LP Review: a live gig with Gato, Gato Barbieri – Bolivia (1973)
Flying Dutchman Records, 1978 Japan re-issue PG-70 (FD 10158)
Artist
In RPJR#2 I wrote about another Gato Barbieri album (Fénix) so I refer you to that post to get the artist information.
Label
Similarly, in RPJR#2 I wrote about the record label. I will just leave you with a picture of one of the cooler logos in the business.
Bob Thiele (1922 – 1996) launched Flying Dutchman Records in 1969.
Music
I think the RAW team did this on purpose! In RPJR#2 I expressed my doubts about Gato’s music* so they make me review another Barbieri album. I get the message Gentlemen 🙂 (*I have huge respect for musicians and part of me says ‘who am I to judge Gato Barbieri’ :-), but at the end musical taste is an individual expression).`
Let’s see … this is a live album from 1973, recorded in New York City. Some big names on it, what with Stanley Clarke on bass, John Abercrombie on guitar, and Lonnie Smith again on piano (who gets co-billing on the cover).
To be honest, and with apologies to Gato fans, it just doesn’t do it for me. ‘It’ being his way of fusing Latin American (folk) music with Jazz and that in combination with his raucous tone on the sax, for me it simply does not work. Perhaps I am too much of a traditionalist – it’s certainly possible – but if you want to hear what to my ear is a more harmonious blend of Jazz and Latin, take a listen to Grant Green’s The Latin Bit – it came out on the absolutely fantastic Blue Note ‘Tone Poet’ series. RAW has this album available in-store and on the site. Listen to the tune Mama Inez.
As another example of a Latin-Jazz blend look no further than Kenny Dorham’s Blue Note Album Afro Cuban and listen to Bansheer’s Dream.
Having said all that, Bolivia is an accessible live album with some good playing. As an example of how he mixes traditional Latin American folk tunes with jazz, listen to the title track ‘Bolivia’. He described his music as ‘Latin Third World’. For Gato fans, I guess this album is a good expression of his craft. Contrasting my own views with what a fan thinks about the album, check out this article (scroll down for English).
Look, in the end, it is all a matter of opinion and that’s why I include the youtube links so you can listen to the music and make up your own mind.
RAW store
RAW does not have this album on the website so you have to go to the store and ask for it. It’s 90 AED and the record is in good shape. No Obi but there is an insert with both English and Japanese text.
Tracks
- Merceditas – 9:07
- Eclypse/Michellina – 6:24
- Bolivia – 7:46
- Niños – 7:14
- Vidala Triste – 5:30
Personnel
- Gat Barbieri – tenor sax, flute, vocals
- Lonnie Liston Smith – piano, electric piano
- John Abercrombie – guitar, electric guitar
- Jean-François Jenny-Clark – bass
- Stanley Clarke – electric bass
- Bernard Purdie – drums
- Airto Moreira, Gene Golden, James Mtume, Moulay “Ali” Hafid – misc. percussion instruments