The Necessary Blues

November’s round up features quiet and introspective duets with bassoon, extroverted radical music from a poet backed by fiery improvisators, and pastoral late night music from a sax titan. Rounding out this month are spiky guitar/piano duets, an overdubbed sax choir, and two albums that are pure audio comfort food (good for company at Thanksgiving)! Next month we’ll be working on the year’s best!

TNB Pick!
Sara Schoenbeck – Sara Schoenbeck
(released November 26, 2021)

Sara Schoenbeck in duet with:
Harris Eisenstadt – Drums
Nicole Mitchell – Flute
Nels Cline – Electric Guitar & Electric Bass
Roscoe Mitchell – Soprano Saxophone
Matt Mitchell – Piano
Mark Dresser – Bass
Wayne Horvitz – Piano & Electronics
Peggy Lee – Cello
Robin Holcomb – Piano & Voice

The sound of the bassoon is unique – there is nothing else like it’s earthy wooden tone, tangible vibrato and human-like humming sound. All of those flavors are on display in Schoenbeck’s striking album. The unusual sound of the bassoon is complemented by nine duet partners who are all stars that serve the music and share space equally. The way Schoenbeck deploys these duets for maximum variety and how these guests react to her are fascinating to follow. Music for the mind and the emotions, and one of this year’s best.

TNB Pick!
Irreversible Entanglements – Open The Gates
(released November 12, 2021)

Camae Ayewa – voice, synth
Keir Neuringer – saxophone, synth, percussion
Aquiles Navarro – trumpet, synth
Luke Stewart – double bass, bass guitar
Tcheser Holmes – drums, percussion

I was reading Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower when I put on this album and was struck by some common themes (imminent dystopia, racial injustice, revolution, religion and the form of the creator) and images (gates, seed, water, baptisms). I have no reason to think Irreversible Entanglements is connected to Butler, aside from some serendipity – but they’re both very impressive and speak to the here and now. The focus of Open the Gates is on the voice of Camae Ayewa (who also records as Moor Mother), which is a marvel – her sound and poetry are resonant, powerful and convey so much meaning. The rest of the band brings intensity, but smartly varies the arrangements and instrumentation.

TNB Pick!
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises
(released March 26, 2021)

Who thought that you could put avant garde titan Pharoah Sanders in a contemplative suite of ambient music with the LSO? Sanders has the most commanding tone anywhere, but the overdriven saxophone you’re expecting is replaced with a more laid back feel. There’s plenty of opportunity to marvel at just how beautiful his tenor is. Best to turn down the lights late at night and put this on – it casts a spell.

Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson – Searching For The Disappeared Hour
(released October 29, 2021)

Sylvie Courvoisier – piano
Mary Halvorson – guitar

Two musicians who are always exciting in a program of duets. The album starts off with a bang – “Golden Proportion” is a collision of classical and avant jazz, riffing off a piano etude and then morphing into a dissonant interrogation of the first movement of the Moonlight sonata (!). “Bent Yellow” is another dialogue of musical forms which sees Courvoisier channelling Don Pullen while Halvorson plays sweet and sour contrast. Those are just two highlights, but there’s a lot of thought and flavors to behold.

Patrick Shiroishi – Hidemi
(released October 29, 2021)

Patrick Shiroishi – Voice, and alto, baritone, tenor, C melody, and soprano saxophones

Every time you check Shiroishi’s Bandcamp page, he’s dropped a new record – or three. Seventeen in 2021! Even more astounding is the excellence of most of his records such as the four Fuubutsushi Quartet albums, his solo album resting in the heart of green shade, and this record. Here Shiroishi plays multiple horns, creating trios, quartets, and quintets of overdubbed saxophone choirs. I could compare this to the World Saxophone Quartet, but Shiroishi’s sound world is personal to him, as is this project. Shiroishi named and composed this album for his grandfather Hidemi Patrick, who has jailed in an American concentration camp during World War II. Shiroishi says the music seeks to push “forward while acknowledging historical evil. . . moving towards a society where our children and future generations may live without fear.”

Ben Allison – Moments Inside
(September 2021)

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify

Chico Pinheiro (acoustic & electric guitar),
Steve Cardenas (acoustic & electric guitar),
Ben Allison (acoustic & electric bass), and
Allan Mednard (drums & percussion)

At TNB we look at a lot of OUT music – the musicians’ commitment to explore and play sounds and ideas that have never been performed are what progressive music is all about. But sometimes – I have to be honest here – you can get tired of all the squeaks, honking and squiggles. Some days music that is “thought provoking” or “challenging” just feels tiring and intimidating. When that happens, you just feel like you need a beautiful and purely melodic place to hang out and recharge your batteries. So put this album on, or watch them play live here. The dual guitars are subtle, quiet and enveloping and the compositions memorable and happy. Healing music that gets you ready for the next challenge.

Brandee Younger – Somewhere Different
(released August 24, 2021, Impulse! Records)

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify

Personnel – Brandee Younger – harp
Rashaan Carter -electric and acoustic bass
Allan Mednard – drums, percussion
Marcus Gilmore – drums, drum programming
Tarriona “Tank” Ball – vocals
Dezron Douglas- electric bass (#1)
Ron Carter – acoustic bass (#6,7)
Maurice Brown- trumpet (#2)
Chelsea Baratz – saxophone (#1)
Anne Drummond: flute (#1).

More comfort music – in fact Younger says “I hope it is enjoyable to listen to, not hard to listen to, nothing to be analyzed or over-analyzed.” There’s a lot to take pleasure in, from the spirited solos of the opening track “Reclamation” (harp, flute then sax), the beautiful melody and arrangement of the title track, and the presence of Ron Carter’s bass of “Beautiful Is Black” and “Olivia Benson.” Warm music for dark times.

Poster art from Villeneuve’s Dune

Music discussed:
Richard Pinhas – Chronolyse
(recorded 1976, released 1978, original issue Disjuncta, rereleased on Cuneiform Records)
Personnel:
Richard Pinhas – Moog P3, Polymoog, Revox A700, Mellotron, Guitar
Francois Auger -drums
Didiet Batass – bass

Link to Bandcamp
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to YouTube (“Paul Atreides” only)

Klaus Schulze – Dune
(1979, Thunderbolt)
Personnel:
Klaus Schulze – Electronics, Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Vocals
Wolfgang Tiepold – Cello
Arthur Brown – Vocals

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to YouTube

Dün – Eros
(1981, Soleil Atreides)
Personnel:
Jean Geeraerts – electric & acoustic guitars
Bruno Sabathe – piano, synthesizers
Alain Termolle – xylophone, vibraphone, percussion
Pascal Vandenbulcke – flute
Thierry Tranchant – bass
Laurent Bertaud – drums
Philippe Portejoie – saxophone

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to YouTube

With Denis Villeneuve’s version of Dune in the theaters, the story and themes of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction classic are back in popular view. Really those ideas never left, and are no less relevant today. Dune has been among the most influential intellectual properties, and its preoccupation with the environment and imperialism are no less relevant today, themes deeply rooted in the science fiction universe. Not to mention Dune clearly gave birth to the Star Wars!

While Villeneuve’s new movie captures the needed visual awe, an ideal film version of Dune remains elusive – but not for lack of trying. One of the great “what if’s” of movie history is Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unfilmed adaptation, which would have boasted a cast including Orson Welles as the Baron, Salvador Dali as the Emperor and Mick Jagger as Feyd-Rautha. The art design was by Swiss artist H.R. Giger, and music was to have been by Pink Floyd and Magma!

Artist H.R. Giger with some of the visuals he created for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unfilmed Dune

Jodorowsky’s script went into pre production in the 1970’s, and would allegedly would have created a 10 to 14 hour movie (Frank Herbert visited the set and commented that the script “was the size of a phonebook”), but after spending millions of dollars designing the movie, the project failed to find a studio backing and evaporated. The version of Dune we lived up until Villeneuve’s was David Lynch’s much maligned 1984 version. Really, Lynch’s film is much better than it’s reputation (the actors are well cast and Sting is deliciously over the top) but the 1984 version is something altogether different than the source material.

For a book that has such a wide influence, it’s remarkable that an adaptation of Dune failed to materialize for so long – if you look at the movies. But music is another story! Perhaps that’s fitting; music is the most ineffable and elastic art form, and has a unique capacity to portray and communicate the themes and feelings that have eluded film interpretations. Musicians have been very inspired by Dune, with numerous tributes from funky CTI jazz like David Matthews’ Dune, to Iron Maiden’s “To Tame a Land.” However, there are three albums created before Dune was made into a movie that stand out for their quality and fidelity to the source – Richard Pinhas’ Chronolyse, Klaus Schulze’s Dune, and Dün’s Eros.

