Paul McCandless - Live At Kimball's East 1992 (Live,Oakland,1992) (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Robin (Live,Oakland,1992)
02. Punch (Live,Oakland,1992)
03. The Marvelous Harlequin Duck (Live,Oakland,1992)
04. Last Bloom (Live,Oakland,1992)
05. Rainland (Live,Oakland,1992)
06. Hard Eights (Live,Oakland,1992)
07. Free (Live,Oakland,1992)
08. Cloudy This Morning (Live,Oakland,1992)
09. Tail Wind (Live,Oakland,1992)
10. Slink (Live,Oakland,1992)

The recent death of guitarist Ralph Towner has affixed renewed attention on the group he was most associated with, Oregon — a bit of sad serendipity, as his partner in that ensemble, Paul McCandless, is the subject of this archival recording.

Discographically, this document from Kimball’s East, a defunct club just north of Oakland, comes in between Oregon albums Always, Never, And Forever and Troika. It was part of the tour for McCandless’s Windham Hill release Premonition (Windham Hill Jazz), featuring drummer Mark Walker, who joined Oregon four years later and remained with them until the end of their existence.

The others here — pianist Lyle Mays (reuniting with the leader after a 1982 Eberhard Weber album), synthesizer player Fred Simon and electric/acoustic bassist Steve Rodby — all participated on Premonition as well. Yet the setlist only includes four pieces from it, three others drawn from the earlier McCandless session Heresay (1988), plus Mays’s “Hard Eights” and “Slink” and a synth-heavy free improvisation.

McCandless is mostly on soprano saxophone but also takes turns on sopranino, penny whistle, EWI, oboe and bass clarinet. And while there are Windham Hilly moments like the opening “Robin” and “Rainland” — both from Premonition — the live setting allows for a greater variety of feels. The highlight is the mid-set triumvirate of “The Marvelous Harlequin Duck,” McCandless whimsical on penny whistle before Simon takes the piece into video game territory; the poignant soprano/acoustic piano duet “Last Bloom”; and the wide-ranging “Free.” Fans of unusual textures will appreciate the piano/synthesizer duality. — Andrey Henkin