VARIOUSARTISN Conjure:hlusb For ThcTbtts AIshrwIRed (AmericanClav6 Records) azz is not a producer'sidiom: the lew excePtionsbring their own compositions or concePt to a session of personallYselected ptayers.Kip Hanrahanis such a pro- ducer, and although You have to look hard to find his nameon Coniure,it is verymuch his album. Hanrahan'sprevious Coup De Tete and, Desire DevelopsAn Edge LPs brorght together a wide range of players from Jack Bruce to Chico Freemanto Daniel Ponce,and man- NO. 78,APRTL 1985 aged to incorporalaiazz, Latin and ex- perimentalstylesinto a seamlessamal- gam. On Conjure:Music For The lexts Of lshmaelReed, Hanrahan has again handedover most of the compositional reins to players like Taj Mahal,Allen Toussaint,David Murray, Billy Hart and Steve Swallow. (Also contributing tracksare Lester Bowie, Carmen Moore and Carla Bley; additionalperformers include JamaaladeenTacuma, Jean- PaulBourelly, Elysee foronneau, Milton Cardona,Andy Gonzalez and ArtoLin- say.)As with Hanrahan'sprevious al- bums,the diverse selection guarantees botha highcaliber of musicianshipand a groupsound like no other. The selectionof Mahalas vocalisV guitaristsets the tone forthe album, and the choice is perfeot.His rich, muddy voicesuits the blacksoutherninfl€ction of Reed'swords so wellthat on the two trackswhere the authorrecites his own work, he sounds comparativelystiff. Similarly,the choice of New Orleans' Toussaintas sessionpianist imbues the musicwith the decidedlySouthern roll of CrescentCi.ry__!!Jn[. Equally natural is LesterBowie's "Fool-ology (The Song)," asthe trumpeter revels in hisrole of buf- foon.David Murray's solos are among his best, alternatingbetween sinewy twists and breathy romanticism.Olu Dara,usually confined to cornet,plays trumpetbrilliantly; his lyricalsolo on "OaklandBlues" shows how well he's absorbed Louis rather than simply learnedhim. Together these musicians havehelped Hanrahan "conjure" an ex- ceptionallyrich album,one whosetex- turesare as lush,brown and warm as its ghostlylyric imagesof rurallife. - Fr€d Goodman.