WILDFLOWERS 1 – The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas / LP1-1977)

Label: Douglas – NBLP 7045

Series: Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions – 1

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 - Kalaparusha – Jays ...................................................................................... 6:00

        Bass, Electric Bass – Chris White

        Drums – Jumma Santos

        Tenor Saxophone – Kalaparusha (Maurice McIntyre)

A2 - Ken McIntyre – New Times .......................................................................... 7:25

        Alto Saxophone – Ken McIntyre (Makanda)

        Congas – Andy Vega

        Percussion [Multiple] – Andrei Strobert

        Piano – Richard Harper

A3 - Sunny Murray & The Untouchable Factor – Over The Rainbow ................. 5:30

        Alto Saxophone – Byard Lancaster

        Bass – Fred Hopkins

        Drums – Sunny Murray

        Tenor Saxophone – David Murray

        Vibraphone – Khan Jamal

B1 - Sam Rivers – Rainbows ............................................................................. 10:00

        Bass – Jerome Hunter

        Drums – Jerry Griffin

        Soprano Saxophone – Sam Rivers

B2 - Air – Usu Dance ............................................................................................ 7:45

        Alto Saxophone – Henry Threadgill

        Bass – Fred Hopkins 
         Drums, Percussion – Steve McCall

In the mid-1970s, a jazz renaissance blossomed in large New York loft spaces that the musicians had reclaimed from the depressed blocks of the trendy Soho and Noho areas. The Wildflowers sessions, originally released on Douglas on five LPs, captured performances by almost 100 musicians in numerous configurations. The recordings were made over two weekends at the most famed of the lofts, Studio Rivbea, the home and workspace of saxophonist-flutist-composer Sam Rivers and his wife, Beatrice. Rivers orchestrated the lineup, played host to patrons, and performed as well. The sessions featured many figures well-established in New York, including Rivers, drummer Andrew Cyrille, and pianist Randy Weston, but they also attracted players from the seedbed of so much African American aesthetic jazz exploration in the 1960s and '70s, Chicago.

In addition, Rivers invited to town some key players from Philadelphia and New Haven; there were several newcomers to New York, too, including, from out West, a very young David Murray. The music all had immediacy and urgency fitting to the aesthetic task at hand--to consolidate the gains of the free-jazz and New Thing movements of the 1960s. Indeed, many of the players remain key figures today in that project: Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, and Leo Smith among them. In addition to their performances, highlights of the package include Rivers's radiant meandering over his composition "Rainbow"; pianist Weston's impassioned homage to his father; and performances by important, but often under-recognized innovators, including saxophonist Ken McIntyre and pianist Dave Burrell. Here is a seminal document in American music...

If you find it, buy this album!

WILDFLOWERS 2 – The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas / LP2-1977)

Label: Douglas – NBLP 7046

Series: Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions – 2

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 - Flight To Sanity – The Need To Smile .................................................. 10:47

         Bass – Benny Wilson

         Congas – Don Moye

         Drums – Harold Smith

         Piano – Sonelius Smith

         Soprano Saxophone – Art Bennett

         Tenor Saxophone – Byard Lancaster

         Trumpet – Olu Dara

A2 - Ken McIntyre – Naomi ............................................................................ 6:00

         Congas, Percussion – Andy Vega

         Flute – Ken McIntyre

         Percussion [Multiple] – Andrei Strobert

         Piano – Richard Harper

B1 - Anthony Braxton – 73°-S Kelvin ............................................................. 6:30

         Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Contrabass Saxophone – Anthony Braxton

         Bass – Fred Hopkins

         Drums – Barry Altschul

         Guitar – Michael Jackson
         Piano – Anthony Davis

         Percussion – Phillip Wilson

         Trombone – George Lewis

B2 - Marion Brown – And Then They Danced ............................................... 7:00

         Alto Saxophone – Marion Brown

         Bass – Jack Greg

         Congas – Jumma Santos

B3 - Leo Smith & The New Delta Ahkri – Locomotif N°6 ............................. 6:00

         Alto Saxophone – Oliver Lake

         Bass – Wes Brown

         Drums – Paul Maddox, Stanley Crouch

         Piano – Anthony Davis

         Trumpet – Leo Smith

Note:

A1. Due to technical live recording problems, the beginning of "The Need To Smile" was not properly recorded. The producers felt the performance strong enough to include it with a logical beginning at the soprano saxophone solo.

B1. "73°-S Kelvin" is an excerpt of a continuous performance.

B2. "And Then They Danced" is presented here in its entirety. It fades rather than ends with applause because it was part of a continuous set where one composition followed into the next.

... Free jazz being almost synonym of Jazz during short period of late 60s-early 70s disappeared from American jazz scenes blown away by fusion.Yesterday stars trying to survive changed their music to more accessible (as Archie Shepp)or moved to Europe where free jazz stayed alive founding its niche in small clubs for years.In late 70s though American free jazz experienced some renaissance in a form of so called "loft jazz scene" - avant-garde jazz musicians activities based around New York Soho district former industrial lofts, refurbished to musicians studios. One of central such studio was Sam Rivers Studio Rivbea. Lot of concerts took a place there and some cult albums were recorded as well...

The second volume in this seminal series from the mid 70s – one that did a great job of documenting some of the formative underground playing that was happening in the New York loft scene, almost more creative work than in previous generations, thanks to a lack of commercial venues, and hence, commercial constraints on the music. Tracks include "And Then They Danced" by Marion Brown, "Locomotif" by Leo Smith, "Naomi" by Ken McIntyre, and "The Need To Smile" by a group with Byard Lancaster, Sonelius Smith, Don Moye, and Olu Dara.

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!

WILDFLOWERS 4 – The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas / LP4-1977)

Label: Douglas – NBLP 7048

Series: Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions – 4

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 - Hamiet Bluiett – Tranquil Beauty ....................................................... 6:30

         Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet – Hamiet Bluiett

         Bass – Juney Booth

         Drums – Charles Bobo Shaw, Don Moye

         Guitar – Billy Patterson, Butch Campbell

         Trumpet – Olu Dara

A2 - Julius Hemphill – Pensive ................................................................. 10:00

         Alto Saxophone – Julius Hemphill

         Cello – Abdul Wadud

         Drums – Phillip Wilson

         Guitar – Bern Nix

         Percussion – Don Moye

B1 - Jimmy Lyons – Push Pull ................................................................... 5:20

         Alto Saxophone – Jimmy Lyons

         Bass – Hayes Burnett

         Bassoon – Karen Borca

         Drums – Henry Maxwell Letcher

B2 - Oliver Lake – Zaki .............................................................................. 9:30

         Alto Saxophone – Oliver Lake

         Bass – Fred Hopkins

         Drums – Phillip Wilson

         Electric Guitar – Michael Jackson

B3 - David Murray – Shout Song ............................................................... 2:30

         Bass – Fred Hopkins

         Drums – Stanley Crouch

         Tenor Saxophone – David Murray

         Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Olu Dara

...The common critical consensus is that the 1970s, particularly the latter half of the decade, were the historical low point for jazz in America. Very few albums survive from that era, compared with the avalanches of reissues and vault clearing box-sets of 1950s and 60s groups. Part of this is, of course, due to the short shrift granted the avant-garde by most jazz historians. The music of the so-called "New Thing," which by rote doctrine had burned itself out by 1968, in fact continued throughout the 1970s, expanding to Europe in search of audiences and growing and evolving artistically to astonishing levels of power and beauty...

The 5-LPs set Wildflowers documents one small part of this forgotten music scene. Recorded over ten days in May 1976 at Sam Rivers’s Studio RivBea, this set contains an overwhelming amount of truly beautiful jazz performances, by names recognizable to almost anyone with a serious interest in the music. Saxophonists include Sam Rivers, David Murray, David S. Ware, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Byard Lancaster, Oliver Lake, Jimmy Lyons, Julius Hemphill and Henry Threadgill. Drummers include Sunny Murray, Don Moye, Steve McCall, Andrew Cyrille, and Stanley Crouch. Bassist Fred Hopkins is practically omnipresent here...

If you find it, buy this album!

WILDFLOWERS 5 – The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas / LP5-1977)

Label: Douglas – NBLP 7049

Series: Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions – 5

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

A - Sunny Murray & The Untouchable Factor – Something's Cookin' ......... 17:00

       Alto Saxophone, Flute – Byard Lancaster

       Bass – Fred Hopkins

       Drums – Sunny Murray

       Tenor Saxophone – David Murray

       Vibraphone – Khan Jamal

B - Roscoe Mitchell – Chant ........................................................................ 25:19

       Alto Saxophone – Roscoe Mitchell

       Drums – Don Moye

       Percussion, Drums, Saw – Jerome Cooper

...Probably most representative document of loft jazz era was this five vinyl set "Wildflowers", recorded during May 1976 at Rivbea Studio and released on tiny Douglas Records in 1977. Decades after this release received almost cult status. Each of five albums contains collection of compositions recorded by different artists...

And in the end always comes delicacy, long mantra Roscoe Mitchell's "Chant" (an exercise in marathon circular breathing that walks the line between exhilarating and fantastic)—but at the same time houses a couple of the collection's most outstanding selections. 

The other highlight of the fifth vinyl, is the return of Sunny Murray and the Untouchable Factor for the 17-minute "Something's Cookin'". Beginning as a fragile web supported by Murray's cymbal whispers, the mood expands through the otherworldly plateaus spun by Jamal's vibes and a kinetic tenor/alto dialogue between Murray and Lancaster—only to finish on the spiritual edge where Hopkins' bowed levitations meet Lancaster's primordial flute... oh yes...

No self-respecting listener of free jazz should go without hearing these sessions, as they document a period in the music's history that, until now, has been severely neglected.

But, and this is very important:

The psychedelic colors of the record cover jumped out to me immediately. I loved the album art - a collage of jazz greats fronting a backdrop of New York City. It was so different...

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!