Neighbourhood

This is a lovely CD. Not complex jazz, some might find it a little soft, but beautiful in its simplicity. A little reminiscent of Garbarek's own material, or Eberhard Weber's. Katche is excellent, colourful but subtle with no grandstanding, and the others, Garbarek, Marcilewski, Stanko etc are all having a good time. Garbarek doesn't go out of his way but is in his usual good lyrical form, Marcilewski, not unlike Rainer Brunninghaus, keeps the harmonies coming sweetly and goes nicely with the flow, while Stanko throws in a few surprises to liven things up. The sound quality is top-notch. To get the most of the music's intricacies play on a good sound system and don't have distractions.

Great recording and excellent shipping and handling!

Cool spacious jazz with gentle punches and sighs and incredibly beautiful piano; this is very reminiscent of Tomasz Stanko's wonderful  Suspended Night  and  Soul Of Things , both of which were recorded around the same time and also included Marcin Wasilewski on piano. Garbarek's sax is subtle, adding spice rather than dominating the proceedings.

Great music from grat musicians. Manu Catche plays great every time on every record. Neighbourhood was made with a group of jazz players like Marcin Wasilewski, Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko and many others who add their unique touch to every note on this record. I would also recommend watching Number One video, not only pop stars can make a great picture ; )

A very good group of musicians making good jazz

A reference CD for music lovers!!!

This group can't really decide what they want. The influence of Jan Garbarek changes the tonal quality of the songs. When he is playing they are less subdued which isn't necessarily a good thing.The pianist is outstanding as is the percussionist thus the 4 stars.

Love it

I bought this album purely because my favourite band at the moment (for the last 2 years) is Marcin Wasilewski TrioAfter sampling the previews and ordering on Amazon Uk, the package arrived well and 2 days late, but in good condition.The starting piece "November 99" is close to bliss, I have been listening to it repeatedly from morning and now its 8 pm. ANd Manu's drumming is ethereal to the core.My favourite drummer on Jazz is Michal Miskiewicz, nothing can match the subtleties of his hands and the creative joy and zest he brings to MWT work like January, Trio and their latest Faithful. MWT gets better by every album and their work is so lyrical and wonderful.If I had my own studio I will invite them over with a fully paid trip to Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, not that fortunate.Manu Katche is indeed brilliant and in this album Michal is not missed.Manu has such a mellow flow and compliments all the other instruments and I am reminded of alleyways and people sittingon steps and images alike from the song 'February Sun', But for me its idealy a song much enjoyed in the evening.My only small disappointment is that The Tenor Sax does not go well in this album.I am elevated and then brought down to wonder what is the T Sax doing in the 2nd piece 'Number One'Two is a crowd, It should have been only the trumpet. Though the air instruments dont play together, the heaviness of the Sax actually weighs down the light and punctuating gusto of the collaboration.I highly recommend this album.

"Neighbourhood" has been receiving some deservedly complementary reviews in the press and merits a listen from anyone interested in jazz, especially those who think that ECM's output has little or no connection with "real" jazz whatever that is. Certainly the album is more upbeat than a large number of recordings but anyone who has heard recordings from Dave Holland and Tomasz Stanko (the latter of whom graces "Neighbourhood" with his unmistakeable trumpet) will not be so very surprised by the sounds of "Lovely Walk" and "Miles Away".Although it seems superfluous to say so, the quality of the playing is uniformly excellent. Katché's drumming is of the very highest order and he is complemented by the afore-mentioned Stanko and Garbarek on brass and Stanko's pianist and bassist from his current band whose qualities are apparent from "Trio" which is released earlier this year on ECM.On the subject of superfluity, lest you doubted it, the production and packaging are without comparison (although many classical and jazz labels such as Nonesuch have tried to emulate the aesthetic appeal of an ECM product).The album starts slowly and suggestively, like a Bobo Stenson album, with piano, bass and drums only on the opening "November 99." As if challenged by the beauty of this track, Garbarek enters the fray on the numerically misleading second track "Number One" with some of his most engaged playing for some time. Some two minutes in and Stanko responds in turn, the contrast between his melancholic minimalism and Garbarek's urgency reminiscent of Davis and Coltrane half a century ago.In fact, it is hard to fault the first five tracks at all. It is only the more boppy songs dominate the second half of the album where I feel the quality control slips a little. To me, "No Rush" and especially the saxophone-led "Take Off And Land", are superior jazz funk but still without the individuality and arresting presence of other tracks on the album (a trick which "Miles Away" carries off). The closing "Rose" is beautiful though - Stanko and pianist Masislewski's interplay is testament to a kinship born of playing together for a number of years. The fact that others may be less critical than I of the second half of the album means that "Neighbourhood" deserves all the attention it has received thus far and much, much more.

A gift for a friend... she loved it... thanks

On the spot!

Definitely the best of his three albums so far! Great themes, great musicians, dreamy and dynamic pieces that let your spirit loose...