La Vie de Bohème is a studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 released by jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 pianist

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 Dave Burrell

Dave Burrell

Davis Burrell is an American jazz instrumentalist, most notably on the piano. He has worked for many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.- Biography :...

. The album is Burrell's take on the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic adaptation of La Vie de Bohème

La Vie de Bohème

La Vie de Bohème is a work by Henry Murger, published in 1851. Although it is commonly called a novel, it doesn't follow a standard novel form. Rather, it is a collection of loosely related stories, all set in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1840s, romanticizing bohemian life in a playful way...

 by Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...

, titled La bohème

La bohème

La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...

. The album has been called "a fine example of the similarities between the free jazz and classical worlds." Though this is not a straight performance of the opera, each of the acts are represented with "a great deal of improvisation."

Track listing

1. "First Act" — 20:00
2. "Second Act (1st Part)" — 5:00
3. "Second Act (2nd Part)" — 12:00
4. "Third Act" — 5:15
5. "Fourth Act" — 7:45

Personnel

• Dave Burrell — piano
• Eleanor Burrell — vocals
• Ric Colbeck — piano, trumpet, harp
• Claude Delcloo — chimes, drums, tympani
• Beb Guérin — bass
• Grachan Moncur III
  Grachan Moncur III
  Grachan Moncur III is an American jazz trombonist who has mostly played free jazz, as well as being a prolific composer. He is the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.-Biography:...
  
  — trombone, chimes
• Kenneth Terroade — flute, saxophone (tenor)