CHICO FREEMAN – Chico (LP-1977 / India Navigation ‎– IN 1031)

Label: India Navigation ‎– IN 1031

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Silver labels / Country: US / Released: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at India Navigation Records, 1977 / Merger - Recorded in concert, New York

Artwork [Cover Art] – James Russell

Produced by India Navigation Company

Matrix / Runout (Side A, etched): IN-1031-A

Matrix / Runout (Side B, etched): IN-1031-B

Note: Track A2 is not listed on the label, only on the back cover.

A1 - Moments ................................................................................................ 16:30

a)      Generation

b)      Regeneration

A2 - And All The World Moved...  .................................................................. 10:00

B  -  Merger ................................................................................................... 16:00

Personnel:

Chico Freeman – tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet

Cecil McBee – bass

Muhal Richard Abrams – piano

Steve McCall – drums, percussion

Tito Sampa – percussion

Chico (LP-1977) was mostly taken up by the 17-minute two-movement suite Moments, the 10-minutes And All The World Moved... (a duet with bassist Cecil McBee), and the 16-minute jam Merger, for a piano-based quintet (McBee, pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, drummer Steve McCall, percussionist Tito Sampa).

As part of the Freeman family legacy of Chicago; his father, legendary NEA Jazz Master* saxophonist Von Freeman; his uncles, guitarist George Freeman; and drummer Bruz Freeman, Chico amassed a diverse résumé of performing R&B to blues, hard bop to avant-garde. His collegiate studies in Advanced Composition and Theory at Northwestern University led him to teach composition at the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) Music School, and while attaining his Masters in Composition and Theory at Governor State University, he studied composition with NEA Jazz Master Muhal Richard Abrams...

* Note:

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians.

Although jazz was the first music Freeman was exposed to, many of his early professional gigs were at Chicago clubs with such blues artists as Memphis Slim, and Lucky Carmichael.

After arriving in New York, he immediately began working with Jeanne Lee, Mickey Bass, John Stubblefield, and Cecil McBee. Through apprenticeships in New York and abroad with such innovators as Elvin Jones, Don Pullen, Sam Rivers, Sun Ra, and Jack DeJohnette, Freeman developed his own group and rapidly rose to prominence with his energetic and exploratory style...

When superstar bands were being organized by promoters in Europe, Freeman brought together The Leaders — an all-star sextet of internationally recognized bandleaders. The group, consisting of Cecil McBee, Kirk Lightsey, Lester Bowie, Arthur Blythe, and Famadou Don Moye, set the standard for eclectic and innovative music from a band comprised entirely of composers...

Freeman elaborates, “First comes expression, and when you find yourself in need of being able to express more, you develop the technique in order to accomplish that objective.” For Freeman, Spoken Into Existence manifests in notes and tones the meaning of Michael Jordan’s dictum, “You have to see it to be it” (or, as Freeman puts it, that “you can manifest what you want to achieve or materialize it if you can see it clearly”) and the aphorism, “words are things.”

Freeman has perfected an immediately recognizable approach to music and composition, blending what he has experienced from his past and providing fluidity into a future of infinite musical possibilities.

(Excerpts from the biography of Chico Freeman)

http://chicofreeman.com/biography/

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CHICO FREEMAN – Kings Of Mali (India Navigation – IN 1035 / LP-1978)

Label: India Navigation – IN 1035

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

Style: Modal, Free Improvisation

Recorded at India Navigation Records in September 1977.

Photography By [Cover] – Beth Cummins

Liner Notes – Marguerite E. T. Green

Producer – India Navigation

Published By – Art Ensemble of Chicago Publishing Co.

Phonographic Copyright (p) – India Navigation Company

Matrix / Runout (Side A, etched): IN-1035-A

Matrix / Runout (Side B, etched): IN-1035-B

A1 - Look Up ................................................................................................. 11:30

A2 - Minstrel's Sun Dance .............................................................................. 7:55

B1 - Kings Of Mali ........................................................................................ 10:05

B2 - Illas ........................................................................................................ 11:10

Personnel:

Chico Freeman – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, alto flute, bailophone

Jay Hoggard – vibraphone, bailophone

Anthony Davis – piano

Cecil McBee – bass

Famoudou Don Moye – drums, percussion, bailophone, gongs, whistles

Kings Of Mali is a post-bop/avant-garde jazz lp by Chico Freeman on India Navigation Records (IN 1035) in September 1977 and released in 1978.

“As much as I’ve travelled and on the road playing with such masters as McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Sam Rivers, Sun Ra, Dizzy Gillespie and so many jazz greats, as well as leading my own groups including founding “The Leaders” and the group “Roots,” an inner voice was telling me, you need to go to another level both musically and personally,“ Freeman explains. “You need to work with other musicians from different cultures and create new avenues of expression."

The LP, like many others recorded and produced by India Navigation in New York city, featured many of the top American players in post-bop and avant-garde jazz and features songs inspired by African history and the legacy of African Americans.

Kings of Mali (september 1977), perhaps the best of the early days, featured a stellar quintet with vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, pianist Anthony Davis, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Don Moye. Freeman, who also plays soprano and flute, stretches out on four of his colorful and complex originals, which are dedicated to the ancient kingdom of Mali. Titles include "Look Up", "Minstrels' Sun Dance", "Kings Of Mali", and "Illas". 

(Dusty Groove, Inc.)

