unusual approach for Homage to John Coltrane. Half of the tunes are treated in an acoustic post bop style, with the other half approached almost like electric fusion, using two separate bands to handle each style.

The album kicks off with Untitled Original, which never made it onto any of Coltrane’s studio recordings. Liebman’s backing trio of pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Adam Nussbaum tear into the tune with a ferocity which honors Coltrane.

In terms of pure intensity, the date peaks with Love, from Coltrane’s Meditations Suite. In the original version, Coltrane’s band formed a musical net under the leader, over which he soared higher and higher. Liebman’s treatment differs in that the band surges together with the leader, egging him on until Liebman is speaking in tongues, lost in a kind of spiritual mania.

As good as the acoustic half of the date is, the electric half is nothing short of a revelation. Off the top of one’s head, it would seem that approaching John Coltrane’s tunes from a fusion perspective would be a monumentally bad idea, but Liebman pulls it off with the help of some extraordinary musicians.

Liebman had been playing with Bob Moses (drums) for many years by the time of this recording, but what inspired him to use Jim Beard (keyboards)? This was Beard’s first record, and he’s phenomenal. Mark Egan’s performance on bass comes as a complete surprise, too. Up until this time, he had been pretty underwhelming on the records I’d heard, sort of a Jaco clone. Here’s he’s brilliant and completely his own man.

The standout on the fusion half of the date has to be India. Beard and Moses set up the track with some atmospheric synthesizer and percussion textures before the full band comes in, attacking the theme like a herd of Hannibal’s elephants. Bob Moses is just remarkable on drums, giving the music a rhythmic energy completely lacking in the original Coltrane recording of India. Then Moses and Egan set up a funky rhythmic vamp for the solos. Beard just kills here, spinning out rhythmically and harmonically intricate lines, periodically doubling his single note runs with overtones.

Special credit has to go to Liebman for his exquisite taste in choosing Coltrane tunes that are almost never covered, and for arranging them flawlessly. But then, what didn’t he do right? His playing is the epitome of passion and intelligence on this date. He assembled two crack bands to tackle an extremely innovative approach to Coltrane’s music, and made it look easy. He was smart enough to hire a good recording engineer (David Baker) to faithfully capture the superior performances on tape. Even the cover art and liners notes are intelligent and well thought out.

Ironically, the only reason this release doesn’t get a full five stars is because of the bonus tracks on the CD release that didn’t appear on the original vinyl issue. While there’s nothing wrong with the band’s renditions of Dear Lord or Dahomey Dance, they just aren’t at the level of the rest of the date.