Again And Again (The Joburg Sessions)
	Produced by Chick Corea
	Released on 1983
	US JAZZ ALBUMS CHART POSITION #15
	Find it at GEMM
60167-1 cover

T he Thing About Jazz by Dave Connolly. Here’s the thing about jazz: it’s a private language between the musicians involved. It’s a group effort aimed inward, which is why it will never be the great communicator that rock & roll is. The musicians may be more talented, the environment more nurturing, but the audience is largely locked out. That’s why Miles could play with his back to the audience; you were privy to a musical moment in time that wasn’t about the musicians or the audience but about the music being played. All of which helps put an album like Again And Again (The Joburg Sessions) into perspective. Recorded in one afternoon during the Quintet’s South African tour, it’s a portrait of a moment in time that brought five talented musicians together for a world tour. The music is largely incidental; the first side might as well be one long movement of dry Latin jazz. It’s languid, sometimes lyrical. Often the playing is parched, at other times comfortable and sophisticated. I’ve listened to this album again and again, and I’ve learned to pick out “Quintet #3” and “Diddle Diddle” but the rest of the tracks are elusive. The second side is noisier than the first, exploratory pieces pinned down by a steady rhythm. You may only like one side of this album. You may not like either. I have to admit that half the jazz I hear washes over me without leaving a mark. Again And Again is like that; I’ve listened to it over a dozen times and it hasn’t expanded my musical world one iota. Not that I don’t enjoy the album when I hear it, but it doesn’t exist outside of that moment for me. In a sense, jazz is tethered to the moment of creation. And that’s my pennycandy epiphany for today.

60167-1 back cover	60167-1 Elektra Musician picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. QUINTET #3    9:24
2. WALTZE    7:56
3. AGAIN AND AGAIN    4:19
4. 1-2-1234    4:06
5. DIDDLE DIDDLE    8:15
6. TWANG    11:01
   
   All compositions written by Chick Corea

CREDITS

CHICK COREA -- Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, Hohner Duo, OB-Xa, Yamaha GS-1, Prime Time digital delay, cowbell and Chinese cymbal
DON ALIAS -- percussion
CARLOS BENAVENT -- electric bass
TOM BRECHTLEIN -- drums
STEVE KUJALA -- flutes, soprano sax, tenor sax
Norm Ung, Kristen Kasell Nikosey -- design
Milton Avery -- front cover painting
Norman Seeff -- back cover photography

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© 2004 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.