Richard Pinhas’ Chronolyse was the first of these albums to be recorded, and strikes this writer as a flat-out masterpiece. Pinhas is a fascinating musician and thinker, who is a trailblazer in both the electronica and prog rock worlds. In 1974, Pinhas received a PhD in Philosophy from the Sorbonne, where he studied philosophy. His dissertation was titled ”Science-Fiction, Inconscient et Autres Machins”, on the relationship of time manipulation, science fiction and analogue electronic music. In 1974 Pinhas also founded Heldon, creating his own Disjuncta imprint (one of France’s first independent labels) to release a slew of groundbreaking prog rock albums. Heldon interweaves Pinhas’s guitar with electronics over with bass and drums – we will have to feature their music in a future article at TNB!

In 1976, after the release of four Heldon albums, Pinhas took on a highly personal solo project – making an audio tribute to Dune. To capture that universe, Pinhas deeply explored electronica. After acquiring a Moog P3 and a new Polymoog to accompany two Revox A700s, Pinhas spent six months in his home studio creating his own sound world in response to the themes and ideas of Herbert’s novel. The result was the record Chronolyse, recorded in 1976, but not released until 1978.

Pinhas with a bank of the synthesizers used for Chronolyse

Chronolyse is an arresting listen right from the start. Side A of the record consists of 7 variations named after the female magician-seers of Dune, the Bene Gesserit, and a composition named after Duncan Idaho, the mentor of the prince. Pinhas does something simple yet brilliant here – each of the 8 tracks of side A starts with sounds in dialogue with each other – in the right channel appear cycles of electronic scales, and in the left channel a mechanical clicking which reminds the listener of the valve or keyboard action from an acoustic instrument, but here appearing in an electronic context. These effects create a dialogue between machine sounds and human made ones, a musical depiction of the struggle between technology and humanity. Very simply rendered, but deep stuff, which shows how well Pinhas has thought about the thematic and philosophical meaning of the source material.

Then Pinhas flips the script for Side B, which is entirely devoted to one 30 minute composition, “Paul Atredes.” The song is named after the novel’s protagonist and Pinhas challenges the electronic world he assembled in Side A by introducing his Robert Fripp-inspired electric guitar and Mellotron, and bringing in his band mates from Heldon (Francois Auger on drums and Didiet Batass on bass). The track builds mysteriously, and patiently develops the interplay between layers of electronic and electrified instruments against percussion. The results are impressive and a bit apocalyptic.

While Richard Pinhas has been influential in both the electronica and rock worlds, the influence of Klaus Schulze on music history is on another order. Schulze was the drummer in early versions of Tangerine Dream, and his real influence has been through his analogue 1970’s electronic albums, including classics such as X (1978), Moondawn (1976), and Timewind (1975). Impressively, Schulze created “electronic” music without electronics on Irrlicht (1972), where he took samples of string orchestras and manipulated the tapes of those recordings to make atmospheric drone effects. It’s hard to imagine the development of electronic music without Schulze, who created a personal sonic template and showed how cool a musician looks next to a tower of synthesizers and computers!

A trailblazer ahead of his time in Daft Punk mode

Schulze signalled his interest in Dune when he named one of his compositions “Frank Herbert” on his 1978 double album X. A year later Schulze followed with an entire album inspired by Herbert, 1979’s Dune. The music on Schulze’s Dune has a cinematic texture – very much a soundtrack released 5 years before a movie version of Herbert’s novel was realized. Here he employs a variety of synthesizers in duet with cellist Wolfgang Tiepold. The music features carefully programmed shifts in dynamics, dramatic waves of synthesizer and cello counterpoint, all crying out for a visual depiction to accompany the music. Schulze suggests the visual nature of the music in the cover photograph on the album – a snapshot the composer took of his television screen during a scene from the Soviet science fiction film Solaris. The reference to Solaris suggests Dunes‘ wide influence!

Schulze created the album cover at home by taping the letters of the title to his TV, and taking a picture of the screen while Solaris was on!

Arthur Brown appears on side B, reading and singing text written by Schulze. This element seems to be much maligned, but to these ears the music is strong throughout, and the Dune inspired poetry is another sign of the sincerity of this project. If you like the music here, try going backwards and checking out Schulze’s vastly influential electronic music – you will find the original inspiration for a legion of synthesizer-toting musicians here.

The influence of Dune has been just as strong on prog rock as on electronica. Taking their name from Herbert’s book, the French band Dün was active from 1977 to 1981, putting out only one album. However, that album, 1981’s Eros, has developed a cult classic status with fans of prog. Although the band states in a 2018 interview that they didn’t have a lot of gigs at the time, they must have practiced together a lot because the band sound is very confident and the musicianship is excellent.

Like a lot of prog rock, the band on Eros features atypical instrumentation: in addition to guitar, bass, keyboard and trap drums, the band prominently features flute and vibraphone. The approach taken to these instruments is distinctive as well – for example the flute playing eschews an Ian Anderson vibrato-heavy approach, and instead shows classical influence and technique. All the playing is quite advanced, as is the conception of the music. In the 2018 interview Dün described the music as “European advanced electronic music with a powerful rhythm section, complex harmonies, rich melodic lines and unusual structures”, which seems fitting enough.

Like the other albums we’ve looked at, Eros also shows a cinematic scope. The album consists of four extended tracks ranging from seven to ten minutes in length, each subdivided into sections which quickly change moods, tempos, textures and sonic approaches. Music arranged and choreographed for the changes of scenes, just no movie attached! The sound world is distinctive enough that a visual component is not needed, as with all of these albums, they evoke worlds through sound.

Dün playing live sometime in the late 1970’s in a gym (check out the Dün posters taped onto a basketball backboard!)

Richard Pinhas’ Chronolyse, Klaus Schulze’s Dune, and Dün’s Eros were all made at a time when our planet was going through the first shocks of an environmental crisis, the late throes of European colonial imperialism, and a global confrontation with technology. With these challenges in the air, Dune is a novel that begged to be adapted for a wider audience. It’s a real mystery that the novel went almost 20 years without any film adaptation. These three albums filled that gap, capturing the expanse, intensity and world building of the source material. Even with the Lynch and Villeneuve film versions of Dune with us, these albums remain a potent companion and reaction to a timeless classic.

Some notes and a confession –

#1: I’ve looked at but never read all of Dune! While Dune is so influential, I know I’m not alone here. The language and scope of its world may be thrilling but it’s a bit intimidating too. Especially with that giant glossary of terms in the versions I’ve looked at! However, I certainly intend to remedy this problem and read the whole book – when I do, that may provoke a new post.

#2: This post was inspired by the new Dune movie (which is good in many ways and you should see it in a movie theater if you can – the visuals are incredible). Additional inspiration is from the wonderful trailer put together by the Alamo Drafthouse, called “Wormsong: Dune’s Prog Rock Legacy and Beyond” which covers the music discussed here as well as other albums inspired by Dune. Check it out, it’s a lot of fun!

Music featured:
Billy Bang – Billy Bang Lucky Man
(released May 14, 2021 – BBE Music)

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify

Billy Bang – violin
with
Banhar Gong Group of Kuntum
Hanoi Symphony Orchestra
Duc Dau – Stone Lithophone (Dan Da)
Phu Dong Family Band
Trần Mạnh Tuấn – saxophone, with Sax n’Art Band

An excellent way to observe this Veterans Day is to listen to Billy Bang’s Lucky Man, which was released earlier this year, or to watch the documentary of the same name available here.

Bang, who died ten years ago, was a Vietnam veteran who served on the front lines for a tour of duty in 1966-7, arriving in Vietnam just before the bloody Tet Offensive where he saw active combat. After his service, Bang returned to the United States with real trauma from the war, which Bang said he tried to shake “through alcohol, drugs and music.” Music, of course, is where we connect with Bang and how he will be known to the ages – from the 1970’s until his death he was one of the leading lights in New York’s creative scene of improvisers, making fantastic recordings with Sun Ra, William Parker and under his own leadership.

Notable among Bang’s leader recordings are those he made to address his experience in war. In 2001 Bang recorded Vietnam: The Aftermath, with fellow Vietnam vets Frank Lowe, Ted Daniel, Michael Carvin, and Butch Morris. Bang composed all the songs on this album, weaving together Southeast Asian melodies with Western harmony and jazz improvisation. Three years later Vietnam: Reflections continued the same project with the same band, but adding Vietnamese musicians in a marriage of East and West with the goal of reconciliation and healing. For an example of how extraordinary Bang’s music from these albums is, try “Doi Moi” from Reflections.

