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| | Trio in Tokyo | | | Music Artist : | | Michel Petrucciani | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Phantom Sound & Vision | | Release Date : | | 2008-04-08 | | Store Price : | | $45.99 | | Artistopia's Price: $45.99 | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Training
2. September Second
3. Home
4. Little Peace in C for U
5. Love Letter
6. Cantabile
7. Colors
8. So What
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Excellent set
Submitted on: 2009-09-18 |
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The material and the performances on this album are simply astounding and outstanding.
Michel Petrucciani (AKA Mike P.) was an incredible talent - a gifted writer and fantastic jazz pianist who would not let his disability temper his ability to shine as a musician. His playing, and particularly his unabashed, often daring soloing, demonstrate that he had a ferocity and confidence in presenting his often unusual musical ideas, yet the set as a whole is quite listenable, I would think, even to the casual jazz listener. An example of this is on the track "Home" where the piano solo starts with the left-hand accenting every third eighth note, while the tune is in 4/4, and this continues with increasing intensity until the climax.
The set includes a cover of the Miles Davis classic "So What". For some reason the melody is played on a different step of the scale than on the original. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but maybe worth a mention.
Steve Gadd's playing is tasteful, and rightfully more conservative than that of his fusion recordings.
Some reviewers apparently have issue with Anthony Jackson on contrabass guitar on this set. Keep in mind it was Michel who chose to have AJ play in this trio. Surely there is something to be said about having an acoustic bass in an acoustic jazz piano trio, but must we ALWAYS have acoustic bass? When you have a master like AJ, you simply can't complain. Nor can you call the instrument he plays simply an "electric bass", as it's as far from the Fender bass as a Bosendorfer Grand is from a Baldwin upright. The contrabass guitar is technically an amplified acoustic instrument with a 5-and-a-half octave range, and AJ has no peer on it.
The only thing I don't like about this recording is the sound. I don't know if they were going for a more organic, roomy sound, or if there were some technical problems, like microphones not working, but the drums and bass are not well-recorded here. The piano is clear as a bell and has good stereo separation, but the drums and bass sound like they were recorded at a distance with one microphone. If anyone knows the story here, I'd be glad to hear it.
Overall, definitely a jazz CD worth buying, either in this or the expanded edition. |
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Terrific Live Trio!
Submitted on: 2007-12-13 |
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| This recording was my introduction to the late Michel Petrucciani. He was a gifted composer and jazz pianist. I knew of him but wasn't familiar with his recordings until I heard this one. This is one of the best live trio recordings to be found. The tracks "Cantabile," "Little Peace in C For U," and "So What" are the standouts and deserving of a significant amount of playing time in any jazz fan's cd. If you like jazz piano then this cd is for you. |
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wow
Submitted on: 2007-05-16 |
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| This hasn't left the CD player since arrival. I bought it specifically for the encore rendering of "So What" that I originally heard on Sirius radio. Happy to say that the rest of the CD is top quality as well. |
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Wonderful
Submitted on: 2007-03-23 |
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This is one of the first Petrucciani albums I bought (on the strength of a glowing newspaper review) and it is stunning. All the compositions are his own, except So What, and they are very strong. MP has great melodic flair, as well as superb technique. Heres a few favourites:
Cantabile takes some beating. Very bluesy with Michel holding a repeated blues lick to a fantastic climax. September Second starts out as latin tinged number which shows that melodic flair. It develops to a number of tremendous climaxs helped by Steve Gadds incendiary drumming.
Little Peace in C for U is a be-bop inspired piece, again with moments of genius from the little man.
Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd are both excellent. Their backing is sometimes a little more aggressive than some traditional Jazz trios, in particular Gadd adds perhaps more 'rock' based drumming techniques than some may like. However, I have no problem with this, Gadd is never less than immaculate in whatever he does.
The sadness is that there can be no more original MP albums. Happily there are already lots of very good ones to get and this is one.
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The kind of music I spend so much money looking for...
Submitted on: 2006-02-15 |
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This has to be one of my favorite discs. It puts you right in the middle of a niteclub feeling right from the start. My favorite tune has to be "Home"...starting out with some truly beautiful piano playing, then the drums and bass quietly come in...building and building into a head-bobbing groove...then back to the beautiful starting theme with a well deserving ending ovation. This is the kind of music I spend so much money on CD's looking for and hope to find when I go to a trio concert. Great playing and a great sounding recording.
Born with a bone disease that left Michel Petrucciani with a height of only 3 feet, this incredible man has surpassed any physical problems and became a musical giant. It is sad that he has passed on. But, he has left a huge impression in me and, on this recording, a huge impression I would think on Steve Gadd and Anthony Jackson as well. This whole notion, for me, adds to the magic of this set and made me explore other recordings he has made. Really nice work indeed and gets 5 stars, which is a rare rating from a tough critic. |
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