Different Perspectives In My Room...!

Label: RCA Victor – FPL1 0132

Series: Balance

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1976

Style: Avantgarde, Fusion, Free Improvisation

A1 + B - Recorded live on January 25, 1976 at the Festival de Villejuif

A2- Recorded live on 20 December, 1975 at the Nouveau Carré à Paris

Photo: Richard Bonin and Thierry Trombert

Production by – Confluence

Sound recording by – Alain François

A1 - Dakka .............................................................................. 5:25

(Written-By – Armand Lemal)

A2 - Convergences ................................................................ 11:50

(Written-By – Jean-Charles Capon)

B - 4 Voyages ...................................................................... 19:00

(Written-By – Didier Levallet)

Jean-Charles Capon - cello (violoncello)

Didier Levallet - contrabass

Jean Querlier - oboe (hautbois), cor Anglais, flute, alto / soprano saxophone

Christian Escoudé - guitar

Armand Lemal - percussion

Merzak Mouthana – drums, percussion

Quietly gorgeous French jazzy prog vinyl made up of three long (dark, anxious, yet rhythmic and beautiful) tracks, often focused around the wistful cello work of Jean-Francois Capon (cello), whose devastating outfit Baroque Jazz Trio recently had their one eponymous album reissued, and his colleagues Didier Levallet (contrabass) and Armand Lemal (percussion). There are also Christian Escoudé (guitar), Jean Querlier (oboe, flute, saxophones) and Merzak Mouthana (drums).

One of France's great undiscovered treasures.

The band recorded three albums (one of the few groups of French Jazz at this time to record for a major label, RCA), and this LP, live recording on January 25, 1976 at the Festival de Villejuif and 20 December 1975 at the Nouveau Carré à Paris, it is their debut.

I would say that it is actually chamber jazz, with a very well worked melding of chamber orchestra (a lot of violin, flute, cello, double bass) and jazz.

These progressive musicians wrote a kind of music that has no rules, they use rock, jazz, and european classical in equal measure to create a whole that is perfectly harmonious and has no borders or styles...

NOTE:

Didier Levallet, born 19 July 1944, Arcy sur Cure, France. Levallet is largely a self-taught bass player who studied journalism at L’Ecole Superieure de Journalisme de Lille (1963-66) and went on for a short time to study bass at Lille Conservatory. He moved to Paris in 1969 and played with a wide range of local and visiting musicians including Ted Curson, Hank Mobley, Mal Waldron and Johnny Griffin. He worked with the free-jazz quartet Perception through the 70s and worked in the USA with tenor saxophonist Byard Lancaster (1974-76). He also led "Confluence" (with: Jean-Charles Capon and Christian Escoudé), a group based on strings and percussion only. In the early 80s he played with Frank Lowe, Archie Shepp, Mike Westbrook’s Concert Band and Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath as well as the Double Quartet with Tony Oxley. Levallet is a prolific composer who can combine free-improvisation and structure coherently. He works within four bands - the Quintet, a 12-piece band, Swing Strings System (which utilises seven string players plus drums) and a trio with Dominique Pifarely (violin) and Gérard Marais (guitar). In 1976, he founded ADMI (Association pour la Developement de la Musique Improvise), which acts as a pressure group and concert organizer. He teaches jazz at L’Ecole National de Musique in Angouleme.

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Saravah – SH 10058

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded at Saravah Studios Paris, May 12-15-1975

Artwork [Cover Art] – Claude Bellegarde

Engineer – Christian Jence

Photography By [Photos] – Bunny Brissett

Producer – Pierre Barouh

Technician [Assistant] – Larry Martin

A1 - The Uh Uh Uh .............................................................. 7:20

A2 - Dreams ......................................................................... 3:05

A3 - The Oil......................................................................... 9:10

B1 - The Wane ................................................................... 10:00

B2 - Crops ............................................................................ 7:00

Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone, composed

Steve Potts – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone

Derek Bailey – guitar

Jean-Jacques Avenel – bass

Kent Carter – bass

Irene Aebi – voice, cello

Kenneth Tyler – drums, percussion

featuring:

guitar – Boulou Ferré (tracks: A2, B2), Jack Treese (tracks: A2, B2)

Dreams is easily Lacy's greatest moment from the 70s, and the one that sounds, simultaneously, most and least like him.

Recorded at Saravah's studios in Paris in May 1975, Dreams is the fourth of five albums cut for the label by Steve Lacy between 1969 (Roba) and 1977 (The Owl) -- the intervening pair being 1971's Lapis and 1974's Scraps -- and features the soprano saxophonist in the company of his favorite playing partners, altoist Steve Potts, bassists Kent Carter and Jean-Jacques Avenel, guitarist Derek Bailey, drummer Ken Tyler, and not forgetting the composer's partner, Irene Aebi on cello and vocals on the dreamy, almost Debussyesque setting of Brion Gysin's permutational poem "Dreams." For the occasion, the group is joined by Saravah regulars guitarists Boulou Ferre and Jack Treese, who also contributes some spindly banjo to the closing "Crops." It's quintessential Lacy, all relentless harmonic cycles with saxophones locked together a whole- or half-tone apart, but extraordinarily varied in scope nevertheless, running the gamut from the twisted psychedelic funk of "The Uh Uh Uh" to the rolling free folk of "Crops," via the tense, claustrophobic weave of "The Oil." On this, the tough nut of the set, Bailey's pinched Webernian splutters are the perfect foil for the rigorous saxophone dirge, and his volleys of harmonics complement Treese's fingerpicking to perfection in "Crops." And anyone who still doubts Lacy's consummate mastery of his instrument needs only to check out the ease with which he negotiates the ferociously difficult theme in "The Wane."