Released posthumously earlier this year, Lucky Man sees Bang traveling back to Vietnam when the opportunity arose to play violin with various musicians around that country. Bang took a translator and played impromptu concerts with professional and amateur musicians alike. These encounters were fortunately recorded, and you can hear cross cultural musical pollination in real time. Bang also recorded interviews where he talks about the war and how going back to Vietnam affected his views on personal responsibility, being a veteran, and playing music in the country where he had been sent to fight 40 years earlier. This wealth of material is all there to explore on the 1 1/2 hour album and the documentary. Both are fascinating and quite moving.

Veterans Day is a chance to honor those who have served our country, but Bang goes much deeper, meditating on the personal sacrifice it means to be sent to war, and the responsibility and consequences that veterans, and all of society, carry for the actions our soldiers were ordered to take. With the opportunity to go back to Vietnam and try to heal wounds on both sides of this conflict, we have music and audio that bears witness to this extraordinary process. Lucky Man is a deep exploration of remembrance, love, reconciliation and healing.

We listened to lots of sounds this October, starting with an 11-year delayed release from an English free jazz supergroup, then a brilliant acoustic guitar recital. Filling out the autumnal roster were the return of an indie rock stalwart, a pair each of futuristic synthesizer landscapes and big bands, and some sparkling straight-ahead jazz. October’s albums came in every shade, just like the leaves on the trees outside.

TNB Pick!
Mujician – 10 10 10
(October 10, 2010, released September 24, 2021, Cuneiform Records)

Keith Tippett – piano
Tony Levin – drums
Paul Dunmall – soprano and tenor saxophones, bagpipes
Paul Rogers – 7-string acoustic bass

Honestly, I’m new to the musicians of Mujician, but now I believe the hype. After putting on this album I was listening in awe at the level of communication between four players who sat down to play with no preconceptions. And even though this is “free” jazz, it does not use noise or energy as a crutch, instead focusing on sustained dialogue, and often delightful sonic exploration (a music box and some small bagpipes make an appearance!). Sadly, this is Mujician’s last studio recording, because Tony Levin passed away a few months after it was recorded. Now to catch up on their extensive catalogue – many of which are on Cuneiform records on Bandcamp here and here.

TNB Pick!
Pittsburgh by Matthew Stevens
(released October 1, 2021)

Matthew Stevens – acoustic guitar

A solo recital is a chance to show off mastery of one’s instrument, emotional and stylistic range, and the ability to hold the attention of the listener for an entire album. How does Mr. Stevens’ Pandemic-composed album fair? Check, check and check. A truly impressive . . . no, a stunning, recital. Press play and listen in wonder.

Low – HEY WHAT
(Released September 10, 2021, Sub Pop Records)

Low seems to have picked up the torch passed by Kevin Shields to explore the emotional content of feedback and sonic texture. But there’s much else going on in the terrific album. All the noise is a perfect vehicle for Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk’s patented dual vocals, and their songs about alienation and modern life have a lot of presence. It’s amazing that their music seems this fresh on the group’s 13th record. Now I’ll have to go back and catch up on 2018’s Double Negative, where they developed their current sound.

Masahiro Takahashi – Flowering Tree, Distant Moon
(released April 30, 2021)

Masahiro Takahashi – color wheel electronics, software synthesizers, granular samplers, plug-in FX, MIDI controllers, and a shruti box

Another album that has been a balm through stress. On the album’s Bandcamp page it says “Japanese multi-instrumentalist Masahiro Takahashi’s latest album is a meditation on seasons and distance, recorded in isolation at his temporary home studio in Toronto. Following “the coldest winter I have ever experienced,” he began crafting hushed, lush vignettes.” The music feels rooted in nostalgia, a meditation on beauty and missing places created in isolation. Takahashi says, “I dreamt of places outside my room and traced the music from my memories.” Truly transportive.

The Garden by Rachel Eckroth
(released September 3, 2021, Rainy Days)

Rachel Eckroth – Piano, Voice, Yamaha CP70, Prophet 6, Mellotron
Tim Lefebvre – Electric Bass, Guitar
Christian Euman – Drums
Donny McCaslin – Tenor Saxophone
Andrew Krasilnikov – Soprano Saxophone
Nir Felder – Electric Guitar
Austin White – Modular Synth

I’m sure you don’t need to read about another “Pandemic album” born from new perspectives brought on by confinement during the lockdown, but we have to take the silver linings from the last year and half where we find them. Here Eckroth and her partner Tim Lefebvre have imagined a lush, dark sonic world built around orchestral synthesizer arrangements. Donny McCaslin is the perfect saxophone player for this project, helping to bring home the futuristic vision he’s explored on his own albums. Some of the palette seems drawn from elsewhere, but Eckroth is super talented and I’m enjoying Garden, as well as looking forward to the next one.

Jonathan Blake – Homeward Bound
(released October 29, 2021, Blue Note)

Link to Apple Music

Link to Spotify

Johnathan Blake – Drums
Immanuel Wilkins – Alto Saxophone
Joel Ross – Vibraphone
David Virelles – Keyboards
Dezron Douglas- Bass

Drummer Jonathan Blake interacts with some of the hottest musicians around. I’ve been playing this nonstop since it was released! Blake calls his new group Pentad, created with the intention of having a fuller chordal sound. There’s nobody better to bring on board for that sound than Ross and Virelles, and Wilkins’ solos throughout are pretty amazing. Lots of fun.

David Sanford Big Band – A Prayer for Lester Bowie
(released September 24, 2021, Greenleaf Music)

Personnel:
SAXOPHONES
Ted Levine and Kelley Hart-Jenkins – alto saxophones
Anna Webber (tracks 1, 2, 7, 8),
Marc Phaneuf (tracks 3-6) and
Geoff Vidal – tenor saxophones
Brad Hubbard – baritone saxophone

BRASS
Brad Goode (tracks 1-7), Tony Kadleck (track 8),
Tim Leopold, Wayne J. du Maine,
Thomas Bergeron and Hugh Ragin – trumpets
Mike Christianson, Jim Messbauer,
Ben Herrington (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6-8)
and Mike Seltzer (tracks 3, 5) – tenor trombones
Steven Gehring – bass trombone
Raymond Stewart – tuba

RHYTHM SECTION
Dave Fabris – electric guitar
Geoff Burleson – piano
Dave Phillips – electric and acoustic bass
Mark Raynes – drums
Theo Moore – percussion

CONDUCTORS
David Sanford (tracks 1-4 and 6-8)
Hugh Ragin (track 5)

David Sanford pays tribute to the great Lester Bowie. The music captures the depth and spirit of Bowie, but also reminds me of David Murray’s 1980’s and 1990’s large groups, which also often featured Hugh Ragin. Make sure you hang out for Sanford’s terrific cover of “Dizzy Atmosphere.” The Bandcamp page helpfully provides the solos, by players who are distinctive and should be better known.

Arturo O’ Farrill – …Dreaming In Lions…
(Released September 23, 2021, Blue Note)

Link to Apple Music

Link to Spotify

Arturo O’ Farrill – Keyboards
Adam O’Farrill – Trumpet
Zack O’Farrill – Drums
Vince Cherico, Carlos “Carly” Maldonado and Victor Pablo Garcia Gaetan – Percussion
José “Bam Bam” Rodriguez Platiau – Bass
Rafi Malkiel – Trombonist and Euphonist
Alejandro Aviles – Flutist/saxophonist
Travis Reuter – Guitar
on “Dreams So Gold” – Alison Deane

O’Farrill creates two exuberant suites that have dancing in mind. Of “Despedida’, the first piece here, O’Farrill says “There’s something noble about being able to say farewell — not, ‘I’ll see you later.’ It’s about embracing despedida [separation, parting], knowing that there’s a finality to life.” But the music is much more positive than you might expect! The second suite, “Dreaming In Lions” draws inspiration from Ernest Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and The Sea. O’Farrill says of the source material (and his music) “To me the book is about being still in the midst of great movement. It’s about being caught in the stillness of the moment while life swirls around you, which can be a kind of sacred holy experience.” At its best (such as on the tracks The Deep and Intruso) the music is truly magnificent. It’s all lively and entertaining – don’t forget to dance to it!

