Sometimes, A Debut Album ...
.. proves hugely significant. This is true of bassist Eberhard Weber's first disc. Not only did The Colours of Chloe help shape what was to become known as the ECM sound, i.e. the kind of music typically recorded for the Munich-based ECM label. A whole generation of jazz musicians were influenced by this album's richly poetic approach, which represented a striking contrast to the popular music, including jazz, of the early 1970s.
Nearly half a century on, some may call The Colours of Chloe overly emotional, somewhat degenerate, a touch kitschy. Well - I don't think it's any of those things. Rather, it reminds us that beyond ideology and economic systems, there are simple, timeless mysteries waiting to be investigated by each generation anew. In a world bombarded by bits and bites, where rage, shamelessness and unfettered greed define the parameters of ethics, of course that sort of notion doesn't go down well at all. Propagandists will respond by working flat out to make you feel ridiculous.
But who cares, right? Listen to the opening track of this album; close your eyes; drift off; and observe with growing relief how inside you, slowly but inexorably, a magnificent middle finger rises to show the merchants of our paradigm just eactly what you think of them...
So here, from Eberhard Weber's 1974 album The Colours of Chloe (ECM 1042 ST), is More Colours. The composition is played by
Eberhard Weber - bass, cello Rainer Brüninghaus - piano Ack van Royen - fluegelhorn Peter Giger - drums Celli of the Südfunk Orchestra, Stuttgart