{"id":6466,"date":"2022-09-04T21:34:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T21:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=6466"},"modified":"2022-12-22T05:13:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T05:13:37","slug":"music-mizrab-gabor-szabo-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=6466","title":{"rendered":"MUSiC: Mizrab, Gabor Szabo, 1972"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This arrived on Sunday. It\u2019s a Japanese reissue, from a series of CTI re-releases; sadly the liner notes are Greek to me, so to speak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder\u2019s famous studio, in \u201872, it was the first of just three for Creed Taylor\u2019s equally famous CTI label (the others being Rambler<\/em> and Macho<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a rhythm section of Bob James, Ron Carter, Ralph MacDonald, Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette, and horns that feature Hubert Laws and others, Szabo is supported by a stellar cast. The arrangements are by Bob James, and it\u2019s all engineered by RVG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was side one was made up of the first two lengthy cuts, Mizrab and Thirteen, both Szabo originals. Side two develops the guitarist\u2019s famously eclectic range in terms of other folk\u2019s material, with It\u2019s Going To Take Some Time, by Carole King, and Seals\u2019 and Crofts\u2019 Summer Breeze, sat either side of a Szabo take on a Shostakovich Concerto!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pensive, and wide-collard, Szabo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The album kicks off with Szabo original and titular Mizrab, Ron Carter\u2019s opening bass figures conjuring an Arab-influenced exoticism suggested by the track\u2019s name. Once it gets going, there are shades of modalism, and things even sound Metheny-esque occasionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The title track clocks in at just under ten minutes, and after Szabo\u2019s own long solo, the rhythm section of Bob, Ron, Billy and Ralph really cook the groove in a deliciously early \u201870s jazz fusion vein, so very CTI! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s interesting hearing Cobham playing in a more restrained than usual manner! Which he does admirably, whilst still retaining his instantly recognisable touch and sound. Towards the end he ramps it up a bit, when taking a solo. Does he also slip out of sync? I\u2019m friends with Ron Carter on FB. I might have to ask him about this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same group then tackle a second Szabo number, called Thirteen. This begins with Szabo\u2019s and Ron duetting, showing what total masters of their instruments they are, in a fabulous interplay, before Cobham and co join (sans Ralph, poss\u2019?), for an epic jam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The exceedingly cool mr Ron Carter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The main two chord vamp is just a semi-tone shift, again evoking eastern vibes. And, having introduced that term, I have to pause and remark on what an incredible vibes player Szabo is. Not vibraphone, obviously! But feel. And it\u2019s clear that his vibesmanship is subtly but strongly steering the whole ensemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also clocking in at near ten minutes (just over nine this time), the groove and feel are quite radically different \u2018cause Bob James is playing acoustic piano, as opposed to the Fender Rhodes type electric of Mizrab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also worthy of note is that there\u2019s quite clearly, on both Mizrab and Thirteen, a second guitar. But it\u2019s Szabo overdubbing, rather than another player. Yet another sign of Gabor\u2019s unusual and idiosyncratic take on contemporary jazz. Really quite something!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the long epic intensity of the two tracks of \u2018side one\u2019 cone the three shorter tracks that formerly comprised \u2018side two\u2019. These are where the strings and horns come in, with that rich, lush and full CTI production feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creed Taylor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carole King\u2019s It\u2019s Going To Take Some Time feels aptly light, and pop-folk, after the jazzy intensity of \u2018side one\u2019. But despite the expansion from quartet or quintet to a full on studio number with strings and horns, it\u2019s still very Szabo, and sits happily with the foregoing material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things get a bit more ambitious with Concerto #2, which starts out like a small to medium chamber orchestra, and is more Shostakovich\/classical – naturally – than what has preceded it. When it transitions from orchestra to jazz ensemble a pronounced 6\/8 feel emerges, and the much lighter touch of Jack DeJohnette on drums adds to the change of feel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not always convinced by jazz meets classical experiments (Garbarek with The Tallis Scholars was awful!). But I quite like what Szabo et al cook up here. Interestingly it starts out classical, goes all jazz, and then the two start to blend and merge. This is an approach Don Sebesky explores on another excellent CTI recording, Giant Box, albeit with a rather overall effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so we come to the fifth and final track, the Seals and Croft classic, Summer Breeze, which I first grew to know and love via The Isley Bros version. Cobham is back in his throne, and this track returns the entire recording to a kind of sonic and spiritual home\/centre, that perfectly balances all the disparate yet homogenised elements that all the players and the material have brought to the party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Szabo, on the cover of Down Beat, June, \u201872.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s plenty of strings and horns, beautifully arranged by James, a middle soloing section over a cleverly constructed riff (Carter and Cobham expertly driving the groove, with a little \u2018back to front\u2019 but if rhythmic play thrown in) from the song, all bookended with the melodic themes of the original composition, beautifully played by a truly stellar cast of musicians, fabulously recorded by Rudy, delivering another gem for Creed. Result!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This arrived on Sunday. It\u2019s a Japanese reissue, from a series of CTI re-releases; sadly the liner notes are Greek to me, so to speak. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder\u2019s famous studio, in \u201872, it was the first of just three for Creed Taylor\u2019s equally famous CTI label (the others being Rambler and Macho). With … <\/p>\n

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