Author: James Koblin

We love to discover and share music with you on this blog, but that does not mean we think we’re experts! Instead, we see ourselves as fellow travelers, sharing what we’ve discovered and trying the spread the appreciation of the love of music that makes the world a better place . . .

(Gerald Cleaver. Image: Jazziz Magazine)

These thoughts bring us to drummer Gerald Cleaver and the inspiration he sparked in us that we want to share with you. We know Cleaver from his work with a who’s who of musicians like Matthew Shipp, Craig Taborn, J.D. Allen, Ellery Eskelin, and Roscoe Mitchell, and as a leader himself. Cleaver’s drumming is always dynamic, musical, and recognizable as his own. He’s one of creative music’s most important musicians, period.

Cleaver’s playing with Shipp in East Axis made us take another look at his sizable discography, and we discovered for the first time recent albums where he did something daring for a drummer – ditched the drums! Instead, on Signs (2020), Griots (2021), and in collaboration with Hprizm on Signs Remixed (2021), Cleaver made wholly electronic albums. Cleaver recorded these albums to honor his roots in Detroit, paying tribute to one of his inspirations – Detroit techno music. The disarming results made us want to talk about these records and also look back at the Detroit electronic music that inspired him. Let’s experience generations of inspiration and generations of The Beat!

(Renaissance Center In Detroit, Image: Getty Images)

So first, let’s go back with TNB in time to the dawn of techno – late 70s and early 80s Detroit. Not quite Detroit, actually, but 30 miles outside the city in a relatively affluent and small suburb of Belleview, where black innovators developed a synthesizer and beat music based on George Clinton, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Prince, and especially the German electronic group Kraftwerk. The first of the Detroit techno records was by Cybotron, a collaboration of Juan Atkins and Rick Davis, who met in college. Cybotron released “Alleys of Your Mind” in 1981, recognized by many as the first techno record. This landmark track was followed by “Cosmic Cars” in 1982, “Clear” in 1983, and the genre-naming “Techno City” in 1984. The original Cybotron singles are the earliest and most definitive examples of Detroit techno. They introduced the genre’s hallmarks – an obsession with the applications of synthesizers, a utopian vision of the future, and an outsider’s perspective on redefining dance music. As the first experiments in this new style of music, these records might lack polish and sophistication, but more than makeup for that with joy in the possibilities created by technology – this music has a palpable sense of adventure and fun.

(A vision of the future – the 1961 Ford Gyron Concept car Image: Ford Authority)

Although these tracks are classics of the genre, they did not sell. Cybotron was briefly on Fantasy records, but when Akins wanted to release solo music as Model 500 (check out “No UFO’s“), he could not get anybody to put his records out and had to start his own label, Metroplex. The popularity of techno grew during the 1980s, especially with the Inner City’s tracks “Big Fun” and “Good Life” from 1988. These tracks achieved accessibility with the addition of vocals by Paris Grey and by using a beat-heavy hybrid of techno and house music. There is no track more iconic to this music than “Good Life” a true classic that still sounds great today!

(Inner City “Do You Love What You Feel” single, pictured, Kevin Saunderson and Paris Grey)

A growing community of Detroit musicians embraced techno. Other artists who put out electronic records included Sharevari (whose “A Name of Names” vies with Cybotron for the first techno release), Blake Baxter, Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, and Moodyman. Many of these tracks are compiled in 1988’s “Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit,” which helped to define and popularize techno as a movement – especially in Europe. Soon Detroit musicians were getting their work in England and France, so much so that this type of dance music is more closely associated with Europe than its home city.

As we said at the top of this post, we don’t consider ourselves experts at all about techno music, so we recommend a number of posts if you’re interested in reading and learning more. Don’t miss the NPR article “Get Familiar With Detroit Techno: 10 Essential Songs,” which features short interviews with Detroit musicians, who pick iconic tracks. For an even deeper dive, check out this landing page at Elemental magazine, which has several interviews and pieces from the heyday of the Village Voice’s coverage of techno in the 1990s. To see and hear many of these musicians, check out the short movie “Detroit: The Blueprint Of Techno,” For yet more, you can spend hours at Beatport’s exhaustive guide – we can only scratch the surface here! The music created by the first generation of techno musicians is a happy marriage between innovation and community building. By centering both beats and technological-driven ideas, the creators of techno made music that engaged the mind, worked just as well in clubs, and has a lasting influence on popular music today.

With this exciting music being so important to his hometown, it’s easy to see why a musician like Gerald Cleaver would want to make his own electronic albums. Cleaver developed the ideas that led to his first album of this music over two years, from 2017 to 2019. According to his Bandcamp page, the music “came about in his Brooklyn studio through a long process of looking to translate what he heard, into a new language. Cleaver was born and spent most of his life in Detroit, where he experienced, and was influenced by, the legendary development and blossoming of the Motor City electronic music scene.”

The release of composed music on Signs was an enormous surprise for fans of Cleaver’s spontaneous and live drumming. Yet not surprising because Cleaver’s electronic music captures the spirit of innovation at the heart of techno, with its use of sound and complex layers of ideas. For example, a few seconds into the opening track of Signs, “Jackie’s Smiles,” the first thing you hear is difficult to describe – an oscillating sound like vibrating water glasses or a squeaky pipe – but complex and musical! This mysterious sound is quickly joined by an ascending and interlocking set synthesizer motifs that build a rich tapestry of processed samples. The same atmosphere is consistently maintained across 11 tracks and over an hour. Each track has a different take on the central concept – rather than using a backbeat or heavy drum tracks, the percussion sounds are deeper in the mix, heavily textured, and support Cleaver’s more cerebral approach to Detroit techno music—an unusual and fascinating record.

Cleaver’s next electronic album, Griots from 2021, may be even better. The album’s masterpiece is “Virelles,” named after pianist David Virelles (who contributes electronic keyboards). You can listen to the track here:

“Virelles” conjures a symphonic range of machine blips, squiggles, loops, and synth textures that subtly shift shape over 8 minutes. By the time you get to the closing notes, you feel you’ve been on an epic journey packed with so many amazing vistas. The rest of the album has a similar scope – always full of interesting music and arresting details.

Cleaver recognized techno as a music of collaboration by bringing in the producer Hprizm of Antipop Consortium to create Signs Remixed, which was released alongside Griots. Hprizm takes a more grounded approach to the music with heavier drums and a backbeat. Listening to Hprizm’s remixes and then returning to Cleaver’s original version of Signs is lots of fun – so interesting to go back and forth and appreciate the differences, which expand the sonic boundaries of the original.

Cleaver has developed an approach to electronic music that distills techno’s curiosity about the future and rapture with technology but refines it into a presentation designed for listening. We can’t recommend these albums enough! And you don’t have to wait long for more of this music from Cleaver, because he’s got two new electronic records coming out that sound like they’ll be amazing. On March 17, 2023, Cleaver will release In The Wilderness, where he will play acoustic drums alongside Hprizm’s electronics and Brandon Lopez’s bass. I love Bandcamp’s description: “In The Wilderness opens with textured drums, a muted bass, celestial sound, like stars breaking into puddles.” You can order your copy here as a digital file, on CD, or (very cool looking) clear vinyl:

Then on May 25, Cleaver will release 22 / 23, which promises to be even more distinctive. For this project, Cleaver has mixed electronics with vocals. The release notes describe the music as a journey “through genre, exploring the future and recalling history, in his most place-based album yet,” where he “deftly combines his talent for electronic composition with a curious ear for the unpredictable, occasionally accompanied by singer Jean Carla Rodea.” Sounds amazing. You can order it here:

We’ve pre-ordered both of these and look forward to more music from Gerald Cleaver, both on drums and sans the drums, as well.

