Label:
Black Saint – BSR 0005
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Italy / Released: 1976
Style:
Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded at
Generation Sound Studios in New York City on October 20/21, 1975.
Artwork
– Ariel Soulè
Engineer
– Tony May
Photography
By – Giuseppe G. Pino
Producer
– Giacomo Pellicciotti
A1
- Sun Voyage . . . . . . . . . . 7:35
(by Joseph Bowie)
A2
- Flam . . . . . . . . . . 14:03
(by Frank Lowe)
B1
- Be-Bo-Bo-Be . . . . . . . . . . 10:53
(by Charles Shaw)
B2
- Third St. Stomp . . . . . . . . . . 10:21
(by Lowe/Shaw/Bowie/Blake/Smith)
B3
- U.B.P. . . . . . . . . . . 0:45
(by Leo Smith)
Frank
Lowe – tenor saxophone
Leo
Smith – trumpet, flugelhorn, wood flute
Joseph
Bowie – trombone
Alex
Blake – bass, electric bass
Charles
"Bobo" Shaw – drums
On
this free jazz date the powerful tenor Frank Lowe teams up with trumpeter Leo
Smith, trombonist Joseph Bowie, bassist Alex Blake and drummer Charles Bobo
Shaw for five group originals including the collaboration "Third St.
Stomp." The very explorative and rather emotional music holds one's
interest throughout. These often heated performances are better heard than
described. (_by Scott
Yanow)
_1 A
truly unclassifiable bit of madness from the great tenor player Frank Lowe, The
Flam finds him breaking free from the hard-blowing freakout fests of the New
York free jazz scene and moving on to something entirely different. At the time
of The Flam’s recording, Lowe was fresh from groundbreaking sideman work on Don
Cherry’s equally adventurous Brown Rice, and the heady experimentalism of those
sessions seems to have at least partially informed Lowe’s work here. On the
whole, though, The Flam is a far more intimidating, less welcoming work than
Cherry’s. Where Brown Rice sometimes traded in abstract spiritualism, The Flam,
with its jagged textures and harsh dissonance, possessed a distinct air of
menace. Take “Third Street Stomp,” a rigorous workout led by Alex Blake's
frantic electric bass work; it anticipates the punk-informed aggression of the
No Wave scene. A truly strange and wonderful piece of work, The Flam marks the
point in Lowe’s career where he finally began to emerge from the shadow of
Coltrane’s influence to forge his own inimitable aesthetic.
_2 ... What
I hear in Lowe's harsh/gentle saxophone playing is a constant search for the
possibilities of expression - from the harshest coarse growls to soft, quiet
tones. He uses these extreme modes of expression in a way I have not heard
before - a soft descending phrase followed by a coarse scream which is followed
by other sounds, each different and fresh. In this he is different than
musicians such as Coltrane, Ayler, or Charles Gayle - who tend to build their
sound gradually, achieving the maximum effect before changing direction.
The
other musicians add their fair share of creative moments to the vinyl - Joseph
Bowie makes the trombone sound a million ways, and Alex Blake plays everything
from abstract to finger slapped funk. Leo Smith is always interesting and
Charles Bobo Shaw plays what to me is perfect and ego-less support for the
group.
After
about 3-4 times I listened to the LP - it became one of my favorites. This is
"no frills" music, honest and daring. I believe it is a music that is
built on the foundations layed out by Thelonious Monk - the rhythmic diversity,
the sudden cuts - although it may not have been what the musicians had in mind.
The influence of the AACM movement is evident too.
But
it is mostly Frank Lowe, who, based on the music here, deserves to be mentioned
as a member of the top crop of creative jazzmen who have entered the scene in
the 60's - Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Pharoah
Sanders, Sam Rivers, Anthony Braxton etc...
Like
any other great creative jazz - this music asks you to make the initial effort
- you must come to it in order to enjoy its benefits. It does not make any
concessions or compromises just to please anyone. Therefore I recommend the
music to anyone who is willing to make the initial effort.
(_by
nadav haber on May 9, 2002)
Note:
This LP Rip made my friend R.P. in his Studio of Radio Corona via Laser Turntable, a way to avoid pressure and scraping Stylus per vinyl record. The result is perfect. Because of no contact, the laser sound quality is quite similar to the original sound in the master tape.
This LP Rip made my friend R.P. in his Studio of Radio Corona via Laser Turntable, a way to avoid pressure and scraping Stylus per vinyl record. The result is perfect. Because of no contact, the laser sound quality is quite similar to the original sound in the master tape.
If
you find it, buy this album!