As the story unfolds one small piece at a time over this LP, the vision of the man comes clearly into view and his true genius is revealed. Lacy saw jazz in the 70s as a way to make sense of the entire world -- a world in transition and fragmentation. His musical view was all-inclusive (Bailey's rock and funk moves on the Dreams album) and sought order using a musical language that would open the doors to dialogue: first with musicians and then with other artists everywhere. The amazing thing is that -- at least in the avant-garde music world -- he succeeded: because everyone there cites him as an influence...........

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: hat Hut Records – hat Hut ONE (1R01)

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Switzerland / Released: 1980

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded by Jef Gilson in Paris on May 30, 1979.

Photo by – Ken Brunton

Cover art by – Klaus Baumgärtner

Engineer – Jef Gilson

Mixed By – Peter Pfister

A1 - Eroc Tinu .............................................................. 4:00

Land Dance ..... (12:45)

A2a - P / G / G ................................................................ 3:02

A2b - BCL / Cello ............................................................ 3:16

A2c - B / DM .................................................................... 3:11

A2d - TS / TS .................................................................. 3:22

A3 - Old Eyes ................................................................ 8:50

B1 - Django ................................................................. 14:25

B2 - No Line .................................................................. 3:05

B3 - Strings ................................................................... 7:10

Joe McPhee – alto / tenor saxophone

André Jaume – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Raymond Boni – acoustic and electric guitars

Steve Gnitka – electric guitars

Jean-Charles Capon – cello

Pierre-Yves Sorin – bass

Milo Fine – piano and drums

Old Eyes is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee, recorded in 1979 and first released on the Swedish HatHut label in 1980.

"I've always intentionally kept a low profile. I think the music goes where it has to go anyway, so I'm not going to run around in circles and scream. In America, everybody's looking for the latest revelation on the scene : who'll be the new Bird ? Who's going to replace Trane? As for me, anyway, I'm not new."

(~ Joe McPhee, from Down Beat, 1991)

END AT THE BEGINNING - BEGINNING AT THE END

PO MUSIC HAS NO CANVAS OR MODEL OR PALLET

NO PENCIL PAPER OR STORY

NO KNOWLEDGE MEMORY OR WISDOM

PO MUSIC LISTENS TO SILENCE

EXPANDING IN UNISON

CONTRACTING IN COLORS

PO MUSIC HAS HARMONY IN THE MUSICIANS

TASTES GOOD

AND FLOATS UPSIDE DOWN IN AFTER-GLOW

PO MUSIC HAS INSTRUMENTALITY

AND USES IT

LEADING AND FOLLOWING AT THE SAME TIME

(~ Joe McPhee, 1981, from the Liner Notes to: Joe McPhee Po Music - Linear B, hat ART CD 6057, 1991)

André Jaume / Joe McPhee

The decade 1981 - 1991 marked the most productive and satisfying period in my music career. Yet mysteriously it remains the least documented in terms of recordings. The Cycle began with the recording of TOPOLOGY March 24, 1981 and ended with a multi-media performance of a work entitled HAZEL'S DINER on March 23, 1991. Many performances were given in each of the inclusive years, but to this date only three recordings, exclusively on hat Hut Records, document this period: TOPOLOGY (1981), OLEO (1982), and MYSTERIES/LINEAR B (1990).

Beginning at the beginning is to introduce two important musicians who have most directly influenced my work since our meeting in 1979, saxophonist André Jaume and guitarist Raymond Boni. The ocassion was the Paris session OLD EYES. From that moment a bond of friendship support and collaboration was formed which has shaped the entire body of my work to this day. Although not literally in the PO MUSIC series the roots of the concept can be traced to OLD EYES and is reflected in the final 1990 Zurich sessions which produced MYSTERIES/LINEAR B. Coincidentally OLD EYES, TOPOLOGY, and MYSTERIES/LINEAR B are further linked by the fact that all are studio dates, all feature large ensembles, and all include the rare use of percussionists (Mile Fine, Pierre Favre, Fritz Hauser). Each also includes the trio Boni-Jaume-McPhee at the core of its unifying structure. The trio continues today as a separate entity building on the strength of our relationship.

Beginning at the end, many important personal lessons were learned from the various experiences associated with the PO MUSIC loop/cycle. PO is after all only a language indicator, and the use of provocation to discover new ideas has always been the point. Also, it was always my intention that one day the concept would be clear enough that the word MUSIC in association with my work would make language indicators unnecessary.

(~ Joe McPhee, Pooughkeepsie, NY, July 6, 1991)

The "Old Eyes" sessions in May 1979 in Paris by the way were taken up by Jef Gilson. The big highlight for me is "Django", by far the longest piece. "Old Eyes" himself (the second longest and next to "Strings", the third, which lasts longer than three to four minutes) is actually dedicated to Ornette Coleman, "with much respect and gratitude. The title comes from a term I once heard a psychic use to describe someone who Carried the look of past ages of tradition in his eyes. "

(~ McPhee, liner notes to hat ART 6057 or 6047 hat ART)

Enjoy !

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: BV Haast Records – BVHAAST 050

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Netherlands / Released: 1983

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Sound Push Studio's, Blaricum the Netherlands, Sept. 12th./13th. 1983.

