El Pampero

After two albums which established Barbieri as an important new voice on the saxophone, his 1971 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival made him a star. This performance was captured on the album Pampero. It is semi-acoustic jazz at its most satisfying.

The Argentinian saxophonist pulled back slightly from free jazz and focused more on his roots, ably backed by Bernard Purdie on drums, Lonnie Liston Smith on keyboards and Nana Vasconcelos on percussion.

The set of four numbers all have South American influence. The playing switches from contemplative to fiery, showing his debt to John Coltrane and other avant garde players, carefully woven into the rhythmic explorations. Given four stars by the All Music Guide, this is considered to be one of the greatest live jazz recordings of the 70s.