Eberhard Weber’s Colours – Boxed set of three albums: “Yellow Fields,” “Silent Feet” and “Little Movements” – (3 CDs) ECM 2133-35 *****:
(Eberhard Weber, doublebass; Charlie Mariano, reeds; Rainer Brüninghaus, keyboards; Jon Christensen, drums on Yellow Fields; John Marshall, drums on other two albums)
If you’re into jazz bassists but are not familiar with Eberhard Weber, shame on you. He’s just as important in modern jazz as was Jaco Pastorius, as both a composer and virtuoso. The German performer was a proponent of the solid-body electric upright doublebass, to which he added an extra C string. His music often mixes Third Stream and classical elements with modern jazz and fusion in a cooler, European-style chamber jazz that has become the epitome of the jazz offered by his label ECM. He has done ten albums for them, starting with the superb Colours of Chloe of 1973, which is regarded by some as one of the finest modern jazz albums ever released. (It is currently unavailable at a reasonable price, but perhaps since it wasn’t included in this boxed set it may be due for reissue by ECM shortly.)
In 1975 Weber formed his own group, Colours, to tour and follow up on the success of Colours of Chloe. The band lasted until 1981 and this set contains their three albums, which have also been unavailable for some time. They are considered masterpieces of the genre and were a strong influence on other jazz performers, such as vibist Gary Burton. Weber’s electric bass has a strong and fat tone and supports the music with often elegiac yet seemingly joyous rolling rhythms and sounds. Pianist Brünginhaus does sometimes lengthy introspective solos, and the blends with the piano, bass and horns provide a beautiful atmospheric feeling that has great depth. Although the grand piano is his main instrument, Brünginhaus creates some coloristic effects thru the addition of electric piano and synth. Occasionally things build up to a rather hot brand of jazz, so it isn’t all unrelieved lyric bliss. Charlie Mariano’s solos on either soprano sax or flute are lovely in their often keening sort of sound. Drummer Marshall is a bit more percussive on the other two albums than Christensen was on Yellow Fields. The tracks on all three are quite long – some as much as 15 minutes.
The note booklet this time is packed with an interesting survey of the group as well as photos. This set has my vote as one of the most important jazz reissues of the year.
TrackList, Yellow Fields (1975): Touch, Sand-Glass, Yellow Fields, Left Lane
TrackList, Silent Feet (1977): Seriously Deep, Silent Feet, Eyes That Can See in the Dark
TrackList, Little Movements (1980): The Last Stage of a Long Journey, Bali, A Dark Spell, Little Movements, “No Trees?” He Said
– John Henry
