Posted on: February 17, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Chick Corea & Gary Burton – The New Crystal Silence / 2008 Concord / 13 Tracks / http://www.concordmusicgroup.com /

Individuals that have been around the jazz world for an extended period of time will likely remember that thirty-five years ago that Corea and Burton had united to craft some ground-breaking music. “The New Crystal Silence” builds off of that, as it showcases the duo’s performances at two different locations: Syndey, Australia (playing with the Sydney Symphony) and Molde, Norway (where they performed at the Molde Jazz Festival). What results is a two disc set that allows individuals to recreate the “Crystal Silence” album, separated by time (the aforementioned thirty-five years), continent, and by different backing instrumentation.

The only convergence that the two discs have is “La Fiesta” – this is included on both discs because the track was the first that the two played together live. The two different versions provide individuals with a sense of how important contextual factors are in determining the overall tone and sound present in a Corea and Burton track. Where it feels quite often that discs tend to lose their potency after twenty or thirty years, this does not transfer over to the live “New Crystal Silence”. The working relationship that Corea and Burton have is still vibrant; the presence of the one surely makes the other step up eir game that much more. Individuals that just want to have the song recreated from the original album will be disappointed; one of the strongest things that presents itself during “The New Crystal Silence” is the fact that compositions are miles away from what was originally recorded during 1972. This means that song tracks (and in particular, “Brasilia” and “Alegria”) are changed beasts from the original album to this album. The quality has not decreased; in fact, it may just be that Corea and Burton have had such a long time to hone their skills that the presentation of the tracks on this album is stronger than any previous album from either individual.

While all supporting documentation had Corea and Burton pick out the two strongest shows out of the seventy-five date tour that they conducted, I feel that any show, no matter its place in the grand scheme of things, would have yielded much the same results. I hope that Corea and Burton go the Phish route and release a number of live shows from each tour, so that individuals can hear the variations in each track. Pick up the set if you are a fan.

Top Track: Love Castle

Rating: 7.5/10

Leave a Comment