Dave Liebman Plays the Blues a la Trane

With a long and exceptional career already behind him Dave Liebman shows no sign of flagging. Quite the opposite. His latest, Lieb Plays the Blues a la Trane (DayBreak 75978), is a sax-bass-drums trio in a live setting, an ideal way to hear Lieb. And of course he returns to his roots on this album to re-examine his debt to the Master, John Coltrane, and the blues in-and-out that Trane pioneered.

The bass and drums are handled well by two players with whom I am not familiar: Marius Beets provides the deftly executed bass underpinning and Eric Ineke puts the swing on solid footing with an assertive post-Elvin drumming style.

The program touches on some key pieces with which Trane was intrinsically linked. You get Miles' "All Blues," Duke Ellington's "Take the Coltrane," plus Tranes' own "Up Against the Wall," "Mr. P.C.," and the less-often-played "Village Blues."

As has thankfully been the case in the last few years, Lieb is back on tenor as well as soprano. In both he shows his own great mastery. It is a fitting tribute to one of the major forces in music of the past 100 years. It is also a tribute to Mr. Liebman himself--who has so vibrantly created his own exceptional improvisational brilliance over the edifice that Trane built for all of us.

Beautiful listening to you!

The Dave Liebman Big Band Unleashes A Corker

If you've been listening to Dave Liebman in the last few years you probably have come to recognize that he has entered a class of his own. He is an original. Those who see in his early work a heavy John Coltrane influence should come to recognize, if they haven't already, that he has gone pretty far beyond that to his own place. His extended use of chromatic passing tones and his extensive grasp of scales and modes in various juxtipositions, not to mention a commanding grasp of the technical aspects of execution and tone make him. . . a monster.

There's no better place to experience Liebman today than on his big band recording As Always (Mama 1039). Five arrangers were invited to pick from the body of Liebman originals. They then set to work creating stimulating charts that range from a McCoy-like, "Fly Like the Wind" block presentation to shades of post-Gil-Evans tone color. The compositions will be mostly familiar to anyone who has followed Liebman through the years (the wonderful "New Breed" is a great example of the pieces here).

It's a crack big band outfit setting up what in effect is a kind of concerto for Liebman's soprano with big band. His playing is marvelous to hear on this one, and the band does not flag.

In short, this is excellent jazz; excellently performed and excellently arranged. It is one of the best of the year for me so far.