All arrangements by Willem Breuker

Cover design / Photos by – Reinko Kuiper

Mixed September 15th 1983

Engineer by – Jan Schumman

A1 - Wolkbreuk III............................................................................ 5:54

A2 - No Wave Samba...................................................................... 6:06

A3 - Benares. (From Mahagonny)................................................... 3:50

Composed By – Kurt Weill

A4 - What?....................................................................................... 4:59

A5 - Lied Van De Zware Toffe Jongens /

Pirate Jenny (From Three Penny Opera) ................................. 2:24

Composed By – Kurt Weill, Vocals – Dick Swidde

B1- Driebergen – Zeist .................................................................... 9:56

B2- Dance Of The Knights (From Romeo And Juliet) ..................... 3:55

Composed By – Serge Prokofiev

B3- Creole Call Love ....................................................................... 6:30

Clarinet – Michiel de Ruyter, Composed By – Duke Ellington

Willem Breuker – saxophone, clarinet

André Goudbeek – clarinet, saxophone

Maarten van Norden – saxophone, clarinet

Bernard Hunnekink – trombone

Garrett List – trombone

Andy Altenfelder – trumpet

Boy Raaymakers – trumpet

Henk de Jonge – piano, synthesizer

Arjen Gorter – double bass

Robbie Verdurmen – drums, percussion

Willem Breuker / Maarten van Norden

Arjen Gorter / Robbie Verdurmen

Boy Raaymakers / Bernard Hunnekink

Driebergen-Zeist is one of two or three albums released by Breuker's Kollektief in the early- to mid-'80s that represent this band at the absolute peak of its considerable powers. At this point, all the energy that had been a central part of the group since its inception in 1974 combined seamlessly with Breuker's elaborate and complex compositional skills to produce music unlike anyone else's at that time or since. It was a music both experimental and surprisingly accessible, connecting disparate points between 20th century classical music, street songs, and avant-garde jazz, all soldered firmly together by Breuker's devilish sense of humor. Much of the album is given over to covers, all of them performed superbly. Breuker's long-time affinity for Kurt Weill is made clear both in the version of "Benares" (from Mahagonny) and, utterly wonderfully, in his "Pirate Jenny," featuring vocals and new lyrics by the gruff, elderly Dutch actor/singer Dick Swidde, who growls and sputters his way through hilariously. There's also a lovely and straight reading of Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights (from Romeo and Juliet) and a creamy, adoring rendition of Ellington's "Creole Love Call" with guest clarinetist Michiel de Ruyter. Many a "traditional" jazz band could take a lesson from this heartfelt performance. Breuker's own cleverly titled composition "What?" comes about as close as possible to duplicating "Take the 'A' Train" without ever quite getting there -- a bravura demonstration indeed. But the real highlight of this LP is the title piece. Ten minutes long and apparently through-composed, "Driebergen-Zeist" sounds like some otherworldly melding of Ellington, Gershwin, and Carl Stalling as themes collide, disappear, and arise from nowhere, each more gorgeous than the last, and are undermined by false starts, fake endings, and composed "mistakes" (the latter including a delightful section where drummer Rob Verdurmen makes several "wrong" entrances). It's an astonishing work and illustrative of what this ensemble was capable of at its best.

Very highly recommended.

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Arista – AB-4181

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US/Canada / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded on Sept. 22, 1977 at Streeterville Sound, Chicago, IL.

Art Direction – Howard Fritzson

Artwork [Front Cover Art], Photography By [Insert Photography] – Nickie Braxton

Engineer [Recording & Mixing Engineer] – Jim Dolan

Executive-Producer – Steve Backer

Mastered By – Bob Ludwig

Producer – Michael Cuscuna

A - Version I – Composition 76 ................................................ 20:22

Anthony Braxton– piccolo flute, flute [C flute], soprano clarinet, soprano clarinet [B♭ clarinet], contra-alto clarinet, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone [E♭ soprano sax], alto saxophone, contrabass saxophone, performer [Tragata], gongs, percussion, little instruments

Henry Threadgill– flute, flute [bass flute], alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, performer [Hub "T" Wall], gongs, percussion, little instruments

Douglas Ewart– piccolo flute, flute, soprano clarinet, soprano clarinet [B♭ clarinet], bass clarinet, soprano saxophone [E♭ soprano sax, B♭ soprano sax], alto saxophone, bassoon, performer [Ewartphone], Gongs, percussion, little instruments

B - Version II – Composition 76 ................................................ 20:56

Joseph Jarman– flute, clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, vibraphone, Gongs, Percussion, little instruments

Roscoe Mitchell– piccolo flute, flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, gongs, percussion, little instruments

Side A – Anthony Braxton (Middle) / Henry Threadgill (Right Channel) / Douglas Ewart (Left Channel)

Side B – Anthony Braxton (Middle) / Joseph Jarman (Right Channel) / Roscoe Mitchell (Left Channel)

Always one to try for something different, for this album Braxton organized two trios of well known avant-garde jazz musicians (he himself played in both groups) and recorded two side-long versions of the same composition, one of which has little to do with jazz, at least superficially. The piece, which is listed as "Composition 76" in the superb discography compiled by Francesco Martinelli (Bandecchi & Vivaldi Editore, 2000), is designed as a series of "routes" through a form, with agreed upon signposts along the way but with wide allowances for how the performers arrive there. These signposts include unison vocal refrains, staccato rhythmic lines and soft, sighing plaints from the horns. The extremely high caliber of the musicians which Braxton chose for this project guarantee some inspired playing and great imagination in working their way through this often forbidding territory. While admirers of his more jazz oriented work might find the music here daunting indeed, it repays careful listening and also strikes one as a seminal work that prefigures many of the concerns he would deal with later on in his collage-form structures written for his classic quartet of the '80s and '90s.

