Avant-Garde Jazz Tioned AEC
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Nine to Get Ready is the result of exemplified by the previously men- improvisation whereas classical mu- SEP 1999AGENDA9 Avant-Garde Jazz tioned AEC. In fact, Malachi Favors instrument as if the goal was to pro- sicians tend to shy away from that is both the bassist for Ritual Trio and sort of thing. Don’t take this music duce the most awkward and agoniz- a founding member of AEC. Drum- ing sounds possible. It works beauti- by Micah Holmquist too seriously, though. The album mer and vocalist Kahil El’Zabar and ends with a short and funky number fully. pianist and sax player Ari Brown There is a great deal of thematic called “Big Red Peaches” that fea- make up the other two-thirds of the No exact definition exists for tures only a groove. After over 50 similarity between a traditional and group and are both firmly rooted in mournful tune about war and unor- avant-garde jazz. Yet there exists a minutes of serious and the Chicago jazz scene. The cutting large body of material that rejects thought-provoking music, it is a won- thodox bass playing. Both essentially edge jazz musicians of Chicago dis- express agony but putting them to- jazz conventions but at the same derful pie in the face. tinguished themselves from the time remains clearly in the genre. gether takes a daring spirit like Shipp. sound of people like Coltrane by uti- DNA is the 15th album that Shipp has And so far 1999 has been a tremen- Pharoah Sanders lizing more varied sounds, humor, dous year for recordings in this poorly released in less than a decade. In Save our Children and basing their performances addition to solo recordings, the pia- defined category. Among the most (Verve, 1998) around themes. It would be a mis- interesting of these recordings are quick glance at the line-up suggests nist has maintained a busy touring Saxophonist Pharoah Sanders take to make too much of these dif- schedule and served as a sideman the following: that a hard-driving affair is in order. ferences, however. Shepp showed Bassist Reggie Workman is best is most often associated with John on various projects, including Coltrane. The two toured and re- his humorous side and sense of irony Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy known for a 1961 stint with John Mitchell’s Nine to Get Ready. (For the corded together extensively from in a 1965 recording of “The Girl from record, Parker also joined Mitchell The Odyssey of Funk & Coltrane and then working with drum- Ipanena.” Furthermore Shepp explic- mer Art Blakey. Jodie Christian con- 1964 to just before Coltrane’s un- and Shipp for that session.) Shipp itly supported the anti-imperialist, Popular Music Vol. 1 siders himself to be a primarily timely death in 1967. Coltrane and developed a unique style during this (Atlantic, 1999) Sanders created music in a way that Black Nationalist, and civil rights period that draws equally on blues, bebop-influenced pianist while drum- struggles that were going on in the Lester Bowie is best known as mer Albert “Tootie” Heath has played relied less on what notes they were classical, and jazz influences. Some 1960s and 1970s. This had far more a founding member of the Art En- with a literal Who’s Who of bebop. playing and more on the emotions critics have lauded him as a unique semble of Chicago (AEC), a legend- and sense of energy that they were in common with the Chicago scene voice, perhaps the most original and These recordings turn out to be a than did people like Coltrane and ary jazz group that began perform- collection of understated musings. A conveying. Musicians and writers of- innovative piano player in jazz since Sanders, both of whom limited them- ing and recording in the second half couple of the tunes such as the title ten refer to this style as “energy mu- the 1960s. of the 1960s and continues to do so sic” and there is universal agreement selves to vague, if not cryptic, com- Shipp shows that he deserves cut are somewhat standard in their ments when it came to politics. up until the present. AEC has always format but more often than not that Sanders is a pioneer and mas- this praise on this cd. No other musi- had the ability to seamlessly combine Mitchell’s saxophone, flute, and clari- ter of this form. Sanders has, how- cians appear on this album except various jazz styles. On his own—or net playing steers clear of the ordi- ever, only sporadically returned to this Shipp and Parker. The two take ad- more precisely as the leader of Lester nary and moves at its own pace. style since leaving Coltrane. Instead vantage of this sparse instrumenta- Bowie’s Brass Fantasy—the trum- Mitchell’s cast of supporting musi- his work has run the gamut from tion