Herbie Mann At The Village Gate CD

List All Reviews

 great nostalgia plus
This is a great listen for jazz fan or otherwise. Any music lover will fall in love with the varied rythms and wonderful playing (vibrophone, flute, bass, drums) on this 1961 live recording. It's hard to get these tunes out of your head. Herbie and his men were at their peak.
Submitted by dave (Buffalo, NY) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  1 of 1 found this helpful.

 the village gate = another universe ago
last time i heard it (i haven't bought it yet); the USA was still in South Vietnam, trying to bring freedom and democracy to that land. Really, another universe ago. This was also before Ronald Wilson Reagan (666) was united with his buddy Osama bin Laden fighting the evil Soviet Union that was in the 1980s attempting to bring Afghanistan into the modern era by putting an Afghan into outer space via a Soviet Rocket, bring computers to Afghanistan but America and Ron Reagan had a better idea, to make the world safe for Opium Heroin addiction by supporting Osama bin Laden. America, you are the greatest lover of freedom the world has ever seen! Godspeed to America!
Submitted by Chuck (Bright's Grove, Ontario, CANADA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  1 of 2 found this helpful.

 essential early-morning or late-night listening
this is as irresistible an album as lee morgan's "Sidewinder" and one whose 3 tracks will indelibly be engraved in your mind's ear. the group heard here is basically mann's afro-jazz sextet, which means a heavy emphasis on percussion, an irresistibly driving bass - highlighted by the doubling of bassists on "Comin' Home" - and 2 of the most original and outstanding takes on 2 Gershwin classics, both from "Porgy & Bess", which are stretched to their improvisational limit, but - in a tribute to both the composer and the performers - never lose their essential character. mann's insinuating flute on "It Ain't Necessarily So" is irresistible, as is his take on the perennial "Summertime". Don't be dissuaded by the CDs shortness (although, if there was additional material from this concert in the Atlantic/Rhino vaults, i wish they had included it on this re-release) - even though it only contains 3 songs, you'll end up listening to it far more than most CDs in your collection, whether you're a hard-core jazz fan, or merely appreciate good music. and, as i said, you can't beat this album for early-morning get-up-and-go listening or for late-night reflective listening. definitely one of the best live recordings i've ever heard, both in sound quality and the quality of the musicians, captured at the peak of improvisational collaboration.
Submitted by oedipus (montclair, nj, usa) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No

 Relaxing, Imaginative, Beautiful
I heard this album late one night while listening to a local jazz station. For a few bars, the first number seemed repetitious and ordinary. Then I gradually realized I was listening to something excellent. I had to order it. Mann's flute playing is both clever and beautiful. You don't have to be a hardcore jazz nut to enjoy it. Also, on a good stereo, the recording makes you feel as though you're present in the room where it was made. There is a real sense of space and distance.
Submitted by bigcheese (FL, USA) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No

 Only One Word : Excellent
This album is timeless. Just close your eyes while listening...acoustic instruments with a heaping spoonful of hypnotic, relaxing, soulful jazz...How else can it be described? Simple yet beautiful. As beautiful now in late 2005 (as I write this), as it was when I first heard it in 1972, as it was when it was when recorded in the late 1950s.
Submitted by Terry (Hamilton, Ont. Canada)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No

List All Reviews

Have you heard this album?