Gabriele Mirabassi – Nando Di Modugno – Pierluigi Balducci – Tabacco e Caffè
(Mar 30, 2021, Dodicilune – ED423)

Link to Apple Music

Link to Spotify

Bass Guitar – Pierluigi Balducci
Clarinet – Gabriele Mirabassi
Classical Guitar – Nando di Modugno

A sort of music tribute to coffee and tobacco of which clarinetist/leader Mirabassi says: “Both invite to rituality, to sociability, up to meditation. The music we share here with Pierluigi and Nando was born in the friendliness of the kitchens of our homes, precisely between a coffee and a cigar, telling and playing distant and exotic worlds, ” The music here is by turns evocative and fun, and seem to product of the rapport among these musicians, no doubt over shared espresso and cigars.

(Photo credit: AP Photo/Bob Schutz)

Archie Shepp – Attica Blues
(Recorded January 24–26, 1972; Impulse! AS-9222)
Music discussed:
Attica Blues
Steam (Pt. 1)
Steam (Pt. 2)
Blues for Brother George Jackson
Ballad For A Child

Archie Shepp – tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone
Brass and reed section
Clifford Thornton – cornet
Roy Burrows, Charles McGhee, Michael Ridley – trumpet
Charles Greenlee, Charles Stephens, Kiane Zawadi – trombone
Hakim Jami – euphonium
Clarence White – alto saxophone
Roland Alexander, Billy Robinson – tenor saxophone
James Ware – baritone saxophone

String section:
John Blake, Leroy Jenkins, Lakshinarayana Shankar – violin
Ronald Lipscomb, Calo Scott – cello

Marion Brown – alto saxophone, bamboo flute, flute, percussion
Walter Davis, Jr. – electric piano, piano
Dave Burrell – electric piano
Cornell Dupree – guitar
Roland Wilson, Gerald Jemmott – Fender bass
Jimmy Garrison – bass
Beaver Harris – drums
Ollie Anderson, Nene DeFense, Juma Sultan – percussion

Vocals:
Henry Hull, Joe Lee Wilson – vocals
William Kunstler, Bartholomew Gray – narrator
Joshie Armstead, Albertine Robertson – backing vocals

Frederic Rzewski – Coming Together/Attica/Les Moutons De Panurge
(1974, Opus One)

Music discussed:
Coming Together
Attica

Piano, Electric Piano – Frederic Rzewski
Jon Gibson – Alto Saxophone
Richard Youngstein – Bass
Alvin Curran – Synthesizer
Garrett List – Trombone
Karl Berger – Vibraphone
Joan Kalisch – Viola
Steve Ben Israel – Voice
Sam Melville – Text

September 13th, 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of the massacre which occurred at Attica State Penitentiary in New York State, the deadliest prison uprising in United States history. Driven to rebellion by inhuman conditions and racist-fueled abuse, on September 9th, 1971 the prisoners at Attica took control of the prison, demanding humane treatment. Four days later, hundreds of state troopers retook Attica, leaving 33 inmates and 10 correctional officers and civilians dead. The Attica rebellion immediately caught the attention of the American public, and has lived in infamy since. The lessons of Attica are no less relevant today, seen in the deplorable conditions at Rikers Island, or the recent prison uprising in Philadelphia. This edition of TNB will look at the Attica revolt, and two artists who took the message of Attica and reacted to it through their music.

In July 1971, a politically motivated group of Attica prisoners organized themselves as the Attica Liberation Faction and sent a letter with 27 demands to the Head of the New York Department of Correction, Russell Oswald, and to Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The demands were prompted by terrible conditions at the prison – the prisoners sought reform of parole hearings, better medical care, the end of punishment based on race and political belief, the end of solitary confinement as punishment for minor infractions, and improvement in wages for work done in prison. Unfortunately, these demands did not result in any immediate change, and conditions at Attica reached an exploding point.

It did not take much to cause that explosion. On September 9, 1971, pent-up frustration from inmates caused an altercation with guards that quickly got out of control. The inmates took control of the D yard, and took 42 guards and civilians hostage, demanding that the government make the changes they had been seeking. The inmates set up impromptu leadership and their primary spokesperson was Richard X. Clark, a Muslim and a pacifist who insisted that staff members taken prisoner not be harmed. A tense standoff ensued over four days, which drew widespread media attention. Progressive leaders became involved in ending the stalemate, with politicians and community leaders serving as negotiators. Famed lawyer William Kuntzler was a lead negotiator and later represented many of the prisoners. Eventually, Bobby Seale, leader of the Black Panthers, visited in a show of solidarity.

Attica inmates negotiating with Commissioner of Prisons Russell Oswald. Richard X. Clark is seated at right side of table in center

Yet all of this effort and attention was fruitless. Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who had his eye on winning the White House, did not want to be perceived as weak on crime and would not make substantive concessions, including refusing the prisoners’ request for amnesty. Sensing that delay would be perceived as weakness, Rockefeller ordered an overwhelming attack by State Troopers on the prison. The police involved were driven by revenge, and indiscriminately used shotguns, rifles and gas on unarmed prisoners. Inmates and hostages alike were killed.

National Guard troopers before the assault
(Photo credit: AP)

The botched raid was quickly followed by an extensive cover-up. The Governor’s office falsely told the New York Times that the civilians killed by state troopers were murdered by the inmates. Prosecutors aggressively pursued cases against the prisoners, but there was no investigation of the methods used by the State Troopers who retook the prison. Prisoners widely reported that prison staff retaliated by torturing those who took part in the rebellion. To this day, documents related to the State’s actions that lead to this massacre remain sealed.

It is in times of crisis and challenge that we most need the arts, to help us digest, interpret, and feel the world. It did not take long for musicians to respond to Attica. Two albums from the world of creative music helped process Attica are Archie Shepp’s Attica Blues, and Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together/Attica/Les Moutons De Panurge.

Archie Shepp was first to react, recording Attica Blues only four months after the prison rebellion. While Attica Blues is born out of protest and outrage, Shepp’s masterpiece does not limit itself to a literal reaction to the rebellion. Rather, Shepp (with his drummer, Beaver Harris, who wrote the lyrics to the album) addresses the universal way that the exploitation and degradation of humans endangers us all. The album starts with the track “Attica Blues,” which uses urgent electric guitar and the high energy vocals of gospel singer Carl Hall to deliver a palpable message to the listener – “I got the feeling that something’s goin’ wrong and I’m worried ’bout the human soul!” The message is clear – the conditions that led to Attica are not just a tragedy that affected the prisoners in Attica, but part of an oppression that undermines humanity itself.

The album’s cover, which perfectly captures it’s political and musical depth

There’s not enough room here to itemize the great aspects of Attica Blues and its enduring relevance. The album features string arrangements by the legendary Cal Massey, using the incredible violin playing of John Blake, Leroy Jenkins and Lakshinarayana Shankar. More poetry written by Beaver Harris is read between songs by William Kuntzler, who brings a firsthand experience from Attica to his readings. Harris’ words spoken by Kuntzler are no less relevant today. For example he states “some people think that they are in their rights and on command to take a Black man’s life.” Attica Blues contemplates the same concerns that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement, four decades later.

Shepp masterfully deploys a range of styles on this record. In addition to the funk and gospel-based opening track, the album has a churning R&B-based instrumental in “Blues for Brother George Jackson.” This track is a tribute to George Jackson, a prisoner whose death at San Quentin Prison in the August of 1971, served as a prelude to the Attica uprising one month later.

Perhaps the most memorable moments of this album are on “Steam Part 1” and “Steam Part 2,” which dominate the first side of the record. This two part song is sung by Joe Lee Wilson, whose deep baritone is backed by Massey’s complex strings, and together bring an overwhelming emotion to the words “Summer, soft as the rain, and sweet as the end of pain.” Both parts of “Steam” capture in the most poetic terms the terrible reality other humans are subjected to – degraded to the point where death itself is a sweet release.

But there is much hope on this rich album as well. Shepp pays tribute to touchstones of Black culture in “Invocation to Mr. Parker” (for Charlie Parker), and “Good Bye Sweet Pops,” (for Louis Armstrong, who had recently died). Fittingly, Attica Blues ends with the voice of a child, Massey’s eight year old daughter, who sings hopefully “It’s quiet dawn, and life moves on.” A fitting end to one of the truly great politically-minded albums.

