MICHAEL MANTLER / CARLA BLEY – 13 and 3/4 (LP-1975)

Label: WATT Works – WATT/3, Virgin ‎– WATT/3

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

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Free Jazz

Recorded August 1975, Grog Kill Studio, NY.

Mixed September 1975, Scorpio Sound, London.

Design [Album] – Paul McDonough

Engineer – Dennis Weinreich

Engineer [Assistant] – John Hunt

Photography By – Li Tjiong

Producer – Carla Bley, Michael Mantler

A – 13 (for Piano and Two Orchestras) .............................................................. 22:00

Conductor, Written-By – Michael Mantler

Alto Saxophone – Buddy Pearson, Don Davis

Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Ken Adams

Baritone Saxophone – Charles Davis, Hamiet Bluiett

Baritone Saxophone, Bassoon – Ken McIntyre

Bass – Bill Rich, Dave Moore, Helen Newcombe, Peter Warren

Bass Clarinet – George Barrow

Bassoon – Gail Hightower, Karl Hampton Porter

Cello – Clare Maher, Hank Roberts, Judith Martin, Judy Dolce

Flute – Hal Archer, Patrice Fisher, Paul Moen

Flute, Soprano Saxophone – Nicholas Pike

French Horn – Greg Williams, John Clark, Peter Gordon, Bill Warnick

Oboe – Kathy Karlsen, Mike Lewis, Waldemar Bhosys

Piano – Carla Bley

Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Courtenay Wynter

Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet – Jim Odgren

Tenor Saxophone – Lou Marini, Richard Peck

Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet – Collin Tilton

Trombone – Gary Brocks, Michael Gibbs, Rex Shrout

Trombone [Bass] – Earl McIntyre

Trumpet – Greg Bobulinski, John Eckert, Lauren Draper, Leonard Goines

Tuba – Bob Stewart, Jack Jeffers

Viola – Al Visscher, Deena Leff, Drusilla Tesch, Mona Hector, Virginia Izzo

Violin – Alice Stern, Betty MacDonald, Brian Conklin, Laurie Schaller, Lila Baker, Michael Levine, Noreen Davis, Oskana Lenec

B – 3/4 (for Piano and Orchestra) ................................................................... 23:45

Soloist, Piano, Conductor, Written-By – Carla Bley

Bass – Peter Warren

Bassoon – Frank Nizzari

Cello – Clare Maher, Hank Roberts

Clarinet – Collin Tilton

Flute [Alto] – Paul Moen

French Horn – John Clark

Harp – Patrice Fisher

Marimba, Vibraphone, Bells [Orchestra Bells], Percussion [Miscellaneous] – David Samuels

Oboe – Roger Janotta

Piano – Ursula Oppens

Trombone – Michael Gibbs

Trumpet – Michael Mantler

Tuba – Bob Stewart

Viola – Michael Levine, Mona Hector

Violin – Betty MacDonald, Kathy Seplow

WATT records was the collaborative label established by composers Bley and Mantler to exclusively present their own music. And just as well, as even in the “golden age” that this was recorded in (1975) you can’t imagine too many record labels saying, “yeah, ok…why not?” to this music. This is a seriously dark and disturbing orchestral/free jazz/minimalist/cacophonous hell fire of an album...

This album paired the then husband-and-wife team of Michael Mantler and Carla Bley, one composition for large orchestra per LP side. Bley's "3/4" for piano and orchestra is a lovely, romantic locomotive of a piece, its clockwork rhythms dancing and chugging along, offering occasional peaks of luxurious, ecstatic release. The piano part, here performed by Bley (played by Keith Jarrett at the piece's premiere), isn't showy or pyrotechnic, blending in at all times with the orchestral writing which is the heart of the composition. "3/4" stands apart from her other work, sharing little in common with the styles evinced on Escalator Over the Hill, for example, and only partially pointing in the direction of the more hermetic offerings of Social Studies. Kurt Weill's presence is felt in the cabaret-ish melodies that surface here and there, but this is still uniquely Bley and, along with Escalator and Tropic Appetites, arguably her finest work. Mantler's "13" (for piano and two orchestras, again with Bley featured) inhabits another universe entirely, an altogether darker and stormier place. It's a magnificent piece, pitting the two orchestras in pitched battle with the piano valiantly struggling to be heard or to make peace -- a losing battle. Over the course of its 22 minutes, the music (much in the style of his writing for the Jazz Composers Orchestra) increases in tonal complexity as well as sheer volume, ending at a decibel level that may leave the listener worried for his/her speakers... it's power and anguish come through with more than enough force and conviction. It's a stirring, difficult work and one of Mantler's shining moments. 13 & 3/4 is very highly recommended if one is lucky enough to come across it.

