AMG Review of Bolivia/Under Fire

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

While it's true that Argentinian saxophonist Gato Barbieri is widely celebrated in jazz circles for his out recordings with Dollar Brand (now Abdullah Ibrahim) and his Impulse! Latin America series, it is Barbieri's Flying Dutchman sides, in particular the two albums featured on this excellent two-fer from BMG's Bluebird subsidiary, that tell the tale. Bolivia and Under Fire feature the talents of John Abercrombie, Airto, Stanley Clarke, Bernard Purdie, Roy Haynes, Mtume, Lonnie Liston Smith, and others in their articulation of soul-jazz, Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz, and Brazilian melodic sensibilities. Their dynamics are spacious and spacy; their lush presentations are not overly slick and are full of radical harmonic developments and an intricate interaction between front-line and percussion instruments as equals in the melodic idiom. This two-fer features beautifully remastered sound and complete liner notes with a solid essay by Donald Elfman as well as the original liners for the individual albums by Nat Hentoff and Robert Palmer. These are indispensable Latin jazz records that opened many doors. They remain vital and progressive recordings that will enlighten the cultural and musical perspectives of any open-minded listener.