Frederick Rzewski

Another landmark album reacting to Attica is Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together/Attica/Les Moutons De Panurge. Rzewski, most famously the composer of The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, is often an overtly political artist. Rzewski believed the Attica rebellion was a “milestone” because it laid bare the oppression of the police state, compelling citizens to take action. Rzewski looked at letters written by prisoner Sam Melville, who was slain in the retaking of the prison. The track “Coming Together” is formed from an excerpt from one of those letters, which depicts life in prison as not just painful, but surreal. The text of the letter is here, but you really have to hear the performance to appreciate how Rzewski has created an empathic depiction with the mind of a human being subjected to challenge.

Radical actor Steve Ben Israel performed the text, repeating groups of the letter’s words in a steadily increasing and frenzied desperation. The music is a remarkable backdrop. Rzewski creates a structure that sets an optional ensemble size, and instructs the performers to play in a modal framework with one note per beat, but in a prescribed pattern. However, the other performers follow the same rhythmic pattern, but with a differing set of notes. The cumulative effect is kaleidoscopic, gripping, and most importantly focuses the listener on the words penned by Mellville only months before he was killed. The next track, “Attica” is also inspired from the same events, borrowing the words of Richard X. Clark. It’s also great music, but doesn’t have the force of “Coming Together”, which is an all-time classic.

We at TNB hope you enjoy this remarkable music, and that it brings some attention to an enduring problem for our society. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and while there have been some superficial reforms since the Attica rebellion, 50 years later, many of the same problems persist in our prisons. These problems have been even further exacerbated by the COVID-19 epidemic, which has exposed how the jails are overcrowded, understaffed, degrading, filled with racism, and mired in a mindset that values punishment over rehabilitation. Further, prisons continue to be hidden far from society, and the mental and experiential gap between most citizens and prisoners is immense, contributing to a lack of empathy between these groups. But the continuing problems with our judicial and prison system are a reflection on how unjust our society continues to be. Shepp and Rzewski show that the arts have an important role in signaling the problem to those who will listen, and creating a world of understanding and empathy that will enable people to enact change.

The aftermath
(Photo credit: NY Daily News via Getty Images)

The changing of seasons brings new stress! September was back to school and back to lots of work, a time of change. Working on the blog fell by the wayside a bit, but now we’re back. To get through these changes, we played a lot of quiet music, but these albums reward close listening too. When intensity was needed, there was the new Henry Threadgill to turn to. Hope your Fall is going well!

TNB Pick!
Henry Threadgill – Poof
(released September 24, 2021)

Henry Threadgill – alto saxophone, flute, bass flute
Liberty Ellman – acoustic guitar
Jose Davila – tuba, trombone
Christopher Hoffman – cello
Elliot Humberto Kavee – drums

Finally after three years of waiting, Henry Threadgill is back! He picks up right where he left off on, employing his trademark complex rhythms, intense ensemble arrangements, and of course that tuba. As great as his music is, it’s even better that Threadgill plays on this one too – his alto sax sound is one of the miracles of music. If you don’t know Threadgill, this is as good a place as any to start – just play the first track “Come and Go” and you’ll know if your in or out.

Logan Strosahl with the Charles Rosen Ensemble – Book II of Arthur: Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
(released September 3, 2021- Sunnyside Records)

Logan Strosahl – alto saxophone, flute, clarinet
The Charles Rosen Ensemble:
Julija Bojarinaite – 1st flute
Aliya Vodovozova – 2nd flute
Sarah Young – oboe
Constance Morvan – clarinet
Laura Lorx – bassoon
Gil Barak – horn
Manuel Abreu – trumpet
Yezu Woo – 1st violin
Daniel Cho – 2nd violin
Julia Palecka – viola
Nina Behrends – cello
Francisca Sá Machado – bass
Leo Gerstner – drum set
Khadim Ndome – glockenspiel
Michael Cohen-Weissert – conductor

This album came to me entirely by chance when I was exploring Sunnyside’s excellent Bandcamp page. Some of the most delightful discoveries are unexpected. It’s inspired by the poem telling the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The description of the source poem equally describes the evocative music – “Ambiguity pervades the work: games, theatre, illusion, and cycles structure the plot, and characters have different sides that co-exist. Christian morality, pagan figures and symbolism, magic, romance, horror, and adventure are all synthesized in a story that in 2021 is still difficult to categorize.”

Nicholas Langley – Mbira Locations 2018​-​2020
(released July 12, 2021)

Field recordings like this help train our ears to appreciate the music in our “ordinary” environment. From the Bandcamp page: “Dandelion & Washing Line was a garden installation created during the quiet summer utilizing mbira, bodhran, portable turntable, cardboard tube, dandelion, ukulele, washing line, Yamaha Reface CS.” Wonderful.

Andrew Cyrille Quartet- The News
(Released August 27th, 2021 – ECM 2681)

Link to The News on Apple Music

Andrew Cyrille – Drums
Bill Frisell – Guitar
David Virelles – Piano, Syntzesizer
Ben Street – Double Bass

Cyrille creates an immersive sound world with his detailed and poised drumming, and with able sidemen Frisell, Virelles and Street. Virelles is the new band member here, and his piano solos spiral into these tunes like an able interlocutor. Lyrical and beautiful, The News has quietly made a big impression, and I’ve been coming back again and again.

Fuubutsushi Quartet – Natsukashii (懐かしい)
(released August 6, 2021; recorded in California, Illinois, Missouri, and Pennsylvania in Spring 2021)

Chris Jusell – violin, cello, vibraphone, marimba
Chaz Prymek – bass, guitars, strumstick, field recordings
Matthew Sage – keyboards, percussion, voice, harmonica,
moog matriarch, guitars
Patrick Shiroishi – alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, clarinet, glockenspiel, samples, voice, banjo, electronics

The eagerly anticipated fourth installment from the Fuubutsushi quartet! This, the last edition, captures the gentle radiance of late summer. The dynamics are somewhat more assertive than the prior editions (TNB covering those here) as befits musicians who’ve spent a year working (remotely) on these ideas. The four Fuubutsushi records will be companions to me for many future changes of the season.

In the monthly The Necessary Blues album roundup, we typically cover new releases. However, this month we’ll highlight some recent reissues of out of print albums and first issues of historically important music that has never seen the light of day until now. Next month we’ll catch up with new albums, and we’ll plan on an additional mid month album roundup to bring us up to date. For now, enjoy some lost classics!

Don Cherry – The Summer House Sessions
(released June 18, 2021 – recorded July 20, 1968 at Kummelnäs, Sweden by Göran Freese)

Don Cherry – pocket trumpet, flutes, percussion
Bernt Rosengren – tenor saxophone, flutes, clarinet
Tommy Koverhult – tenor saxophone, flutes
Leif Wennerström – drums
Torbjörn Hultcrantz – bass
Jacques Thollot – drums
Kent Carter – bass
Bülent Ateş – hand drum, trap drums

Don Cherry’s New Researches featuring Naná Vasconcelos – Organic Music Theatre: Festival de jazz de Chateauvallon 1972
(released June 18, 2021, recorded live in 1972)

Don Cherry – piano, harmonium, tanpura, vocals
Naná Vasconcelos – berimbau, percussion
Christer Bothén -donso ngoni, piano, light percussion
Doudou Gouirand – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, light percussion
Moki Cherry – tanpura, vocals, scenography
Annie Hedvard and Det Lilla Cirkus – puppet theater
Friends from Tågarp: Marianne Rydvall (additional and unintentional vocals), Craig, and other unknown characters

Driving home on a rainy summer afternoon I put on Don Cherry’s Organic Music Theatre at Festival de jazz de Chateauvallon 1972. By the time I reached the reprise of “Elixir”, a giant rainbow shot through the clouds, as the mist from a late summer shower lifted off the ground. This could be no simple coincidence – the healing power from Don Cherry’s music summoned this rainbow into existence! I don’t think my reverie was out of place – Cherry’s music from the 70’s embodies this interconnectedness between musical gestures, theater, spirituality, and the universal.

This summer has given us two lost Don Cherry masterpieces. Summer House captures Cherry when he was living in Sweden in 1968, where he spent weeks rehearsing European musicians on his musical concepts. This culminated in the recording of the Summer House sessions, which were promptly lost for over 50 years until the tapes were discovered in the vaults of the Swedish Jazz Archive. Thank heavens they were found – while the additional tracks are unnecessary, on “Side A” the music that enfolds is pastoral and beautiful, and “Side B” moves swiftly through a kaleidoscope of interesting ideas. These musical suites are in the style of Cherry’s landmark Symphony for Improvisers, and worthy heirs to that great album.