(Review by Brian Olewnick)

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Moers Music – 01002

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: W. Germany / Released: 1974

Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz

Recorded live, June 1, 1974 at the 3rd International New Jazz Festival Moers, Germany

Produced by – Burkhard Hennen

Mastered by – Paul Hubweber

Recorded by – Norbert Freibrück & Michael Krause

Photos by – Alex Dutilh (front), Alfred Bangert (back)

Cover Design – Jürgen Pankarz

A1 - JMK– 80 CF N– 7 ...................................................... 8:10

A2 - NNWZ 48 KB N ......................................................... 4:50

A3 - RORRT 33 H7T 4 ...................................................... 5:18

B1- AOT H MBA T ............................................................ 5:19

B2- 106 Kelvin M– 16 ....................................................... 5:31

B3- RZO4M(6) AHW ......................................................... 3:12

All compositions by Anthony Braxton

Six years after his groundbreaking double album of solo alto saxophone compositions / improvisations (For Alto on Delmark), Anthony Braxton was just beginning to receive the wider recognition that would shortly land him a contract with Arista records. Just prior to that event, he recorded this live solo performance at the German Moers festival where he shows that he'd lost none of the fire and imagination evinced on that initial effort. Possibly unique among improvising instrumentalists, Braxton concentrates each piece on a relatively small, carefully delineated "sound territory," routinely uncovering vast amounts of detail and beauty in areas that might appear sparse or bare. Each piece receives its own personalized approach. If he's investigating the properties of stuttered attacks, he follows that particular alley to see where it leads. Probing into a bluesy figure results in a dissection of that theme, laying open to view multiple aspects of its form. His obvious and remarkable fluency on alto allows Braxton to command the subtlest shadings as well as the harshest split tones at will. At the end, the dramatic impact of his performance is clear from the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic audience reaction. Not an easy recording to locate, Solo: Live at Moers Festival is a worthy companion to his other early solo albums, For Alto and Alto Sax Improvisations: Series F.

(Review by Brian Olewnick)

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Ictus Records – ICTUS 0011

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Italy / Released: 1978

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded on ICTUS label, Italy, July 1978.

Recorded By, Producer – Andrea Centazzo

Written-by – Lol Coxhill

A1- Uno ..............................................................................7:33

A2- Due ............................................................................14:13

B1- Tre ...............................................................................5:47

B2- Cinque .........................................................................3:54

B3- Quattro .........................................................................9:55

B4- The Frogs Of Gabbiano ...............................................4:33

LOL COXHILL – saxophone [soprano], vibraphone [bass marimba]

Between 1947 and 1949 the teenage Lol Coxhill organised club sessions comprising live contemporary jazz plus recordings of modern jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lennie Tristano, Miles Davis and Stan Kenton. From 1950 to 1951 he was 'temporarily inconvenienced by national service in the Royal Air Force' but for the rest of that decade he was a member of: Denzil Bailey's Afro-Cubists (Dizzy Gillespie, Machito compositions/ arrangements); the Graham Fleming Combo touring US air bases in England (Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker compositions); and Sonny G and the G Men (R&B, standards). He also guested with established British contemporary jazz players, including Joe Harriott, Tubby Hayes, Oxford University Jazz Band as well as playing solo jazz and improvisations on the saxophone.

Much of the early to mid 1960s was taken up with touring and accompanying/supporting visiting US artists such as Rufus Thomas (with the television and video release of Walking the dog), Martha & the Vandellas, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Mose Allison, and to some extent this continued into the 70s with tours by Otis Spann, Champion Jack Dupree, Lowell Fulson and Alexis Korner. However, between 1968 and 1972 Coxhill formed 'Delivery' with Steve Miller, Jack Monck, Pip Pyle and Phil Miller, was a member of the 'Whole World' with Kevin Ayers, David Bedford, Mike Oldfield and numerous drummers, as well as performing in the Coxhill/Bedford duo and the Coxhill/Steve Miller duo.

The twelve years from 1973 saw Lol Coxhill become more well known as an improvising musician and solo player, with appearances thoughout Great Britain, Europe, the US, Japan and Canada. At the same time he undertook numerous collaborations with improvisors (as a member of Company), jazz musicians (as a member of the Brotherhood of Breath), rock and blues musicians (The Damned), as well as appearing with experimental theatre groups such as Welfare State. Other collaborations included Trevor Watts 'Moire Music', The Spontaneous Music Ensemble, and AMM. The Recedents (with Roger Turner and Mike Cooper) was formed in this period to perform electro-acoustic improvisations and has been a long-standing interest along with the Melody Four (with Steve Beresford and Tony Coe) - performing original and standard songs, film music, theatre music, jazz and improvisations - a duo with Pat Thomas, a duo with Adam Bohman (both electo-acoustic improvisations though of a rather different hue) and membership of the Dedication Orchestra.

Lol Coxhill has also worked occasionally in television and films with a part in Sally Potter's London story, Ken Campbell and Nigel Evans' The madness museum and Derek Jarman's Caravaggio.

