Metamorphosis (World Saxophone Quartet album)

Last updated
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis (WSQ album).jpg
Studio album by
World Saxophone Quartet
Released1990
Recorded1990
Genre Jazz
Length61:32
Label Elektra/Nonesuch
World Saxophone Quartet chronology
Rhythm and Blues
(1990)		Metamorphosis
(1990)		 Moving Right Along
(1992)

Metamorphosis is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released in 1990 on the Elektra/Nonesuch label and features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake and David Murray with Chief Bey, Melvin Gibbs and Mor Thiam. It was the first album recorded by the group after the departure of foundation member Julius Hemphill and their first to feature additional musicians.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]

The AllMusic review by Brian Olewnick awarded the album 2½ stars, stating, "By their own high standards, Metamorphosis had to be reckoned a disappointment." [1]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote that Blythe "fills the outgoing man's shoes with impressive confidence, checking in with a powerful contrapuntal weave that is lifted a notch by the presence of the three African drummers." [2]

Writing for The Washington Post , Geoffrey Himes noted that "the results are uneven," but stated that the album is most convincing "when the emphasis shifts to American jazz, and the Senegalese add their rhythmic flavors to the background." [3]

Track listing

  1. "The Holy Men" (Bluiett) - 2:48
  2. "Lullaby" (Thiam) - 4:51
  3. "Metamorphosis" (Blythe) - 3:28
  4. "Su Mama Ah Zumu" (Murray, Thiam) - 6:25
  5. "Africa" (Lake) - 8:54
  6. "Ballad For The Blackman" (Murray) - 7:52
  7. "Masai Warrior's Dance" (Bluiett) - 5:14
  8. "Love Like Sisters" (Lake) - 4:07
  9. "Lo Chi Lo" (Murray) -6:57
  10. "Feed The People" (Bluiett) - 10:56

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Olewnick, B. Allmusic Review accessed July 19, 2011
  2. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1530. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  3. ↑ Himes, Geoffrey (February 1, 1991). "New World Quartet Adds Drums to Sax". Washington Post. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
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