Organic Music Theatre (which summoned my rainbow) is even more remarkable. By 1972 Cherry had moved beyond “jazz” altogether. Here he ditches his pocket trumpet in favor of singing, keyboards and leading (with his partner Moki Cherry) a community of percussionists, puppeteers, travelers from Sweden and an audibly enchanted all age audience. One wonders what a regular jazz festival attendee stumbling on Cherry’s troupe would think after seeing somebody like Martial Solal. I would like to think newcomers would have been disarmed by the directness and openness of this transcendent music.

Sun Ra – Lanquidity (Definitive Edition)
(released June 25, 2021; recorded July 17, 1978)

Sun Ra – organ, synthesizer, piano, arranger, keyboards, Hammond organ, electric piano, vocals, bells, Arp, Fender Rhodes, orchestra bells, Mini Moog
John Gilmore – tenor saxophone
Danny Ray Thompson – flute, baritone saxophone
Eddie Gale – trumpet
Michael Ray – trumpet, flugelhorn
Marshall Allen – flute, oboe, alto saxophone
Luqman Ali – percussion
Michael Anderson – percussion
Artaukatune – drums, tympani
Disco Kid (Slo Johnson) – guitar
Dale Williams – guitar
Atakatun Odun – congas
Elo Omoe – Flute, bass clarinet
Julian Pressley – baritone saxophone
Richard Williams – bass
James Jacson – oboe, basson, flute, voices
June Tyson – voices

Recorded on the heels of Sun Ra’s appearance on Saturday Night Live (you can view the whole SNL episode here and here), this Sun Ra album deserves it’s heavy reputation. The music is very accessible too. This issue presents the original album mix and a second remixed version of the album that was prepared contemporaneously, but only released at one 1978 Arkestra gig at Georgia Tech. With the remixed versions, you get a terrific mirror image of the same material, that makes you go back and forth from the originals and then back to the remixes again! Incredibly, the Sun Ra Arkestra is still going under the leadership of 97 year old Marshall Allen. See them if you can, and check out last year’s excellent Swirling.

Annette Peacock – The Perfect Release
(released May 14, 2021)

Annette Peacock – vocals, producer
Robert Ahwai – guitar
Max Middleton – keyboards
John McKenzie – bass
Richard Bailey – drums
Darryl Lee Que – percussion
Lennox Langton – steel drums, percussion

Annette Peacock is super cool, and those fans hip enough to know these records are too. Now the rest of the world has a chance to catch up with the reissue of 1979’s The Perfect Release (it is!) and X-Dreams from the year before. I’ve been dancing to “Solar Systems” since I first heard it. Next stop: please re release Peacock’s out of print 1980’s albums!

Joe Henderson – The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions
(release April 18, 2021)

Joe Henderson (tenor sax) with various ensembles

At TNB we have not written about the great Mosaic Records, and we’ll need to remedy that. Mosaic was founded in 1983 with the purpose of issuing then out of print jazz classics. Their first issue was the Thelonious Monk Blue Notes. Since then this small Connecticut based record label has produced 168 of their deluxe big box sets, each a definitive look at a slice of an artist’s career. Every Mosaic fan has their favorites. At TNB, we are really partial to the Woody Shaw Muse, the Ahmad Jamal Argo sessions, and the recent Hank Mobley Blue Notes.

Joe Henderson is overdue for the Mosaic treatment! On The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions, and as always, Henderson’s playing astounds. There is no musician who is more in the moment and who’s playing yields more surprises note for note. Mosaic’s website says they used the same process to transfer the CDs from the original Blue Note tapes as they did on the terrific Hank Mobley set. I can attest the sound on the Mobley set is great, and I trust this one is too. JoeHen lives!

Roy Brooks – Understanding
(released July 23, 2021; Recorded Live at The Famous Ballroom in Baltimore, MD on November 1, 1970)

Roy Brooks – drums
Carlos Garnett – tenor saxophone
Woody Shaw – trumpet
Harold Mabern – piano
Cecil McBee – bass

The sweaty picture on the cover of this album says a lot about the fiery music contained within. Leader Brooks and this whole band are in great form on these extended live performances, but to these ears the main draw is Woody’s Shaw’s majestic trumpet. Check out Shaw’s electrifying solo on the title track. Smoking stuff. The receptive audience is like a sixth band member, their audible reactions and contributions are part of the fun. You can literally hear minds being blown on the frenetic version of Shaw’s “Zoltan.” This is another set of tapes rescued from oblivion and issued 50 years later – good to have it.

Joe McPhee – Black Is The Color: Live in Poughkeepsie and New Windsor, 1969​-​70
(released May 31, 2021; Concert 1 Recorded October 23, 1969 at Chicago Hall, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY; Concert 2 Recorded January 12, 1969, at St. Helena Convent, New Windsor, NY; Concert 3 Recorded May 24, 1970 at Lincoln Center, Poughkeepsie, NY)

Personnel:
Concert 1:
Joe McPhee – trumpet, tenor, and soprano saxophone
Tyrone Crabb – bass
Ernest Bostic – vibes
Bruce Thompson – drums
Concert 2:
Joe McPhee – tenor saxophone, trumpet
Reggie Marks – tenor saxophone, flute
Tyrone Crabb – bass
Bruce Thompson – drums
Concert 3:
Joe McPhee – tenor saxophone
Mike Kull – piano
Tyrone Crabb – electric bass
Chico Hawkins – drums
Octavius Graham – vocals

Strangely I missed this album in my rundown of Joe McPhee in Jazz from Poughkeepsie. This 2 CD set is more of the same, so if you liked Nation Time, this is for you too. CD 1 is another Concert from Vassar, this one a year before the Nation Time concert. McPhee starting with “God Bless the Child” is a revelation – there’s a clear line between his playing here and his later treatment of blues and spirituals, such as with Trio X. This issue also documents two other concerts from the same era. More proof that McPhee arrived fully formed as a jazz great.

Joe McPhee- Nation Time
(Original Issue – CJR, 1971)

Tracks discussed:
Nation Time
Shakey Jake
Personnel:
Joe McPhee – tenor saxophone, trumpet
Mike Kull – piano, electric piano
Tyrone Crabb – bass, electric bass, trumpet
Bruce Thompson, Ernest Bostic – percussion
On “Shakey Jake” add:
Otis Greene – alto saxophone
Herbie Lehman – organ
Dave Jones – guitar
(Music recorded in concert at December 12, 1970 at Chicago Hall at Vassar College Urban Center for Black Studies; “Shaky Jake” recorded without an audience on December 13, 1970 at the same location)

Joe McPhee – Black Magic Man
(Hat Hat A, 1975)

Tracks discussed:
Black Magic Man
Hymn of the Dragon Kings
Personnel:
Joe McPhee – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone on “Hymn of the Dragon Kings”
Mike Kull – piano, electric piano
Tyrone Crabb – bass, electric bass
Bruce Thompson, Ernest Bostic – percussion
(Recorded on December 12, 1970, at Vassar concert, same as above)

Too many stories in creative music focus on the big cities. It’s easy to be left with the impression that New York, London and a handful of other cities are responsible for almost all creative expression. So it’s interesting to look at a time when a living legend – Joe McPhee – was a young musician making his way in his lifelong home of Poughkeepsie, New York. Poughkeepsie is a two hour train ride from the Big Apple, and not the place you’d expect state-of-the-art avant garde music to be conceived and performed. Yet in this small working class city on a weekend in 1970, some of the most influential improvised music of that time was recorded. This edition of TNB will look at McPhee’s early work and an outstanding concert that spawned two record labels and changed modern music.

Joe McPhee is a born creator. Although you may know McPhee as a tenor saxophonist, he started on trumpet, which his father taught him to play as a child. After a stint in the army, McPhee played trumpet at nights while holding down a day job at a local ball bearing factory. McPhee has said in interviews that while his early inspiration was from Miles Davis, through the 1960’s he listened to and was inspired by saxophone players – John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, and especially Albert Ayler. McPhee decided he needed to play the same instrument as his heroes, and while on strike from the factory in his late 20’s, McPhee acquired a tenor sax from a friend. Legend has it that he played that tenor at a gig two days later! Whether or not that’s apocryphal, he was playing tenor (as well as trumpet) at the 1968 and 1969 gigs that make up his first album Underground Railroad – and sounds great!

It’s this surging talent that presented a weekend of great music at Vassar College in December 1970. McPhee had found a position as an associate professor at Vassar, where he taught a course called “Revolution In Sound.” According to an interview McPhee gave fellow saxophonist Ken Vandermark, this course culminated with McPhee giving a concert at Chicago Hall, the home of the Vassar Black Studies department. What a dream homework assignment for a college student to be in the audience that day!