LID is another jewel of his early works, Italian rare FREE JAZZ on ICTUS label sax solo improvisations.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Dragon Records – DRLP 48

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Sweden / Released: 1983

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Jazz Club Fasching, Stockholm, October 21, 1981.

Engineer – Gert Palmcrantz

Photography – Pawel Lucki

Producer – Per Henrik Wallin

A - King's Way ............................................................ 21:15

B - Raw Material ......................................................... 17:00

Per Henrik Wallin– piano

Kevin Ross– bass

Steve Reid– drums, percussion

A rarity, album that is almost impossible to find.

Per Henrik Wallin / Steve Reid

Stylistically, Wallin is a modernist who hasn't forsaken the roots of jazz, and there are echoes in his playing of everyone from Art Tatum, Earl Hines and Bud Powell to Erroll Garner, Lennie Tristano, Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. His compositions, even though more interesting than indelible, are consistently melodic and seldom stray beyond the bounds of accepted musical standards. In other words, Wallin's music may be au courant but is by no means the sort of "free jazz" that one would associate with, say, Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill, Horace Tapscott or others in that camp. His solos are well-structured yet spiced with unexpected twists and turns that nourish one's awareness.

The Raw Material include two recordings at Jazz Club Fasching, October 21, 1981. by the Per Henrik Wallin Trio in Stockholm. As with excellent release, Burning in Stockholm (bass - Johnny Dyani, drums - Erik Dahlbäck), the jazz here is loosely structured, with an intrinsic concern for dynamic interactions producing a dense and joyous feel. There's plenty of rhythmic and melodic tension that builds on these improvisations—with the release portion of their process coming in either measured or careful steps, as on "King's Way," or in more sudden drops, as with the raucous "Raw Material."

Bassist Kevin Ross and drummer Steve Reid share plenty of the soloing responsibilities with the leader, making for an album of greater hues and contrasts. Ross is wild, unabashed by his superior technique, and unafraid to wail when the urge and pace require it. Reid maneuvers the trio with various rhythmic controls and textures that highlight his abilities as well as those of Wallin and Ross.

The leader, for his part, is a rhythmic and melodic daredevil, speeding thorough several solos with remarkable skill and taste. Perhaps underappreciated in the United States, Per Henrik Wallin is clearly rooted in an American tradition of jazz, a swing and a bop clearly discernable in his stunts. His music is more "out" than "in," and this may put off some listeners, but there is no denying the range of his sound, the latitude of his joy, and the all-out, infectious effort his mates reciprocate.

For a live recording, the fidelity of sound on Raw Material is quite good. None of the instruments are lost in the mix. This is an enjoyable and exciting, and very very healthy experience. Great album.

(By Germein Linares)

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Trio Records – PA-7017

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Japan / Released: 1972

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded November 1971, Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg

Composed By – Karl H. Berger

Artwork [Cover Art], Design – Carolyn Clarck

Photography By – Horace, Ica Vilander, Tai M. Lüdicke

A1 - Vibes First ......................................................................... 5:50

A2 - We Are You (I) .................................................................. 5:16

Lyrics By – G. Malerba, Karl H. Berger

A3 - Marimba Dance ................................................................. 2:50

A4 - The Positive ......................................................................9:03

Lyrics By – Sivananda Sarasvati

Easy Suite .................................... 18:08

B1- When I Sing ..................................................................... 9:10

Lyrics By – Tagore

B2– Easy .................................................................................. 6:20

B3- We Are You (II) .................................................................. 2:38

Lyrics By – G. Malerba, Karl H. Berger

Karl Berger – vibraphone, piano, marimba

Peter Kowald – bass

Allen Blairman – drums, percussion

Ingrid Berger – vocals, percussion

“The thing that struck me as unusual about Karl Berger when I first heard him playing at the Mercer Arts Center in the 1970s was how much at home he sounded with some of the best young players in the New York jazz scene. To my ears then, most European jazz musicians were derivative at best, and often out of touch with the leading American improvisers. But this guy from Germany played as if he'd grown up in New York. How could that be?

Karl Berger / Don Cherry: The Creative Music Studio in Woodstock

Strongly influenced by Monk and Ornette, Karl Berger created a sound of his own, at once airy and precise, harmonically advanced yet anchored in a destinctive hard swing. He counterbalanced the inherently rich overtone range of the vibraphone by removing (accidentally at first) the vibrato mechanism. Building on a solid bebop base but ranging far afield melodically and harmonically, Berger's music sounded “free” but was set in an unfailingly rhythmic framework. Tempos might shift dramatically within the same composition, but they were always there. This meant that listeners coul lose themselves in the harmonic nuances and still feel grounded by the strong pulse of his playing, a pulse that was abetted by like-minded young players, including bassists Dave Holland, David Izenzon, and Henry Grimes and drummers Barry Altschul, Allen Blairman, and Ed Blackwell. A unique musical atmosphere characterized by lush harmonies, ethereal overtones, and precise rythmic propulsions continues to mark Karl Berger's music today. One the vibes especially, Karl floats like a butterfly, stings like bebop. He has the magical quality of being penetrating and clear at the same time tures are a constant suprise...

From Thelonious Monk, Karl learned the value of “using dynamics and grace notes - grace notes are very important on piano and vibes.” And so in the midts of a swinging solo, or in a softly voiced duet, one note from the vibes will suddenly ring out alone like a brass gong in a silent meditation hall.

