ANTHONY BRAXTON – For Trio (LP-1978)

Label: Arista – AB-4181

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US/Canada / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded on Sept. 22, 1977 at Streeterville Sound, Chicago, IL.

Art Direction – Howard Fritzson

Artwork [Front Cover Art], Photography By [Insert Photography] – Nickie Braxton

Engineer [Recording & Mixing Engineer] – Jim Dolan

Executive-Producer – Steve Backer

Mastered By – Bob Ludwig

Producer – Michael Cuscuna

A - Version I – Composition 76 ................................................ 20:22

      Anthony Braxton – piccolo flute, flute [C flute], soprano clarinet, soprano clarinet [B♭  clarinet], contra-alto clarinet, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone [E♭ soprano sax], alto saxophone, contrabass saxophone, performer [Tragata], gongs, percussion, little instruments

      Henry Threadgill – flute, flute [bass flute], alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, performer [Hub "T" Wall], gongs, percussion, little instruments

      Douglas Ewart – piccolo flute, flute, soprano clarinet, soprano clarinet [B♭ clarinet],  bass clarinet, soprano saxophone [E♭ soprano sax, B♭ soprano sax], alto saxophone, bassoon, performer [Ewartphone], Gongs, percussion, little instruments

B - Version II – Composition 76 ................................................ 20:56

      Anthony Braxton – piccolo flute, flute [C flute], soprano clarinet, soprano clarinet [B♭  clarinet], contra-alto clarinet, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone [E♭ soprano sax], alto saxophone, contrabass saxophone, performer [Tragata], gongs, percussion, little instruments

      Joseph Jarman – flute, clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, vibraphone, Gongs, Percussion, little instruments

      Roscoe Mitchell – piccolo flute, flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, gongs, percussion, little instruments

Side A – Anthony Braxton (Middle) / Henry Threadgill (Right Channel) / Douglas Ewart (Left Channel)

Side B – Anthony Braxton (Middle) / Joseph Jarman (Right Channel) / Roscoe Mitchell (Left Channel)

Always one to try for something different, for this album Braxton organized two trios of well known avant-garde jazz musicians (he himself played in both groups) and recorded two side-long versions of the same composition, one of which has little to do with jazz, at least superficially. The piece, which is listed as "Composition 76" in the superb discography compiled by Francesco Martinelli (Bandecchi & Vivaldi Editore, 2000), is designed as a series of "routes" through a form, with agreed upon signposts along the way but with wide allowances for how the performers arrive there. These signposts include unison vocal refrains, staccato rhythmic lines and soft, sighing plaints from the horns. The extremely high caliber of the musicians which Braxton chose for this project guarantee some inspired playing and great imagination in working their way through this often forbidding territory. While admirers of his more jazz oriented work might find the music here daunting indeed, it repays careful listening and also strikes one as a seminal work that prefigures many of the concerns he would deal with later on in his collage-form structures written for his classic quartet of the '80s and '90s.

(Review by Brian Olewnick)

If you find it, buy this album!

WILLEM BREUKER KOLLEKTIEF – Driebergen - Zeist (LP-1983)

Label: BV Haast Records – BVHAAST 050

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Netherlands / Released: 1983

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Sound Push Studio's, Blaricum the Netherlands, Sept. 12th./13th. 1983.

All arrangements by Willem Breuker

Cover design / Photos by – Reinko Kuiper

Mixed September 15th 1983

Engineer by – Jan Schumman

A1 - Wolkbreuk III ............................................................................ 5:54

A2 - No Wave Samba ...................................................................... 6:06

A3 - Benares. (From Mahagonny) ................................................... 3:50

        Composed By – Kurt Weill

A4 - What? ....................................................................................... 4:59

A5 - Lied Van De Zware Toffe Jongens /

        Pirate Jenny (From Three Penny Opera) ................................. 2:24

        Composed By – Kurt Weill, Vocals – Dick Swidde

B1 - Driebergen – Zeist .................................................................... 9:56

B2 - Dance Of The Knights (From Romeo And Juliet) ..................... 3:55

        Composed By – Serge Prokofiev

B3 - Creole Call Love ....................................................................... 6:30