by playing intricate parts. After peter has recorded many pop hits cians follows his lead and blends with straightforward bop to world music. the opener, Shipp shows some of his with results that are equally stellar it quite well. Save our Children belongs in the lat- blues roots on “Cell Sequence.” That and unexpected. The Odyssey of Nine to Get Ready is every bit ter category. tune is the first of three “scientific” Funk & Popular Music Vol. 1 is no as reflective but even more fun to lis- cuts. The powerful and nearly exception. ten to. The cd booklet quotes Mitchell 13-minute-long “Genetic Alphabet” is as saying that “Nine to Get Ready is next and then the mini-trilogy ends the coming together of a dream I had with the title cut. At times it sounds many years ago of putting together as if Shipp is plunking random com- an ensemble of improvising musi- binations of keys or making a large cians with an orchestral range.” And number of mistakes. Similarly, brief such is the Note Factory, an eight snippets from this album might sug- Despite this, the digitally en- piece group (add Mitchell and you gest that Parker lacks the ability to coded pudding contains the ultimate play the bass or is just doodling for have nine, hence the album title) that proof that these two styles are com- includes Jaribu Shahid on bass and really long periods of time. The inter- patible. The four musicians mix and Gerald Cleaver and Tani Tabbal on actions between the two musicians match their collective skills and styles that appear on pieces like “Mr. Chro- drums and percussion. All three are without fail as they move through the from Michigan and Cleaver and mosome” brush aside such thoughts, material. That said, more often than however. At those moments the rapid Tabbal have played many times not Ritual Trio sounds like it is adapt- around Ann Arbor. Sanders used 10 other musi- flinging of notes appears perfectly cians for this album. The instruments ing to Shepp and his style. It is natural and it becomes apparent that The cd begins with the burlesque that they play range from African talk- Shepp’s blistering solos that stand a great deal of intelligence went into standard “The Birth of the Blues” and ing drums to electronic synthesizers. out most of the time. This should the making of DNA. moves on to cover Marilyn Manson’s African, Asian, and Middle Eastern come as no surprise as Ritual Trio is “Beautiful People” and the Spice Girls musical influences, both of the tradi- the rhythm section for 6 of the 7 cuts. hit “Two Become One.” The latter tional and pop variety, appear readily But even on “Kari,” a tune where song is performed sans embellish- throughout the disc and give it a Brown plays the sax and Shepp ments until about midway through, unique feel. Ultimately, however, the moves over to the piano, the ball at which point Tuba player Bob cd suffers because of a lack of fo- seems to be in Shepp’s court, so to Stewart begins to mutate his playing cus. Sanders solos on all of the cuts speak. Special credit for accomplish- as a segue into a cataclysmic yet still but never sets a tone for any tune, ing this should go to El’Zabar and tasteful ending. Along the way the much less the album as a whole. The Brown for authoring tunes suited for group does a somewhat conventional only thing that comes close to filling a style different from their own. version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s this void is the excellent percussion Shepp does do a fair amount of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” as well and drum work from Tikor Gurtu and adapting here. The group shows The disc begins with haunting clear Chicago influences on the cd’s as two songs of tribute to the late No- harmonizing on a piece called “Leola” Zakir Hussain. It becomes evident two strongest cuts. El’Zabar employs torious B.I.G. Lester Bowie’s son Jo- and moves from there to cover much after repeated listenings, however, seph co-wrote, raps, and performs a that these parts were not intended the tradition of field hollers and tradi- terrain in a somber, delicate, and tional hand drumming as a means of trombone solo on the most interest- relatively quiet fashion. The only to take center stage but rather to be paying tribute to Malcolm X on ing of the pair, a tune called “Next.” breaks in this are a blues-inspired in the background. There is much to Both Shipp and Parker demand The best cuts, however, are versions like here in the way of fine playing “Brother Malcolm” and the late bass- a lot of intelligence from the listener song called “Bessie Harris” and the ist Fred Hopkins on “Big Fred.” The of the r&b standards “In the Still of blowing session that is “Hop Hip Bip and intriguing concepts but it could as well.