(Cleaver at the drums. Image: Pi Recordings)

Music Discussed:

Cybotron:
“Alleys of Your Mind” b/w “Cosmic Raindance” (Deep Space, 1981)
“Cosmic Cars” b/w “The Line” (Deep Space/Fantasy, 1982)
“Clear” b/w “Industrial Lies” (Fantasy, 1983)
“Techno City” (Fantasy, 1984)

Inner City:
“Big Fun” (1988, Virgin)
“Good Life” (1988, Virgin)

Gerald Cleaver:
Signs
(released March 27, 2020, 577 Records)
Credits:
Gerald Cleaver – electronics
Recorded during 2017-2019 in Brooklyn, New York

Griots
(released June 4, 2021, Positive Elevation)
Credits:
Gerald Cleaver – electronics.
Virelles features David Virelles, keyboards
Akinmusire features Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet
Recorded in 2020 in Brooklyn, New York.

Hprizm/Gerald Cleaver:
Signs Remixed
(released June 18, 2021, 577 Records/Positive Elevation)
Original tracks by Gerald Cleaver
Remixed by Hprizm

It’s the end of January, and there’s tons of great new music to write about here. The New Year started with a great release from Jason Moran, and after that, we have been enjoying cool vocals from José James, the perfect solo drums from Andrew Cyrille, and an album for cold days from Mette Henriette. Then to heat things up, we listened to guitar from Álvaro Domene of TITUBA and Samo Salamon with drummer Asaf Sirkis. The Art Ensemble of Chicago dropped a giant album celebrating 50 years since their arrival in Paris. The month ended with a heavy release from East Axis featuring the nonpareil Matthew Shipp. A great month for music!

Pick Hit!
Jason Moran – From the Dancehall to the Battlefield
(released January 1, 2023)

Jason Moran – Piano and voice
Tarus Mateen – Bass
Nasheet Waits – Drums
Logan Richardson – Alto Saxophone
Brian Settles – Tenor Saxophone
Darryl Harper – Clarinet
David Adewumi – Trumpet
Reginald Cyntje – Trombone
Chris Bates – Trombone
Jose Davila – Tuba, Helicon

Jason Moran started 2023 off with a bang with this New Year’s day release, celebrating what Moran calls “one of the original Big Bangs in Black Music,” James Reese Europe. A decade before Louis Armstrong made his first record, Europe was the seminal figure of black music, but forgotten now. Moran pays tribute with a program of fantastic depth and variety. The Bandwagon (Moran with Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums) forms the core musical unit, but on many tracks, seven horns and brass are added, with arrangements that move happily from early jazz anachronisms to modern and free playing. The ground covered is astonishing, exemplified by effortlessly mashing up Europe with Geri Allen and spirituals segueing into Albert Ayler. To these ears, the most impressive release so far this year.

Pick Hit!
East Axis – No Subject
(released January 27, 2023)

Gerald Cleaver – drums
Kevin Ray – bass
Scott Robinson – sax
Matthew Shipp – piano

It’s exciting news that East Axis is back with this follow-up to the brilliant Cool With That (2021). This time, Scott Robinson brings his array of saxophones on board, giving the album a lot of variety. The songs here are shorter and darker in tone than the first East Axis release, but the music is constantly stimulating. Especially remarkable is Shipp, who, after years of excellent music making, has developed a refined language that is at once flexible, dynamic, and deeply his own. Ship’s musicality on this album is immense, and so is his close relationship with drummer Cleaver. This is a group that needs to keep on putting records out.

Mette Henriette – Drifting
(Released January 20, 2023)

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify

Mette Henriette – saxophonist and composer
Johan Lindvall – pianist
Judith Hamann – cellist

This winter, there’s been no snowfall in NYC, but when we were teased with a few flakes in the air, we knew we had to put on this album. The floating ethereal piano, sax, cello, and crystalline ECM production make this a perfect winter album. Don’t listen when driving; the serene and contemplative music demands late-night listening or headphones on a winter walk. That will let you hear the tranquil but imaginative textures and appreciate the small surprises when Henriette’s compositions introduce subtle dissonance. Probing and intelligent music. Now, if only we’d get some snow!

Art Ensemble of Chicago – The Sixth Decade – From Paris to Paris
(released January 20, 2023)

Roscoe Mitchell – sopranino and alto saxophones
Famoudou Don Moye – drums, percussions
Moor Mother – spoken word
Roco – vocal (bass)
Erina Newkirk – vocal (soprano)
Nicole Mitchell – flutes, piccolo
Hugh Ragin – trumpet, flugelhorn, thai bells
Simon Sieger – trombone, tuba
Jean Cook – violin
Eddy Kwon – viola
Tomeka Reid – cello
Brett Carson – piano
Silvia Bolognesi – double bass
Junius Paul – double bass
Jaribu Shahid – double bass, bass
Dudu Kouaté – percussions
Enoch Williamson – percussions
Babu Atiba – percussions
Doussou Touré – percussions
Steed Cowart – direction

Frankly, we were a little confused by this album, but maybe we can help you come to it with the right expectations. First, this is essentially a jazz opera. Recorded at a show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AEOC coming to Paris, Moor Mother’s poetry often dominates the music, along with vocal stylings from Córdova and Newkirk. It threw us off at first find to find Roscoe Mitchell and percussionist Famoudou Don Moye – the only surviving founders of the original AEOC – a bit sidelined in their own band. However, there’s a lot of stirring and wonderful music here, and coming back to it with expectations recalibrated, we can say it’s mostly excellent. The AEOC is one of the most incredible groups in music history, and even their 2nd tier works are great. Just don’t expect Nice Guys or A Jackson In Your House.

Rainbow Bubbles – Samo Salamon & Asaf Sirkis
(officially releases February 15, 2023, but available now)

Samo Salamon – electric guitars, banjo, six and 12-string guitars, bass guitar, Moog, synths, piano
Asaf Sirkis – drums

This album is an excellent showcase for Salamon’s spirited banjo and guitars, accompanied by Israeli drummer Asaf Sirkis. In the liner notes, Salamon writes, “Asaf had initially recorded around 30 minutes of drum improvisations, which represented the basis for my compositions. I could then write melodies, solo parts, chord changes, etc., which was fantastic for me to compose in a different way. Hope you enjoy this one. I love it!” The collaboration produced very fresh and exciting results – check it out.

José James – On & On
(released January 20, 2023)

José James – vocals, bells, singing bowl, Bali metal tongue drum
Ebban Dorsey – alto saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5)
Diana Dzhabbar – flute, alto saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 7)
BIGYUKI – piano, fender rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3, synthesizers
Ben Williams – bass
Jharis Yokley – drums

James channels past soul and hip-hop by interpreting the catalog of Erykah Badu. Also, check out that album cover paying tribute to Alice Coltrane. There’s a lot of reverence for the past, and the joy that went into making this album is unmistakable. Listening is just pure enjoyment too, and at times very funny! Recommended.

Álvaro Pérez/Colin Fisher/Álvaro Domene/Mike Pride – TITUBA
(released January 6, 2023)

Álvaro Pérez – alto
Colin Fisher – tenor
Álvaro Domene – seven string guitar
Mike Pride – drums and percussion

TITUBA features an international quartet of Colin Fisher (Toronto) and Álvaro Pérez (Madrid) on saxophones, Álvaro Domene (New York) on seven-string guitar, and Mike Pride (New York) on drums. Amazing that such organic and focused music was created by musicians recording remotely on multiple continents! At least to these ears, Domene’s scorching guitar is out in front, especially on proto-metal material like “Background Abundance” or the more avant-garde “Dreamscaping.” An exciting album.

Andrew Cyrille – Music Delivery / Percussion
(released January 20, 2023)

Andrew Cyrille – Drums

The drum kit’s sound is full of drama and, in the right hands, musicality. The solo drum album is a genre created by Max Roach, whose forays always spotlighted his signature use of space and time. Cyrille is a drum master who should be mentioned in the same breath as Roach, and here Cyrille deploys an innovative program featuring every aspect of his creativity. On each track, Cyrille explores different sonorities, textures, and ideas that cumulate into an awe-inspiring portrait of his musicality.

Afonso Pais/Tomás Marques – The Inner Colours of Boglin’s Outline
(released January 24, 2023)

Afonso Pais – guitar
Tomás Marques alto saxophone

Afonso Pais (guitar) and Tomás Marques (alto sax) played and recorded these improvisations during 2022, entirely impromptu and without editing. The liner notes say, “trust is to accept the metamorphosis,” as a motto for this project, and the simpatico language is obvious when you listen. The ebb and flow of one feeling to the next is very natural, which the musicians highlight when they say, “the music was highly susceptible to the moods, entirely different from session to session and take to take, and specially pleasurable to play on.” A great document of effective collaboration.

