A live date from Osaka, on which the irrepressible globetrotter Carlo Actis Dato joins forces with violinist Keisuke Ohta and bassist Yasuhiko Tachibana. Dato couldn’t make a dull disc if he tried, and this album is a typical Dato pancultural stew of hummable melodies, raspy-toned saxophone, fruity bass clarinet and the odd nonsense vocal from the participants. It has both the virtues and demerits of a fairly informal and spontaneous gig, so its 70 minutes contain some longeurs and deadends – “Ile de Gorée,” for instance, loses the thread after a while, devolving into banal rock-guitar riffs from Ohta’s heavily distorted fiddle, and then simply peters out as the fader is turned down. The sound could also be better. Nonetheless, it’s a pleasurable listen, and the three musicians are obviously having a ball.

Nate Dorward

Coda, July/August 2002