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Customer Reviews of Paris-Concert

Flawed Diamond
This concert has some truly magical moments in it and represents a pinnacle of "free" jazz played by four great masters of that style. Barry Altschul never sounded better, turning in some astonishing solos and playing as if he has musical ESP. Dave Holland's technique and invention have to be heard to be believed. Chick Corea plays in his most "outside" style in a breathtakingly virtuostic fashion. The only fly in the ointment is Braxton who although imaginative and convincing in the abstract pieces such as the duet with Chick, "Toy Room" and his own "Kelvin" but sounds like a kid who needs sax lessons when he attempts the more straight-ahead pieces such as "Nefertiti" and "There is no Greater Love". Still, one comes away from this music much impressed with the skill, imagination and wonderful sense of interplay between these fantastic musicians.
Highly recommended!

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some great playing, but ultimately a mismatch
Chick Corea, having played with Miles as he went electric, was flying high, touring as a trio with Barry Altschul on percussion and Dave Holland on bass. Somehow Anthony Braxton joined this group. Braxton was down and out in NYC at the time, having returned from a successful trip to Paris, and was making money hustling chess in Washington Square Park! Corea apparently converted the other three to Scientology briefly, and this no doubt cemented their shared resolve. (Corea is still a Scientologist as far as I know.)

In hindsight, I judge this an interesting failure. It is an eclectic combination -- on "Nefertiti" they start off playing it straight, and then Braxton goes late-Trane/Pharoah Sanders. Holland, a brilliant bassist, and Altschul, an underrecognized drummer, each take fine solos, and Corea and Braxton play a delicate duet. Braxton's piece (shouldn't that be "Kelvin"?) is edgy and intricate, not all-out energy. The two Holland pieces that lead off the second disc are the forum for some low-volume group interaction that is sometimes fascinating, but overall not very compelling. The group concludes with a standard, and does a fine, mainstream rendition.

Circle broke up after a year of intensive touring. Corea went on to form Return to Forever, first the acoustic version with Flora Purim, and then the better known electric version which attained mass popularity riding the fusion bandwagon. Braxton pursued his own doggedly idiosyncratic path, and after enduring bouts of poverty, became a professor and the winner, in the mid-90s, of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius" award. Some of his finest 70s music was recorded with Holland and Altschul. I do not recommend this recording to fans of either Braxton or Corea. It has its moments, but does not represent the best work of either -- Corea's lyricism is limited, as is Braxton's inventive vision. Personally, I would turn to the early Return to Forever (on ECM) for Corea, and any of his own quartet recordings for Braxton.

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Some of the Best Music a Jazz Fan Could Hope For
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.