Product Description
Released less than a year after {|Naftule's Dream|}'s live album, {|Job|}, {|Live in Florence|} works as both a counterpart and complement. {|Job|} was a high-class recording, taped live but extensively enhanced in post-production by {|Bill Laswell|} -- polished to a point where you start to lose the grittiness of true live playing in favor of a re-created in-your-face sound. Recorded on April 30, 2001, direct to two-track digital audio tape, {|Live in Florence|} preserves more of the ambience of a {|Naftule's Dream|} concert while sacrificing on hi-fi quality. What's more interesting is the fact that both albums intersect very little when it comes to track lists, with only {|A Prayer for No One,|} {|Industrial Bulgar,|} and {|Dirge Sirba|} appearing on both -- and upon hearing the versions of the latter two, you'll understand why they are reprised here. The remainder of the set comes mostly from 1998's {|Smash, Clap|}. The band is in great shape, delivering a mean {|Free Klez|} as the disc's opener and keeping the energy level way up throughout the set. Clarinetist {|Glenn Dickson|}'s playfulness shines in {|The Wanderer|} while the soulful {|A Prayer for No One|} documents his tender, soulful side. Newcomers to the group's modern, {|free jazz|}-informed take on {|klezmer|} should start with {|Job|} or a studio album, but the enthusiast willing to tolerate a certain muddiness in sound quality will find {|Live in Florence|} an enjoyable addition to their discography. ~ Francois Couture