This blog is still young enough to celebrate 1/2 birthdays, and we’ll be 2 and 1/2 years old in a couple of weeks- that’s how long it’s been since our inaugural post on August 13, 2020. Happy HBD TNB! Like many creations during the 2020 lockdown, this blog had only been an idea for years. With extra time and the magical ingredient of boredom, we decided to create The Necessary Blues and get started writing. It’s been our honor to share music we love, and we thought now’s a good time to look back at the posts we feel are representative of what this blog is shooting for.

Our first substantive post is about music which is a paradigm for this blog. Julius Hemphill’s composition “Dogon A.D.” has earthy grit conveyed through the blues-soaked tone of Hemphill’s alto sax, yet its artistic raison-d’être is the beat itself. The insistent, driving pulse of the song, written in 11/8 by Hemphill and brilliantly played by the overlooked drummer Philip Wilson, is unforgettable. We quoted critic Robert Palmer, who said that Hemphill’s music is a “fruitful dialogue between experimentation and tradition.” That’s what “progressive” music is all about and what this blog seeks to explore!

TNB has found it fruitful to focus on single works of art rather than the often extensive discographies of artists, an approach we picked up with our profile of Nate Wooley’s Seven Storey Mountain VI. Wooley’s expansive and epic “Seven Story” series is too big to do justice in one post. Wooley uses processed instruments played live against prepared tape loops to create an ecstatic event and deploys this approach slightly differently with each installment. Our post focused on the incredible sixth iteration and tried to capture some of the flavor of Wooley’s concept and explain his motivations and purpose.

We’ve tried to embrace an eclectic approach and write about music of different categories and approaches. In this spirit, some of our subjects have been progressive rock, such as a profile of King Crimson’s epic Lark’s Tongue in Aspic, Magma’s strange and exciting “The Last Seven Minutes” or Bill Bruford’s wonderful jazz/rock fusion Feels Good to Me. With other posts, we’ve explored the 1970s free jazz of Poughkeepsie great Joe McPhee, the calm wonder of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbru’s piano, and the “comeback” of Charles Mingus with sideman Don Pullen.

Some posts we’re especially proud of explore multidisciplinary or intersectional artistic statements. “Attica!” looks at the art made to the wake of the government’s infamous crackdown and cover-up of the 1972 prison rebellion. “Soundtracks In Search of a Movie” looks at electronic music inspired by Frank Herbert’s famous science fiction novel, Dune. These posts look at art’s reflections on life and art’s commentary on art itself.

In March 2021, we started our “New Album Round-up,” which we’ve posted monthly, culminating in our annual album round-up. We took a break from the monthy round-ups for a while, but they are back again (it’s our most popular series of posts) and here to stay! You can expect a round-up of our favorite albums at the end of every month – make sure you check in here!

Another series of posts we’ve done periodically is the “Gig Journal,” posting about live performances we’ve seen in New York City, where we are based. The “Gig Journal” started in May 2022 with the 5/21/2022 performance of Jason Moran at the beautiful Park Avenue Armory. We then posted about an intimate Kresten Osgood gig in the basement of Downtown Music Gallery – amazing hearing a band of masters in a space no bigger than a living room! We were also there during Arts for Arts’ series of free concerts this summer. Unfortunately, over the last 2 1/2 years, a lot of the great musicians have passed away, and we did memorial posts about Stanley Cowell, Billy Bang, Abdul Wadud, and Grachan Moncur III.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this content! We know it’s been fun creating these posts and sharing them. Our goal is to explore the beauty and wisdom of great music and, hopefully, in the process, to help benefit the creators of that art too. We believe in art, and we know that you do too!

So what’s next for The Necessary Blues?

We’re so excited about the content we’re planning for this year, and we can’t wait to share it. We’re working on a profile of a masterpiece of Canterbury rock, an album that is funny, adventurous, and strangely easy to enjoy. Also on the horizon is the long-delayed series on the legendary African Blue Notes, including discographical information and rare field recordings. We’re also planning a profile of a jazz master who should be mentioned in the same breath as Monk, Mingus and Miles but somehow is not. Who is it? You’ll have to wait and see!

Thank you so much for being here. We hope you’re excited to share this journey with us!

It’s our end-of-the-year round-up of our favorite records that came out in 2022. This year had so many excellent albums that putting this list together was not easy – every time we thought an album should be placed near the top, another worthy candidate seemed just as good! So to accommodate the wealth of exciting music and reflect such a strong year in music, we’ve expanded this list to 40 places, the top 15 albums with comments, and then the next 25.

Enjoy! We’re going to take a few days to appreciate and listen to these outstanding records, and hope you will too.

1 Charles Lloyd – Trio of Trios

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to purchase from Blue Note

Lloyd’s music-making was with us all through much of 2022 – he released the singularly beautiful Chapel mid-year, followed by Ocean and Sacred Thread, and then in November combined the three albums into the 3-hour plus Trio of Trios. This massive album smartly puts the trio with Hussain and Lage first, but don’t miss the highlights from the other trios, such as Clayton’s great blues piano solo on “Jaramillo Blues” and the deep lyricism and close listening throughout the Frisell/Morgan trio. A classic for the ages.

2 Mary Halvorson – Amaryllis

2022 was another banner year for Halvorson, one of today’s definitive musicians. In addition to this excellent album, Halvorson was on Thumbscrew’s Multicolor Midnight (#35 on our list) and was an essential voice in the mix on Myra Melford’s For The Love of Fire and Water (#24) and Nate Wooley’s Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes (#36). We could not contain our excitement as soon as we heard that Halvorson would be releasing this album with Patricia Brennan (whose More Touch is #7 on our list). This album did not disappoint-every track is a gem. Halvorson’s compositions are as much a star as her guitar, and her band is exceptional – Jacob Garchik’s trombone stands out in particular, whose Assembly (#5 on our list) was also one of the year’s best.

3-Alabaster DePlume – Gold

It’s rare to hear an album that sounds like nothing else, but DePlume’s Gold has an indescribable mixture of atmospheric playing and unique musical settings. The album was recorded in the summer of 2020 in sessions where DePlume invited a different set of musicians each day and would record the same tunes at the same speed so that DePlume would then cut them together later, assembling the most otherworldly final product. Enjoy this fantastic album!

4-Wild Up and Christopher Rountree – Julius Eastman, vol. 2: Joy Boy

The Julius Eastman revival continues! Joy Boy is Wild Up’s second of seven anticipated volumes of Eastman’s music, following up on last year’s excellent Feminine. The results are pretty varied, opening with the frenetic vocal exhortations of “Joy Boy,” moving to the heavy guitar stylings in the middle of the album, and ending with the joyous “Stay On It.”

5-Jacob Garchik – Assembly

We listened to this album several times in wonder, trying to figure out how Garchik and his players (Sam Newsome – soprano saxophone, Jacob Sacks – piano, Thomas Morgan – bass, Dan Weiss – drums) achieved such speed, cohesion, and unity on wildly tricky pieces. “Fanfare” closed with one of the fastest tempos we’ve ever heard. Then it clicked – Assembly refers to Garchik’s post-production process – the disparate parts were recorded in multiple sessions and then “assembled” to create a luminous whole. Bonus points for a remarkable channeling of Ellington (“Fanfare” features soloing based on “In a Sentimental Mood”). More bonus points for the best album cover of the year!

6-Pat Thomas – Pat Thomas Plays The Duke

More Ellington, and for those who have heard about the great Pat Thomas’ live sets of Ellington repertoire, this is a welcome release. Thomas plays inside, outside, and everywhere in between in an exhilarating set. For an extended dose of the “outside” Pat Thomas, check out his spellbinding tribute to Cecil Taylor, “Akisakila” / Attitudes​ ​of Preparation (Mountains, Oceans, Trees) (#18 on our list).

