Dwain

• Five Peace Band is a powerful live recording that brings together an all-star cast of musicians. This album blends the fusion tendencies of Corea and McLaughlin in an all out way. The recording is very energetic from start to finish, there’s no lack of freedom of expression or as we like to call it “the stretch”. Every single cast member sticks out to me in their own way. Kenny Garrett is one of all time alto players through multiple eras in jazz and has much to offer here in this context. The rhythm section of McBride and Colaiuta is very driving and keeps the sometimes long compositions pushing forward.

• The tracks featured on the recording make a lot of sense to what is going on in the session. Everything is well arranged and well curated. We get to hear multiple solos on each tune and really get to hear all of the musicians shine which is something we might not get as much on a studio recording. Almost every song has an elongated intro and while they are often well written and played, they sometimes get to be a little too long for my taste. It feels like each of the 20 minute long tunes has a 6 minute long intro.

• The album definitely does feel like you’re strapped in for a full length live performance. While this helps to allow the stretch and musicians to develop lots of songs in different ways, it at some points feels like you can get lost in some of the 20 minute long compositions which I don’t know whether either always good or bad. I thoroughly enjoy the inclusion of a few different standards and the groups take on each. The final track does a great job of bringing together the two co-leaders of the group back to their origins with Miles Davis for a swingin’ rendition of “Someday My Prince Will Come.” All in all I feel like this album is more than worthy of a listen to jazz fans and is a great live performance to consume during a road trip or something similar where you can dive in for 2 hours at once.

Overall score: 8.2/10

Max

• This is a unique, powerhouse supergroup recording that delivers what one hopes to get out of this all-star cast. It’s a great mix of straight-ahead groove, soloistic stretch and balls-to-the-wall fusion. Sax phenom Kenny Garrett creates great improvisations, ranging from spatial development to screaming and honking explorations. Christian McBride is a treat to listen to, especially on the rare occasion that he’s on electric bass as he is on much of this recording. Chick Corea’s leadership prevails with the use of extended introductions, cool solo transitions, and nicely done outros (not to mention his playing!). Vinnie Colaiuta keeps the groove together on drums while performing a number of energetic solos. John McLaughlin’s playing is stellar. His technique and ability to move in-n’-out of different time-feels is outstanding.

• McLaughlin, along with Chick Corea are responsible for most of the compositions (and I assume arranging) along with the inclusion of a Jackie McLean blues tune and “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Again, I think the arranging on most all tracks is superb and an interesting part to the album. Everyone is well-featured. I would have liked to have heard, perhaps, a few more moments of melodic sections to tunes to get more saxophone in at some times; even though they do perform interesting transitions in-between solos and after the melody on a few different tracks. Some sax and/or bass on “Someday My Prince Will Come” would have been a nice addition, despite it already being a good feature for the two leaders of the group. Most stretched intros work well here, except for maybe the one on Senor C.S. Also, to have 3-6min long intros on most tunes seems to be both predictable and may result in being a bit too much, taking away from its intended purpose in its use in an arrangement. There are also one or two small occurrences where, I think, they missed the mark on a possible stretch where it could be said one or two solos were cut short: yet, all-in-all, there is plenty of soloing here on an album that includes multiple 20-minute long selections. I do recommend taking a listen to this record, which certainly has enough enjoyable moments for any jazz listener.

Overall score: 8.3/10