Eberhard Weber - The Jubilee Concert feat. Pat Metheny, Gary Burton, Jan Garbarek & SWR Big Band (2016)

Drawn from jubilee concerts at Stuttgart's Theaterhaus in January 2015 to mark the 75th birthday of the great German bassist Eberhard Weber, this is a remarkable live album incorporating big band arrangements of Weber compositions as well as striking new music from old friends Pat Metheny and Jan Garbarek.

The concerts centered around 'Hommage', a specially commissioned 35-minute suite by Pat Metheny, with whom Weber had played and recorded back in the 1970s. Featuring Metheny, the SWR Big Band conducted by Helge Sunde, Gary Burton, bassist Scott Colley and Danny Gottlieb on drums, this extended composition is built upon recordings of solo improvisations by Weber, subtly orchestrated by the guitarist.

The programme is opened by Jan Garbarek, Weber's associate of many years, with characteristically powerful and inventive soprano sax improvisations over loops of Weber's bass. Eberhard played with the Jan Garbarek Group for a quarter-century, from 1982 to 2007, and the essential compatibility of the sounds of the Norwegian saxophonist and the German bassist is evident once again in these 'Résumé Variations'.

Other performers during the two nights playing selections from Weber's vast body of work were Weber's longtime companions Paul McCandless and arranger Michael Gibbs, all drawing ovations from the packed house and generating rave reviews from international media. "A truly special event, this," said Jazz Journal's Michael Tucker.

Personnel: Jan Garbarek (saxophones), Pat Metheny (guitar), Gary Burton (vibraphone), Scott Colley (double bass), Danny Gottlieb (drums), Paul McCandless (oboe, soprano saxophone), Eberhard Weber (bass, from tapes), SWR Big Band, Helge Sunde, Michael Gibbs (conductors)