7-Patricia Brennan – More Touch

A record that creates musical questions and draws you back again, searching for the answers. Like on last year’s brilliant Maquishti, Brennen’s intelligence and lyricism are evident throughout. And her supporting cast, especially Marcus Gilmore (drums), is perfect.

8-Michael Leonhart Orchestra – The Normyn Suites

Normyn was Leonhard’s beloved dachshund, whose life inspired the two engaging suites presented here. The range of orchestral and thematic ideas is exciting throughout the suites, and the extra tracks with guest vocals by Elvis Costello.

9-Loraine James – Building Something Beautiful for Me

Yet more Julius Eastman, but here filtered through the sensibility of James’ electronic soundscape. The results are utterly different from Wild Up’s Joy Boy (No. 4 on our list) but just as compelling. A excellent late-night record.

10-Trish Clowes – A View With a Room

Probably the most “inside” album on our top 15, but so irrepressibly fun! Clowes’ playing is warm and lyrical, and her band matches the spirit of her playing and compositions. Just simple, pure fun – nothing wrong with that.

11-Editrix – Editrix II – Editrix Goes To Hell

Wendy Eisenberg’s guitar playing works so well in avant-garde jazz contexts (check out last year’s Bloodletting) and here in a “rock” context. However, not like any rock record you’ve heard!

12-Hedvig Mollestad and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Maternity Beat

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to purchase from Rune Grammaphone

Mollestad’s guitar playing is just the tip of the iceberg. She joins forces with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, creating an album that paints with a vast palette – you’ll hear a vocal chorus, spoken word interludes, electric violin, saxophone solos, and asymmetrical drumming all sharing space with Mollestad’s searing guitar interludes. Full of “noisy joy.”

13-Jon Irabagon – Rising Sun

An exuberant outing from Irabagon, with terrific support from Matt Mitchell, Chris Lightcap, and Dan Weiss. To see what this album is all about, go to the second track, “Alliance.” The statement of the elaborate, knotty theme takes a full five minutes, but that’s only a prelude to what follows: the band switches into ecstatic, grooving playing that notches higher and higher in intensity, culminating with screaming exhortations from Irabagon, over the band at full tilt. The album was inspired by travels in the west during the pandemic, and Irabagon says, “I hope that this music can uplift and galvanize you as much as it has for me.” It does!

14-Palm – Nicks and Grazes

Palm returns after their excellent 2018 album Rock Island. This one is a little less angular but has even deeper layers of dissonance buried in the mix, which unravel with each listen. We’re told they are mesmerizing live, too!

15-Rosalía – Motomami

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify

If this blog were about pop music rather than the intersection of the folkloric and the avant-garde, this album might be #1 on the list. The most innovative pop record of 2022.

The next 25 (all music no comments):

16-Marta Sanchez – SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)


17-Cecile McLorin Salvant – Ghost Song


18-Pat Thomas & XT – “Akisakila” / Attitudes​ ​of Preparation (Mountains, Oceans, Trees)


19-David Murray, Dan Jones & Hamid Drake – Seriana Promethea


20-Emily Wells – Regards to the End

Link to Bandcamp

21-Oort Smog – Every Motherfucker Is Your Brother

22-Janel Leppin – Ensemble Volcanic Ash


23-Myra Melford Fire and Water Quintet – For The Love of Fire and Water


24-Lucrecia Dalt – Ay!


25-Qasim Naqvi, Wadada Leo Smith & Andrew Cyrille – Two Centuries

26-Miguel Zenón – Música De Las Américas


27-Miles Okazaki – Thisness


28-Elsa Nilsson – Atlas of Sound – 41​°​32’09​.​8″N 124​°​04’35​.​5″W


29-Beth Orton – Weather Alive

30-Alvvays-Blue Rev


31-Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone – Xaybu: The Unseen


32-Fred Pallem & Le Sacre du Tympan – X


33-Kirk Knuffke Trio – Gravity Without Airs

34-Thumbscrew – Multicolored Midnight


35-Avram Fefer – Juba Lee


36-Nate Wooley – Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes

37-Mathis Picard – Live at the Museum

Link to Apple
Link to Spotify

38-Roxy Coss – Disparate Parts


39-Horse Lords – Comradely Objects

40-Leyla McCalla – Breaking the Thermometer

Today, December 12th, 2022, is the 99th birthday of the amazing muse of a unique brand of devotional piano music, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbru. Happy birthday, Emahoy!

When has such a slender discography had such an impact? Noteworthy musicians have professed their love or devoted themselves to the performance and preservation of Emahoy’s music, and fans have had their lives changed in unexpected places, all by the meditative and soulful music of the modest nun, composer, and pianist. A great place to begin is with journalist Kate Molleson of The Guardian, who conducted a terrific interview with Emahoy, which you can listen to here, and read the accompanying article.

Both Emahoy’s music and story are something to celebrate. In the interview with Molleson, Emahoy explains, in English, how she was born into a wealthy Ethiopian family, was sent aboard and learned concert piano, had a near-death experience after which she entered the convent, and only slowly came back to music. Eventually, Emahoy devoted her life not only to God but to spreading her faith through the writing of quietly graceful and life-affirming compositions for solo piano. Remarkably, Emahoy self-released her music “in small editions as fundraisers for orphanages, [to] support organizations for widows of war victims, and other philanthropic causes.”

The first of these releases is a German issue from 1963, Spielt Eigen Kompositionen. This 5-song LP shows Emahoy’s early songs, most notably “The Homeless Wanderer,” which starts with a chromatic run of notes, and settles into what Ethan Iverson calls a “one-chord blues.” It’s evocative and draws multiple you back for repeat listening.

Emahoy’s second LP, titled simply Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebru brings slightly better audio and even deeper song craft. The album starts with one of the gems of Emahoy’s catalog, “Mother’s Love.” The song is built around a moving bass pattern, while the right hand plays gorgeous fills. Emahoy states that she wrote the song for the love of her mother for her beloved son, a victim of Ethiopia’s war with Italy. Elsewhere, the often programmatic titles are matched with evocative music – “Song of Sea” captures the rocking of waves, “Homesickness” a feeling of nostalgic longing, and “Story of The Wind” an elemental blues feeling. Once you get drawn into this music, its utterly centered quality stays with you.

The excellent Ethiopiques series released the two above LP’s on one CD as Ethiopiques, vol. 21: Emahoy (Piano Solo) in 2006, and that’s how most people have become acquainted with Emahoy, Since then, her legend and influence have grown. Unsurprising, Emahoy has not changed her devotional life or capitalized on her international fame. She emigrated to Jerusalem years ago, where she lives at the Ethiopian monastery, continuing to write music and play piano privately. However, with the assistance of Israeli pianist Maya Dunietz (check our post about Dunietz’ terrific 2021 album, Free the Dolphin), Emahoy has taken care to preserve her music, most of which remains unreleased.

Much has been made of Emahoy’s connection to the compositions of the European 19th-century piano literature. The always astute Iverson makes the fair point that Emahoy’s music shares an antique quality with music “you would find in your grandmother’s piano bench.” The otherworldly timelessness of Emahoy’s music is one of its real draws. But while Emahoy certainly uses the technique and phraseology drawn from those European masters, the melodies and the harmonies reflect her experience in Northern Africa in the 20th century and are very much her own. For example, listen to “Jordan River Song” from her self-titled album. The roaming chromaticism, relaxed time, and deep blues feeling have nothing all to do with Chopin – it’s all Emahoy.

So, happy birthday Emahoy! I urge you to go to the link here and listen to the opening notes of “The Homeless Wanderer”, which has been how most of the world has been initiated into this great music. It’s music that keeps giving and keeps you returning to it, as unpretentious and generous as its creator.

And, more good news – following the excellent vinyl reissues this year of Emahoy’s first two albums, a new album, Jerusalem, is scheduled for release in 2023. It’s the first new issue of additional music by Emahoy since Ethiopiques, vol. 21! You can hear the title track on YouTube here. Looking forward to it! Also make sure you check out Emahoy’s website, it’s a great repository of all that makes her unique and wonderful.

