CIRCLE / Corea, Braxton, Holland, Altschul – Paris - Concert (2LP-1972)

Label: ECM Records – ECM 1018/19 ST

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1972

Style: Avant-garde Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded on February 21, 1971 at the Maison de l'O.R.T.F., Paris.

Design [Cover] – B & B Wojirsch

Photography By – Jean-Pierre Leloir

Engineer – Jean Deloron

Producer – Manfred Eicher

Realisation by Andre Francis "Jazz Sur Scene"

A1 - Nefertiti ...................................................................................................... 19:17

         (Composed By – Wayne Shorter)

A2 - Song For The Newborn ............................................................................... 7:00

         (Composed By – David Holland)

B1 - Duet ........................................................................................................... 10:37

         (Composed By – Anthony Braxton, Chick Corea)

B2 - Lookout Farm / 73° Kalvin (Variation - 3) .................................................. 16:13

         (Composed By [73° Kalvin (Variation - 3)] – Anthony Braxton)

         (Composed By [Lookout Farm] – Barry Altschul)

C  -  Toy Room - Q & A ..................................................................................... 24:46

         (Composed By – David Holland)

D  -  No Greater Love ........................................................................................ 17:41

         (Composed By – Isham Jones, Marty Synes)

Anthony Braxton – reeds, percussion

Chick Corea – piano

Dave Holland – double bass, cello

Barry Altschul – drums, percussion

This 1971 document of one of the greatest jazz groups reveals a high level of musicianship and creativity in this quartet, used to make wonderful, huge, beautiful music. "Nefertiti" and "There Is No Greater Love" are stunning comments by the group in the context of the songs' forms and harmonies. These men have gotten inside of these tunes, down to the guts, where they can explore the farthest possibilities of their souls. (There is NO "free" playing on these tunes, which remains a challenge to those of us who wish to follow in these mens' footsteps.) The quartet appears again on Dave Holland's "The Toy Room" and "Q-A," an almost ambient cut. Mr. Braxton takes out the flute and clarinet on his Composition 6F ("73 Kalvin"), a classic Braxton fusion of composition and group improvisation. "Song for the Newborn" and "Lookout Farm" are superb solos by Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, respectively. Chick Corea and Anthony Braxton improvise an exciting duet. This is an album you'll have trouble putting away. Masterpiece.

_ By Michael G. Mcneill

...It's a very, very good recording. Corea of course is fine here, my prejudices notwithstanding; all four members are in top form. I often have some trouble with Altschul, finding him to be generally overbusy and there's some of that, though his percussion feature, "Lookout Farm", is rather impressive. But it's Holland and Braxton who steal the show. The former's "Q & A", which would be reprised the following year on "Conference of the Birds", is a wonderful hide 'n' seek piece, a fine balance between the Bailey-esque music Holland had been playing and the theme-driven work he'd settle into...

...They do a rocking rendition of Shorter's "Nefertitti" [sic] as well as closing out with "No Greater Love". At the time, it was a bit shocking to hear Braxton waxing so romantic! Little did we know....

...Strong concert, worth hearing, on purely musical grounds...

(By Brian Olewnick)

I wanted to note in passing another nostalgic fact: The smell of the original ECM pressings. Very unique and heady and still manifest 40+ years later! Not sustained when Polydor began printing the albums for US consumption. Mmmmm....ECM smell......

If you find it, buy this album!