Was it that bad behind the iron curtain? Stumbled upon footage from the Al Di Meola Project filmed in East Berlin back in 1988 (at Palast der Republik?). Al with his band containing of Kei Akagi (keys), Tom Brechtlein (drums), Jose Renato (vocals), Chuck Webb (bass) and Roger Squitero (percussion) playing mostly material from the then actual album "Tirami Su".

Music friendly enough to the ears of the East-German regime in this almost instrumental setting apart from the vocalizing of Brasilian singer Jose Renato. But isn't the voice the most beautiful instrument. This concert was again broadcasted by German MDR television. Great set, great sound, 7 parts.

The Caribbean Jazz Project playing "Stolen Moments" by Oliver Nelson. Heard on WBGO jazz radio.

Not a great week for geniuses of 20th century music obviously. After Dave Brubeck the maestro of Indian music Ravi Shankar passed away. His influence on western music is undoubtedly and we're not only talking George Harrison or his famous band here. During post-war there was a lot of interest in Indian music from different corners. Be it classic, jazz or rock a lot of musicians faced east, not only for musical but also for spirtual search.

There's a lot said about this man and to me he sometimes seemed not of this earth. Althought I don't think that we truely can understand the full potential or meaning of Indian music outside the subcontinent Shankar stands out in the ranks of people like Charlie Parker, Chick Corea, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett to name only the jazz side of things. Really big shoes to fill for his daughters Norah and Anoushka.

The Jan Garbarek Group's 1993 album "Twelve Moons" marked the 500th release on Manfred Eicher's ECM record label. The title track, as noted on the CD inner sleeve, contains themes originally composed for the film "Around the year in Børfjord". These kind of references always make me curious but I never catched a glimpse until the internet days and found out that this was not your ordinary movie.

It turns out that the actual English title is "A Year along the Abandoned Road". Director Morten Skallerud moved a camera around the fjord for a long period capturing each day in a few seconds resulting in a year passing before the camera. There's an Wikipedia entrance here. Video can also be found on YouTube.

I would like to attract some attention for the great work of Ralf Schmitz & Georg Pilger at jazzrocktv.de. A real labor of love I would say. Keep up the great work, guys!

Please visit: jazzrocktv.de.

Dave Brubeck passed away last week. Brubeck was always kind of an outsider in the jazz world althought Chick Corea thinks of him as one of the early fusion pioneers with the Dave Brubeck's Quartet 1959 offering "Time Out". Indeed a lot of cross-over genres and influences were happening on that album. He was surely underrated and will remain best known for the epic "Take Five". An outstanding composer in his own right however that tune was written by sax player Paul Desmond.