Gato Barbieri
“Bolivia”
1973 on Flying Dutchman Records (FD-10158)
This pressing 2001, BMG France
Merceditas
Eclypse / Michellina
Bolivia
Niños
Vidala Triste
Produced by Bob Thiele
Bass – J.-F. Jenny-Clark , Stanley Clarke
Drums – Airto Moreira, Pretty Purdie (Merceditas only)
Guitar – John Abercrombie
Percussion – Airto Moreira , Gene Golden , James M’tume* , Moulay “Ali” Hafid
Piano, Electric Piano – Lonnie Liston Smith
Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Vocals – Gato Barbieri
The corporeal memory of pleasures briefly known and longing barely quenched. Her skin still ageless, her scent rich in my lungs, we drifted off together in exhaustion. She left me there sleeping, a note on the kitchen table. She left me there dreaming the Bolivarian dream of an America united across the hemispheres. She left me a folheto she bought from a street hawker who recited it for us from beginning to end and offered to continue with more. She may have bought it just to silence him and send him on his way, a bribe to leave us to our own private somnambulist poetry. A crowded street in the old city, as he walked away from us I barely noticed that all sound faded into a steady hum of a single note in the dark regions of my awareness, hearing only her voice; of all color fading into a uniform grey, seeing only her pale skin in the half-light. All senses withdrawn into one still point of awareness. She left me lost in the Bolivarian dream as she went back to the arms of the beast that bore me, the colossus of the north yawning and stretching its million arms to every corner of this dying earth. Our homes were exchanged in a backroom trade between our saints arm-wrestling the invisible hand that feeds us. They lost. The body memory of longing never quenched and peace in the future conjunctive. Even the strongest of unions could barely hold out against the fading of that dream.
—————–
This is another beautiful record from Gato Barbieri, making music quite unlike anything else going on at the time and with an ensemble that’s hard to beat. Lonnie Liston Smith receives co-billing on the front cover, and its no coincidence as his Cosmic Echoes band was putting out their first album on Flying Dutchman the same year. The opening track “Merceditas”, having no less than Pretty Purdy, Airto, and M’tume playing together, would seem to be a climax before foreplay, and in any other hands that might be the case. Barbieri pulls this off, though, as the strength of the rest of material is more than enough to carry the album. The title track is particularly rich, beautiful and terrifying. It is difficult for me to write about this record because the liner notes from Nat Hentoff, a much better writer than I’ll ever be, humble the movement of my pen. I will, however, freely quote from him:
“The life-affirming, surging spirit of these performances – with their supple range of colors, rhythms, soaring melodies – is the essence of that basic, visceral beauty that gives hope to lovers and revolutionaries and to all those who believe in real life before death. His music is an embodiment of perennial possibility that is made of blood and flesh rather than vaporous dreams. Gato, in sum, is among the the least abstract of musicians because he is so explosively, specifically alive.”
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vibes
thx great blog…always have my support at buns o plenty!
http://bunsoplenty.wordpress.com/
Jesus, that IS an amazing set of musicians. Excited to listen to this one, thank you.
Nice post!! Thanks for the share.
Its a lovely album and one of my faves thanks v much for the rip and share
This is an amazing record, lonnie liston smith takes the music to another level, glad I found a mint vinyl copy years ago in a downtown record shop in NYC… Another great musical combustion would occur if Jon Lucien and Lonnie L Smith would have collaborated on an album together … I can just imagine how deep and groovy those musical vibrations would be.
Not here to download this one, just thought I'd add that this album is possibly Gato's very finest moment. Absolutely love it to death and still play it regulargely. Almost too good, if such a thing were possible.
Pretty much the end of Gato's truly creative years, he lost me a couple of years after this. Lost my LP many years ago so it will be great to hear it again. Many thanks!
-Brian
Great upload but the mediafire page of FLAC says:
"Temporarily Unavailable.
This file is temporarily unavailable because there are no resources available under the owner’s account. The owner will be notified that they are low on resources…"
thanks
Hi Brian and/or Anon
FLAC link is fixed.
I really like 'Chapter Four: Live in New York' which is from '75, but yeah, it's a shame about his later-70s work and everything after…
Seems like mediafire is REALLY after you, 'na sua cola' como diria-se por aqui no Brasil.
I don't know what to say, hang on strong? You already are, and we are thankful for it.
Great album! Thanks!
So sad to hear of his passing on April 2 of this year. I was a young tenor player when I heard Caliente! for the first time in the mid seventies. That started a long love affair with all Gato music. It's often said his genius was in decline by then, but, to me it fit right in with all the fusion, disco, and funk I was listening to at the time. I wore out two copies of that album. At one time I had the whole score to that album. I could play every single part. It was a fairly thick book of sheet music. I even bought a hat that was as close as a match I could find in the states. If he would not have put anything out in the seventies (don't forget the disco Tropico with Santana guesting) I would have never went back and discovered all the older recordings. Thanks Gato for the music. Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile. And thank you Flabbergasted for everything you have done here. I didn't get this because I have it on cd. Do you have any Gato on vinyl? Your rips are superb!