Octo_Russ

Albert Beger [This Life] 

This is one of my most favourite Jazz discs, i played this last year, and wrote about it in my Blog [9th February 2010], it's now at No28 in my all time favourite list, Albert Beger is an Artist i almost discovered by accident, i found this disc in the bargain basement of a second hand record shop, going for £1, it looked so good, and it's turned out to be one of my best ever bargains, this is how i got into a lot of new music at the time [must be about 2000], picking things off the shelf and taking a risk.

Albert Beger was born in Turkey in 1959, but emigrated to Israel, he is far from a big well known Saxophonist, which is a shame because he's really good, he recorded this disc in 1997.

The 3 tracks i really loved this time were 2-3 & 6, and like last time it's track 6 'Love' that so impressed me, and really the hero of the whole album just has to be the drummer Asaf Sirkis, he is so clever and inventive, and so superbly recorded too, his drumkit is nicely terraced for different sounds, the resonance is so well caught, i just love a superbly recorded set of drums, if you can just change your ears to hear the drums as the main instrument, and the Saxophone in the background, such discipline will bring great aural rewards, just listen to Sirkis's opening intro [0:00-0:07], it's mesmerizing, Beger comes in with an eastern mysticism on his Tenor [0:07+], and the sheer complexity and variety of Sirkis is stunning, how he keeps up that level of monotonous similarity, yet infuses it with subtle yet significant uniqueness is delicious, both Beger and Sirkis keep this up for over 4 minutes [0:07-4:40], and then the Pianist John Bostock comes in [4:40-6:07], subtle and low key, Beger returns with the opening tune [6:06+], and it's a lovely moment to revisit again, but it's Sirkis throughout the whole track, that never gives up his singular rhythm, and it's his beat that teases and gets on your joyous nerves, right at the end Sirkis takes the outro [8:08-8:38], and it's a superb solo, equally compelling for the sheer musicianship, as it is for the stunning auralness of his lifelike drums, a stunning album that should be more well known.

Here's Albert Beger playing track 2 'Fishermen' on YouTube.