It was a totally unseen and almost unbelievable cast!
Recorded at the Paris Jazz Festival, November 1, 1980, at the Théâtre de la Ville. A literally out of the ordinary quintet of legends gathered on this unique occasion.
On one hand, three European jazz key figures : firstly, Gordon Beck the elder, leader of the band, London gifted pianist and master of the British stage who had already performed with Phil Woods, Helen Merrill, Joe Henderson et Lee Konitz and fond of France ; then Jean-François Jenny-Clark, unmissable French double bass player who particularly won fame by performing with the greatest ones: or also Egberto Gismonti just to mention a few of them ; and finally Aldo Romano, the Italo-Parisian drummer – but also composer and singer – very active in French clubs and international festivals where he had played together with monsters such as Bud Powell, Jackie McLean, Keith Jarrett, Dexter Gordon or Johnny Griffin, and talent spotter as the one to have discovered Michel Petrucciani a few months earlier…
On the other hand, two rising stars issued from the jazz-rock and progressive rock scene : Allan Holdsworth, British guitarist idolized by insiders for his extra-terrestrial playing ; and Didier Lockwood, the youngest of the team when only 24 years old, violin genius dubbed by Stéphane Grappelli, was following in Jean-Luc Ponty’s footsteps. In short, the combination of two cultures with modern jazz pillars and electric fusion pioneers.
No doubt that its unexpected release -which coincides with the 40 years of this recording, but also the 45th year of the JMS label will make the day of the countless fans of these five immense musicians! - Félix Marciano / JazzMagazine
This is a pretty straight ahead jazz date by Allan’s standards, as he isn’t the leader here, and the other players are in more ‘jazz/jazz’ mode, but his tone is still very electric and unmistakenably him and he plays thrillingly great.
“On November 1, 1980 at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, an exceptional concert brought together some of the greatest French and European jazz musicians of that time. An exceptional roster that is not necessarily the assurance of a big concert, and yet, that evening, it was!
It was time for the merger, 3 tracks are signed by Beck and 2 by Lockwood. Romano is indeed the last musician to participate in this concert still alive. He speaks of true “osmosis” between them all that night and and how they all understood each other immediately musically: This was music without borders, fusing forms, filled with ideas (Holdsworth's guitar is always fascinating, Beck's melodies brilliant, Romano's drums bring structure and invention...).
Romano says there was a friendly competition between Lockwood and Holdsworth to find out who would play the fastest! We feel the pleasure they had to play together, their mutual respect and the public is not mistaken, each brings his qualities but without ever trying to pull the all the attention to him (this is unfortunately the frequent risk of a concert where big personalities are gathered on the same stage...).
A unique concert that one must hear!” - Joe Roberts
Tracks
1. Flight (Gordon Beck)
2. Zebulon Dance (Didier Lockwood)
3. Fast Travel (Didier Lockwood)
4. Halfway House (Gordon Beck)
5. Sunbird (Gordon Beck)
6. Interview D'Aldo Romano (Interviewer – Frédéric Goaty)
DIDIER LOCKWOOD violin
GORDON BECK piano, e-piano
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH electric guitar
ALDO ROMANO drums
JEAN-FRANÇOIS JENNY-CLARK double bass
Recorded November 1, 1980 at Theatre de la Ville, Paris
JMS Records - JMS 117-2