Eberhard Weber
Later That Evening

A great hub of exceptional musicians was to be found at ECM between the late seventies and early eighties. Ralph Towner had already published his most significant works, Keith Jarrett's European quartet was concluding its experience, and there was already the emergence of two stars who, although moving in different directions, would help expand the jazz audience by offering music rich in strong suggestions and cross influences: Jan Garbarek and Pat Metheny. Soon after, Towner would bring his Oregon to the German label, and under the aegis of ECM, a little-known guitarist named Bill Frisell was taking his first steps...

Old formations were dissolving and new ones were forming, driven by the desire to find new alchemies and sound combinations. The German bassist Eberhard Weber was deeply involved in this movement, due to the multiple collaborations with the aforementioned musicians, always appreciated for his robust yet refined accompaniment, his qualities as a soloist, and his powerful and unusual sound obtained on a six-string electric double bass.

It's 1982. Imagine seeing gathered in one record the aforementioned Weber, leader of a project that brings together pianist Lyle Mays, which is half of the future Pat Metheny Group; guitarist Bill Frisell, still young but already endowed with his distinctive instrumental voice; Oregon's woodwind player, Paul McCandless, the most famous oboe in jazz. On drums, perhaps the musician who has remained most in the shadows, unjustly, given that Michael Di Pasqua is a drummer worthy of respect. Personally, when I saw all these names on one CD, I started salivating like Pavlov's proverbial dog...

Thus, it starts with "Maurizius", a composition very much in line with the ECM style: an airy yet composed ballad, tinged with virile melancholy. The atmosphere is pleasant and relaxed, Frisell proves comfortable even in a context not particularly experimental, and McCandless weaves a beautiful soprano sax solo, but so far nothing exceptional. What is exceptional are the tracks that follow, the long suites "Death In A Carwash" and "Often In The Open", where, under the bassist’s direction, the quintet shows it can remarkably condense such disparate influences, which musicians so different bring each with them, into an original synthesis: each one, while remaining themselves, contributes to creating a sound that goes beyond the sum of the notable individual talents.

The compositions unfold in a haunting mood, almost threatening, often underscored by McCandless's dramatic lyricism, eventually broadening the horizon into a limbo of electric anticipation and tension, and here Frisell's subliminal, oblique guitar takes the lead; finally resolving the anticipation in a clear, crystalline cascade of notes that brings back a smile, with Lyle Mays in a state of grace, finally free to express his joyful and exuberant pianism as rarely in his group he is allowed to do, approaching "free" moments. The leader supports by playing the "darker" and deeper notes of his bass, carving out solo moments that, more than true solos, seem like junction points between different movements of the suites. Weber is a musician with solid classical foundations, and his "orchestral" vision is well present here, as in his other works. Di Pasqua is a discreet yet imaginative drummer, and his work on the cymbals helps reinforce the atmosphere of anticipation and tension that pervades the entire record.

The album closes with the title track, centered on the leader’s bass solo, which reprises in a minor key the themes developed in the previous compositions, leaving us with a bitter aftertaste due to the short length of the record, and even more so, the thought that this is the only "official" recording available of the group. Most likely, each musician involved had significant projects they were already affiliated with, so the band was destined for a short life from the start. But it is a shame, a real shame, we will never know how far a formation with such incredible potential could have pushed itself...