KEITH TIPPETT and LOUIS MOHOLO – No Gossip (1982)

Label: FMP – SAJ-28
Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: Germany - Released: 1982
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded by Thomas Funk on March 20th & 23rd, 1980, during the Workshop Freie Musik at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.
Music edited by – Harry Millerand and Jost Gebers
Produced by – Jost Gebers
Cover photographs and cover design by – Dagmar and Jost Gebers

"No Gossip"... An outstanding pairing of percussion and melody from the British pianist Tippett and South African drummer Moholo. What’s surprising is that Moholo provides much of the melodic material, while Tippett handles the beat. An intense record that demands attention.

This LP was originally released in 1982 (and recorded in 1980); it has never been on CD. The pair have continued to perform as No Gossip, most recently 2010 in London, on the occasion of Moholo’s 70th birthday. The last surviving member of the Blue Notes, Moholo is a towering figure of the music, a bridge that links South Africa to the European scene, and beyond. Tippett brings a huge imagination and aggressively heterodox approach to his instrument. Together, they form a timeless couple.

This is simply one of the best free improvisation jazz albums around. Tippett is a woefully overlooked pianist whose technical abilities and musical sensibilities are vast. Coupled with the energetic drummer Louis Moholo, these two have created a fiery, frenetic, but thoroughly captivating music. Rather than being simply a flurry of notes, this music is exciting, invigorating and demands attention. “ Black and White Unite ” is a nearly continuous onslaught of sound that leaves the listener drained, but blissfully so. “ Dedicated to Mandela, Biko, Sobukwe ” is a more varied work. Over Moholo’s perpetual motion drumming, Tippett works with a variety of textures and ideas, with passages that make reference to more conventional jazz, some lyrical and beautiful arpeggios, as well as some pull out all the stops jamming. Side two begins with the most extreme piece, which includes bird calls, guttural utterances, Tippett damping the strings with his hand inside the piano, and other unidentified sounds, not to mention some absolutely stunning playing by Tippett. Finally, “ All People…God’s People…Don’t Worry ” is a very interesting piece which finds Tippett exploring the lower, oft neglected, register of the piano. This is an album that must be heard.

...and

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Links in Comments!