BY ANY MEANS – Live At Crescendo (Unofficial Re. 077/078/079 / 3LP-2010)

Label: Private Press / Unofficial Release 077/078/079-3LP
Other: AYVI-0770719-01 / AYVI-0780719-02 / AYVI-0790719-03
Format: 3 x Vinyl, Album / Country: Switzerland / Released: 2008/Re-2010
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded on October 19, 2007 at Club Crescendo, Norrköping, Sweden
Cover – Åke Bjurhamn
Photography By – Lars Jönsson / Joacim Jönsson
Recorded By, Mixed By – Per Ruthström
Executive-Producer, Liner Notes – Jan Ström
Layout – Stéphane Berland
Composed By – Charles Gayle / Rashied Ali / William Parker
7 320470 068335 / Rights Society: BIEM/n©b
Matrix / Runout (LP-1, side A): Private AYVI-0770719-01
Matrix / Runout (LP-1, side B): Private AYVI-0770719-01
Matrix / Runout (LP-2, side C): Private AYVI-0780719-02
Matrix / Runout (LP-2, side D): Private AYVI-0780719-02
Matrix / Runout (LP-3, side E): Private AYVI-0790719-03
Matrix / Runout (LP-3, side F): Private AYVI-0790719-03

side 1:
A1 - Introduction ........................................................................................................ 0:54
A2 - Zero Blues ......................................................................................................... 7:25
A3 - Hearts Joy ....................................................................................................... 13:23
side 2:
B - We Three ........................................................................................................... 14:37

side 3:
C1 - Different Stuff .................................................................................................... 6:28
C2 - Love One Another ........................................................................................... 10:40
side 4:
D1 - Straight Ahead Steps ........................................................................................ 7:19
D2 - Peace Inside ..................................................................................................... 8:33

side 5:
E1 - Machu Picchu ................................................................................................. 10:46
E2 - Cry Nu ............................................................................................................... 7:58
side 6:
F1 - Eternal Voice ..................................................................................................... 9:08
F2 - No Sorrow ......................................................................................................... 7:38

Personnel:
CHARLES GAYLE – alto saxophone
WILLIAM PARKER – bass
RASHIED ALI – drums, percussion

Given the group name and the personnel – wall-destroying saxophonist Charles Gayle, bassist William Parker and drummer Rashied Ali – you’d be forgiven for reaching for the seatbelt in anticipation of another obliterating slab of high energy instant composition. And you’d be half right. After all, this is the same group that cut the raging Touchin’ On Trane for FMP in 1991, still one of the most aggressively nuanced free jazz LPs to retain an umbilical connection to the New Thing. But the change of name also marks a slight change of tack. Live At Crescendo presents a 2007 concert from Sweden in its entirety. Gayle’s playing may not be any sweeter, but it immediately feels more informed by the eschatological gospel and blues that made up more traditionally ‘earthed’ Gayle sides like Ancient Of Days.

The longest track is just over 14 minutes, a mere feather on the breath compared to the steel tongue athleticism of earlier releases, but Gayle’s playing is so hyper-focused, so exactingly executed, that he devours the minutes, bracketing accelerated, smeared scales with boppy heads and sudden invasions of the alto’s most phantom registers.
Rashied Ali has cut some fairly pedestrian sides over the past decade or so, but for the duration of this set his reactions are as lightning fast and tonally astute as anyone who came up in his shadow. His various solo spots combine an almost machine gun-style rapid attack with an uncanny feel for timbre that means at points you could almost mistake his floor tom for Parker’s bass. Indeed, Parker and Ali sound particularly good together and between them they generate the kind of precariously accelerated architecture that Gayle loves to take nosedives from.

The first part of the show is slower, with tracks that feel more rigorously constructed, while the second is a little wilder, kicking off with a great vocal/horn piece by Gayle that feels like a more articulate take on the pan-African love cry of Arthur Doyle.
Parker’s “Eternal Voice” is another highlight, with Gayle picking out high, melodic complements to his singing arco work.

It’s a fantastic set, one that explodes the tradition while simultaneously bolstering it, like all of the most ass-flattening free jazz dates.

(By David Keenan / The Wire)

If you find it, buy this album!

