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.)

If you find it, buy this album!

ANTHONY DAVIS – Epistēmē (LP-1981 / Gramavision)

Label: Gramavision – GR-8101

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1981

Style: Free Jazz, Avant-garde Jazz, Modern

Recorded at Mixed at Vanguard Studios, 1981.

Album Design By – Neal Pozner

Engineer – John Kilgore

Producer – Jonathan F. P. Rose

I probably first heard Anthony Davis on Leo Smith's "Reflectativity" album on Kabell and shortly thereafter, in the waning days of the loft jazz era ('78-'79), caught him live around town a bunch., sometimes with Chico Freeman's band and one memorable occasion in duo with vibist Jay Hoggard (I think on the same NYU bill as the Jarman/Moye duo). iirc, it was on that date that Davis played several compositions of his, including his beautiful "A Walk through the Shadow", that he'd return to often over the next decade.

Still, "Episteme" came as a shock. I think it had to do somewhat with the sheer precision of the band, that overlay of a classical approach (via minimalism, Lou Harrison, etc.) that you rarely if ever heard among the jazz avant-garde...

_ By Brian Olewnick

A1 - Wayang No. II (Shadowdance) . . . 7:40

A2 - Wayang No. IV (Under The Double Moon) I - Opening – Dance . . . 8:04

A2 - Wayang No. IV (Under The Double Moon) II - Sustained Tones . . . 4:39

B1 - Wayang No. IV (Under The Double Moon) III . . . 16:23

        a) Variations

        b) Pulse

        c) Trombone Solo

        d) Flute Interlude

        e) Kecak (Repeated Clusters)

        f) Return

B2 - A Walk Through The Shadow . . . 5:03

Anthony Davis – piano, composed

Dwight Andrews – flute, piccolo flute, bass clarinet

Warren Smith – marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel,

                          timpani, bass drum, gong [Chinese], cymbal

Jay Hoggard – vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel

Shem Guibbory – violin

George Lewis – trombone

Abdul Wadud – cello

Rick Rozie – bass (track A1)

Pheeroan Aklaff – drums, gong, cymbal

Mark Helias – conductor

As a composer, Anthony Davis sensed the limitations of free jazz improvisation while coming up through the music's hotbed in the '70s. While seeing the benefits of wide open solo and ensemble playing, he also pushed for something akin to thoroughly composed music with improvisation as its lifeblood. Davis' ideas would eventually find full scope in his opera X (a chronicle of Malcolm X) and through various teaching stints, but maybe the purest setting for his compositional approach can be found in his Episteme ensemble. That's also the title of this 1981 album for Gramavision, which includes multiple sections of Davis' extended piece "Wayang" and the short piano meditation "A Walk Through the Shadow." The Episteme group features fellow travelers of the New York free jazz scene like bassist Mark Helias (who takes up conducting duties here), drummer Pheeroan Aklaff, cellist Abdul Wadud, percussionists Jay Hoggard and Warren Smith, and trombonist George Lewis, among others. The players ably wend their way through Davis' Balinese gamelan-inspired "Wayang," adding their own spin to the pianist's mix of fast and repetitive tempos, furtive horn arrangements, and dramatic atmospherics. Like the work of similarly disposed artists such as Henry Threadgill and Muhal Richard Abrams, Davis' pieces require effort to understand and appreciate. It's definitely knotty and cerebral stuff, but repeated exposure will bring its own rewards.

_ Review by Stephen Cook

If you find it, buy this album!

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.



If you find it, buy this album!