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Rating: The "Ultimate Adventure" project is documented on a CD containing recordings made at the Mad Hatter Studios in Korea and on a DVD containing the recording of the concert held at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. It is a project in which Corea continues his exploration in the fusion-world music-crossover vein and features an assembly of first-rate musicians, mostly comprised of those who were already Corea's "adventure" companions in the sixties and seventies, as well as musicians with whom Corea has had more recent partnerships: Steve Gadd (drums), Airto Moreira (percussion), Hubert Laws (flute), Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Hossam Ramzy (Egyptian tabla), Frank Gambale (guitar), Tim Garland (sax), and members of the Touchstone band (whose name derives from the early eighties Touchstone project) Tom Brechtlein (drums), Jorge Pardo (flute and sax), Rubem Dantas (percussion), and Carles Benavent (bass).
Just by looking at the breadth of the musicians' lineup, one can understand that we are facing a rather ambitious project where the music spans traditions and genres. The most evident references are to flamenco and Arab music, but of course, there is much more, and above all, the driving element comes from the concept of jazz improvisation. A fascinating journey in which only a great like Corea can prove to be up to the situation, blending it all with remarkable skill and taste.
As for me, I preferred the concert DVD where Corea is joined by the Touchstone Band with the addition of Hossam Ramzy and two flamenco dancers who pleasantly enrich the concert's atmosphere, contributing to giving it greater intensity and adding aesthetic value to the excellent performances of the musicians. I greatly appreciated Corea's idea of adding flamenco dancers because it makes the importance of "movement" in music even more visible, which is, in my view, a fundamental aspect of jazz, in particular, but also of music in general. I want to emphasize the importance of "movement" because music, like many other art forms, increasingly runs the risk of becoming mired in the swamps of the rhetoric of "feelings" and embellished neo-romanticism, which I frankly find only cloying.
I preferred to dedicate this review to the concert because, personally, compared to the studio CD, it seemed more genuine and characterized by a greater homogeneity of sound. Therefore, if you wish to fully savor the "Ultimate Adventure" project, I recommend enjoying the DVD extensively on your player before purchasing the CD. If the show you witnessed appealed to you, as it did to me, I warmly recommend enjoying the studio recording as well.
The compositions are conceived in the form of "Tone Poem", inspired by the atmospheres, characters, and situations described in the eponymous story by L. Ron Hubbard: a form that Corea appears particularly fond of, as evidenced by numerous examples in his discography, such as The Leprechaun, The Mad Hatter, My Spanish Heart, Musicmagic, Secret Agent, The Romantic Warrior, Time Warp, To the Stars.
A show of great emotional impact: very ambitious, stimulating, and at the same time thoroughly enjoyable. Masterpiece.
Tracklist
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