The CHARLES GAYLE TRIO – Live At Disobey 1994 (BFFP 100 2LP / Re-2000)

Label: Blast First – BFFP 100 2LP

Format: 2 x Vinyl, Album, Deluxe Limited Edition / Country: UK / ℗ + © Blast First
Released: 1994 / Re-2000
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded 23 March 1994 at "Disobey", Upstairs At The Garage, Highbury. London
Artwork – Slim Smith
Painting – Carlo Zinelli
Photography By – Bleddyn Butcher
Recorded By – R. Haswell
Mixed By – Paul Kendall
Written-By – The Charles Gayle Trio
Matrix / Runout (Side A, Hand etched): BFFP 100 2LP - A1 K III F
Matrix / Runout (Side B, Hand etched): BFFP 100 2LP - B1 K III FX
Matrix / Runout (Side C, Hand etched): BFFP 100 2LP - C1 K III H
Matrix / Runout (Side D, Hand etched): BFFP 100 2LP - D1 K III F
Through a special agreement with "The Wire" magazine in a limited edition of 500 copies.

side 1
A - Holy Faith .......................................................................................................... 17:50

side 2
B1 - Holy Faith (continued) ....................................................................................... 5:35
B2 - Psalm Prayer ................................................................................................... 11:50

side 3
C - Hymn Of Redemption ....................................................................................... 16:05

side 4
D - Hymn Of Redemption (continued) .................................................................... 16:20

Personnel:
CHARLES GAYLE – tenor saxophone / bass clarinet / voice
HILLIARD GREEN – bass / voice
MICHAEL WIMBERLEY – drums / percussion

You’ve probably heard about The Garage, a popular music venue in Highbury, London, still going on nowadays. For a few years in the mid 90’s, the room above The Garage hosted a smaller club-in-the-club kind of thing. It was called Disobey, and its emblem was a funny mock up of the Disney logo. Disobey was founded by Paul Smith, the man behind avant rock record label Blast First, and its events (usually more experimental than the shows hosted at The Garage) attracted a crowd of hip personalities ranging from Jarvis Cocker to Nick Cave and Brian Eno.

That’s the environment where Charles Gayle recorded one of the best albums of his career. Aptly titled ‘Live At Disobey’, it sounds like the perfect companion to his free jazz masterpiece ‘Repent’: trio setting (though the rhythm section is Hilliard Green on bass and Michael Wimberley on drums here), same fury and intensity, extensively long tracks. Besides his usual tenor sax, Gayle sprinkles a little bit of bass clarinet again, but that doesn’t make much of a difference for the final result. If Gayle’s playing at his fiercest is your thing, look no further. Other than the obvious musical merits, ‘Live At Disobey’ is also pivotal because it marks the time Charles Gayle started to transcend the jazz scene and attract interest among the more open minded parts of the rock crowd, including features on a magazine like The Wire, which contributed to the release of cd (and later double LP) on a rock label like the aforementioned Blast First.

 No wonder this renewed interest in his music would soon lead to some other unexpected and interesting collaborations.

Note:
The Garage, Highbury. London:
https://www.thegarage.london/live/
https://www.thegarage.london/
Address: 20-22 Highbury Corner, London, N5 1RD

If you find it, buy this album!

DAVID S. WARE – Onecept (Rank & File - RFS 33-203 / AUM064-LP / 2LP-2011)

Label: Rank And File – RFS 33-203 / Aum Fidelity – AUM064-LP
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Gatefold
Country: Germany / Released: 2011
Style: Free Jazz, Avant-garde Jazz
Recorded live (December 2, 2009) in '3D Sound' at Systems Two Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
Pressed By – A to Z Media
Artwork [Cover] – Richard Cohen
Design, Layout – Ming@409
Photography By [Session Photography] – John Rogers
Recorded By, Mixed By, Mastered By – Michael Marciano
Producer [Produced By] – David S. Ware, Steven Joerg
Liner Notes – Steven Joerg
Composed By – Ware / Smith / Parker
Published By – Gandharvasphere/ Daswa
Matrix / Runout (Side A): RFS 33-203 - A / AUM064-LP A
Matrix / Runout (Side B): RFS 33-203 - B / AUM064-LP B

side 1
A1 - Book Of Krittika ................................................................................................ 7:53
A2 - Wheel Of Life ................................................................................................... 6:31
A3 - Celestial ........................................................................................................... 6:24

side 2
B1 - Desire Worlds .................................................................................................. 6:56
B2 - Astral Earth .................................................................................................... 14:54

side 3
C1 - Savaka ............................................................................................................ 4:35
C2 - Bardo ............................................................................................................... 6:43
C3 - Anagami .......................................................................................................... 6:50

side 4
D1 - Vata ................................................................................................................. 4:27
D2 - Virtue ............................................................................................................... 6:47
D3 - Gnavah ............................................................................................................ 9:06

