SUNDAY JAZZ
DAVID LEIBMAN & RICHIE BEIRACH
David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Mosaic Select 12 [2004] (3 x CDs)
This Mosaic Select set traces three decades of collaboration between David Liebman and Richie Beirach, two musicians whose partnership shaped a distinct corner of modern jazz. The box presents live recordings from Lookout Farm, The Duo and Quest, offering a clear picture of how their musical dialogue evolved across changing ensembles and shifting eras. Each disc captures a different chapter, revealing a relationship built on trust, shared language and a willingness to explore beyond familiar boundaries.
The first disc focuses on Lookout Farm, recorded live at Keystone Korner in 1976. These extended performances show the group at full stretch, with Liebman’s soprano and tenor lines moving through long arcs while Beirach’s piano and Fender Rhodes create harmonic landscapes that shift between intensity and calm. Pieces such as The Iguana’s Ritual, Lookout Farm and Pablo’s Story unfold slowly, shaped by ensemble interplay rather than fixed structures. The music carries the spirit of the mid‑70s, when jazz was absorbing influences from classical, world music and electric experimentation.
The second disc turns inward with The Duo, a setting that highlights the depth of Liebman and Beirach’s connection. These performances, recorded in 1976 and 1990, feel like conversations rather than compositions. The pieces move with quiet authority, shaped by shared intuition and a modern jazz vocabulary both musicians understand deeply. The long form suits them, allowing ideas to rise, settle and return without pressure.
The final disc presents Quest, recorded between 1988 and 1991. This ensemble brings a different energy, driven by Ron McClure and Billy Hart. The music is more urgent, more angular, and often more intense. Pieces such as Pendulum, Elm and The Hollow Men show a group comfortable with challenge, moving through complex writing with clarity and purpose. The performances feel like statements from musicians who had lived through the shifting terrain of the 70s and 80s and emerged with a strong, unified voice.
Across all three discs, Mosaic Select 12 preserves a partnership that might otherwise be overlooked. It documents musicians who approached modern jazz with curiosity, discipline and deep respect for each other’s craft. The set stands as a clear record of their shared journey, lyrical, exploratory and quietly influential. (B)
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Track lists
CD1
01 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - The Iguana's Ritual 13:37
02 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Lookout Farm 13:35
03 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Mitsuku 7:11
04 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - A Night in Tunisia 13:45
05 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Pablo's Story 16:00
06 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Fireflies 11:23
CD2
01 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Slumber 16:41
02 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Leaving 14:40
03 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - The Code's Secrect Code/D.L. 16:21
04 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Invocation 28:06
CD3
01 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Pendulum 17:10
02 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Elm 17:48
03 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - The Hollow Men 13:09
04 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Redemption 10:35
05 David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Pablo's Story 16:19
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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Thank you Butterboy for #12. Can't say I've ever heard David Liebman & Richie Beirach before, so I'll have a listen.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob Mac,
DeleteYou’re in for something a bit different with this one. Liebman and Beirach have a deep musical connection, and hearing them across these three settings really shows how far they can stretch a mood. It’s modern jazz with a lot of space, detail and quiet intensity.
Hope you enjoy the listen, it’s a rewarding set.
Cheers.
I had a listen, a bit too weird and spacey for my tastes. My tastes in jazz are mainly confined to the Bop era, and the more bluesy/R&B-rooted jazz that has a beat, or the cool West Coast style. Nonetheless, no harm done, I had a listen. So thanks again.
DeleteHi Bob Mac,
DeleteThanks for giving it a go, that’s always appreciated. Liebman and Beirach can definitely drift into the more abstract, space‑leaning side of modern jazz, so it makes sense it didn’t quite line up with your tastes.
Your sweet spot, bop, blues‑rooted jazz with a beat, and the cool West Coast sound, is a great place to be. Plenty more in that lane coming through, so there’ll be lots that fit your ear.
Thanks again for listening and for the thoughtful follow‑up.
Cheers.
I'm with Bob Mac on this one. But I cherish the fact you challenge my musical tastes and allow me to revisit my past opinions. Sometimes I even find what I hated is now listenable. My late brother would love this since he would me wake up at 6am playing this stuff on his way to getting ready for work while I didn't need to wake up till my classes started hours later. So keep on chooglin' ( but I don't think Fogerty was talking about moving on) Love the Swamp Rock collection.
DeleteRichie Beirach lived and worked in Germany from the early 2000s onwards (he taught as a professor of jazz music for 14 years). From 2015 until his death in January 2026, aged just 78, he lived in a small village in the Palatinate region of south-west Germany, less than 30 km from where I live. Over the last decade, I saw him perform a few times in the region with his New RB Trio at small local festivals and in small venues. He was utterly unpretentious, taking a back seat for the sake of the trio’s music and joyfully interpreting the standards. The trio would certainly incorporate modernised touches and arrangements, inspired and driven by his former student and now fully equal e-piano collaborator, Regina Litvinova.
ReplyDeleteIt was only much later that I realised what a jazz piano giant he was — someone who shared his music, his history, his powerful presence and even his gruff friendliness with us so naturally and unpretentiously, and so close to his audience.
His final legacy is a wonderful, sublimely sad solo album whose title seems almost prophetic in light of his untimely death: Leaving – A Solo Piano Concert (Jazzline, 2023), recorded at a French vineyard in spring 2022. Thank you for this journey into Beirach’s Mid-American years, which I am now eager to explore more closely. Best wishes, TC
Hi The Chairman,
DeleteThank you for this moving account. Hearing Beirach’s later years described from such close range adds a depth you don’t get from records alone. Those small‑room performances, his unpretentious presence, the way he let the trio breathe, it paints a vivid picture of a musician who carried his history lightly and shared it generously.
Your note about Leaving is especially touching. Knowing it was recorded in a vineyard, and then hearing it as a final, reflective statement, gives the album a quiet emotional weight.
Cheers.
Thank you very much ButterBoy, you're always a source of inspiration!!
ReplyDeleteHi AyreEspañol,
DeleteThank you. That’s really kind of you to say. I’m glad the music and the posts continue to inspire.
Cheers.