Contemplazione

Great acting performance by Rourke, unrecognizable compared to 20-25 years ago when he was truly a good-looking man, and also elegant. Marisa Tomei with an ass even better than when she did "My Cousin Vinny" with Joe Pesci. The story itself is a classic account of a life adrift, but told with a compassionate and human eye, sympathetic yet impartial. Eastwood and Altman DoceNt. FungA as an example. 3.5 for the film.

More than on a cold ground, it seems to me that the model is lounging on a comfortable and warm sofa...too rectangular shaving, with serrated edges.

A work full of charm. It's true that the face is more "in focus" compared to the rest, like a quick zoom made by our eye when, walking down the street, something catches our attention and the rest fades away.

Well, sometimes father-son relationships can turn into a showdown... ;-)

Since you can't always give a 5, and since I don't agree that Johnson was the backup bassist, I'm giving you a 4. He plays on 5 of the 7 tracks, and the piece he composed is one of the best on the album (but you already pointed this out). I also don't agree that Pastorius "overshadowed" Johnson as a performer... the work he does here is masterful and even musically superior to that of Jaco. Technically, sure, he is superior, but it's not like he completely outshines him.

If I may say, Kosmo, Black Market relies more on Alphonso Johnson than on Jaco, the bassist who plays on most of the tracks (and the best ones musically), including the title track, where the bass lines are truly superb. Moreover, in this album, Shorter's solos are really captivating, especially the one in his "Elegant People," a true gem of the record alongside the title track (which is by Zawinul). However, to give credit where it’s due, Zawinul is no less important here (great compositions, original sound worlds, pure instrumental contributions full of charm); the balance had been achieved in this album, but then, starting with Heavy Weather, the decline. Was it really Jaco's fault? I would have kept Johnson indefinitely!

I am very familiar with the studio album where they tackle the Mingus material, and it is a perfectly successful "experiment"; the compositional gems of the great Charles are treated with great respect but with new ideas. In my opinion, the absence of drums is not felt, and I say this as a drummer because Quintorigo is very percussive in their playing and very precise rhythmically. 4-4.5 for that.

Those interested in discovering the true Zawinul, more than this abortion, should really check out "Zawinul" from '71, a great solo work, with sounds that are post-Bitches Brew and pre-Weather Report.

Robetta this record. Telespalla, it’s not that Zawinul was the man of charisma; it’s that he was just an asshole, as Kosmo rightly pointed out. And Pastorius was almost equally an asshole. As I had the chance to delve into while reading Shorter’s biography, he was the one with the capital "M" among the musicians present, and his gradual "withdrawal" (far from being a manifestation of a lack of charisma) was dictated by profound artistic dissatisfaction due to the decline of the ideas and the sound of the other Weather Report members. Zawinul and Pastorius were now competing in showboating both on stage and off, it had become a vacuous exhibitionism that Erskine fell in line with. The music turned into a showcase of technique with commercial aspirations and sound, leaving no room for Shorter’s lyricism, who sometimes watched helplessly and frustrated at the absurdities and empty follies of the other three, unable (and unwilling) to find his place in that little theater. He was like the man with the watch showing the right time in a city where the clocks showed the wrong time. "Black Market" best studio album, "Live In Tokyo" best (double) live album.

Of course... to leave out "Where Are You?"... how can you do that?? In my opinion, it's always better to have the individual records, both because Dexter isn’t just about ballads, and because the changes in personnel with each track (as I’ve already mentioned in the review of Mr. Hands by Hancock), I don’t know, but they make me really sad. They are all gems, but left in their oysters, they shine even brighter. Just think about listening to a Dexter ballad AFTER one of his fast and rhythmic tracks? The orgasm after the sweat! Instead, this is a collection of orgasms, a thing for perverted maniacs...