Personnel:
DAVID S. WARE – tenor sax (A2,A3,C2,D3), stritch (A1,B2,C3), saxello (B1,C1,D1,D2)
WILLIAM PARKER – double bass
WARREN SMITH – drums / tympani / percussion

Under exclusive license from AUM Fidelity this alpha omega 2xLP edition of 500 produced by rank & file / AUM / ℗+© 2011
Vinyl edition features two exclusive bonus tracks (D2/D3) from Onecept session unavailable elsewhere.

David S. Ware's Onecept was recorded to celebrate his 50th year of playing saxophone; the sessions took place a year after the session's initially planned recording date due to his undergoing a kidney transplant. It follows Saturnian, the 2009 album of a completely improvised solo concert that Ware played using his tenor, a stritch, and a saxello. Those horns are present here too, and like that live date, this studio session is completely improvised on the spot with no previous rehearsal with bassist William Parker and drummer Warren Smith. It marks the first time in his career he's recorded this way.Ware introduces the date with "Book of Krittika" unaccompanied for 53 seconds before Parker enters playing arco elegantly, as Smith employs a timpani, playing sparely, quietly, before bringing a cymbal into play. This is truly free jazz, spontaneous, collectively envisioned, and played with an integrity of spirit that is almost entirely free of overindulgence. On "Celestial" and "Bardo," Ware searches for something out of earshot of the other players momentarily. The rhythm section, rather than trying to fill in the gap in that understanding, simply begins to react to the way his soloing develops, then articulates what he eventually finds. Smith in particular does an outstanding job of finding a place not behind but between Ware and Parker, adjusting his idea flow, and extending it into dialogue. Force, momentum, and dynamic shift around that collectively new voice and something is born into a previously unimagined sound. "Astral Earth" is an extended blues meditation with Ware on stritch where everything is in perfect balance; it's the most beautiful thing here. He begins "Desire Worlds" with an insistent flurry of notes on saxello that is not furious, but busy. Parker adds ballast by bowing a series of deep-register phrases that underscore the frenetic speech; because of the repetitive nature of his playing, he anchors it in mantra-like articulation. Smith finds accent points at the expulsion of Ware's breath, and then uses his notes not to fill, but to push the conversation further in that direction. This is the beauty in this kind of improvisation, when it works as it does here. Far from being a mere blowing session, it is instead a listening session, where everything centers around what these players hear individually and collectively.

Certainly there are moments when the dialogue gets a little bottlenecked, but it frees itself with movement and space rather than just force. Ware's development as a player is no longer reliant on his physicality -- though he still possesses it in abundance. Rather, it's his centering on that collective voice, which offers so many dimensions and textures to explore, where he expresses his creativity and mastery of his horns. Onecept is an exciting next step in Ware's musical evolution.

(By Thom Jurek)

If you find it, buy this album!

DAVID S. WARE TRIO – Live In New York 2010 (Private / DSW ARC03 – 3LP)

Label: Private Press / Unofficial Release / AUM102/103/104-3LP
Series: David S. Ware Archive Series – DSW ARC03
Format: 3 x Vinyl, Album / Country: Switzerland / Deluxe Limited Edition
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded live in performance at the Blue Note, NYC on the night of October 4, 2010.
Artwork – Jeff Schlanger
Multi-track recording by Jimmy Katz
Mixed with & final mastering by Michael Marciano at Systems Two Studios, Brooklyn, NYC
Produced by Steven Joerg
All compositions by David S. Ware with William Parker & Warren Smith
© Gandharvasphere/Daswa
Matrix / Runout (LP-1, side A): DSW ARC03 Private AUM102 – 01
Matrix / Runout (LP-1, side B): DSW ARC03 Private AUM102 – 01
Matrix / Runout (LP-2, side C): DSW ARC03 Private AUM103 – 02
Matrix / Runout (LP-2, side D): DSW ARC03 Private AUM103 – 02
Matrix / Runout (LP-3, side E): DSW ARC03 Private AUM104 – 03
Matrix / Runout (LP-3, side F): DSW ARC03 Private AUM104 – 03

