Dave Liebman

January 25 - February 1, 1 9 9 6

***Dave Liebman

MILES AWAY

(Owl/EMI)

Every few years, saxophonist Liebman creates a fresh tribute album to his former mentor Miles Davis (Liebman was in the band in 1973-'74). Each is not only different but evolutionary. His playful sequencing of the 11 tunes here in reverse chronological order -- from "Code MD" (Decoy, 1984) to "Boplicity" (Birth of the Cool, 1949) -- always hews to the bone of the melody. "In a Silent Way" floats on Phil Markowitz's keyboards; "Fall" is slow and sultry with open breaks. "All Blues" is extra-funky, and "Milestones" flails furiously.

Although this date is largely electrified, the Eastern influences Liebman explored with Lookout Farm (during his Davis years) are much in evidence, especially on his often nadasvaram-like soprano. His lavish tone approaches incandescent fervor at nearly any tempo, even a calming, camel-walk "Pan Piper" duet with Caris Visentin's English horn. The line-up is alert yet flexible: Jamey Haddad's bold drums, Vic Juris's tart guitars, and Tony Marino's precision basses lay a strong electric vamp on "Wili (For Dave") but ply a clean acoustic unison on "81."

-- Fred Bouchard

(The Dave Liebman Group, with Phil Markowitz, Vic Juris, Tony Marino, and Jamey Haddad, plays the Regattabar January 25, celebrating the release of Homage to Coltrane on Blue Note.)