Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Paul Wertico Trio: Live In Warsaw

188

Paul Wertico Trio: Live In Warsaw

By

View read count
Paul Wertico Trio: Live In Warsaw
If your knowledge of Paul Wertico is limited to his work with the Pat Metheny Group, you might not realize the extent of this man's ability. Live In Warsaw shows another side to a drummer who's better known for his finesse than his quick hands.

Recorded one night during a two-week tour of Germany and Poland in October 1994, Live In Warsaw also features the gifted John Moulder on guitar and Eric Hochberg on bass. The three Chicagoans display great chemistry as they tackle unbound improvisations, fiery fusion, deep grooves, impressionistic intervals, and even a blues tune. At the core of each cut is some incredibly polyrhythmic drumming by Wertico.

Live In Warsaw contains eight tracks, seven of which are originals. Six of these numbers exceed six minutes in length, but only one gets tedious: the opener, "Toms For Talia," an interesting but drawn-out drum solo. Moulder and Hochberg join Wertico on "Cowboys and Africans," an intense groover that begins with Hochberg's bowed bass and segues into some fiery rhythms and an especially hot solo from Moulder.

All three players share the spotlight on a crackling nine-minute interpretation of "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise." Hochberg delivers impressive solos on the diaphanous "Little e" and the free-sounding "8x12." The bassist forges a tight partnership with Wertico from beginning to end.

Incredibly, guitar-man Moulder also happens to be a Roman Catholic priest. Prior to this, the only song I'd ever heard a priest play on guitar was "Kumbyah." Father Moulder's masterful string-bending invites comparisons to another heavenly guitarist, John Scofield, particularly on "Time For The Blues." The padre also gets ethereal on a couple of tracks, including the aptly named "Magical Space."

The live-to-DAT sound captures every crisp nuance of Wertico's percussive performance. In fact, there are many stretches here where you'd swear you're hearing two drummers.

If you dig adventurous guitar-based jazz or exceptional jazz drumming, it doesn't get much better than The Paul Wertico Trio's Live In Poland.

Track Listing

Introduction; Toms For Talia (Drum Intro); Cowboys & Africans; Little "e"; Time For The Blues; Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise; Magical Space; Give The Drummer's Sum (Drum Intro); 8 x 12; Closing Announcements

Personnel

Paul Wertico - drums; John Moulder - guitar; Eric Hochberg - bass

Album information

Title: Live In Warsaw! | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: IGMOD

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.