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Maneri / Maneri / Phillips - Angles of Repose
recorded May 2002
thank you David
for ECM
Joe Maneri: alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet
Mat Maneri: viola
Barre Phillips: double bass
miles from the previous trio effort (from 1998) Tales of Rohnlief (which is in and of itself a fine recording)
but this one....speaking in a different way - playing like he is possessed - by whom?
first the pictures in the booklet are marvelous - pretyty damn close to priceless, no? any Maneri admirers might agree - thoughts?
and the sound, the sound - maybe the best pure sound of anything that I have ever heard - certainly Joe sounds better - the voice, the keys, and the sound from the horns - and committed is the best way to describe his playing on this recording - the two tracks with him on clarinet are pretty mauch beyond anything that anyone has ever played on that horn - the man was 75 years old when he made this recording - and honestly he has never sounded better - it is ~ 72 minutes of music that is seamless in it's sometimes quiet intensity through some fierce focused playing - especially from the Round One - and Phillips excels - to my ears especially on pieces like the second track where he sticks almost exclusively to the bow - Mat is the glue - he is sometimes heard as an inconsistent improvisior - his highs are quite high - but sometimes the fcosu seems top disappear - sometimes during the smae set of the same recording - sometimes this is almost baffling to me - here he is almost serene in his playing - with no amplification and playing an acoustic instrument - we hear wood and a natural breadth of sound - what a recording space it must have been
and like Barre Phillips says in the notes, when Joe is around, it is Joe's show
and what a show it must have been - even though most of it (all but two tracks) were recorded with just the production people hearing the music as it was made
this is a timeless one, one that really has hit me pretty hard over the last couple of days - puts some of the other things that are happening in my life - not getting that job - into quite a perpective - I have had the pleasure of seeeing this man perform a few times - and hearing this recording reminds me of the wonder when I first heard him pick up a horn and blow sounds from a horn like no man before or since - or who ever will
and knowing that without the miracle that is my continued sanity and my life that is worth living today - that I was able to receive this in the mail from a friend here that I have never met in person - and it sure helped me enjoy the last couple of days in a way that I had forgotten about - listening to the music of a man that quite a few years ago - changed the way I thought about, listened to, or talked or wrote about music
music might not be as important to me as it once was - it can't be - I am now important to me - but hearing this makes me realize that I am blessed to be able to hear the wonder that is the music of Papa Joe Maneri
still....
Coming Down The Mountain
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