7 July 2008

Trilogue Live!

Review by Thom Jurek

For those of you looking for some funky, chunky, Jaco Pastorius jams, this isn't the place. For those looking for extremely free playing where Mangelsdorff's trombone runs wild and chaotic, this isn't it either. For the fusion freaks entranced by Alphonse Mouzon's skittering drum work that stops and starts on a sliver of light, best look elsewhere. For the rest, who are seeking great jazz in any configuration, this just might be your ticket. Recorded at the Berlin Jazz Days in 1976 and originally issued on LP while Pastorius was at the height of his tenure with Weather Report and playing an all-Mangelsdorff selection, this trio delivers an inspired performance that relies on timing, virtuosity, and a little humor for its bread and butter. The title track is the opener, and its slight abstraction is quickly replaced by Pastorius suggesting the frame of the melody to his counterparts, who pick it up and glide. On "Zores Mores," knotty little post-bop lines are woven into an easy framework of Mouzon's dancing hands and a solid yet very flexible interplay between the trombonist and Pastorius' ever-inquisitive basslines. The shimmering tension between the trio's members is all heat on "Accidental Meeting," the closest piece to pure abstraction here, but Mangelsdorff insists on, at the very least, the articulation of jazz formalism. "Foreign Fun" starts out like surreal circus music, but quickly walks the razor's edge between Weather Report's more adventurous material and noirish jazz. The set closes with the groaning humor of "Ant Steps on Elephant's Toe," a bumping, bubbling, dub-style cut that features Mangelsdorff blowing fully out of the blues and Pastorius playing the very best Aston Barrett he can. The dub effect gives way to funk about halfway through, and Mouzon becomes animated, doubling and tripling his cohorts in a joyful dance of curiosity and discovery. This cut is street-tough, plenty nasty, and leaves the audience -- and listeners too, no doubt -- begging for more. 

Trilogue - Live : Live "Berlin Jazz Festival", Berlin, November 6, 1976

Albert Mangelsdorff, tb/Jaco Pastorius, eb/Alphonse Mouzon, perc. 

01 Trilogue 

02 Zores Mores 

03Foreign fun 

04 Accidental meeting 

05 Ant steps on an elephant's toe 

MP3s links  in comments, if interested, ape or flacs would be offered.

16 comments:

  1. http://rapidshare.com/files/127925742/Trlg_Mnglsdrff_MP3.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/127927341/Trlg_scans.rar

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  2. Any lossless would be beautiful - thanks in advance.

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  3. Indeed a great album. Too bad that MPS (now owned by Universal) is doing such a lousy job with its reissues. But maybe there's hope through Consul Bodo and his Promising Music efforts.

    Anyway, lossless version of this album would be great.

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  4. Here's the lossless version, and revised scans, with japanese text removed from the front.

    http://rapidshare.com/files/127983838/trlg_mnglsdrf_APE.part1.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/127983936/trlg_mnglsdrf_APE.part2.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/127977482/trlg_mnglsdrf_APE.part3.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/127975630/trlg_NEW_SCANS.rar

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  5. Does anyone remember Mangelsdorff's solo album? What was its name?

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  6. It's called "Tromboneliness." Sackville 2011. Recorded Jan. and March 1976 at Frankfurt/M (Biton-Produktion). Produced by MPS.

    Dale

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  7. anon ,theres also a solo called trombirds , on mps 1971 or 2

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  8. Here's a link to a fairly complete Mangelsdorf discography (in German):

    http://www.jazzpages.com/Mangelsdorff/disco_d.htm#top

    I had not been aware of "Trombirds" prior to Sotise's mention of it. It also appears (from the info provided on the above discog) that there is yet another solo album on MPS from 1982. I didn't know about this one either.

    Dale

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  9. Trilogue Live!, the japanese reissue should be available at Amazon, as far as I can see (?).

    There is another Solo Album of Mangeldorff, "Purity", which was recorded in the 1990ies IIRC and released by Mood Records . I could check the availability. A wonderful record, I still like ist and frequently do hear it since I bought it years ago.

    f.

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  10. Thank you again - this is SOOO good!

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  11. My mp3 download appears to have 2 versions of "Ant steps...", any idea why? (haven't had a chance to listen yet)

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  12. 2 other A.M. albums not to be missed (and I don't know if they're currently in print or not) are:
    Birds of Underground (MPS) an early 70s quintet date, and The Wide Point (also MPS) a 75 trio date with Palle Danielsson and the inimitable Elvin Jones. Trombirds and Tromboneliness are both excellent, by the way.

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  13. Thanks for this. I've linked it up at Magic Purple Sunshine, http://mps-love.blogspot.com/

    There's a couple other Mangelsdorff albums linked there but still looking for some others. Stop on by.

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  14. Here is some information on the Mangelsdorff CDs issued by Mood Records and distributed by Zweitausendeins.de
    http://www.zweitausendeins.de/artikel/cds/jazz/?ArticleFocus=0&show=599018

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  15. Believe it or not, this is available for free on Sprial Frog.

    http://www.spiralfrog.com/download/album/90000818/Trilogue-Live!/

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  16. Thanks, I haven't heard this since my first radio job, when it was a new record!

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