Blessed (Joe Maneri album) explained

Blessed
Type:	Album
Artist:	Joe Maneri / Mat Maneri
Cover:	Blessed (Joe Maneri album).jpg
Released:	1998
Recorded:	October 1997
Studio:	Hardstudios Winterthur, Switzerland
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	63:37
Label:	ECM ECM 1661
Producer:	Steve Lake
Chronology:	Joe Maneri
Prev Title:	In Full Cry
Prev Year:	1996
Next Title:	The Trio Concerts
Next Year:	1997

Blessed is an album by the American jazz reed player Joe Maneri, with his son, violinist Mat Maneri, recorded in October 1997 and released on ECM the following year.^{[1] [2]}

Reception

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek stated: "It has within it the basis of a new study of harmonic improvisation, and a manner of execution and construction that show respect and tenderness not only toward one another as family, but to the music they approach with the sole intention of changing it from the inside out. Blessed is remarkable for its close dancing with the infinite."^[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Joe Maneri and Mat Maneri except as indicated

1. "At the Gate" – 3:53
2. "There Are No Doors" – 4:22
3. "Sixty-One Joys" (Mat Maneri) – 4:01
4. "From Loosened Soil" – 11:05
5. "Five Fantasies" – 5:36
6. "Never Said a Mumblin' Word" (Traditional) – 5:38
7. "Is Nothing Near?" – 9:03
8. "Body and Soul" (Frank Eyton, Johnny Green, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour) – 6:16
9. "Race You Home" – 1:12
10. "Gardenias for Gardenis" (Joe Maneri) – 1:42
11. "Outside the Whole Thing" – 5:36
12. "Blessed" (Mat Maneri) – 5:05

Personnel

• Joe Maneri – clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano
• Mat Maneri – violin, electric 6 string violin, baritone violin, electric 5-string viola

Notes and References

1. http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/1600/1661.php ECM discography
2. Lopez, R. Mat Maneri discography accessed July 18, 2018
3. Jurek, T. AllMusic Review accessed November 16, 2011