Miroslav Vitous - Universal Syncopations

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Music reviews of Universal Syncopations

Music Review: ECM at its finest
Rating: 5 Stars

Jan-Erik Kongshaug has slowly but surely become the world's premier sound engineer. The balance, imaging, and soundscape he achieves here are just this side of miraculous. The high point is obviously "Univoyage," nearly 11 minutes of glorious interaction, with the five principles (Vitous, bass; Garbarek, tenor sax; Chick Corea, piano; John McLaughlin, guitar; and Dejohnette, drums) all playing their butts off, plus a nifty brass choir (Wayne Bergeron, trumpet; Valery Pomonarev, trumpet, flugelhorn; and Isaac Smith trombone) adding deft coloration and punch. The ensemble vibe continues with "Tramp Blues" (sans McLaughlin and Corea) and "Faith Run" (with Garbarek and Corea sitting out), with some of McLaughlin's tastiest playing in memory and Vitous showing why he's always been considered the Next Big Thing on bass, even when he hasn't consistently delivered.

I must confess that I might not have bought this disc if I'd known in advance that it mainly consisted of trio numbers (Vitous, Garbarek, DeJohnette). But this is far from the typical pianoless trio blowing session. Vitous shows himself to be an entirely engaging conposer (all the tunes are his alone or with various band members). And indeed, one might wish for more from Corea and McLaughlin--the latter esp.--but I for one am glad to live with what I've been given.

Something special is going on in this session, something akin to--but not exactly like--what happened with those two special ECM sessions in the early 80's, featuring Garbarek, Charlie Hayden, and Egberto Gismonti, Magico and Folk Songs. Universal Syncopations is undoubtedly Vitous's finest disc ever, and one that any and all ECM loyalists will want to own, as well as anyone who loves edgy, mind-expanding, straight-ahead jazz of the first water.

Description of Universal Syncopations

International CDs

• Music > Styles
• Jazz
• Miscellaneous
• Pop