LATER THAT EVENING

I like the picture of the band in the liner notes, five cool looking guys sitting in what looks like an auditorium spread out across the stairs and chairs. Weber has enlisted Paul McCandless (sax, oboe, English horn & bass clarinet) , Michael DiPasqua (drums, percussion) , Bill Frisell (guitar) and Lyle Mays (piano) on this 1982 release.

"Maurizius" is very mellow as the piano tinkles with the cymblas and sax helping out. The sax stops but returns before 4 1/2 minutes. Such a relaxed tune I couldn't help but think of that Mays / Metheny release "As Witchita Falls..." Next up is "Death In The Carwash" an almost 17 minute epic. I was surprised at how haunting the intro was with voices whispering and so on. Very eerie. Melancholic horns and cymbals eventually lead then we get some sparse piano after 5 minutes. Bass follows around 8 minutes with guitar expressions helping out too. The piano is back before 12 minutes and it dominates until before 14 1/2 minutes when the horn takes over and leads tastefully.

"Often In The Open" has piano and drums that come and go to start. It's building as bass clarinet and more join in. Intense. A calm before 4 minutes then sparse sounds come and go including oboe, piano, drums and guitar. It's building 8 minutes in. Nice bass lines here. It settles back late. "Later That Evening" has these long english horn notes as guitar then deep bass comes in. it's still laid back. Piano just before 4 minutes then the horn retruns 5 1/2 minutes in.

Another ECM winner but i'd rate "Yellow Fields" and "Silent Feet" slightly above this.