jazz club and mentoring local talent. He was a founding composers of the 19th Century. member of the AACM but, unlike its members, rarely Throughout the solo, McPhee leaves the melody ventured far from his Midwest base. Presumably—the for a series of distinct improvisations: leaping registers; CD lacks discographical information—this album was speeding up and playing freely; adding honking recorded at the same concert as Vol. I, March 22, 2000 rhythm ‘n’ blues; baring sounding notes to the rhythmic (his 71st birthday), at his Chicago club The Velvet accompaniment of his key pads; or exploring abrasive Lounge with bassist Tatsu Aoki and erstwhile Chicago multiphonics that link low-end roar to squealing highs drummer Chad Taylor. in a single, complex, massed sound, each time returning For a point of reference, the pianoless trios of to the original material and mood for sustenance and Solidarity Sonny Rollins from the ‘50s-60s are a good start. Like inspiration. It’s work of rare and special power. Matt Lavelle’s 12 Houses (Unseen Rain) Rollins, Anderson exhibits an orotund tone and by Ken Waxman copious, proliferating ideas in solos that pour out with For more information, visit monofonuspress.com/astral-spirits. fertile, seemingly boundless imagination. McPhee is at The Stone Jun. 21st as a guest of the Flow Trio. Multi-instrumentalist Matt Lavelle, true believer in Opener “It’s Us” finds him reeling off dozens of See Calendar. the latitude of free jazz, has worked in ensembles with choruses in an initial ten-minute-plus solo, all such advanced figures as William Parker and Butch constructed over a teeming background with bass Morris. Now, like a post-doctoral fellow ready to take suggesting half-time and drums double-time to his IN PRINT his mentors’ research in new directions, Lavelle has intrepid swing pace. Then he returns with another long organized a 16-piece band, whose in-the-moment unity solo over slower, more syncopated rhythms. splendidly reflects the experiences designated by the For a bare-bones trio performance, there’s a lot of horoscope’s 12 houses. variety here, with each of the four tracks quite The six tracks are satisfying because Lavelle has distinctive and developing in multiple sections with blended additional currents into the program. Building changed-up rhythms and textures. “Prime Moment” on the large-group acumen in Parker’s bands and begins with Aoki’s fluttering, vibrating arco ostinato, utilizing conduction Morris initiated, Lavelle, who tenor intimately fashioning lines on top as Taylor plays cornet, flugelhorn and alto clarinet here, moves enters playing drum heads with his hands. Then tone beyond expected jazz tropes and instrumentation. and texture shift as saxophone creates a staccato Besides the usual saxophones, piano, guitar, bass and rhythm picked up by sticks for the second part. drums, 12 Houses is inhabited by piccolo, bassoon, “Hoistin’” begins with a walking bassline introducing Music to Silence to Music (A Biography of Henry Grimes) violin, cello, percussion, banjo and mandolin plus the a slow drag shuffle beat from drums, tenor deliberate Barbara Frenz (Northway Publications) wordless vocalization of Anaïs Maviel. and bluesy. But the piece keeps evolving, the beat by Tyran Grillo The result is chameleon-like themes, which, for accelerating to a fast clip à la Mingus romps. example, have pianist Chris Forbes cracking out Anderson’s late ‘70s composition “Wandering” In his foreword to Music to Silence to Music: dynamic kinetics in “Brooklyn Mountain” as if he was closes, beginning with a long cadenza from tenor, first A Biography of Henry Grimes, Sonny Rollins recalls his Cecil Taylor on Unit Structures, yet playing so acappella, then joined by rubato bass and brushes. first encounter with the young bassist in Philadelphia: straightforward on “Faith” that the linkage is to 19th That too morphs from the initial expansive ballad into “He seemed to hear and immediately respond…in an Century Romantic tropes, with a detour into a a rolling toms tattoo under a climactic solo to end it. unbroken circuit between muse and man.” Likewise, devotee’s parlor for a church hymn. German historian Barbara Frenz’ lovingly penned Besides Lavelle, the standout soloists are alto For more information, visit asianimprov.org biography wires an unbroken circuit between reader saxophonist Charles Waters and tenor saxophonist Ras and subject. Moshe, especially during those moments of altissimo Frenz jumps improvisationally from