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CECIL McBEE – Alternate Spaces (LP-1979)

Label: India Navigation – IN 1043

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: US- Released: 1979

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Modal

India Navigation Studio Recording, 1978

All Compositions By – Cecil McBee

Cover Photo By – Lucia McBee

Produced by India Navigation Company 1979

A1 - Alternate Space . . . 9:05

A2 - Consequence . . . 8:15

B1 - Come Sunrise . . . 6:43

B2 - Sorta, Kinda Blue . . . 6:35

B3 - Expression . . . 7:13

CECIL McBEE – Bass

CHICO FREEMAN – Tenor & Soprano Saxes, Flute  

JOE GARDNER – Trumpet

DON PULLEN – Piano

ALLEN NELSON – Drums

FAMOUDOU DON MOYE – Percussion

Bassist Cecil McBee and Chico Freeman (who triples on tenor, soprano and flute) teamed up many times during the late 1970s and '80s. Their collaborations found them playing music that was a spiritual extension on hard bop, adventurous while moving forward. On this LP, they perform five of McBee's originals in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, the percussive pianist Don Pullen (a major asset to the date), drummer Allen Nelson and percussionist Don Moye. The often melodic but unpredictable music definitely holds one's interest.

_ By SCOTT YANOW

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CECIL McBEE SEXTET – Music From The Source (LP-1978)

Label: Enja Records – enja 3019

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: Germany - Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded "live" at Sweet Basils, N.Y.C. Date: August 2, 1977.

E. Producer: Horst Weber

Producer: Cecil McBee

Engineer : Bob Cummins

Mastering: David Baker

Cover Design: Weber/Winckelmann

Cover Photo: Gerd Chesi

A - Agnez (with respect to Roy Haynes) (Cecil McBee) . . . 19:14

B1 - God Spirit (Cecil McBee) . . . 8:15
B2 - First Song in the Day (Hal Galper) . . . 17:20

CECIL McBEE – Bass
CHICO FREEMAN – Flute, Tenor Sax
JOE GARDNER – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
DENNIS MOORMAN – Piano
STEVE McCALL – Drums
DON MOYE – Percussion

Other than a 1974 set for Strata-East, this post-bop effort was bassist Cecil McBee's earliest recording as a leader. With Chico Freeman (heard on tenor and flute) as the most impressive soloist, McBee performs two originals and a piece by Hal Galper in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, pianist Dennis Moorman, drummer Steve McCall and Don Moye on conga. The music is spiritual in nature, sometimes quite modal and in the adventurous genre of John Coltrane without being derivative. A fine live set, one of two recorded within a two-day period at New York's Sweet Basil.
_ By SCOTT YANOW

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CHICO FREEMAN – The Search (LP-1983)

Label: India Navigation – IN 1059
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released: 1983
Style: Hard Bop, Free/Avant-Garde Jazz
India Navigation Studio Recording, 1982
Design – Tan Ohe
Photography By – Beth Cummins
Producer – Bob Cummins

This is a beautiful collaboration between Freeman and the vocalist Val Eley. All four tracks include vocals by Eley. Her singing is very strong. The opening, "The Search", starts with unaccompanied vocal line. The moment when the piano trio jumps in always gives me goosebumps even after tens of listens to this album. I was at a cafe one day and listened to this album, fascinated with it, and walked immediately to a record store and bought it. Kenny Barron is so wonderful on this album. McBee playing in this album is very secure (in terms of intonation). Participation of Nana Vasconcelos is also great. All the four compositions are very well composed, arranged, and performed.

A1 - The Search  10:52
A2 - Illas  11:48
B1 - Close To You Alone  7:30
B2 - Soweto Suite  12:25

CHICO FREEMAN – Saxophone, Flute
KENNY BARRON – Piano
VAL ELEY – Vocals
CECIL McBEE – Bass
JAY HOGGARD – Vibraphone, Marimba
NANA VESCONCELOS – Berimbau, Percussion
BILLY HART – Drums

Surely, it ’ s not the most known album nor the easiest to find of this musician and composer. Even so, it ’ s an excellent work, where the vocal performance of Val Eley gives it a character of great beauty and exclusivity.

Although Jazz always was the basis of the music composed by Chico Freeman, many of his works present a rather sharp stylistic diversity as he himself likes to point out: “ My objective is to explore new worlds, and I don ’ t want to be limited by categories. The only limitations I place on myself are the limitations on my own imagination, and within that realm, there are none ” .

Comprising three originals from Freeman and one from Cecil McBee, “ The Search ” is a memorable album, which reveals the vocal performance of Val Eley denoting a strong lyrical component, a style of recitation and drama so popular in the Cabaret music or the hippie revival of the musical “ Hair ” . Although I ’ m not a special follower of the singing Jazz, this album left me rendered to Eley ’ s vocal and interpretive skills, from the very first audition.

But this musical piece is much more than the voice of Eley, or we were not dealing with a star cast, composed of the finest instrumentalists. The faultless performance of Cecil McBee (bass) and Billy Hart (drums) is joined by the brilliant Kenny Barron (piano), giving the 40 minutes of this record, an unparalleled rhythmic robustness. Jay Hoggard (vibraphone/marimba) and Nana Vasconcelos (berimbau/percussion) complement the aesthetic sense of this work, with details of great opportunism and excellence. As for Chico Freeman, those who know him from other albums, know how exciting his performance can be. A real musical treat.

Generating a positive wave that emanates a contagious spirituality of influences as diverse as the Hard- Bop, R&B or the Free/Avant-Garde Jazz, this work can be heard with the greatest pleasure, without ever becoming dull or boring.

"The Search" is indeed a serious case of inspiration and musical quality and therefore I never tire of recommending it to all my friends and lovers of good music.



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