We shouldn't forget the compositions themselves, many of which for all their modernity already have the feel of old favorites, the kinds of melodies you might hum while leaving the theater - if you could just remember all their subtleties. This music is timeless in the best sense, and, in Duke Ellington's elegant phrase, “beyond category.” That is its blessing and its potential liability for the composer. The danger of playing music that is free of categorization, or what Karl calls “exercise pieces for a world beyond categories, based on rythmic and melodic parameters that you can find in almost any kind of music,” is that the musician may fail to end up in any easily marketed pigeonhole, But the sales department's loss is our gain. Because if we can never quite get used to Karl Berger's music, we can never get tired of listening to it either.”

By Peter Occhiogrosse, Village Voice

Read this:

Karl Berger and Ingrid Berger: Interviews

https://tedpanken.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/karl-berger-and-ingrid-berger-interviews/

If you find it, buy this album!

Hat Hut Records – hat ART 2004 – side A / side B

Label: Hat Hut Records – hat ART 2004

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP / Country: Switzerland / Released: 1984

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Jazz Festival Willisau, Switzerland, on August 28, 1983.

Producer – Pia & Werner X. Uehlinger

Liner Notes – Art Lange

Recorded By – Peter Pfister

Sealed 1984 2LP Original Housed In A Die Cut Box

A - Some Other Autumn ......................................................... 17:12

Written-By – Tony Coe

B1 - Nutty ...................................................................................9:42

Written-By – Thelonious Monk

B2- A Time There Was ............................................................12:43

Written-By – Robert Cornford

C1- Bub Or Run .........................................................................8:10

Written-By – Tony Coe, Tony Oxley

C2- Body And Soul ..................................................................10:16

Written-By – John W. Green

D - Re: Person I Knew ............................................................ 14:20

Written-By – Bill Evans

TONY COE – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet

CHRIS LAURENCE – double bass

TONY OXLEY – drums, percussion

Hat Hut Records – hat ART 2004 – side C / side D

Tony Coe

Chris Laurence

Tony Oxley

Tony Coe's 1983 Willisau Jazz Festival appearance with bassist Chris Laurence and drummer Tony Oxley is nothing less than a shattering performance -- every expectation or impression of the versatile Coe is laid to waste in this set of focused, innovative, time- and genre-blurring jazz tunes. Whether self-composed, such as "Some Other Autumn" or "Bub and Run," or classics such as Bill Evans'"Re: Person I Knew," John Green's "Body & Soul," or Thelonious Monk's "Nutty," Coe applies the same concentration to getting all he can from the trio format. And, as Art Lange suggests that Coe's band owes a bit to the Sonny Rollins-led trios of the late '50s, there is also a debt to the Steve Lacy trios of the late '70s and 1980, as well as Albert Ayler's earliest trio in 1959. Coe's phraseology as a saxophonist is original: He clearly loves Coleman Hawkins, Rollins, and Coltrane, but his sense of tone and embouchure is his own. Choosing Oxley as a drummer in this setting was wise: in stark contrast to the usual place of the drummer in a piano-less trio, Oxley is a bit of a minimalist, acting as a dancer on the stage, playing just enough, often enough to gather from his rhythms the place of silence within them. Laurence, on the other hand, given his background in classical music as well as jazz, is a maximalist: He and Coe go toe to toe on any number of compositions here, warring for dominant chromatics in "Nutty" and "Some Other Autumn." They slip over one another, playing asymmetrical lines at acute intervals in "Body and Soul," and weave a Moebius strip of gorgeous single line dynamics in "Re: Person I Knew." The final result, when Oxley comes at last crashing through the duo, sounding as if the wood and metal of his kit were splintering apart, is one of profound musicality and sonic empathy. These performances are offered with emotion to spare and a technical excellence only a music professor could critique with any acuity. Nutty is a joyous ride through the musical heart of Tony Coe.

Review By Thom Jurek

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Composers Collective – 721

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: US / Released: 1974

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded at Stereo Sound Studio, NYC, 1974 / All compositions 1969.

Engineer – Jerry Newman

Composed By – John Fischer

Whitecage credited as playing chanter on "Poum!"

A1 - Sinfonia ............................................................................. 6:46

A2 - Apollo's Ragtime Journey ................................................. 9:06

A3 - t-e-s-t................................................................................. 2:02

B1 - Moon Walk ........................................................................ 4:13

B2 - Poum!................................................................................ 5:55

B3 - Earthlings......................................................................... 10:48

John Fischer (lider) – piano, voice

Mark Whitecage – tenor sax, alto sax, flute

Perry Robinson – clarinet

Mario Pavone – bass

Laurence Cook – drums, percussion

This album was released 1974 on the label Composers Collective (catalog number 721)

John Fischer (born 1930 in Antwerp, Brussels) is a pianist, composer and visual artist. He is also a pioneer in the field of computer art. In the 1970s, during the loft jazz era in New York City, Fischer ran a performance loft and gallery known as Environ. He is leader of the group INTERface and he performed with among others: Perry Robinson, Mark Whitecage, Arthur Blythe, Rick Kilburn and Lester Bowie...

John Fischer / Perry Robinson / Mark Whitecage

To be sure, the genre would never again be so closely implicated with social upheaval: between the civil rights movement, black nationalism, the black arts movement, protests against the Vietnam war, and the alternately revelatory and sinister sides of the “hippie dream,” free jazz’s supposed halcyon days reflected back onto the listener the turbulent, uncertain times they were living. For some, the deaths of two of the music’s pioneers, John Coltrane (in July 1967, of liver cancer) and Albert Ayler (in November 1970, a suspected suicide) gave pause to the music’s most elemental, fiery stage.