Vassar’s Chicago Hall, the location of the December 12, 1970 Concert

The music from this concert was recorded by CJR label founder Craig Johnson, who issued three tracks played that weekend as the album Nation Time. Nation Time became an underground classic, and gained even more currency when it was later reissued in 2000 on the Atavistic Unheard Music Series.

The title track “Nation Time” is the obvious standout. Inspired by Amiri Baraka’s poem of the same name, the track starts with a memorable call and response – McPhee’s raspy voice yells “What time is it?!” and his audience (presumably mostly his Vassar students) yell back “Nation Time!” Then the music starts with an urgent four note riff played by McPhee’s tenor. The first solo is taken by Mike Kull on piano and then electric piano, and sets the stage for McPhee’s fiery playing. This music captures the spirit of a moment in America’s history where transformative change seemed possible.

McPhee released the track “Nation Time” together with another track from the December 12th concert, plus “Shakey Jake” recorded the next day at Chicago Hall with no audience and additional musicians (alto sax, organ, guitar). “Shakey Jake” balances the avant fire of the title track with an almost danceable vibe which is related to the energy music of the time. The 1971 release of the album Nation Time, is in every way, a classic.

But the story does not end there. McPhee and Craig Johnson recorded a wealth of additional material played on December 12th, 1970 that was not immediately released. Word of McPhee’s talent and this unreleased material made its way halfway around the world to a Swiss pharmaceutical executive and music enthusiast, Werner X. Uehlinger. After coming to the United States to meet McPhee and hear him play, Uehlinger was so impressed that he decided he would form a record label to make McPhee’s music better known. That label, Hat Hut records, released a string of brilliant Joe McPhee albums, the first being 1975’s Black Magic Man.

The front cover of Black Magic Man

The back cover. The graphics drawn by Klaus Baumgärtner are really lovely!

It’s fascinating to listen to Nation Time and Black Magic Man together, because they capture different aspects of the music performed at the December 12th concert. The tracks chosen for Nation Time are urgent, immediate, and capture a political and populist vibe. Those picked for Black Magic Man reveal a more experimental side to McPhee’s music. Side A of Black Magic Man features an exploration of post Coltrane spiritual music on tenor (the title track and “Song for Laureen”), while side B is a side long flight into energy music (“Hymn of the Dragon Kings“) that sees McPhee playing soprano and tenor, before building to a cacophonous two drummer blowout. Taking the music released from the December 1970 Vassar college concert together, it shows McPhee as a huge talent whose music was ready for prime time and needed (and still needs) to be heard by a wide audience.

A note about Hat Hut – while Werner X. Uehlinger’s label started out with a focus on McPhee, it quickly branched out and released powerful and important music by a deep roster of artists. Make sure that you check out great Hat Hut albums released by Steve Lacy, Cecil Taylor, Max Roach and Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Myra Melford and many, many more. The Hat labels also periodically will reissue classic albums from their back catalogue – although curiously not Black Magic Man itself! Keep your eye out for when that happens.

We shouldn’t neglect McPhee’s bandmates from the albums posted above, for they are not well known. For this concert McPhee called on local musicians from Poughkeepsie. McPhee used the same rhythm section from his first album Underground Railroad, Tyrone Crabb on bass and Ernest Bostic on drums. Added to Bosnic’s drums is a second drummer, Bruce Thompson. The twin drums on this concert often create powerful, surging rhythms for the music, especially on “Hymn of the Dragon Kings.”

The piano playing of Mike Kull is especially effective. Kull plays on every track; from Kull’s atmospheric playing at the beginning of “Black Magic Man” to the percussive Cecil Taylor – like runs elsewhere, Kull’s playing is flexible and supportive. Unfortunately, he does not appear on many other records other than the three he made with McPhee. However, Mike Kull still has continued to play piano live in the Poughkeepsie area in subsequent decades. Look out for Kull at mid Hudson Valley clubs – based on his playing here, he deserves to be better known.

But of course it’s McPhee who is the star. This music was made at the beginning of his career, but McPhee has gone on to create a massive discography with over a hundred albums. Where to go next?

For starters, if you like the music we’ve linked, try McPhee’s first album, Underground Railroad. Here he plays with much of the same cast over a year before the Vassar College Nation Time concert. Underground Railroad was recorded at the Holy Cross monastery in West Park, NY. The acoustics of the monastery allow a very low budget recording to sound urgent, as does to deployment of the music, which starts and ends with percussion, and moves on to urgent and intense horn playing. Also a great place to go to hear what a killer trumpet player McPhee is!

Hat Hut was created to document McPhee, and the string of Hat Hut releases from 1975 to 1982 that capture McPhee are classics. Most significant is Tenor, McPhee’s solo exploration of that instrument released in 1977. McPhee’s ability to maintain your attention and interest on a solo horn recital is astounding. Tenor is an album that has influenced many saxophone players, such as Ken Vandemark, who has said he became a tenor player because of McPhee and after hearing this important record. The first track on Tenor is on You Tube, and it’s on the streaming services with a bonus track.

Tenor, 1977. Yes, that’s a top hat with a Swiss flag in the right corner!

There are so many other places to go from here, and we can just scratch the surface. Try checking out McPhee’s many albums with Trio X, a group of truly sympathetic musicians where McPhee is joined by bass player Domenick Duval and drummer Jay Rosen. Or you can check out the recordings McPhee has made with Decoy, a modern take on the organ trio. Both AC/DC and Spontaneous Combusion are great. McPhee has always made a point of celebrating music of the past as much as pointing to the future, which is documented in an album of Paul Robeson’s music.

Most of all, if Joe McPhee is playing near you, go out and see him. COVID appears to have sidelined a lot of his activity, but he’s started playing in Europe again. Also, on Juneteenth of this year he played a duet with Tomeka Reid, thankfully well recorded. McPhee reads some of his poetry on this recording, including “It’s Nation Time – For Real This Time.” When McPhee finds more gigs back here in the United States, they need to be supported. Musicians this important and powerful are too precious to be neglected!

At TNB we took an impromptu break for July, but there will be extra posts for August – promise! During our break we listened to lots of new music that we’re excited to share. The Pick Hits feature a meeting of the “traditional” and the “new”, whether the fusion of jazz and folkloric Haitian rhythms, or the integration of melodic structures and cutting edge co-conspirators. Other great releases we listened to were by veteran bassists leading a smashing live album and a burning new guitar trio record, an exciting new recording of Julius Eastman’s Femenine, and a good old fashioned jazz sax trio. Hope your summer is going well!

Pick Hit!
Ches Smith and We All Break – Path of Seven Colors
(released June 11, 2021)

Sirene Dantor Rene – vocals
Miguel Zenón – alto saxophone
Matt Mitchell – piano
Nick Dunston – bass
Daniel Brevil – tanbou and vocals
Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene – tanbou and vocals
Markus Schwartz – tanbou and vocals
Ches Smith – drums, percussion and vocals

The modern harmony of the piano and bass collide with ancient rhythms of the Haitian vodou tradition – the results are truly fantastic! Drummer Ches Smith has contemplated and planned for this project for over a decade, which was first realized in 2014 with the core players here. Now Path of Seven Colors expands on that prior iteration, with the additional vocals, bass, and alto sax. The 50 minute long documentary about the sessions where the music was made is a good introduction to what’s going on here. Or just click the Bandcamp link; just don’t miss out on this. Unique music that inhabits the motto “ancient to the future” as few have.

Pick Hit!
Everything Happens To Be. – Ben Goldberg
(released June 18, 2021)

Mary Halvorson – electric guitar
Ellery Eskelin – tenor saxophone
Michael Formanek – bass
Tomas Fujiwara – drums
Ben Goldberg – clarinets

And here’s a blend of the past and future as well, that comes from a completely different place than the Ches Smith album above. Goldberg’s melodic compositions meet their ideal interpreters in Eskelin’s gruff tenor, Halvorson’s tart guitar, and the crack rhythm of Formanek/Fujiwara. An album full of delicious moments – just a few examples are the contrasting textures of the lead players, the laconic beauty Goldberg’s ballads, and the wonderful voicing of Goldberg and Halvorson’s lines. Goldberg at times channels the past, such as on the anachronistic head of “21” which then immediately runs into Halvorson’s cutting guitar. A truly enticing and wonderful album.