        Clarinet – Michiel de Ruyter, Composed By – Duke Ellington

Willem Breuker – saxophone, clarinet

André Goudbeek – clarinet, saxophone

Maarten van Norden – saxophone, clarinet

Bernard Hunnekink – trombone

Garrett List – trombone

Andy Altenfelder – trumpet

Boy Raaymakers – trumpet

Henk de Jonge – piano, synthesizer

Arjen Gorter – double bass

Robbie Verdurmen – drums, percussion

 Willem Breuker / Maarten van Norden

 Arjen Gorter / Robbie Verdurmen

Boy Raaymakers / Bernard Hunnekink

Driebergen-Zeist is one of two or three albums released by Breuker's Kollektief in the early- to mid-'80s that represent this band at the absolute peak of its considerable powers. At this point, all the energy that had been a central part of the group since its inception in 1974 combined seamlessly with Breuker's elaborate and complex compositional skills to produce music unlike anyone else's at that time or since. It was a music both experimental and surprisingly accessible, connecting disparate points between 20th century classical music, street songs, and avant-garde jazz, all soldered firmly together by Breuker's devilish sense of humor. Much of the album is given over to covers, all of them performed superbly. Breuker's long-time affinity for Kurt Weill is made clear both in the version of "Benares" (from Mahagonny) and, utterly wonderfully, in his "Pirate Jenny," featuring vocals and new lyrics by the gruff, elderly Dutch actor/singer Dick Swidde, who growls and sputters his way through hilariously. There's also a lovely and straight reading of Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights (from Romeo and Juliet) and a creamy, adoring rendition of Ellington's "Creole Love Call" with guest clarinetist Michiel de Ruyter. Many a "traditional" jazz band could take a lesson from this heartfelt performance. Breuker's own cleverly titled composition "What?" comes about as close as possible to duplicating "Take the 'A' Train" without ever quite getting there -- a bravura demonstration indeed. But the real highlight of this LP is the title piece. Ten minutes long and apparently through-composed, "Driebergen-Zeist" sounds like some otherworldly melding of Ellington, Gershwin, and Carl Stalling as themes collide, disappear, and arise from nowhere, each more gorgeous than the last, and are undermined by false starts, fake endings, and composed "mistakes" (the latter including a delightful section where drummer Rob Verdurmen makes several "wrong" entrances). It's an astonishing work and illustrative of what this ensemble was capable of at its best.

Very highly recommended.

If you find it, buy this album!

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!

STEVE LACY – Dreams (LP-1975 / Saravah – SH 10058)

Label: Saravah – SH 10058

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded at Saravah Studios Paris, May 12-15-1975

Artwork [Cover Art] – Claude Bellegarde

Engineer – Christian Jence

Photography By [Photos] – Bunny Brissett

Producer – Pierre Barouh

Technician [Assistant] – Larry Martin

A1 - The Uh Uh Uh .............................................................. 7:20

A2 - Dreams ......................................................................... 3:05

A3 - The Oil ......................................................................... 9:10

B1 - The Wane ................................................................... 10:00

B2 - Crops ............................................................................ 7:00

Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone, composed

Steve Potts – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone

Derek Bailey – guitar

Jean-Jacques Avenel – bass

Kent Carter – bass

Irene Aebi – voice, cello

Kenneth Tyler – drums, percussion

featuring:

guitar – Boulou Ferré (tracks: A2, B2), Jack Treese (tracks: A2, B2)

Dreams is easily Lacy's greatest moment from the 70s, and the one that sounds, simultaneously, most and least like him.

Recorded at Saravah's studios in Paris in May 1975, Dreams is the fourth of five albums cut for the label by Steve Lacy between 1969 (Roba) and 1977 (The Owl) -- the intervening pair being 1971's Lapis and 1974's Scraps -- and features the soprano saxophonist in the company of his favorite playing partners, altoist Steve Potts, bassists Kent Carter and Jean-Jacques Avenel, guitarist Derek Bailey, drummer Ken Tyler, and not forgetting the composer's partner, Irene Aebi on cello and vocals on the dreamy, almost Debussyesque setting of Brion Gysin's permutational poem "Dreams." For the occasion, the group is joined by Saravah regulars guitarists Boulou Ferre and Jack Treese, who also contributes some spindly banjo to the closing "Crops." It's quintessential Lacy, all relentless harmonic cycles with saxophones locked together a whole- or half-tone apart, but extraordinarily varied in scope nevertheless, running the gamut from the twisted psychedelic funk of "The Uh Uh Uh" to the rolling free folk of "Crops," via the tense, claustrophobic weave of "The Oil." On this, the tough nut of the set, Bailey's pinched Webernian splutters are the perfect foil for the rigorous saxophone dirge, and his volleys of harmonics complement Treese's fingerpicking to perfection in "Crops." And anyone who still doubts Lacy's consummate mastery of his instrument needs only to check out the ease with which he negotiates the ferociously difficult theme in "The Wane."