Certainly, support for the music dried up in the USA during this period, and many of the artists moved to Europe, often to France, where their music found greater support and acceptance (and in the BYG/Actuel label, an imprint that would help them realise their musical visions, at least for a short period of time).

But to say the music was over, and that the ‘70s was a largely fallow period for the music, now seems seriously misguided. Looking at the relative explosion of private press and artist label free jazz albums from across the ‘70s, coupled with the NYC loft jazz movement, the music was as strong as ever – still questing and still exploring. As both major and independent labels turned their backs on the music, the artists turned toward self-actualisation and DIY practices to get their music documented and out there. Of course, there were precursors for this – perhaps the most significant being Sun Ra and his Saturn label, where he released bucketloads of beguiling, sublime, fantastical Afrofuturist documents from his Arkestra.

If the loft jazz scene was contained in NYC, private press records were turning up from all over America – there are representatives in this list from Missouri, Ohio, Michigan and beyond. But somehow, loft jazz – a scene in NYC where performances of free jazz took place mostly in artist-run loft spaces – parallels the imperatives of the private press world, and you’ll find that a number of the albums detailed in that list are loft classics...

"The Jazz Composers Collective is a virtual study of the positive effects that the DIY (do it yourself) ethic can bring about. They are, in an unassuming way, producing some of the most vital improvised and composed music coming out of New York today. Playing on each other's projects, helping to organize concerts, pooling efforts to produce the smart, informative newsletter that detail their activities - everyone helps out for the massed good of the members and audience."

Born in Belgium, artist, pianist and composer John Fischer, early seventies, lives in New York and here we find the beginning of his early works. Sometime later (very significant and important period) formed "INTERface" in company, which is achieved in cooperation with loft-jazz musicians...

"Poum!" is a series of compositions (variations, also appear on the albums INTERface), in which, how J.F. himself says, exploring sound using voice and body, and therefore "Composers Collective" is not a collective improvisation, then work is strictly composer's ideas and, as such, conducted according to the instructions, but in no way confining a certain freedom of expression themselves musicians...

"Sinfonia", adorns a spirited voice performance developed from the beginning, that was the axis to explosive free jazz, will continue to rush from spiritual intro to featuring beautiful piano a profound by turn, to the free part to move around bustling in "Apollo's Ragtime Journey", while short "t-e-s-t " goes to the abrupt expansion also gives off a strong impact.

"Moon Walk" is moist and free improvisation which leads us with lazy piano in the puzzle night, and slowly come to the absurd "Poum!", she featuring the voice performance filled with grotesque repeated without pronounced pause context. And finally, "Earthlings" closes the album, each player starts somewhere humorous theme (do you feel perhaps jazz roots), as moving to a very high track of tension that comes through is somewhere fun atmosphere.

Truly an amazing rare album, essential. Highly recommended.

Parts of the text taken from:

"20 essential records from the 70s underground"

(written by JON DALE)

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Black Lion Records – 2460-207

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1973

Style: Contemporary, Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded in Studios Black Lion Records, 1973, London, Alan Bates Productions

Matrix / Runout (SIDE ONE): 2660207 A1

Matrix / Runout (SIDE TWO): 2660207 B2

Sound Advice By – Miki Dandy

Producer By – Bob Auger, Ray Russell

Recorded By – Bob Auger

Technician [Master Tape Transfer] – Ray Russell

A1 - Stained Angel Morning .................................................................... 1:11

A2 - Spinetree ......................................................................................... 6:08

A3 - Sweet Cauldron ............................................................................... 7:19

A4/A5 - All Through Over You - Nearer .................................................. 6:24

B1 - These That I Am ..............................................................................7:08

B2 - To See Through The Sky ................................................................9:27

B3/B4 - There The Dance Is - Children Of The Hollow Dawn ................ 3:14

Performers:

Ray Russell – acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar

Gary Windo – flute, saxophone, tenor saxophone

Harry Beckett – trumpet, flugelhorn

Daryl Runswick – bass

Alan Rushton – drums, percussion

Great work from the key years of British guitarist Ray Russell, the style here is quite free at times – Russell's guitar working in a quintet with Harry Beckett on trumpet and flugelhorn, Gary Windo on tenor and flute, Daryl Runswick on bass, and Alan Rushton on drums. Guitarist / composer Ray Russell was a dominant figure on the British Jazz scene in the late 1960s / early 1970s, making numerous seminal recordings as sideman and leader in a wide variety of styles ranging from Jazz-Rock Fusion, modern Jazz and even avant-garde Free Jazz.

Ray Russell is a composer whose wild explorations and sonic extensions of the electrified guitar set him aside from the famed British guitar heroes of the late '60s and '70s. Ray's rhythm and blues roots with The John Barry Seven, Georgie Fame, and the Graham Bond Organisation were set aside by the urgent call of the free jazz movement, and a succession of classic recordings (Turn Circle, Dragon Hill, Rites & Rituals, Live at the ICA, The Running Man) gave rise to his most challenging and ultimately rewarding suite of spectral sounds, the magnificent "Secret Asylum". All stretching out with energy that's similar to some of the freest moments in the Paris scene a few years before, inflected with some sharper, sometimes louder, edges from Russell's guitar – which is quite dark and fuzzy at points. Titles include "Stained Angel Morning", "There The Dance Is", "These That I Am", "All Through Over You", "Spinetree", and "Sweet Cauldron". As always, percussionist Alan Rushton batters beyond belief alongside the darting double bass of Daryl Runswick, with Harry Beckett playing inimitable figurines from his flugelhorn. The quintet is finalized by tenor titan Gary Windo who gives the last word in whirlwind intensity. Throughout the journey, "Secret Asylum" presents sonic caresses and searing assaults from all its featured participants, and its success has yet to be equalled...

