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Pete La Roca: Turkish Women at the Bath
ByTurkish Women at the Bath is based on the painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, offering inspiration for each of LaRoca's seven compositions. The drummer, as leader, drives the rhythm and surrounds his quartet with shimmering cymbals. Walter Booker performs accompanying walking and running duties for the largely hard bop session, and offers a lyrical bass solo on "Bliss." Behind the bass solo, Corea repeats a one-measure descending motif tirelessly for over two minutes. LaRoca borrowed that pattern from a Pakistani tune; the modal harmonies throughout the session lend an authentic Middle Eastern mood. Gilmore and Corea share the solo spotlight; at the time of this recording, the tenor had only recently left Art Blakey's tutelage, and Corea had recorded his first albums as a leader: Tones For Joan's Bones and Inner Space, both on Atlantic. "Marjoun" is a Corea feature, showing the pianist's churning motion at the keyboard, while Gilmore rolls with contrasting waves of sound. This being the late sixties, the session includes some intentional reverberation with the saxophone on "Turkish Women at the Bath," and with the piano on "Marjoun." Stepping into the spotlight on "Dancing Girls," LaRoca punctuates clearly while Corea repeats the same one-measure phrase for almost three minutes. LaRoca's extended unaccompanied drum solo takes place in "Sin Street," another hard bop number laced with postmodern elements. Highly recommended.
Track Listing
Turkish Women at the Bath; Dancing Girls; Love Planet; Marjoun; Bliss; Sin Street; And So.
Personnel
Pete La Roca
drums
Album information
Title: Turkish Women at the Bath | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: 32 Records
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