Circle was an avant garde jazz ensemble active in 1970 and 1971. The group arose from pianist Chick Corea’s early 1970s trio with Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums and percussion with the addition of Anthony Braxton in a leading role on several reed instruments. The group’s earliest (and only studio) recordings were made in 1970 for the Blue Note label but not released until 1975 under Corea’s name. A live double album appeared on the ECM label in 1972. These recordings document a period in which Corea’s work was steeped in the jazz avant garde, prior to his complete shift to the jazz fusion orientation. Corea, Holland and Altschul also recorded the album A.R.C. for ECM in 1971, but it was not released under the band name “Circle.” (wkipedia)
And here is the rare “Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert” (released in Japan only)
“Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert” shares a setlist with the latter half of Circle’s other famous live album—though at this gig, the band pushes prettiness and aggression to greater extremes. A long suite of two compositions by Holland opens the record. Corea gives “Toy Room” a haunted solo introduction that keeps the childhood nostalgia of the main theme from seeming too innocent when it arrives. With the rhythm section offering free-time support, Corea’s long feature only gives brief glimpses of the prickly side of his playing. Braxton’s entrance on flute has a similarly lyrical quality, even when his lines create strange harmonies. Corea occasionally follows Braxton into freer vistas before pulling the saxophonist back to the underlying tune. Despite the fact that the song never gets that far “out,” there’s a compelling drama to the way the players negotiate this loveliness.
After an improvised, transitional section in the suite, another Holland tune follows. (In keeping with a typo from the original pressing, the song “Q & A” is once again spelled “O & A” on this reissue.) Given its jabbing, repetitive hook, this composition was well suited to demonstrations of Circle’s collective power. But this take from Germany sounds particularly energetic. From the outset of his first soprano solo, Braxton is heard mixing all the paints from his “language music” palette—with harsh overblowing quickly giving way to longer-held tones, then wide-interval attacks.
In addition to the timbral intensity of the performance, the quick juggling of such different sound styles has its own hardcore feel. And when the band relents, they keep the experimental vibe afloat by rustling around with miscellaneous percussion instruments and whistles. Later on, Corea flashes some powerful cluster-chords (which owe a debt to Cecil Taylor), and then Braxton helps thrash through Holland’s theme again, this time on alto. (by Seth Colter Walls)
Attention: This is Free Jazz and when I write Free Jazz, I mean Free Jazz !
Recorded live at the Parktheater Iserlohn, Iserlohn, Germany (radio broadcast)
Personnel:
Barry Altschul (drums, percussion)
Anthony Braxton (saxophone, flute, clarinet, percussion)
Chick Corea (piano)
Dave Holland (bass, cello)
CD front + backcover:
Tracklist:
01. Medley : Toy Room / O And A (Holland) 28.13
02. There Is No Greater Love (Jones/Symes) 21.32
No Mystery (1975) is the fifth studio album by jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever.
The New Crystal Silence is a 2008 live jazz album by Chick Corea and Gary Burton. It was released in a 2-disc set. The first disc was recorded May 10 & 12, 2007 at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. The second disc was recorded on July 7, 2007 at Bjornsonhuset in Molde, Norway, except for the track “Señor Mouse”, which was recorded July 13, 2007 at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Canary Island, Spain.
After 35 years, five duet records, and countless tours together, the pair revisit the notion of the duet in two different contexts on this delightful, compelling double-disc package from Concord. The first disc finds the pair playing live in Sydney with that city’s symphony orchestra conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer and arranged by Tim Garland. The program includes five tunes, all of them composed by Corea. While it is disconcerting on first thought as to how an orchestra could add to the special intuitive communication this duo has developed since its first accidental performance at a festival in 1971, those fears disappear quickly after the orchestra’s intro, when Corea’s piano makes its entrance and Burton responds. It’s striking there was so little rehearsal time, and that Garland’s arrangements are so spot-on and attuned to the intricacy of what happens harmonically between these two. “Duende” opens the set with an enormous introductory sweep that feels more like a crescendo, but it gives way within two minutes to the exploration of extrapolated minors when Corea plays a single note that initiates his speaking voice on the piano. Burton answers and moves them into another direction, painting from the inside and pulling on certain notes as he quotes a melody that feels strangely like “The Shadow of Your Smile.” Then the pair are off, the orchestra brooding and shimmering behind them, opening up spaces where there would be tension in such a focused space of minor keys that sweep this way and that way, and then they engage fully with the orchestra. This continues through “Love Castle” and the speculative intro to “Brasilia,” which feels like a question. The rhythmic interplay is built layer upon layer, however sparely by the harmonic striations of vibes and piano as strings hover and cautiously seem to follow into a much more romantic and exotic flight of fancy.
Where Have I Known You Before is the fourth album by jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, the second since leader Chick Corea had “revamped” the line-up and moved towards electric instrumentation, playing jazz fusion with clear influences from progressive rock.
The Song of Singing is Chick Corea’s fifth solo recording, released in 1970.
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