side 1                         SET ONE
A - 1-A ...................................................................................................................... 15:41

side 2
B1 - 1-B ................................................................................................................... 14:27
B2 - 1-C ..................................................................................................................... 6:42

side 3
C - 2-A ..................................................................................................................... 17:40

side 4
D1 - 2-B ..................................................................................................................... 9:04
                                   SET TWO
D2 - 3 ...................................................................................................................... 14:47

side 5
E1 - 4-A ................................................................................................................... 14:40
E2 - 4-B ..................................................................................................................... 3:58
E3 - 4-C .................................................................................................................... 5:25

side 6
F1 - 5 ....................................................................................................................... 10:21
F2 - 6-A ..................................................................................................................... 8:38
F3 - 6-B ..................................................................................................................... 8:40

Personnel:
DAVID S. WARE – alto saxophone [stritch] / tenor saxophone
WILLIAM PARKER – acoustic bass
WARREN SMITH – drums / percussion

''The fluency and fluidity with which he rapidly unspools ideas is startling. Whether alone or joined by Parker and Smith, Ware unfurls long expository statements with virtuosity and a mastery over phrasing, rhythm, and accent in ways that are exemplified by literary giants such as Thomas Pynchon. Breathtaking.'' – Point of Departure

Live in New York, 2010 presents a tremendous one-night engagement by saxophone colossus David S. Ware and his latter day Trio in an intimate club setting – the Blue Note on October 4, 2010. With his perennially steadfast musical partner William Parker on bass, and equally incomparable Warren Smith on drums, they were celebrating the recent release of the studio album, Onecept. Having played an electrifying set at Vision Festival in June, this extended night in October was the third and final magnificent time on which this trio convened.
The two hour+ sets, with repast in-between, allowed him and group to inhabit the space; afforded more time to stretch out and breathe with the music. As Ware was exclusively dealing with spontaneous forms during this period in his creative life, the six extended suites here were newly created on that night. None of these fantastic multi-track recordings have been previously released.

The more highly distinctive aspect of this performance was Ware’s use of his Beuscher straight alto saxophone, or stritch, which features on four of the six pieces. While compositions featuring this instrument appear on three albums recorded & released in the last years before his passing, this recording is by a great measure the most extensive documentation that exists of David S. Ware on alto. Further to his absolute command & control, he brought forth Middle & Far Eastern sonorities on the instrument, which served his modus operandi of music as a transcendental experience very well indeed. The final pieces of each set here feature him on his trademark tenor sax, upon which he earned–and then some–his status as a saxophone colossus.

This is the third edition in the David S. Ware Archive Series, preceded by the Birth of a Being (Expanded) set and the Live in Sant’Anna Arresi, 2004 duo with Matthew Shipp. This set is a musical treat for those who are already fans of his work, and a bountifully potent entry point for new converts.

A note on the track titles:
During this last phase of his creative arc, David would give titles to compositions after listening to final mixes of the recordings thereof. In his absence, AUM did not take latitude to do so, beyond the elemental.

If you find it, buy this album!

STEVE COLEMAN and FIVE ELEMENTS – Resistance Is Futile / Live (3LP-2005)

Label: Private Press / Unofficial Release / LBLC6643/44/45-3LP
Format: 3 x Vinyl, Album / Country: Switzerland / Released: 2001/Re-2005
Style: Experimental Jazz, Free Jazz
Live concert recordings made at Jam, Montpellier, France, July 12-13, 2001.
Mixed July/August 2001 (By – Joseph Marciano, Steve Coleman)
Mastered August 21, 2001 (By – Nicholas Prout)
Engineer – Hervé Martin, Vincent Mahey
Design – Jérôme Witz
Photography By – Guy Le Querrec
Producer – Steve Coleman
Co-producer [Assistant] – Geoffroy De Masure
Executive-Producer – Pierre Walfisz
Liner Notes – Steve Coleman
Matrix / Runout (LP-1, side A): Private LBLC6643 – 01
Matrix / Runout (LP-1, side B): Private LBLC6643 – 01b
Matrix / Runout (LP-2, side C): Private LBLC6644 – 02
Matrix / Runout (LP-2, side D): Private LBLC6644 – 02b
Matrix / Runout (LP-3, side E): Private LBLC6645 – 03
Matrix / Runout (LP-3, side F): Private LBLC6645 – 03b

