Best Of Jazz Open 1998 DVD – Nils Landgren Funk Unit, John McLaughlin Group

Best of Jazz Open 1998 is not, as the title suggests, highlights from the entire “jazzopen” music festival which took place in Stuttgart in July 1998, but performances taken from the closing evening concert dedicated to the so-called “pope of jazz”, presenter, festival organiser and producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt. The musicians were chosen in collaboration with Berendt, resulting in some remarkable music-making from the haunting solo trombone of Albert Mangelsdorff, to the breathtaking duel/duet between Robert Majewski’s trumpet and Hendryk Miskiewicz’s saxophone which forms the climax of “Night Time Day Time-Requiem”. Though obviously improvised one might argue whether the virtuoso digitally processed performance by Urszula Dudziak is jazz at all, while saxophonist John Handy joins forces with traditional Indian musicians the Maharaj Brothers moving eloquently in the world/fusion/crossover territory more famously explored by John McLaughlin. Appropriately they give way to the John McLaughlin Group itself, “Social Climate” offering an atmospheric mood piece for Gary Thomas’ fine flute playing, leading to a rousing electric guitar climax by McLaughlin. A mixed bag from which some tracks will appeal more than others, it is regrettable that the complete concert was not included; this 57-minute collection looks as if it was originally edited to fill a one-hour TV slot. On the DVD: There are no special features except two trailers for classical DVDs. The programme is presented in standard TV 4:3 and is sharp and detailed, though there are occasional compression artefacts. The sound is stereo and while full and clear the mixes sometimes so favour the lead instrument that other details such as cymbal hits can be seen but barely heard. –Gary S. Dalkin