Live In Israel

This is the first I ever heard of The Red Sea Jazz Festival, and now I want to attend. Especially to have been there for this mind-blowing performance by The Fringe. Live jazz, and the recording is superb. This continues a mystery in my mind. It is normal suspect, if not out right shun, a live recording of pop or rock. The performers rush the temp and are slightly out of tune. The recording quality is sub-average. This is not so in jazz, with live recordings providing portraits of stunning extemporaneous moments as the sax foray on "The Call." All this sound from a three-piece! Merely employing sax, bass and drums and The Fringe come on strongly impressive. Saxophonist George Garzone is masterfully eloquent, easily ranging from cosmic sunbursts to lyrical interludes. Stand-up bassist John Lockwood is an artisan of great care and economy. His switching between plucking and bowing in "Our Fathers" brings out an animate conversation on a single instrument. I can think of no better jazz recording that has come my way in 1997. ~ Tom Schulte