The Irving Fields Trio - Bagels and Bongos

The Irving Fields Trio - Bagels and Bongos / 2005 RebootStereophonic / 14 Tracks / http://www.rebootstereophonic.com / Reviewed 12 September 2005

There are albums that are re-released for a number of reasons seemingly every day. Expanded editions, discs with new tracks on them, but very rarely is it that a deleted, long out of print album will see the ligh of day again. It probably will not happen in regards to Warren Zevon�s Terminus City or Neil Young�s Trans, but to see that there are individuals that will take it upon themselves to bring a vital part of cutting-edge music is very exciting in this era of cookie-cutter popstars and bland, mascaraed rock bands. Technically speaking, the transferal of the music from the original material is stunning. While the tracks on �Bagels and Bongos� are a slight bit on the quiet side, every bit of instrumentation is captured for the enjoyment of listeners young and old.

To consider that an album from over forty-five years ago was able to make such a stunning impact on audiences is to show the still-kicking vitality of Irving Fields (who even now plays in prestigious New York restaurants). The experimentation that Irving Fields does on tracks like �Havannah Negila� (which includes a piano riff on the traditional �Havah Nagilah�), infusing Jewish traditional music with Latin fire is something to experience instead of just read about. The tracks on �Bagels and Bongos� are all instrumental, allowing for the piano to take strategic sections of tracks like �Mazeltov Marengue� and transform them into some of the most emotive and compelling lines ever captured on any media. The perfection achieved by the drumming on �Belz� really is a monument to how talented the skin-slapper is; the resulting beat is so perfectly timed that it is hard to believe that any human could come up with them.

Later on during �Belz� runtime, the transformation of the arrangements from something somewhat tame and predictable into a more emotive and driven reality. �Miami Merengue� is lively while still having a tremendous amount of order; the nearest thing that I can compare the track to would have to be those inspired Mozart or Beethoven symphonies that use the most complex of rhythms and sounds to forever entrap their listeners like a fly in amber. After a few listeners to this CD, listeners will want to pick up some of Irving Field�s other albums, which do have wildly different themes (Polynesian music, amongst others). The fact that this album was allowed to go out of print shows a fundamental flaw with the music industry that would allow great albums to collect dust while trying to milk the youth of that day for whatever they have.

Top Tracks: Miami Merengue, Havannah Negila

Rating: 6.2/10