SET 1 - ABUNDANCE (FULLNESS)
side 1:
A1 - Wheel Of Nature ............................................................................................ 18:54
A2 - Beyond All We Know ....................................................................................... 6:05

side 2:
B1 - 9 To 5 ............................................................................................................ 14:42
B2 - Change The Guard ......................................................................................... 8:57

side 3:
C1 - Ah-Leu-Cha .................................................................................................... 5:28
C2 - Law Of Balance / Figit Time ......................................................................... 13:50

SET 2 - THE WANDERER
side 4:
D1 - Resistance Is Futile (Limitation) ................................................................... 15:14
D2 - Hits / Straight No Chaser ............................................................................... 6:10
D3 - Pad Thai ......................................................................................................... 2:55

side 5:
E1 - Easy Living ..................................................................................................... 7:15
E2 - Flint ............................................................................................................... 12:25

side 6:
F1 - Urban .............................................................................................................. 7:37
F2 - Straight Ahead ................................................................................................ 5:46
F3 - Reflex ............................................................................................................ 10:04

Personnel:
Steve Coleman – alto saxophone, vocals
Jonathan Finlayson – trumpet
Ambrose Campbell-Akinmusire – trumpet
Andy Milne – piano, keyboards
Anthony Tidd – bass
Jesús Diaz – percussion, vocals
Sean Rickman – drums
Geoffroy DeMasure – trombone (guest)

The high-concept recordings of saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Steve Coleman are often confrontational, always provocative, and thoroughly engaging. Still, one cannot help but feel that something gets lost in the translation process in the recording studio. This triple-LP live package, recorded in France in 2001 from two concerts, showcases the Five Elements at their most ambitious, yet subtle best.

Coleman's lineup features trumpeters Jonathan Finlayson and Ambrose Akinmusire, pianist Andy Milne, Anthony Tidd on bass, Jesús Diaz on percussion, drummer Sean Rickman, and trombonist Geoffroy DeMasure. While it's true that most of these musicians are not well known, it's all for the better. Coleman's vision is pure, and the strengths of his collaborators shine through as part of the ensemble, according to plan. Set one is for the most part subdued and meditative, though there are moments of joyous, raucous energy that burst from the seams of the music, such as on "9 to 5," where a long, nearly classical opening is augmented by a Bulgarian dance band melodic line that gives way to a funky overdriven modal chart allowing the front-line players short solos that interchange at a rapid pace. Likewise, the cover of Mingus' "Ah-Leu-Cha" is saturated in deep, greasy blues and gutbucket funk. The way in which Coleman moves the band through the intervals in the bridge is simply stunning.

Second set, which kicks off with the title track, offers a melodic line that is Latin in root, modal in step, and Sun Ra-ish in articulation. The front line shows great discipline in playing just behind the beat with long lines; they angle around a chord figure that is continually refracted against the dissonance by Milne, until the tune breaks open into improvisation with Coleman taking the lead. Track two, the funky "Hits," feels like an Ornette tune coming out of P-Funk, until it breaks down into "Straight, No Chaser" and then "Easy Living." But that's the beginning, really, as Coleman and company tear into a tune by Jerry Goldsmith, a few originals, and one of the finest renditions of Mal Waldron's "Straight Ahead" ever played. Ending with Coleman's "Reflex," the saxophonist moves the edges to the margin and concentrates all of his organizational energies on bringing the band down into the heart of the strange and beautiful melody, accenting the polyrhythms with flurries of notes that open the doors wider and allow everybody to settle into a space that gradually pushes out into the realm of silence. This is one of those rare performances where everything works, and comes across to the listener as an actual concert experience.

(Review by Thom Jurek)

If you find it, buy this album!