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!

MILTON MARSH – Monism (Strata-East / LP-1975)

Label: Strata-East – SES-19758

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

Style: Post Bop, Avant-garde Jazz, Spiritual, Free Jazz

Recorded 3rd July 1973 and 23rd May 1974 at Media Sound, New York.

Arranged By, Composed By, Producer – Milton Marsh

Artwork [Graphics] – Carole Byard

Published By – Milton Marsh Publishing Co.

Matrix / Runout (Side A Etched Runout): SES-19758-A e

Matrix / Runout (Side B Etched Runout): SES-19758-B

A1 - Vonda's Tune (part 1 of "Earth, Home Of The Mortals") ........................ 2:14

A2 - Community Music ................................................................................... 6:43

A3 - Monism ................................................................................................... 8:49

B1 - Metamorphosis ....................................................................................... 5:57

B2 - Ode to Nzinga ........................................................................................ 7:18

B3 - Sabotage, 3 preparations ....................................................................... 9:15

alto saxophone, conductor, voice [spoken text]  – Milton Marsh

piano – Cedric Lawson

alto saxophone – Joseph Ferguson, Rene McClean

baritone saxophone  – Reynold Scott

tenor saxophone  – Bill Cody, David S. Ware

trombone – Charles Stevens, Bill Lowe, Bill Campbell

trumpet – Kamal Abdul-Alim, Sinclair Acey, Bubbles Martin, Frank Williams

tuba – Bill Davis

double bass – Don Pate

drums, percussion – Greg Bandy

One of the harder to find records on Strata East, and a beautiful set of spiritual/free jazz tracks composed and arranged by reed player Milton Marsh.

Recorded in 1973 and 74 and released in limited quantities in 1975. Six song album of free jazz mixed with African rythmns! Personnel include: Rene McClean, Joseph Ferguson, David Ware, Bill Cody, Reynold Scott, Frank Williams, Sinclair Acey, Bubbles Martin, Kamal Abdul-Alim, Bill Campbell, Charles Stevens, Bill Lowe, Bill Davis, Cedric Lawson, Don Tate, Greg Bandy. ULTRA-RARE!!

 arranged, composed, producer – Milton Marsh

In 1975, Milton Marsh released his first album "Monism" for the Strata-East label. Marsh, a composer, arranger, saxophonist and flautist, recorded the album in New York City, and the musicians on "Monism" represent some of the finest living in NYC at the time: pianist Cedric Lawson, bassist Don Pate, along with two rising stars at the time, David Ware on saxophone and Greg Bandy on percussion. Ironically, all of these artists would go on to record several volumes of music in their careers except for Marsh, who recorded only one additional album, 1985’s Continuum, after a decade long absence.

Marsh composed and arranged all of the album’s six compositions, each of which featured between nine and 17 players. This sizable headcount explains the album’s ability to soar from quiet, minimal moments to robust, dissonant explosions, depending upon the track.

“Vonda’s Tune”, the album’s opener, begins with a brief solitary and somber horn solo, which later opens up to the more “avant” sounds of “Community Music”. The title track is where Marsh’s compositions reach their most unpredictable and exciting moments, however. “Monism” closes out the A side with a free jazz jamboree, complete with a spoken word delivery of a Sufi poem from Marsh himself. The album’s B side is relegated to more traditional structures, and features some of the most driving piano, drum and saxophone playing. Nice stuff, and one of those that you hardly ever see!

An incredible album from Milton Marsh on Strata East. Essential.

If you find it, buy this album!

WILDFLOWERS 3 – The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas / LP3-1977)

Label: Douglas – NBLP 7047

Series: Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions – 3

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

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded May 14 thru May 23, 1976 at Studio Rivbea, 24 Bond Street, New York.

Engineer [Assistant] – Les Kahn

Engineer [Chief] – Ron Saint Germain

Engineer [Remote Assistant] – Matt Murray

Executive-producer – Harley I. Lewin

Liner Notes – Ross Firestone

Mastered By – Ray Janos

Photography By – Peter Harron

Producer – Alan Douglas, Michael Cuscuna, Sam Rivers

A1 - Randy Weston – Portrait Of Frank Edward Weston ............................... 8:50

         Bass – Alex Blake

         Congas – Azzedin Weston

         Piano, Written-By – Randy Weston

A2 - Michael Jackson – Clarity ....................................................................... 5:15

         Acoustic Guitar, Written-By – Michael Jackson

         Bass – Fred Hopkins

         Drums – Phillip Wilson

         Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Oliver Lake

A3 - Dave Burrell – Black Robert ................................................................... 6:30

         Bass – Stafford James

         Drums – Harold White

         Piano, Written-By – Dave Burrell

B1 - Abdullah – Blue Phase .......................................................................... 12:37

         Double Bass – Rickie Evans

         Drums – Rashied Sinan

         Electric Bass – Leroy Seals

         Guitar – Mashujaa

         Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Charles Bracken

         Trumpet, Written-By – Ahmed Abdullah

B2 - Andrew Cyrille & Maono – Short Short .................................................. 7:30

         Bass – Lyle Atkinson

         Drums, Written-By – Andrew Cyrille  (Rights Society: ASCAP)

         Tenor Saxophone – David Ware

         Trumpet – Ted Daniel

...The jazz of the 1970s, particularly in New York, was a vital and searching music, just as the best jazz has always been. Musicians like Sam Rivers, David Murray, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the World Saxophone Quartet, Cecil Taylor and many others worked tirelessly, expanding their tonal vocabularies and creating shimmering and brilliant soundscapes for whoever was still listening. The audiences were, indeed, smaller. But the scope of the artistic achievement was as grand as ever.

