JOE McPHEE – Old Eyes (LP-1980)

Label: hat Hut Records – hat Hut ONE (1R01)

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Switzerland / Released: 1980

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded by Jef Gilson in Paris on May 30, 1979.

Photo by – Ken Brunton

Cover art by – Klaus Baumgärtner

Engineer – Jef Gilson

Mixed By – Peter Pfister

A1  -  Eroc Tinu .............................................................. 4:00

          Land Dance ..... (12:45)

A2a - P / G / G ................................................................ 3:02

A2b - BCL / Cello ............................................................ 3:16

A2c - B / DM .................................................................... 3:11

A2d - TS / TS .................................................................. 3:22

A3  -  Old Eyes ................................................................ 8:50

B1  -  Django ................................................................. 14:25

B2  -  No Line .................................................................. 3:05

B3  -  Strings ................................................................... 7:10

Joe McPhee – alto / tenor saxophone

André Jaume – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Raymond Boni – acoustic and electric guitars

Steve Gnitka – electric guitars

Jean-Charles Capon – cello

Pierre-Yves Sorin – bass

Milo Fine – piano and drums

Old Eyes is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee, recorded in 1979 and first released on the Swedish HatHut label in 1980.

 "I've always intentionally kept a low profile. I think the music goes where it has to go anyway, so I'm not going to run around in circles and scream. In America, everybody's looking for the latest revelation on the scene : who'll be the new Bird ? Who's going to replace Trane? As for me, anyway, I'm not new."

(~ Joe McPhee, from Down Beat, 1991)

END AT THE BEGINNING - BEGINNING AT THE END

PO MUSIC HAS NO CANVAS OR MODEL OR PALLET

NO PENCIL PAPER OR STORY

NO KNOWLEDGE MEMORY OR WISDOM

PO MUSIC LISTENS TO SILENCE

EXPANDING IN UNISON

CONTRACTING IN COLORS

PO MUSIC HAS HARMONY IN THE MUSICIANS

TASTES GOOD

AND FLOATS UPSIDE DOWN IN AFTER-GLOW

PO MUSIC HAS INSTRUMENTALITY

AND USES IT

LEADING AND FOLLOWING AT THE SAME TIME

(~ Joe McPhee, 1981, from the Liner Notes to: Joe McPhee Po Music - Linear B, hat ART CD 6057, 1991)

 André Jaume / Joe McPhee

The decade 1981 - 1991 marked the most productive and satisfying period in my music career. Yet mysteriously it remains the least documented in terms of recordings. The Cycle began with the recording of TOPOLOGY March 24, 1981 and ended with a multi-media performance of a work entitled HAZEL'S DINER on March 23, 1991. Many performances were given in each of the inclusive years, but to this date only three recordings, exclusively on hat Hut Records, document this period: TOPOLOGY (1981), OLEO (1982), and MYSTERIES/LINEAR B (1990).

Beginning at the beginning is to introduce two important musicians who have most directly influenced my work since our meeting in 1979, saxophonist André Jaume and guitarist Raymond Boni. The ocassion was the Paris session OLD EYES. From that moment a bond of friendship support and collaboration was formed which has shaped the entire body of my work to this day. Although not literally in the PO MUSIC series the roots of the concept can be traced to OLD EYES and is reflected in the final 1990 Zurich sessions which produced MYSTERIES/LINEAR B. Coincidentally OLD EYES, TOPOLOGY, and MYSTERIES/LINEAR B are further linked by the fact that all are studio dates, all feature large ensembles, and all include the rare use of percussionists (Mile Fine, Pierre Favre, Fritz Hauser). Each also includes the trio Boni-Jaume-McPhee at the core of its unifying structure. The trio continues today as a separate entity building on the strength of our relationship.

Beginning at the end, many important personal lessons were learned from the various experiences associated with the PO MUSIC loop/cycle. PO is after all only a language indicator, and the use of provocation to discover new ideas has always been the point. Also, it was always my intention that one day the concept would be clear enough that the word MUSIC in association with my work would make language indicators unnecessary.

(~ Joe McPhee, Pooughkeepsie, NY, July 6, 1991)

The "Old Eyes" sessions in May 1979 in Paris by the way were taken up by Jef Gilson. The big highlight for me is "Django", by far the longest piece. "Old Eyes" himself (the second longest and next to "Strings", the third, which lasts longer than three to four minutes) is actually dedicated to Ornette Coleman, "with much respect and gratitude. The title comes from a term I once heard a psychic use to describe someone who Carried the look of past ages of tradition in his eyes. "

(~ McPhee, liner notes to hat ART 6057 or 6047 hat ART)

Enjoy !

If you find it, buy this album!