November brought a bunch of excellent albums to us, and in a huge variety of genres and approaches. Here we have a couple of typically fascinating French albums, an intense prog/metal/jazz mash-up from Patrick Shiroishi and Mark Kimbrell, absorbing modern classical music from Tyondai Braxton, a tribute to our favorite cellist (hint: click here), another experimental rock album from Palm, a wild tenor sax quartet, a new one from a star NYC improvisers, Patricia Brennan, and more. A rich sampler of music to bring us into December!

Pick hit!
Fred Pallem & le Sacre du Tympan – “X”
(released November 18, 2022)

Fred Pallem – Bass Guitars, Synthesizer, Vocals
Remi Sciuto – Alto & Baritone saxophones, Flutes
Vincent Taeger – Drums
Guillaume Magne – Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Sebastien Palis – Harpsichord, Clavinet, Organ, Upright piano
Christine Roch – Tenor Saxophone, Clarinets
Sylvain Bardiau Trumpet, Fluegelhorn
Daniel Zimmermann – Trombone
Guillaume Lantonnet – Glockenspiel, Tambourine
Strings (10 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos)

It’s hard to resist an album that’s billed by the band as a “tanning cream for the ears” and Fred Pallem’s “X” (for “10” – it’s his 10th album) does not disappoint! Palem employs his usual mix of retro/nostalgic trappings (harpsichords!) and advanced jazz harmony, which creates delightful fun. Pallem accomplishes this range with 25 musicians playing brass, strings and yes, those harpsichords. Pallem says that the mission of “X” and his band Le Sacre du Tympan is to put orchestral music back on the map, “like a strange impossible place where Wagnerian flights would intersect with the groove of David Axelrod’s basses and the madness of Jean-Claude Vannier.” But don’t just take our word for it, go to the link above and dive into a strange and wonderful adventure of an album.

Pick hit!
Patricia Brennan – More Touch
(released November 18, 2022, Pyroclastic)

Marcus Gilmore – drums
Mauricio Herrera – percussion
Kim Cass – bass
Patricia Brennan – vibraphone with electronics, marimba

Brennan is one of our favorite new musicians, returning with More Touch after the brilliant solo vibraphone outing Maquishti from last year, and her appearance on Mary Halvorsan’s Ameryllis, which was one of that album’s highlights. Those accomplishments don’t really prepare the listener for the level of experimentation that’s going on here. Brennan eschews easy melodic themes and the high energy often used to sugarcoat dissonance. Instead, this music questions, probes, and interrogates your preconceptions about form and content. It’s subtly and gently challenging. Brennan says the music “reflects a process of inner search,” backwards to Brennan’s roots “in Veracruz, Mexico and forwards into the future. A music of fluidity, flexibility, precision, and density.” Another fascinating release from one of the great new talents in music.

Tyondai Braxton – Telekinesis
(released November 11, 2022)

Telekinesis is an eighty-seven-piece work for electric guitars, orchestra, choir and electronics—featuring the multiple orchestras Metropolis Ensemble, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the chamber choir The Crossing. Braxton calls Telekinesis “the latest and largest example of intersections between my electronic music and notated music, both sonically and philosophically.” Throughout the recording and production process, Braxton sought to “create an environment where electronic instruments and acoustic instruments coexist in a place that feels balanced and organic.” I’ll add what I recommend as the ideal way to listen – wait until it’s quiet, late at night, and use a good pair of headphones – you’ll be amazed at the huge and rich forces used to make this music, the depth of the sound, the attentional to detail, and especially the kaleidoscopic array of sounds.

Oort Smog – Every Motherfucker Is Your Brother
(released November 11, 2022)

Mark Kimbrell – Drums
Patrick Shiroishi – Multiple saxophones

This one-track album takes a few minutes to get going, but if you’re impatient, wash the dishes and come back 5 minutes in, because if you stick around till the end of the record you’re in for a treat. EMIYB builds and escalates for its half hour duration, reaching one apex after another of intense synergism between Shiroishi’s battery of saxes and Kimbrell’s batterie. From the Bandcamp page: “Kimbrell and Shiroishi combine elements of brutal prog (both are members in Upsilon Acrux) and free improvisation in their long form composition . . . written over the course of eighteen months and recorded during the pandemic/George Floyd & Breonna Taylor protests, Oort Smog drew from a number of influences to create their own sound – one of urgency, heaviness, and hope.” I guarantee if you listen to this album in one sitting, you’ll press repeat and start it over again – it’s heavy but exhilarating.

Avram Fefer – Juba Lee
(released November 18, 2022, Clean Feed)

Avram Fefer – alto and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet
Marc Ribot – guitar
Eric Revis – bass
Chad Taylor – drums

Avram Fefer’s Testament was one of the best albums of 2019, and he returns with the same potent group. You can hear the chemistry of musicians that have played together for years, both in the efficient but powerful rhythm and the distinctive way that Fefer and Ribot play their sax/guitar melodic lines. Speaking of the melodies, they are very fetching, and the album dances throughout.

Tom Skinner – Voices of Bishara
(released November 4, 2022)

Tom Skinner – Drums
Kareem Dayes – Cello
Nubya Garcia – Tenor saxophone and flute
Tom Herbert – Acoustic bass
Shabaka Hutchings – Tenor saxophone and bass clarinet

If you’ve followed this blog, you know the music of great cellist Abdul Wadud is one of our passions. Drummer Skinner has that passion too. During the Covid lockdown he spent hours deep listening to Wadud’s masterpiece By Myself (covered by our blog here). Voices of Bishara is the result – recorded with a band of today’s hottest players, including British saxophonists Nubya Garcia and Shabaka Hutchings. The results are enveloping and authoritative. A winner.

Flat Earth Society – R.I.P.
(Released November 1, 2022)

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to band website to download album

This wonderfully named band was founded in 1998 by architect and multi-instrumentalist Peter Vermeersch and is known for eclectic music that “owns the ability to seduce a number of different audiences, from more select jazz listeners to a wild young rock public.” R.I.P. has a concept that is best described on the band’s website:

“In this project FES creates its own funeral repertoire and Perpetuum Mobile: 12 farewell songs for the funeral of the members of the orchestra. All fifteen of them must die, through illness, plain bad luck, old age or a stupid accident, there is no shortage of causes. As the suite progresses, the orchestra dwindles until no one is left: a tragicomic preview of what is to come. As the last musician leaves the stage, the whole orchestra is reunited, as in Roland Topor’s story “Blues for Gaston”. And they celebrate that reunion exuberantly with a wild Death defying Danse Macabre. The order of the deaths was determined by chance, resulting in rather illogical and therefore interesting orchestral compositions. R.I.P. challenges fate, extracts beauty from tragedy and grief, and pays a macabre tribute to life with a virtuous portion of black humour.” The music is a blast, ranging from careening high-energy tunes with the whole band to smaller, more focused ensembles. The spontaneity that you can hear on the album is something that I want to hear live!

Palm – Nicks and Grazes
(released October 14, 2022)

(released October 14, 2022)

Performed by Palm:
Eve Alpert
Gerasimos Livitsanos
Hugo Stanley
Kasra Kurt
Matt Anderegg

We don’t write about too many rock bands on TNB, but Palm is no ordinary rock band. On their latest effort, Nicks and Grazes, Palm continue and develop their embrace of discordance to dazzling effect. The band’s guitarist Kasra Kurt, says “we wanted to reconcile two potentially opposing aesthetics, to capture the spontaneous, free energy of our live shows while integrating elements from the traditionally gridded palette of electronic music.” Palm’s 2018 album Rock Island is a masterpiece that we had in repeat play at TNB, and the new one is just as good.

Battle Trance – Green of Winter
(released August 26, 2022)

Travis Laplante – Tenor sax
Patrick Breiner – Tenor sax
Matt Nelson – Tenor sax
Jeremy Viner – Tenor sax

Battle Trance is new to us – four tenor saxophonists who play all over the range of instruments, which they use to create atmospherics, as well as unusual and sometimes intense voicings. This album starts with “vocalized” sax playing that produced an effect reminiscent of some of the Ligeti used in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. It then settles into resonant sax stylings that show off the rich and nuanced acoustics of the recording. The album ends on another high note – a storm of syncopated saxes chase each other in circles for the climactic and breathtaking 10 minutes of the album. Amazing and distinctive.