This is an astonishing document, sonically wide-open to anyone with an ear for music of the spirit. The performances are varied enough, and sequenced in such a manner, that the most palatable, groove-oriented works will draw the listener in that he or she may appreciate the more abstract, experimental works as well. This music’s vitality is timeless; these recordings should be heard by anyone with anything more than a glancing interest in jazz...

If you find it, buy this album!

DAVID S. WARE QUARTET – Oblations And Blessings (1996)

Label: Silkheart – SHCD 145
Format: CD, Album; Country: Sweden - Released: 1996
Style: Free Jazz
Recorded on 27, 28 September 1995 at Sound On Sound Studio, NYC.
Artwork [Front Cover Art] – Miroslaw Balka
Front cover art titled "A Piece To Keep Doors Open"
Design, Layout – Jörgen Renhorn
Edited By – Allan Tucker; Edited By [Assistant] – Nicholas Prout
Executive-Producer – FS-MAB, Keith Knox
Photography By [Booklet Session Photographs] – Cheung Ching-Ming
Photography By [Front Cover Art] – Börje Svensson
Recorded By [Assistant] – Devin Emke
Recorded By [Digitally] – Nicholas Prout

This session, recorded in a superb midtown studio in New York during September 1995, shows the David S. Ware Quartet at the height of its powers. This is one of the foremost groups who played then and their performance here is captured by engineer Nick Prout with extraordinary clarity. The development of David S. Ware 's music is one of the more significant histories in today's jazz and earlier examples from the Silkheart catalogue are 113, 127, and 128.

Oblations And Blessings is certainly one of David S. Ware's best recordings, and maybe the best if you're into extended blowing vehicles. The players are inspired, the sound is well- balanced so you can hear all of them clearly, and there's plenty of variety in the pieces. And Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Whit Dickey are up to the task of playing follow the leader because no one has more to express here than Ware. It's a disc for hearing David S. Ware blow hard, long and free--he plays every second of the closer "Serpents and Visions" and doesn't go in for much laying out anywhere.

The opening 17-minute title track hits the ground running with a spiritual intensity close to late John Coltrane that in spots pushes Shipp close to McCoy Tyner territory. It builds inexorably through ebb-and-flow periods of rumbling Parker, pounding Shipp and propulsive Dickey triggering Ware's harmonic squawks before falling away to a bowed bass solo that gives Ware his first break after 10:20 of full-bore playing. 100 seconds of down time later, he's back for the duration until Shipp's lurching chords brings the piece to an exhausted close.

"Riff Unknown" is more in a classic jazz vein with Parker close to double time walking and Dickey close to swinging while Ware swirls and twists, turns and doubles back around the melody. Shipp enters in mid-song--a common device here--and his long solo retains an appealingly light texture after the density of the opener. "Of Shambhala" boasts a gorgeously spare atmospheric opening, with Ware entering crying, then ruminating and extending the lines before handing the baton over for a restrained Parker solo with Shipp's elegant support.

But "Fire Within" gets Ware off and running again with Parker whooping behind him to trigger answering yelps and buzzsaw riffing over Dickey's light cymbals. "Manu's Ideal" is an excellent return to a sort of Trane-spiritual melody with Ware's big, burry tone carrying the medium tempo before a Parker solo and Shipp's re-entrance triggers the saxophonist's closing theme statement.

Ware's outside start to "Serpents and Visions" sounds like musical visions of serpents, Shipp ripples his way in at the two-minute mark and it evolves progressively into Ware's serious pushing to get to Albert Ayler-esque shrieks and cries over Shipp's lower register hammering. You can really hear the interaction between the two on this track before into peters out in honks and silence.

Music is the last thing you should reduce to numbers but David S. Ware is literally playing on 54 of the 69 minutes (give or take one or two) of music here, a simply staggering amount. And he's playing so intensely for that long with that huge tone doing interval leaps and Ayler shrieks, high harmonics and lower-register honks, buzzsaw-quick runs and scale slurs, wringing every possible melodic permutation out of every theme.

The liner notes define "oblation" (via Webster's) as "the act of offering something as worship or thanksgiving." No one who hears Oblations and Blessings could ever doubt the generosity of Ware's offering here. The man must have been absolutely, utterly drained--emotionally, physically and spiritually--after this session.

_ Review by DON SNOWDEN



Links in Comments!