Thursday 12 March 2009

Dave Liebman - Lookout Farm (1974)





1.Pablo's story
2.Sam's float
3.M.d. lookout farm.



Dave Liebman: soprano, tenor saxes, alto C flute
Richard Beirach: piano
Frank Tusa: bass
Jeff Williams: drums
and
John Abercrombie: guitar
Armen Halburian: percussion
Don Alias, congas: bongos
Badal Roy: tablas
Steve Sattan: tamburine, cowbell
Eleana Sternberg: voice.

Review by Michael G. Nastos

For saxophonist/flutist David Liebman, the collective septet Lookout Farm earmarked him as an emergent band leader and conceptualist, not to mention top-of-the-heap unabashed improviser, especially on the soprano. With Richie Beirach on acoustic piano, identifying him as the post-Lennie Tristano disciple of the '70s, electric guitarist John Abercrombie, East Indian percussionists Badal Roy and Armen Halburian, drummer Jeff Williams, and underrated upright bassist Frank Tusa, Lookout Farm's sheer democracy in motion, for progressive modern jazz in a fusion era, defined how far artistically a group could go while retaining a distinct identity. Tack-on to that the stunning production values of ECM's Manfred Eicher, and you have a trend setting icon of a large ensemble for the ages. This one-of-a-kind band and recording set a high-water mark for far too few bands, even unto itself, to follow. This is worth searching for and savoring.

2 comments:

  1. I just stumbled upon your blog when I was looking for cover art and artist info for Lookout Farm. So glad I found someone like me. Looks like our tastes and collections are very similar. Nice to see you're here. Check out my blog sometime:

    http://www.globalaroundtown.blogspot.com

    Best,

    David

    ReplyDelete