reportage ecstasy on the title track and elsewhere as if they were to interview. The resulting portrait is as multifaceted Archie Shepp and John Tchicai on Ascension. Maviel as the man himself. Grimes may not be interested in too has the ability to alter her tessitura to blend with the anecdotal, but his memories yield a veritable the strings or double the reed parts. Lavelle harmonizes résumé of iconic associations. By the early ‘60s he the bowed and plucked strings to provide interludes of was swimming in the deep end of New York City’s delicate reserve. It’s an indication of his wit and the jazz scene, where collaborations with the likes of group’s freedom that on “Cherry Swing”, prodded by Albert Ayler unlocked his evolutionary potential. In bassist François Grillot’s symmetrical pulse, cadence 1967, just two years after his first leader date, he left turns to cacophony when banjo player Jack DeSalvo the East Coast for the west and wasn’t heard from for Zurich (1979) uncorks a salvo of twangs as if Earl Scruggs has pushed Joe McPhee (Astral Spirits) nearly four decades. Grimes was forced to sell his his way into a Count Basie jam. by Stuart Broomer bass in Los Angeles, where he sustained himself Solidarity is the equivalent of research that builds through odd jobs until he was rediscovered in 2002. on its antecedents to affect a breakthrough. But it’s a Zurich (1979) is a work that immediately insists on He has been playing ever since, much to the glee of lot more fun than an academic paper—dig the gospel- your attention, a single-sided LP with a hand silk- listeners and journalists alike, playing hundreds of like handclapping at the climax to “Faith”. screened jacket. It’s a direct invocation of Albert concerts and surpassing even his own exalted Ayler’s Bells, his single-sided, white vinyl LP with a reputation in the process. During the silence, he For more information, visit unseenrainrecords.com. This silk-screened blank side and jacket, the latter in barely didn’t so much as touch an instrument. And yet, as project is at Nublu Sundays. See Regular Engagements. legible yellow print on a black field. More than any Frenz makes clear, the music was always germinating other living musician, Joe McPhee has carried forward inside him, along with a literary worldview that the Ayler legacy. Though he seems to play alto would feed back into his reprisal endeavors. His saxophone and pocket trumpet more often these days, poetry is dark yet insightful and, like his soloing, McPhee’s tenor sound, like Ayler’s, has a certain focuses its attention on human interaction. sweetness that weaves in and out of the harshest blasts, With this biography, Frenz has undone the sometimes rising to become the dominant sound. misconception of Grimes as reticent ghost, arguing The piece—called simply “Tenor solo” and instead for his bold expressiveness while further originally recorded on cassette—stands isolated here emphasizing his versatility, go-with-the-flow attitude in a kind of glory, reminding one of how much musical and inner growth. His past contributions are obvious, substance can be pressed into 19 minutes. The music is but, as Frenz is quick to point out, his importance to free jazz, its improvisations hinged to an initial motif the future of jazz even more so. Rather than an Quintessential Birthday Trio, Vol. II Fred Anderson (Asian Improv) to which McPhee returns, a few hymn-like notes introvert who almost faded into obscurity, she wants by George Kanzler suggesting a late Coltrane melodic figure. At the outset us to see him as someone uninterested in attachments, it’s hesitant, the sound is breathy and there are pauses living as he has—and always will—in the immaterial. Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson, who died six years between the phrases as the tune takes shape, gathering ago this month at 81, was one of those formidable force and determination until it begins to break free. For more information, visit parkwestpubs.com. Grimes musicians who fall through the cracks, never garnering It is as if McPhee is calling up the tune from the greatest receives the Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award the reputation he deserved because he spent his depth of memory, as if the work is a collective act that at Judson Church Jun. 7th. See Calendar. working life in Chicago, much of it operating his own includes Ayler and Coltrane and the anonymous gospel 38 JUNE 2016 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD.