Label:
MPS Records – 21 21840-6
Format:
Vinyl, LP / Country: Germany / Released: 1974
Style:
Fusion, Free Improvisation
Recorded June
1973 live at Arkadenhof, Alte Universität Freiburg/Br., Germany (Tracks A1 to
A5) and in Salle de Spectacles
Epalinges/Lausanne, Switzerland (Track B)
Design
– Bernhard Wetz
Engineer
– Claude Blanc (tracks: B), Conny Plank (tracks: A1 to A5)
Engineer
[Assistance] – Jean-Pierre Molliet (tracks: B), Raymond Bernard (tracks: B)
Mixed
By – Conny Plank
Producer
– Joachim E. Berendt
A1
- Mama Kuku . . . . . 5:46
(Siggi Busch, Toto Blanke)
A2
- Bold'n Steig . . . . . 5:45
(Jeremy Steig, Joachim Kühn)
A3
- Dr. Hoffmann . . . . . 4:30
(J. Steig, J. Kühn, P. Courbois, S.
Busch, T. Blanke)
A4
- Ecnelis . . . . . 4:46
(Pierre Courbois)
A5
- Bassamagic . . . . . 4:17
(Jeremy Steig)
B - Lausanne . . . . . 21:52
(J. Steig, J. Kühn, P. Courbois, S.
Busch, T. Blanke)
Toto
Blanke – guitar
Joachim
Kühn – electric piano [Fender]
Siggi
Busch – bass
Pierre
Courbois – drums, percussion
+
Jeremy
Steig – flute, piccolo flute, bass flute
With
their clever combination of free jazz, rock and other musical markers, it's a
wonder that Dutch percussionist Pierre Courbois and Association P.C. never
received more credit. Released in 1974 on MPS, provides an opportunity to hear
this largely spontaneous group in fine form, culled from a series of 1973
performances in Germany and Switzerland that also featured guest flautist
Jeremy Steig.
Freedom
needn't imply lack of form, as Mama Kuku kicks off with the effervescent title
track. Bassist Siggi Busch opens alone with a combination of long, resonating
notes, strummed chords and harmonics. Guitarist Toto Blanke joins in with a
cued figure that signals Courbois and pianist Joachim Kühn to accompany in a
fiery, overdriven modal solo that comes from John McLaughlin territory, albeit
closer to John Surman's Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971) rather than the more
rockified Mahavishnu Orchestra. Blanke ends his solo with another cue that leads
into a relaxed, repetitive Latin-esque figure for Steig's solo, where the
flautist moves seamlessly between the in and the out.
"Bold
'n' Steig" is a purely spontaneous Steig/Kühn duet. By this time Kühn had
already established a reputation as a stylistically encyclopedic player, as
comfortable in the mainstream with Joe Henderson as he was in more avant-garde
settings with Don Cherry. Here, the duo covers considerable territory—from
neoclassicism to outré but funky rhythms—but always with a sense of purpose
that gives the piece a surprisingly structured feel. Steig made his name as one
of the first jazz/rock flautists, but here his ability to move synchronously
with Association P.C.'s ever-shifting landscapes proves that a traditionally
mellifluous instrument can be as jagged and assertive as any other. Steig's
flute dominates the droning but increasingly dynamic "Dr. Hofmann,"
but it's everyone in the pool on the idiosyncratic and aggressive
"Ecnelis"—a tune that prompted Steig to ask Courbois and Busch,
"How come you can play completely without rhythm—and it swings!"
Plans
for the musicians to send each other sheet music prior to meeting and rehearse
before their first performance never happened. A potential disaster for some,
Association P.C.'s extant chemistry had already been honed on four other MPS
albums. Nowhere is this more evident than on "Lausanne," a 22-minute
free improvisation that, like the five other considerably shorter pieces on
Mama Kuku, leaves an impression of preconception where clearly there was none.
Based
on the varied textures, rhythms and tonalities of Mama Kuku, Steig's falling
below the radar in the early 1980s is a real shame, a sentiment true for all
members of Association P.C. save Kühn, who has gone on to a long, varied and
internationally visible career. It's yet another example of a fine improvising
group that disappeared into the flotsam and jetsam of history.
By JOHN KELMAN, March 29, 2008 (AAJ)
If
you find it, buy this album!
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