British violinist Ros Stephen and Israeli / British reed player Gilad Atzmon know each other from the British jazz and world music scene. When they started working on an album together, they decided as a vocalist to ask their mutual acquaintance Robert Wyatt. The high-pitched and piercing voice has been this former drummer's main weapon since he was largely paralyzed by a fall from a window in the
… early 1970s. That cutting, sad voice is also the main attraction of this varied CD. Wyatt is especially familiar with standards such as What's New? and What A Wonderful World and soak it in fathomless melancholy. He once did this with At Last I Am Free by Chic, a new version of this occasion trio has little to add to that. As a whole, the album has a somewhat unbalanced appearance, with fragments of ethno-jazz, the aforementioned standards and obscure experimental excursions. But there is plenty of beauty to filter out. (MR)more