It’s been a while since our monthly roundup of new releases – sorry for the hiatus, but we’re at it again! What called us back into action is the outpouring of amazing ambient, experimental and electronic records in recent months. You probably know from past posts how much we love this kind of music, so here’s a roundup of some of the recent ones that stand out to us.

Pick hit!
Lucrecia Dalt – ¡Ay!
(released October 14, 2022)

Composed and arranged by Lucrecia Dalt in Berlin in 2021
Percussion by Alex Lázaro
Trumpet by Lina Allemano
Clarinet and flute by Edith Steyer
Double bass by Nick Dunston
Double bass on “El Galatzó” by Isabel Rößler
Backing vocals by Camille Mandoki and Alex Lázaro

Even among unique albums that mix genres, the sound of Lucrecia Dalt really stands out – one of the most interesting albums of the year. Here, Dalt creates an evocative contrast between old and new. On “Dicen” for example, a loping futuristic synthesizer groove introduces a traditional Cuban danzón-sounding trumpet. These kinds of contrasts between old and modern textures and sounds are crucial to this album and abound. I really can’t top what Dalt’s Bandcamp page says:

“Dalt channels sensory echoes of growing up in Colombia on her new album ¡Ay!, where the sound and syncopation of tropical music encounter adventurous impulse, lush instrumentation, and metaphysical sci-fi meditations in an exclamation of liminal delight. In sound and spirit, ¡Ay! is a heliacal exploration of native place and environmental tuning, where Dalt reverses the spell of temporal containment. Through the spiraling tendencies of time and topography, Lucrecia has arrived where she began.”

It’s a fascinating and unique listen – highly recommended.

Pick hit!
Loraine James – Building Something Beautiful For Me
(released October 7, 2022)

A great ambient record is an act of alchemy, or maybe a kind of magic. There has to be something evocative about the sounds, the textures, and the ideas for it all to work. The results can either be dull, or transfixing. Loraine James has that kind of magic. Just as remarkable is how she channels Julius Eastman; Building Something Beautiful For Me venerates Eastman’s spirit, but sounds quite different from Eastman too – it’s very much a Loraine James record more than anything. Eastman’s melodies and arrangements are all beautifully rendered, but recontextualized into a soundscape of James’ synthesizers and arresting vocals. I keep coming back to this terrific record and hope you will too.

Pick hit!
Fuubutsushi – Birthingbodies EP
(released September 15, 2022)

Chris Jusell – Violin
Chaz Prymek – Guitar, Bass Guitar, Lapsteel Guitar
Matthew Sage – Piano, Synthesizers, Autoharp
Patrick Shiroishi – Saxophones, Wind Synth, Glockenspiel, Voice

The return of the ambient supergroup responsible for the four seasonal albums that help many of us navigate stress during the pandemic. In this concise but gorgeous 3 song EP, the group chemistry keeps on building from their prior releases. Here, the music is especially spare and shows a mastery of the difficult art of saying more with less. The music is organized around a political cause, to raise funds for WWW.MOFUND.ORG, a reproductive healthcare resource in Missouri, where Prymek resides. If you love this music, check out those four prior Fuubutsushi releases collected in Shiki.

Mabe Fratti – Se Ve Desde Aquí
(released October 14, 2022, Unheard of Hope)

Mabe Fratti: cello, vocals, synths, and saxophone (in track 7)
Synths and/or guitars and/or bass contributions in every track by I. La Católica
Héctor Tosta: Multiple instrucments
Carla Boregas: Synth and tapes (track 9)
Alina Maldonado: Violin in tracks 5 and 7
Gibrán Andrade: Drums in tracks 1, 2 and 3
Jarrett Gilgore: Saxophones in tracks 2, 4, and 8

This Guatemalan cellist, who is based in Mexico City, is entirely new to me. Her prior albums Pies sobre la tierra (2019) and Será que ahora podremos entendernos (2021) along with noted collaborations such as with Gudrun Gut on last year’s Let’s Talk About The Weather, all seem to be highly regarded, so I’m going to have to catch up! Se Ve Desde Aquí employs Fratti’s intimate vocals and cello, with a shifting background of synthesizers, guitar, and percussion. At times the album goes from ambient and noise into folkloric and pop song structures and then transitions back into sound texture. It’s always arresting music – a very strong release.

Dewa Alit & Gamelan Salukat – Chasing the Phantom
(released July 22, 2022, Black Truffle)

Gamelan Salukat, a large ensemble of Gamelan percussion designed by Dewa Alit

Not all ambient music has to be electronic, as the rich Gamelan musical culture shows. This is the second release from contemporary Balinese composer Dewa Alit and his Gamelan Salukat. (Check out the 2020 album Genetic here). Gamelan Salukat is a 25-member ensemble that performs on instruments specially built to Alit’s designs, using a unique 11-note scale. Composer Alit explains in the liner notes for that 2020 release that “the music of Gamelan Salukat is grounded in the tradition of Balinese Gamelan; however, he approaches this tradition not as something static, but as a set of concepts and principles that can be used to create something radically new.” While the music created here is all acoustic, the Gamelan ensemble sounds a lot like the sound and texture of electronics. The approach earns this fascinating album a spot in the Ambient/Electronic roundup!

Nate Wooley – Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes
(released July 29, 2022, Pyroclastic Records)

Mary Halvorson – Guitar
Susan Alcorn – Pedal Steel Guitar
Ryan Sawyer – Drums
Mat Maneri – Viola, (Track 2)
Trevor Dunn – Electric Bass, (Track 4)
Nate Wooley – Trumpet and Amplifier, Compositions

Last year’s Mutual Aid Music emphasized group communication, and while that is sometimes fascinating, I don’t think it engaged Wooley’s genius for creating a sonic monolith out of disparate voices. He does that on Seven Storey Mountain IV and does that here too. Field recordings of crashing waves bleed into Wooley’s fuzz-box trumpet distortions, and then into Halvorson’s vertigo-inducing guitar twang. Then in the second half, Wooley takes the amp off his trumpet and we are reminded he can play it the old-fashioned way too. Another winner from one of the most interesting musicians around.

Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn – Pigments
(released October 21, 2022)

Music composed, arranged, and produced by Spencer Zahn
Vocals composed and written by Dawn Richard
Stuart Bogie: clarinet, bass clarinet
Mike Haldeman: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, sampled electronic instruments
Malcolm Parson: cello, violin, viola
Dawn Richard: vocals
Dave Scalia: drums
Kirk Schoenherr: electric guitar
Jas Walton: tenor saxophone, flute
Doug Wieselman: clarinet, bass clarinet
Spencer Zahn: upright bass, fretless bass, piano, vibraphone, synthesizer

This short album has gotten a lot of press from NPR and elsewhere. I love the very democratic blend of electronic, classical, and pop threads into one whole, and the end result has one foot planted in each world (not sure whether that makes three feet . . . ). A strong release and I’m looking forward to more from these artists.

Groups that performed:
Group 1: Juan Pablo Carletti-drums / Rob Brown-alto Sax
Group 2: Company Lopez – Brandon Lopez-bass / Sam Yulsman-Electronics, Matt Nelson-sax / TJ Borden-cello / Cecilia Lopez-Electronics
Group 3: Patrick Holmes-clarinet / Sarah Sandoval-dance
Group 4: James Brandon Lewis Vibe Freedom
James Brandon Lewis-tenor sax / Kirk Knuffke-cornet / Michael Bisio-bass / Nasheet Waits-drums

When it comes to the arts, there’s no place like New York City! For proof of that, look no further than Arts for Art’s incredible, free and ongoing concert series “Arts for Art InGardens.” On September 24th, I caught the groups presented at First Street Green Art Park, a little enclave off of 2nd avenue, that you will easily miss when you walk by it.