As the story unfolds one small piece at a time over this LP, the vision of the man comes clearly into view and his true genius is revealed. Lacy saw jazz in the 70s as a way to make sense of the entire world -- a world in transition and fragmentation. His musical view was all-inclusive (Bailey's rock and funk moves on the Dreams album) and sought order using a musical language that would open the doors to dialogue: first with musicians and then with other artists everywhere. The amazing thing is that -- at least in the avant-garde music world -- he succeeded: because everyone there cites him as an influence...........

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

CONFLUENCE – 4 Voyages (LP-1976)

Label: RCA Victor – FPL1 0132

Series: Balance

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1976

Style: Avantgarde, Fusion, Free Improvisation

A1 + B - Recorded live on January 25, 1976 at the Festival de Villejuif

A2 - Recorded live on 20 December, 1975 at the Nouveau Carré à Paris

Photo: Richard Bonin and Thierry Trombert

Production by – Confluence

Sound recording by – Alain François

A1 - Dakka .............................................................................. 5:25

         (Written-By – Armand Lemal)

A2 - Convergences ................................................................ 11:50

         (Written-By – Jean-Charles Capon)

B  -  4 Voyages ...................................................................... 19:00

         (Written-By – Didier Levallet)

Jean-Charles Capon - cello (violoncello)

Didier Levallet - contrabass

Jean Querlier - oboe (hautbois), cor Anglais, flute, alto / soprano saxophone

Christian Escoudé - guitar

Armand Lemal - percussion

Merzak Mouthana – drums, percussion

Quietly gorgeous French jazzy prog vinyl made up of three long (dark, anxious, yet rhythmic and beautiful) tracks, often focused around the wistful cello work of Jean-Francois Capon (cello), whose devastating outfit Baroque Jazz Trio recently had their one eponymous album reissued, and his colleagues Didier Levallet (contrabass) and Armand Lemal (percussion). There are also Christian Escoudé (guitar), Jean Querlier (oboe, flute, saxophones) and Merzak Mouthana (drums).

One of France's great undiscovered treasures. 

The band recorded three albums (one of the few groups of French Jazz at this time to record for a major label, RCA), and this LP, live recording on January 25, 1976 at the Festival de Villejuif and 20 December 1975 at the Nouveau Carré à Paris, it is their debut.

I would say that it is actually chamber jazz, with a very well worked melding of chamber orchestra (a lot of violin, flute, cello, double bass) and jazz.

These progressive musicians wrote a kind of music that has no rules, they use rock, jazz, and european classical in equal measure to create a whole that is perfectly harmonious and has no borders or styles...

NOTE:

Didier Levallet, born 19 July 1944, Arcy sur Cure, France. Levallet is largely a self-taught bass player who studied journalism at L’Ecole Superieure de Journalisme de Lille (1963-66) and went on for a short time to study bass at Lille Conservatory. He moved to Paris in 1969 and played with a wide range of local and visiting musicians including Ted Curson, Hank Mobley, Mal Waldron and Johnny Griffin. He worked with the free-jazz quartet Perception through the 70s and worked in the USA with tenor saxophonist Byard Lancaster (1974-76). He also led "Confluence" (with: Jean-Charles Capon and Christian Escoudé), a group based on strings and percussion only. In the early 80s he played with Frank Lowe, Archie Shepp, Mike Westbrook’s Concert Band and Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath as well as the Double Quartet with Tony Oxley. Levallet is a prolific composer who can combine free-improvisation and structure coherently. He works within four bands - the Quintet, a 12-piece band, Swing Strings System (which utilises seven string players plus drums) and a trio with Dominique Pifarely (violin) and Gérard Marais (guitar). In 1976, he founded ADMI (Association pour la Developement de la Musique Improvise), which acts as a pressure group and concert organizer. He teaches jazz at L’Ecole National de Musique in Angouleme.

If you find it, buy this album!