And everyone looks to be having a very pleasant afternoon in the woods on the back cover, 
so that’s nice.

Listen out loud and enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

MICHAEL MANTLER – No Answer (LP-1974)

Label: WATT Works ‎– WATT/ 2, Virgin – WATT/ 2

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1974

Style: Contemporary Jazz

Recorded and Mixed At Blue Rock Studio, 1974.

Design – Paul McDonough

Engineer – Eddie Korvin, Frank Owen

Engineer [Assistant] – Richard Elen

Mixed By – Eddie Korvin

Photography By – Gregory Reeve, Jerry Bauer, Valerie Wilmer

Producer – Michael Mantler

        Number Six

A1 - Part One . . . . . . . . . . 4:55

A2 - Part Two . . . . . . . . . . 4:50

A3 - Part Three . . . . . . . . . 5:45

A4 - Part Four . . . . . . . . . . 2:05

        Number Twelve

B1 - Part One . . . . . . . . . . 7:35

B2 - Part Two . . . . . . . . . . 4:05

B3 - Part Three . . . . . . . . . 2:00

B4 - Part Four . . . . . . . . . . 2:55

Composed By – Michael Mantler

Words By – Samuel Beckett From "How It Is", 1964

Carla Bley – piano, organ, clavinet

Don Cherry – trumpet

Jack Bruce – voice, bass

A Beckett-like "Endgame" atmosphere, a feeling of hopelessness, pervades the work ... a very demanding, exceptionally intelligent production ....

No Answer marks the recorded beginning of Michael Mantler's fascination with the texts of Samuel Beckett as well as a long association with former Cream vocalist/bassist Jack Bruce. Here, with the spare instrumentation of voice, electric bass, keyboards, and trumpet (the late, great Don Cherry in outstanding form), he sets words from How It Is to accompaniment that ranges in style from bleak and spacy to almost funky. Bruce, with his high, plaintive voice, does a superb job here, investing the cynical, bitter text (example: "and the mud yes the dark yes the mud and the dark are true yes nothing to regret there no") with conviction and the right inflection of sorrow. On a couple of pieces, his bass kicks in for a momentary groove that sounds as though it was recalled from the type of Cream session that produced "I'm So Glad," but Mantler doesn't allow such relief to continue for long, antithetical as it would be to the Beckettian world he's conjuring. The songs aren't structured as pop pieces, however; they owe more to contemporary art songs despite the instrumentation, making the affair challenging to the listener expecting a rockish album but relatively easy compared to his earlier work with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. The contributions by Cherry and Mantler's then-wife, Carla Bley, are crucial to the success of the album, each playing in a stark style that befits the matters at hand. No Answer is an unusually fine melding of theatrical text and music and one of Mantler's best efforts in this genre. Recommended.

FROM THE TEXTS

hard to believe too yes that I have a voice

yes in me yes when the panting stops yes

not at other times no and that I murmur yes

I yes in the dark yes in the mud yes for

nothing yes I yes but it must be believed yes

and the mud yes the dark yes the mud and

the dark are true yes nothing to regret there no   

...................

so things may change no answer end

no answer I may choke no answer sink

no answer sully the mud no more no answer

the dark no answer trouble the peace no

more no answer the silence no answer die

no answer DIE screams I MAY DIE screams

I SHALL DIE screams good

Instrumentation is sparse and somber, occasionally heavy on Bley's organ drone. Cherry's presence is comparatively brief, but he's his usual compelling, challenging self, the most distinctive trumpet voice around. Bley and Bruce carry the weight with virtuoso performances. ... This is music of great strength, created by a master composer who needs to be heard. Mantler's music demands the support of open, intelligent ears everywhere.

- DOWN BEAT

"No Answer" was a bold step into new territory. Jack Bruce, bassist/vocalist from rock group Cream, had proven himself much more than a pop singer on the epic "Escalator Over The Hill", Carla Bley's "chronotransduction", produced by Mantler between 1968 and 1971. On "No Answer" Bruce was given Samuel Beckett's tense/intense texts from "How It Is" to sing, Beckett is celebrated by some commentators for his grim humour. This, however, was never his appeal for Mantler: "I don't care for what people see as the satirical side of Beckett. I don't like the way the plays are produced, for instance. I like to see Beckett's work on a page, printed almost graphically - as a series of events. True, 'Watt' itself is a very funny book, but I never considered putting it to music. I was always so much attracted by the dark side, that was always enough. Enough material for a long time, to stay with that."

Bruce's voice, multi-tracked, soars and dives through Beckett's blackest moods, tellingly set by Mantler. An extraordinary performance. There is also intense keyboard work from Carla Bley, without a trace of the whimsy cultivated in later years, and bubbling, speeding trumpet work from the late, great Don Cherry.

If you find it, buy this album!