Stomu Yamashta’s Go – Go Live From Paris

Go Live From Paris is Go’s second album, recorded live at the Palais Des Sports in Paris on June 12, 1976.

The primary difference comparing this live album to their first studio album Go, also from 1976, is that Go Live From Paris presents everything in the proper manner and order and in full association with Oriental Mythology, through a suite, with two parts, which includes. This is in direct contrast to Go, in which the pieces were in no particular order.

On stage, the interplay between Stomu Yamashta on percussion and piano, Steve Winwood on vocals and keyboards and Michael Shrieve on drums was recorded in a more exploratory way. The line-up features the legendary Al DiMeola on guitar, as well as Tangerine Dream’s Klaus Schulze on synthesizers, artists who all contributed to the first Go album. Completing the lineup are Jerome Rimson on bass, Pat Thrall on guitar, Brother James on congas and Karen Friedman on vocals.

In terms of intensity now, it’s hard to beat DiMeola’s guitar playing and Winwood’s blue-eyed soul on “Ghost Machine,” which easily caught and perhaps surpassed his previous studio performance. “Surfspin” lands on our ears with a funky mid-tempo while “Time Is Here”, is highlighted by the expressive exchanges between Karen Friedman and Steve Winwood, while Jerome Rimson joins the rhythm with some penetrating bass. Then comes Winwood’s unique “Winner / Loser” composition, proving that live spontaneity works better than studio recordings. In fact, the material from their Go studio album as a whole sounds like a blueprint for the brilliant and inspired mining of sounds and performance here.

The second part of the album begins with the rather even and traditional triplet of “Solitude”, “Nature” and “Air Voice”, which was previously titled “Air Over”. “Crossing The Line” is another zenith of the album, illuminated by Winwood’s soulful vocals and Pat Thrall’s stray and highly incendiary guitar playing. “Man Of Leo” gives the band another chance to let loose and merge their collective improvisations behind Al DiMeola’s intense soloing, Michael Shrieve’s drumming and Jerome Rimson’s bass playing and Karen’s vocal frenzy Friedman. In 2004, Hip-O Select released a 2 CD cassette of both Go and Go Live From Paris in a limited edition of 2,500 copies, remastered by Gavin Lurssen which included all the original liner notes, lyrics and covers vinyls inside a 16 page booklet.

From this amazing live album we choose the epic “Crossing The Line”.

Tracklist

Space Song 2:30
Carnival 1:12
Wind Spin 9:30
Ghost Machine 3:45
Surf Spin 2:20
Time Is Here 9:20
Winner / Loser 5:10
Solitude 2:00
Nature 4:25
Air Voice 1:10
Crossing The Line 7:50
Man Of Leo 15:30
Stellar 1:25
Space Requiem 3:35