But the music was not to be missed! First off, a small crowd of about a dozen people gathered to hear the duo of the great Rob Brown and drummer Juan Pablo Carletti. Even though the music was unrepentantly avant-garde and abstract, the audience was quite engaged and stayed for the whole afternoon set. Brown and Carletti played two long performances that started and ended with groove-based interplay between the sax and drums, reminiscent of what Sam Rivers used to start his trio sets with – driving music with cascading lines of saxophone riding on top of surging percussion.

(Brown at left, Carletti at right)

At times the music slowed into a slower blues-soaked meditation by Brown, who’s tone and angular phases were something to behold in this small setting. Carletti used mallets, brushes and sticks to produce an assortment of rhythms and textural effects that kept the music moving along briskly. The audience included families with children who danced to Brown’s saxophone runs, to which Brown acknowledged his junior audience members, and his playing seemed to accompany the children’s playing as much as the other way around.

(Company Lopez – Left to right: Matt Nelson, TJ Borden, Sam Yulsman, Cecilia Lopez, and Brandon Lopez)

But that was only the first set – next bassist Brandon Lopez brought a third steam quintet that focused on fascinating textures. Lopez’ group produced a cloud of buzzing sounds from electronic keyboards, mixed with the interweaving lines of Lopez’ bass and TJ Borden’s cello, and when the music reached an apex, a tenor sax wailing on top of the din. The music’s soup of chordal humming was an effective contrast with the horn-driven groups that dominated the afternoon’s other presentations, and the mid afternoon sounds mingled with the traffic and machinery around the First Street Park, creating an urban environmental tapestry.

(Sarah Sandoval at left, Patrick Holmes, right)

The third set featured Patrick Holmes, who played evocative and beautiful lines on his clarinet as Sarah Sandoval danced in accompaniment. The pairing of Holmes’ serene music and Sandoval’s witty dancing was memorable. Sandoval was often very funny, making striking gestures with her body or face, and sometimes breaking what must be a “4th wall” of dancing by physically leaning into, dancing around (or under) Holmes while he played. At one point a posse of nearby motorcycles drove down 1st street, setting off car alarms. Sandoval reacted to the familiar city nuisance by vibrating her body to the din of the motorcycles, and then flailing to the percussive car alarms, all while Holmes played on. The crowd laughed in appreciation.

As the afternoon sun dipped behind the New York skyline, the fourth group of the day, lead by saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, took the stage. As great as the day’s music was to that point, it did not really prepare the listener for the intensity of Lewis and his group. The first two tunes played by Lewis’ group were built around a dense storm of saxophone playing, seeming to split the difference between Albert Ayler-like ecstasy and Coltrane density (the performance was the day after Trane’s birthday). Live, the star is Lewis’ radiant sound – the audience was hanging on every note, and on the obvious conviction and focus behind those notes. If you get the chance to see him live, go!

(James Brandon Lewis Vibe Freedom – from left to right: Kirk Knuffke, Nasheet Waits (hidden at drums), James Brandon Lewis, and Michael Bisio)

With Lewis on cornet was Kirk Knuffke (who’s also on Lewis’ terrific album from last year, Jesup Wagon). Knuffke played foil to Lewis, his lines darting and weaving against Lewis’ massive energy. On the third tune of the four tune set, Knuffke took over, playing an playful solo introduction which immediately switched the mood to a lighter whimsy. With the last tune of the set, Lewis came roaring back, along with terrific support from his group. Drummer Nasheet Waits was commanding throughout, providing all the fire and spontaneity the music needed. Bassist Michael Bisio was extraordinary, providing a melodic touch, and then switching to broad chordal playing as things built up. Basio’s bass solo near the end of the set was memorable, showing off the depth and talent of this band.

The crowd (which by the end of the afternoon had grown to maybe 40 people) stayed in rapt attention throughout, and included a number of notable musicians (Matthew Shipp was just hanging out in the audience!). The set ended to loud applause, and afterwards, the musicians hung out, breaking down the equipment and making dinner plans. I said “thank you” to some of the players, and then floated up 2nd Ave, buoyed on a great experience and thinking about an afternoon of art. What a great way to spend the afternoon!

More Arts for Art!

As I said above, the InGardens series is ongoing, with more great music this weekend (Oct 1st and 2nd) and next weekend (Oct 8th, 9th and 10th). The link to the artists and shows in the series is here. If you are near New York (and the weather permits), don’t miss the opportunity to see great musicians and hear great music. Also consider donating to Arts for Art, which does important work to support the creative music community.

Picture from The Guardian

We recently received the sad news that the great cello player Abdul Wadad died on August 10, 2022, at the age of 75. Please read excellent obits at NPR, The Guardian, and at The Free Jazz Blog. The always fascinating Ethen Iverson posted a tribute with an analysis of 3 great Wadud performances, including an album I have not heard before, I’ve Known Rivers (with Anthony Davis and James Newton, in addition to Wadud). I’ll be checking this album out! Link to YouTube here.

Even though Wadud has not recorded since the 1993 Oakland Duets album with Julius Hemphill, his influence on progressive music has not faltered, and musicians like cellist Tomeka Reid have carried the torch for Wadud’s music. This blog has celebrated Wadud’s music in our inaugural post on Julius Hemphill’s Dogon A.D., a record which prominently features Wadud, and our post about Wadud’s only solo cello album, By Myself.

At the time of those posts, both Dogon A.D. and By Myself were out of print, a situation which thankfully is changing. You can now get Dogon A.D. in a limited edition vinyl release from International Phonograph, and it was announced (sadly only days before Wadud’s death) that By Myself will be released by Grove Records. Wadud’s music will not fade away – its power and humanity are there to be heard by people now and in the future. Abdul Wadud lives!

Picture from Jazz R Us Facebook Page

Music Discussed:

Grachan Moncur III – Evolution
(Recorded November 21, 1963, Released April 1964 – Blue Note BST 84153)
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to YouTube

Personnel:
Grachan Moncur III – trombone
Lee Morgan – trumpet
Jackie McLean – alto saxophone
Bobby Hutcherson – vibes
Bob Cranshaw – double bass
Tony Williams – drums

Jackie McLean – One Step Beyond
(Recorded April 30, 1963, Released January 1964 – Blue Note BST 84137)
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to YouTube

Personnel:
Jackie McLean – alto saxophone
Grachan Moncur III – trombone
Bobby Hutcherson – vibes
Eddie Khan – bass
Tony Williams – drums

Jackie McLean – Destination… Out!
(Recorded September 20, 1963, Released November 1964 – Blue Note BST 84165)
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to YouTube

Personnel:
Jackie McLean – alto saxophone
Grachan Moncur III – trombone
Bobby Hutcherson – vibes
Larry Ridley – bass
Roy Haynes – drums

With the number of musicians who have died recently, it’s difficult to avoid this blog becoming a litany of memorial posts. At TNB we prefer to focus on supporting living musicians and the current development of music. But awareness of the past and its masters is as important as acknowledgement of the present, and the trailblazers of this music create an excitement and nostalgia that inspire both todays’ performers and audience. The music of Grachan Moncur III is one such inspiration. Moncur’s music finds a happy (and rare) combination of structure married to the adventure of the avant-garde. For that reason, we’d like to write about the great Grachan Moncur III, who died last month at the age of 85.

Moncur came from a musical family, the son of a well know bass player with the Savoy Sultans. In interviews, Moncur emphasized how close he was to music growing up – he was friends with Wayne Shorter from a young age (they’re both from Newark) and Sarah Vaughn was a friend of his mother’s (she would come over and cook dinner!). Moncur’s father played the trombone as a second instrument, and Moncur describes his father’s sound as a unmistakably dark and sonorous tone; I would say that’s a good description of Moncur’s sound as well.

The young Moncur’s talent as a trombone player was recognized early, and he went on the road with the popular Ray Charles band for a few years. But experimental music is what inspired Moncur, and Charles responded in disbelief when Moncur quit his band and its steady paycheck to pursue the hard life of a musical creative. Moncur then played with the Benny Golson/Art Farmer Jazztet for a short time, where he made his first records and began writing his first compositions.

