YELLOW FIELDS

Of all of Eberhard Weber's classic albums, YELLOW FIELDS is probably the most likely to appeal to the average prog fan. First of all, it opens with "Touch", the most "symphonic" piece Weber has ever recorded without using an orchestra: a lush, stately, moving instrumental ballad featuring gorgeous mellotron, with the main melody performed by Charlie Mariano's lyrical sax, Rainer Brueninghaus's synth and Weber's own plangent bass playing in unison. "Touch" remains utterly delightful, a highlight in Weber's oeuvre.

The remainder of the album's original A-side is taken up by the fifteen-and-a-half minute "Sand-Glass", which is strongly reminiscent of mid-seventies Weather Report, especially because Brueninghaus's playing on Fender Rhodes borrows a trick or two from the late Joseph Zawinul. As the title of the piece suggests, the beat is rockier and steadier than with Weather Report (not polyrhythmic) and the main melody sounds somewhat hesitant, at least until Mariano switches from sax to an Indian wind instrument (either shenai or nagaswaram, I don't know which) and the piece suddenly acquires wings! Another magic moment on a deeply satisfying album.

YELLOW FIELDS' B-side opens with the ten-minute title track, one of the sprightliest tunes Weber has written, beautifully played by Mariano on soprano sax. The real highlight of this piece, however, is Brueninghaus's exciting Fender Rhodes solo. Together with the magisterial Weber and the energetic Jon Christensen (on drums) Brueninghaus is also the star of "Left Lane", the thirteen-and-a-half minute closing track. Once again he shines on Fender Rhodes, but the piece also contains an intriguing extended break for solo piano, reminiscent of Yes's "South Side of the Sky" but much better recorded and played with far greater subtlety.

Anyone familiar with ECM Records knows they are all about class, and here's another excellent example. Eberhard Weber is a German bass player who has played with so many greats over the years including Jan Garbarek, Volker Kriegel and the German band ET CETERA. Pat Metheny is a big fan of Eberhard's playing as well. We also get Jon Christensen from Norway on drums and he's also played with the best including Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, Ralph Towner and so many more. We have saxophonist Charlie Mariano and keyboardist Rainer Bruninghaus to round out the lineup. I almost feel like I should have a small section in my collection for ECM released albums as they all are so professional and classy. Makes me feel like I should be drinking wine or doing something snooty. Not (haha).

"Touch" opens with piano,drums and bass standing out in this laid back affair. The sax joins in and this is all so intricate with the sax playing in a relaxed manner over top. "Sand-Glass" is quiet to start with a beat. Sax after 1 1/2 minutes. Piano before 4 minutes but it's brief. We then get one of those strange sounding Indian horn instruments before 5 1/2 minutes. The piano is back out front before 7 1/2 minutes then sax again. Piano leads around 9 minutes.

"Yellow Fields" picks up before 2 minutes to a bright sound. Gotta love the fender rhodes that follows as it picks up even more. I like the contrasts in this one. Great tune ! "Left Lane" opens with piano, bass and a beat. Sax before 3 minutes then we get a calm a minute later. The piano then starts to lead. It picks up at 8 minutes with prominant bass.The sax leads then the piano takes a turn before 10 1/2 minutes. Sax is back around 12 minutes.

Beautiful cover art on this one from Maja Weber. A classy 4 stars.

A solid followup to The Colours of Chloe finds whispers of the "ECM Jazz" style that Weber would eventually settle into, but the album is still rather wilder and woolier than is typical of the label, combining the fusion chops of the likes of weather report with a sense of playfulness which, whilst not going fully into Canterbury territory, feels like you can potentially see the back garden of Gilgamesh or the Muffins if you found a tall place in the Yellow Fields to look from. You can tell its the real deal 1970s stuff because Rainer Brueninghaus' mellotron is such a signature instrument, particularly in the opening Touch that leads into the wide fusion vistas of Sand-Glass.

With the creation of 1976's Yellow Fields we find Eberhard returning to a jazz combo/quartet format for the exposition of the exploration of his rather unique musical ideas. It helps that he has chosen three of my very, very favorite European jazz and Jazz-Rock Fusion musicians as his collaborators.

1. "Touch" (4:58) I am not usually much of a fan of the saxophone but Charlie Mariano has a rare gift for playing with sound and style that rarely irks my sensitive nervous system. Eberhard's underwater bass is the second most attention-grabbing performer here while Rainer and Jon do excellent work holding down the rhythmic foundation of an eminently-enjoyable song. (9.3333/10) 2. "Sand-Glass" (15:40) with a tuned percussion melody that sounds Gamelan (and, thus, marimba), Jon, Eberhard, and Rainer create a peaceful if-oddly-melodized foundation within which bass, Fender Rhodes, soprano sax, and even Jon's cymbal work have plenty of room to add infinitely creative and never-overdone flourishes, flashes, nuances, undertones and overtones. At the end of the fifth minute Charlie switches to the nasally sound of the shehnai for his soloing for about two and a half minutes. Then it's back to his soprano sax--here doubled up--before giving way to Rainer's Fender Rhodes. The creative, fluid play of Eberhard on his underwater bass is so unusual--and yet prepares one for the sounds and stylings he dominates with on his next album, The Following Morning (my favorite of his). Jon Christensen really shines in this section of the song: truly playing off of his band mates and their own expressions of fervor and subtlety. The style subtly shifts over the course of the 12th minute as Eberhard and Jon change their approach to more of a straightforward rock-like bass-and-drum team approach while Rainer continues his almost-too- subtle/gentle Fender Rhodes play. (He really could have stepped up more--or the engineers could have mixed him in front of the cymbals, Gamelan marimba, and bass instead of burying him in the back. A pretty decent composition that shows some of the exploration Eberhard was into at the time--and which he will improve upon/perfect on future albums. (26.5/30)

3. "Yellow Fields" (10:05) I hear a LOT of CHICK COREA and RETURN TO FOREVER in the structure and performances of this song--especially from Rainer and Jon; Eberhard and Charlie sound more like they're from WEATHER REPORT. Therefore, I call this a clever merger of the two, something that could only be managed by four absolute virtuosos of their instruments--which we have here. The only thing really missing from this tune are hooks that anchor themselves in the listener's memory. (17.75/20)

4. "Left Lane" (13:35) with extended sections with only Rainer and Eberhard playing with and off of each other, this one really preps the listener for the duo's next album, The Following Morning on which there will be no drumming, loads of lush orchestration, as well as plenty of areas, like this, where the two are left alone in a large, starkly-empty space. Eberhard convinces Rainer to back down from an extended solo with the establishment of a structured bass line that ushers Jon and Charlie back into the jazz mix, with Charlie taking the lead with his rapid-fire spewing of notes on his soprano sax. At the ten-minute mark Charlie relinquishes the lead for Rainer's Fender Rhodes. It's a nice solo, egged on by Jon and Eberhard's flawless though relentless encouragement. Nice. Charlie returns to a subdued lead for the final ninety seconds, being joined in the last minute by tracks of his nadaswaram and shehnai until the song's slow final fadeout. (26.66667/30)

Total time 44:18

B+/four stars; an excellent addition to any Jazz or Jazz-Rock Fusion lover's music collections. Recommended if mostly for the magnificent displays of virtuosity from all four of the contributors.