Koma Sax – Live
(released April 30, 2021)

Petter Eldh, bass / Otis Sandsjö, tenor sax / Jonas Kullhammar, tenor sax / Mikko Innanen, alto & baritone sax / Christian Lillinger, drums

The We Jazz Festival in Helsinki, December 2019 was the place to be! If you were there you could have joined the audibly floored crowd you hear on this exciting record. Yes you had to be there, but the audio document is pretty incredible too! The initial three tracks are a continuous performance that you really need to hear – Eldh’s bass is propulsive, the sax trio of Sandsjö, Kullhammar, Innanen
are fire breathing, and the druming of Lillinger provides texture and energy. David Murray’s live octet albums might be a reference point for you, but who needs reference points? Just listen in wonder.

Wild Up – Julius Eastman Vol. 1: Femenine
(released June 18, 2021)

Wild Up:
Richard Valitutto – piano / bells / leader
Seth Parker Woods – cello / leader
Sidney Hopson – vibraphone / prime
Andrew Tholl – violin / bells
Mona Tian – violin / bells
Linnea Powell – viola / bells
Derek Stein – cello / bells
Jiji – guitar
Odeya Nini – voice
Jodie Landau – vibraphone / marimba / synth / voice / bells
Lewis Pesacov – bells
Jonah Levy – flugelhorn
Allen Fogle – horn
Shelley Washington – baritone saxophone / alto saxophone / bells
Erin Rogers – baritone saxophone / alto saxophone
Brian Walsh – tenor saxophone
Marta Tiesenga – baritone saxophone
Isabel Lepanto Gleicher – flutes / piccolo / bells
Erin McKibben – flutes / piccolo / bells
Christopher Rountree – music director / bells

TNB featured the Sō Percussion’s version of Eastman’s Stay On It in May, and the beautiful performance by Wild Up of Femenine has also been catching our ears. Like Stay On It, Femenine is very assessable and easy to enjoy. Femenine deploys a simple melodic idea, and then sustains and builds that idea over the course of ten continuous movements with sustained building of dynamics. The marvelous crescendo which has the entire 19 person Wild Up ensemble playing at full bore. Exhilarating! Let the Eastman renaissance continue.

William Parker – Mayan Space Station
(released July 23, 2021)

William Parker – bass, compositions
Ava Mendoza – electric guitar
Gerald Cleaver – drums

If you’re looking for a record full of burning guitar, look no further. Ava Mendoza’s extended solos on every tune here are epic and really cook. Of course this harkens back of McLaughlin, Sharrock and other guitar gods – Mendoza of our new fav! This album rocks.

Joel Frahm – The Bright Side
(Released May 13, 2021)

Joel Frahm – Tenor Sax
Daniel Loomis – Bass
Ernesto Cervini – Drums

We write a lot about progressive music here, but not everything needs to push the envelope. Frahm’s wonderful record caught us from 2 1/2 minutes into the opening tune, “Blow Papa Joe”, when Frahm quotes Joe Henderson’s amazing “Inner Urge”. Frahm and his trio are amazing too. This album pays tribute to masters of the past (Henderson, Benny Carter) and of course Sommy Rollin’s sax trios, but Frahm’s playing is very much his own, and this album shows how relevant the jazz tradition can continue to be.

Here’s the Spotify playlist:

Just four albums this month, but there’s enough here to help you cool off for the rest of the summer. Our June deep dive concentrated on the vocal stylings and compositions of Meredith Monk, and the first two TNB picks are fascinating singers as well! Jeanne Lee’s 1975 classic Conspiracy was reissued this month as a digital download, with a vinyl issue to come, and following in Lee’s footsteps we have an out performance from vocalist Elaine Mitchener. Then, in case you are not tired yet, we have two colossal double albums of mesmerizing instrumental music. Compelling music for the dog days.

TNB Pick!
Jeanne Lee – Conspiracy
(Digital Re-issue June 1, 2021; Vinyl issue July 2021; Originally released in 1975 on “Seeds records” and Jeanne Lee’s own “Earth-forms records”)

Jeanne Lee – vocals
Gunter Hampel – flute, piano, vibraphone, alto clarinet, bass clarinet Sam Rivers – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
Steve McCall – drums
Alan Praskin – clarinet
Perry Robinson – clarinet
Jack Gregg – Bass
Mark Whitecage – alto clarinet
Marty Cook -trombone

“No words, only a feeling. . . ” sings Jeanne Lee at the start of “Sundance”, the first song on the newly reissued 1975 recording Conspiracy. Following this opening manifesto, Lee’s performance is a wordless reimagining of what a “jazz singer” does. The variety that follows is striking – “Yeah Come t’be” has Lee creates layers of environmental sound and instrumental effects, produced with overdubs of her own voice. “The Miracle” is a recitation of a poem about discovery. On “Jamaica” Lee paints a poetic picture of a simple domestic chore – frying Dasheen late at night. On “Angel Chile” Lee extends the range of vocal techniques (see Some Good News below for an example of Lee’s influence on the new generation). The supporting musicians are stellar too, but it’s Lee who’s the star – she dominates each track. 46 years after its first release, Lee still teaches us what a singer can be.

TNB Pick!
Black Top Presents – Some Good News
(Released Feb. 26, 2021 – recorded live at Cafe OTO on Sunday 28th July 2019)

Play a sample of “Some Good News”

Hamid Drake – Drums and percussion
William Parker – Bass, Shehnai
Orphy Robinson – electronics, theremin, marimba
Pat Thomas – Piano
Elaine Mitchener – Voice

These two live sets are a journey. “Put the Brakes On” starts with atmospheric chords from Thomas’ piano, but with a strange ping-pong sound which suggests something is different here. As the music gains strength, it turns out there’s no ping-pong table on the stage, that’s Elaine Mitchener’s wildly unconventional vocals. The rhythms from the classic Parker/Drake team are immense, and you can hear the strength of the music in the reaction from the audience at London’s Cafe Oto. Cafe Oto is the place to be! The second set, “Some Good News”, is even more unconventional and surprising. The transitions from one color and setting to the next through both of these tracks with keep me coming back. You can find the full track for “Some Good News” here. If you’re was intrigued as I am, you can get the full sets from Cafe Oto here.

TNB Pick!
Anna Webber – Idiom
(released May 28, 2021)

Disc 1 – Simple Trio
Anna Webber – tenor saxophone, flute
Matt Mitchell – piano
John Hollenbeck – drums

Disc 2 – Large Ensemble
Anna Webber – tenor saxophone, flute, bass flute
Nathaniel Morgan – alto saxophone
Yuma Uesaka – tenor saxophone, clarinet, contra-alto clarinet
Adam O’Farrill – trumpet
David Byrd-Marrow – horn
Jacob Garchik – trombone
Erica Dicker – violin
Joanna Mattrey – viola
Mariel Roberts – cello
Liz Kosack – synthesizer
Nick Dunston – bass
Satoshi Takeishi – drums
Eric Wubbels – conductor

A monumental release. Webber has composed a set of etudes for flute and saxophone, compositions that imply extended techniques and gestures from her playing. These ideas have been brilliantly implemented, with a disc of compositions for her long time trio, and a smashing second disc for large ensemble. The music is at crossroads between jazz improvisation and modern classical composition. It’s amazing that a player’s technique has been expanded out to such a grand concept. Certainly one of the year’s best.

TNB Pick!
Nate Wooley – Mutual Aid Music IV-I
(released April 16, 2021)

Nate Wooley – Trumpet
Ingrid Laubrock – Sax
Joshua Modney – Violin
Mariel Roberts – Cello
Sylvie Courvoisier – Piano
Cory Smythe – Piano
Matt Moran – Vibraphone
Russell Greenberg – Vibraphone and Percussion

What is Mutual Aid Music? According to Wooley’s Bandcamp page: it’s “the primary ethic of an anarchistic utopia in which each knows what they have, is honest about what they need, and is prepared to give and receive accordingly. Every human want is met by a commensurate surplus and all are lifted equally above suffering. The music on this disc is, to a degree, about this political conception of mutual aid history but, rather than celebrating its primary act of what to give, it concentrates on the decision of how to give it.” Heady stuff! Of course the proof’s in the pudding – the music on this significant two disc collection revels in collective listening, group dialogue and a patient service to the music! Like the Anna Weber disc profiled above, an epic presentation, but also a very different concept. Here the composer uses a light hand, creating open settings that create possibilities that are filled in by conversational playing from the talented players.

Sorry, no Spotify playlist this month! These conceptually heavy albums are best enjoyed unexcerpted, so dig into the links above.