This brings us to the genesis of one of the most remarkable debut albums as a leader in music history, Moncur’s Evolution, recorded in November 1963 and released in 1964. Here, I have to confess my connection to this album – Evolution was personally an important gateway to creative music for me. At a time when music that projected transformative energy meant everything to me, I latched onto the music of Moncur’s friend and musical partner, alto sax legend Jackie McLean. McLean’s edgy solos defined what I felt music should be, especially McLean’s breakthrough albums One Step Beyond and Destination Out. But who was this mysterious trombone player with the deep, dark sound, responsible for writing the band’s most incredible tunes? This question led me to Moncur and to his great debut, which really is the source for my love and appreciation of creative music. This blog would not exist without Evolution!

The band that appears on these three albums – McLean’s One Step Beyond and Destination Out, and Moncur’s Evolution, is based around a core group consisting of Monchur’s trombone, McLean’s alto, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, and Tony Williams on drums (except on Destination Out, where Roy Haynes subs). This is a phenomenal band, but Moncur is the glue, the musician that defines this band and sparked it’s creation.

Moncur’s centrality to this band touches on why he is such an important musician. Moncur was 25 years old at the time and was 7 years younger than his mentor McLean. Like McLean, Moncur has a grounding in the blues and hard bop that is essential in Mclean’s music, but Moncur also brings his own exploratory sensibility that invigorates bop with the exploration of more open, experimental music. Even more than this sensibility, it’s Moncur’s compositions are the spark for this band. In a interview with All About Jazz, Moncur explains how inspiration struck in the summer of 1962, which resulted in these pivotal records:

“So what I did was I didn’t even concentrate on working that summer. I just lived off a little bread that I had made that year and just shedded. I just shedded on studying Monk’s tunes. I didn’t have a piano. I didn’t really do that to learn his repertoire to play it. I was just doing it to analyze his music. I just wanted to get the sound of his music inside of my body. Between shedding on Monk’s stuff and then I started writing on my own and this particular night, I had been listening to a lot of television and science fiction sounds and all that kind of stuff. This particular night, I would say about two hours before Jackie called, I wrote both, “Frankenstein” first and then “Ghost Town.”

Go listen to McLean’s One Step Beyond to hear the results: “Frankenstein” uses a loping, off-centered melody that depicts the titular character – the unusual setting inspires an incredible solo by McLean with strong support from Williams. “Ghost Town” sets a contrasting and equally compelling mood – the long descending notes create their own center of gravity which evoke the desolation of the title. The singular mood created by Moncur is on even greater display in Destination Out with the epochal “Love And Hate.” This may be Mocur’s most cherished composition – the hummable melody is both wistful and solemn, and makes a lasting impression which again matches the evocativeness of the great title.

There’s the LP copy (picture from fleetwoodmac.net)

After the success of these compositions, Moncur was given the opportunity to record his own album as a leader. He re-assembled the One Step Beyond band, using Bob Cranshaw on bass, in addition to McLean, Hutcherson and Williams. Moncur wanted to add a trumpet player, and originally had youngster Woody Shaw in mind. However, Alfred Lion of Blue Note suggested trumpet phenom Lee Morgan may be available, and by making this record date with Morgan there is an extra level of spontaneity and power. Morgan, who is best known for his roaring, hard bop playing, could also play outside, and he fills both of those roles here. What a band.

Moncur brought all originals to the Evolution date, which are smartly programmed to heighten the drama. “Air Raid” starts mysteriously with vibraphone cords ringing in the air, loping bass steps, and drums playing freely out of time. This opening is contrasted with a fast temp section against which the players play blazing solos until the rhythm unspools in a cycle back to the opening chords. The mood darkens even further with the gloomy and luminous title track. Of this track, Moncur gave a fascinating interview in 2001 with Hank Shteamer on WKCR, where Moncur emphasizes that he felt something unexplainable and dark when Evolution was recorded. Hours later, Moncur heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated, and forever associated the making of this record with a type of premonition of the future.

Side A certainly is heavy, but then, in what might be my favorite transition in music, side B starts with “The Coaster.” “The Coaster” is a charged hard bop rave up with epic solo statements from McLean, Morgan and Hutcherson. Just a few highlights of this endlessly re-playable track: McLean’s trademark stepped-down phrases at 3:11, 3:26 and 4:52; the moment at 4:23 when McLean smartly heightens the tension by moving his horn closer to the mic; Morgan’s repeated phase that builds tension at 5:22, followed by his blazing playing at 5:38; and Hutcherson’s dense lines and clusters throughout his solo. Throughout, Tony Williams’ drumming is uniquely interactive, constantly shape-shifting with each phase. For one example among many, check out Williams’ accents behind Morgan when his solo takes off, caressing every line from the great trumpet player. Following all of the extroverted playing on “The Coaster”, Moncur ends the record with strange and jaunty “Monk In Wonderland.” An explicit tribute to Moncur’s inspiration, the closing tune consists of a haltering, extroverted strut that continues the contrast with the moody side A. Morgan, McLean, Moncur, Hutcherson and bassist Cranshaw all put in terrific solos to conclude a stone-cold classic.

For a very erudite analysis of Evolution, check out pianist and critic Ethan Iverson’s breakdown. I’m not the only one who counts this album as a favorite!

Evolution is an album at a crossroads between introversion and extroversion, iteration and exploration, past and future. It captures one of the definitive composers of modern jazz in a moment of pure inspiration, and in a stroke of luck, found the ideal musicians to execute his vision. This combination of virtues makes Evolution, along with the other albums by this band, a great jumping-off point for further realms of progressive music. Evolution is an endlessly rewarding springboard to the unknown.

More Moncur:

Unfortunately Moncur’s discography is very slim, but it’s deep with amazing compositions and playing. After you’ve checked out Evolution, listen to Moncur’s second album as a leader for Blue Note, Some Other Stuff. Here Tony Williams returns for a second sideman appearance with the same leader (something he hardly ever did, except with Miles Davis) and Moncur is joined by Newark chum Wayne Shorter. The thing that stands out about Some Other Stuff is how contemporary sounding it is – it literally sounds like it was recorded yesterday. Look no further for proof Moncur was ahead of his time.

Moncur got involved in a dispute with Blue Note because he insisted on owning the rights to his compositions, and as a result, he didn’t record as a leader again for six years after Some Other Stuff. To hear more playing by Moncur as a sideman during the 1960’s and more of his great compositions, check out Hipnosis, where he’s reunited with Jackie McLean. The title track especially is killer, and another essential contribution by Moncur to modern music.

Moncur recorded as a leader again in 1969, cutting two albums for the French BYG label as part of a flurry of recording capturing the jazz avante grade when they were in Europe. The circumstances of these albums suggest they were made in a rush, but that doesn’t affect the result – New Africa in particular has a radiant air and open approach that’s distinct from the more claustrophobic Moncur Blue Notes. Both Dave Burrell (piano) and Roscoe Mitchell (alto sax) are brilliant. Though not as powerful, Aco Dei de Madrugada (One Morning I Waked Up Very Early) is a beautiful album and also recommended.

One of the most facinating Moncur albums is 1975’s Echoes Of Prayer, written during a period of trauma after Moncur had lost his home and all of his possessions in a fire. I again recommend the Shteamer interview for the inspiring story as to how Moncur rebounded from losing all his music to write and record this astounding album. Echoes Of Prayer is a four part suite played continuously by a 22-member band featuring heavyweights like Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, Jeanne Lee, Beaver Harris and Hannibal Marvin Peterson, who create a dense layers of percussion, wind instruments and voices. A gripping album all the way through, and the guitar driven coda is not to be missed. Echoes Of Prayer has not been reissued since 1975 – the world needs a new release of this album, now!

After 1975 the frequency of music from Moncur became more sporadic, but his towering influence on music was cemented in place. Moncur returned in 2004 with Exploration, which featured new performances of older Moncur compositions, and acts like a great summation of Moncur’s genius. By the time Exploration was recorded, Moncur’s importance was obvious – his music creates an important bridge between the structure and sly humor of Monk, with the rhythmic and harmonic freedom of the avant garde. It’s a crucial mix that has been widely influential of modern music, and Moncur’s music will continue to reward study and enjoyment. Moncur lives!

(picture from All About Jazz)