What Are You Listening To? (Jazz) 2012

[Vaughan]

Oh man, I so love this release. Two albums recorded for minor labels in 1969, with hi-fidelity in stark absence - but what the heck......

From the opening cut from "A Jackson in the House", you'll have a smile on your face as wide as a river, the humor, the playfulness, the joy is just uncontrollable. The second track, Get In Line, plays out in stark contrast, this is noisy mad blowing and banging (there's no drummer here, but all pitch in for percussive effects). From there it's Bill Dixon-esque journeys in the longer tracks (17 minutes and 20 minutes respectively), drunken New Orleans trips that would fit well in a Laurel and Hardy movie, and free noodlings over poetry readings. Took about a journey, this is a holiday for all.

At $7 they were basically giving this away. A pity, but we're all the winners. Amazing.

Players: Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Malachi Favors.

[Chutai]

Originally Posted by Zephyr

Curtis Fuller - The Story of Cathy & Me

A really lovely album

NP


Marcin Wasilewski Trio - Faithful

[Tom 1960]

Discs 1 and 2

[HutchFan]

Richie Beirach - Elm



Bobo Stenson - Reflections



A night for quiet trios, I guess...

[bluemonkey]

Zoot Sims: For Lady Day

[bluemonkey]

Zoot Sims Quartet: Complete Prestige & Vogue Studio Masters

[Tom K]

Miles Davis - Milestones

[Zephyr]

Eric Dolphy - Conversations



Prince Lasha - Inside Story

[walkin]

RIP

[walkin]

[Vaughan]

This is one of the first AACM discs to be released, and if you know anything about this group of people and what they stood for (the story is fascinating, but too lengthy to be of value here) then you already have a fair idea of what this date is going to be like. In a word, it's free - very loose - avant garde - boisterous - challenging. It was no doubt a recording of an exploration of (then) new ideas, so some might suggest it suffers from missteps or veers into the abyss of noise. Not for me though, this is such a great recording.

To give you an idea of what you have here - the first track has Abrams mostly on the clarinet. He is accompanied by Pauline Taylor on vocals. Ms Taylor sings in an operatic voice (I'm not sure what she's signing specifically0 but what is for sure is that the genre-bending performance is intriguing. It no doubt could only be achieved because the artists making the music had open minds and ears, and were testing out every creative bayou. It demands the same of the listener. For me it totally works, and in fact is probably the highlight of the disc. Later in the track (it runs 10 minutes) we get purely instrumental moments which are full of space.

The second track is a bit of a monster, running 23 minutes. The full weight of the personnel are brought to bare on this one. Most controversially, it seems, is the poetry of David Moore. Now, if you think of the times in which this music was made (1967) you've got to understand the Black Panther movement was just coming to the fore - so having poetry here isn't as odd as you might first think - their message was getting out in all kinds of ways, especially among black jazz musicians of the time. Some have commented that they hate the poetry, but oddly I think it's quite interesting. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's of it's time - but isn't that something of the point? Recordings like this are as much historical document as they are conveyors of tunes. From a distance of decades I take the poetry as simply part of the ambiance of the piece. Besides, the words give food for thought, even today. The poetry lasts for perhaps a fifth of the running time, at the start. And no, it can't be skipped (thank goodness, if you can't possibly master dealing with a little spoken word poetry, what chance have you got with the music itself?!?) The remainder of the music is at turns sparse and cacophonous.

Finally there is a third track, running a little shy of 9 minutes, which follows on - and blends well with - the rest of what is here. There's a little more vocals from Ms. Taylor.

There is a brief article in the foldout booklet from Marc Little, that sadly does nothing more than talk about the roots of AACM (it would have been better to give context to THIS recording and the music on THIS disc - which is completely absent from commentary).

Here is a list of the performers:

Muhal Richard Abrams - Clarinet, Piano
Anthony Braxton - Alto
Leroy Jenkins - Violin
Maurice McIntyre - Tenor
Gordon Emmanuel - Vibes
Charles Clark - Bass
Leonard Jones - Bass
Thurman Barker - Drums
Penelope Taylor - Vocals
David Moore Poetry

Finally let me comment on the recording quality. I love the sound of this disc, but that not a reflection of its high-fidelity. Actually, by some standards this sounds rather dead and lacklustre. However, as a voice reaching to us from New York in 1967, it sounds real and urgent, without time for fancy studio embellishments. It's certainly not going to become a reference disc for your new stereo, but if there is any justice, the sounds here will overcome all.

[Jaakko]

Highly recommendable!

[Chutai]

Kenny Barron & Regina Carter – Freefall

[bluemonkey]

Eddie Bert Sextet: The Human Factor


Eddie Bert Quintet: Kaleidoscope

[Mark of Cenla]

Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Watching those Peanuts cartoons when I was a small boy was my first exposure to jazz. Many records, cassettes, CD's, and sound systems later ... I am still a jazz lover. Peace and goodwill.

PS Maybe that is why I like piano trios too.