"Secret Asylum" album shows him at the extreme edge of his work in the field of Free Jazz and is a wonderful example of the genre, similar to the work done earlier by John McLaughlin with John Surman on “Where Fortune Smiles”. Accompanied by a splendid group of musicians, Russell presents a series of his compositions, which vary from contemplative pieces to group improvisation mayhem, all performed splendidly. Beckett is more prominent on the quieter pieces and Windo leads the massive “wall of sound” sections, with his incredible virtuosity...

The album achieved little attention at the time of its release, but now 42 years after it was recorded, it can be really appreciated in full and in the proper historic perspective. Definitely worth checking out!

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Philips – SBL 7922, 844 253 BY

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1970

Style: Free Jazz, Avant-Garde, Jazz-Rock

Recorded at PHILIPS studio, 1969, England.

Design [Sleeve] – Phil Duffy

Engineer – Roger T. Wake

Liner Notes – Richard Williams

Producer – Wendy Benka

A - Dream Journey ........................................................................................ 21:59

(composed as the score to Ballet Rambert's "Blind Sight")

baritone saxophone – John Warren

flute – Jim Gregory

performer [acetate paper] – Bob Downes

tenor saxophone – Clive Stevens

trombone – Chris Pine

trumpet – Butch Hudson, Henry Lowther, Nigel Carter

timpani, vibraphone, tam-tam [large], finger cymbals – Derek Hogg

tam-tam – Dennis Smith

B1 - Birth Of A Forest .....................................................................................5:25

B2 - Integration ..............................................................................................0:23

B3 - Contact ...................................................................................................0:45

B4 - Ghosts In Space .....................................................................................8:14

B5 - Desert Haze ...........................................................................................4:55

B6 - Electric City .............................................................................................6:28

Bob Downes– alto sax, flute [alto, bamboo], concert flute, tenor sax,

saxophone [mouthpieces], bells [Chinese]

Chris Spedding– guitar

Harry Miller– bass, bass buitar

Dennis Smith– drums, percussion

John Stevens– drums, percussion

All the music was composed and arranged by Bob Downes.

Bob Downes and Ray Russell

Open Music was Bob Downes' debut album, recorded for the Philips label in 1969 (released 1970) and his impact on the UK scene was such that he was voted top place in the flute category of the Melody Maker jazz poll's British musician section for three consecutive years from 1972. This rare vinyl copies have attracted high sums in second-hand markets. Although Downes is best known for his flute playing, he is a genuine multi-instrumentalist, playing no fewer than seven instruments on this album, including the less conventional, acetate paper.

The recording's centerpiece is "Dream Journey." The piece — which received its premiere by Ballet Rambert on November 27, 1969 in London—runs just over twenty minutes. Divided into two parts, the first eleven minutes of the track are devoted to flute and percussion, with special emphasis on the sporadic, dramatic interspersions of timpani. The whole piece is very cinematic and reflects music of a more classical nature, but the second half is considerably more jazz informed. The ensemble sax sections are dynamically engaging, underpinned by acoustic bass and drums building to repeated crescendos with Downes providing an exciting flute solo.

The next five tracks are either solo flute, flute and drums, or flute, drums, and bass. These largely improvised tracks are predominantly quiet, ruminative pieces dominated by Downes' intricate flute. However, "Ghosts in Space" is more structured with a strangely hypnotic head defined by flute, arco bass, and drums, while the middle collective improvisation section is enlivened by Downes screaming in the noisier parts. The final track, "Electric City" which was to give its name to a succeeding album, recorded by Downes for Vertigo (1970), is effectively a jazz-rock piece. Again, Downes inserts some scat singing—or more accurately, shouting—all against a backdrop of ostinato bass guitar, Chris Spedding's unmistakable guitar work, and wild multi-tracked saxophones, all conjuring up an exciting mêlée of sound. This album surely explains Downes high-ranking in the Melody Maker polls. Open Music is an unusual and innovative collection of flute mastery.

Very rare LP UK pressing ORIGINAL PHILIPS / Stereo / SBL 7922 / 1970

Matrix - Side 1: 844253 1Y/3 420 / Side 2: 844253 2Y/3 420

Bob Downes was a well-known "studio rat" or a "session man" that played on many 60's records, from MANFRED MANN to ANDWELLA'S DREAM (and later on EGG); and his fantastic flute was second to JETHRO TULL's Ian Anderson only. By the turn of the decade, he had decided to try his own luck and 1970 was a particularly fruitful year for him: 2 full solo album and one collaboration. Released on the legendary Vertigo swirl label, Electric City was a strange album between avant-garde jazz and hard rock. The album failed to sell and by the time Bob Downes was ready to record his second album, Phillips had demoted him to their "normal" label (only GRACIOUS suffered the same treatment). Actually "Open Music" came out as his more successful release and has been a collector item for years, now.

The same year, Bob Downes also released a wild album called "Deep Down Heavy" (and its spectacular artwork) with poet Robert Cockburn reading out his text, making another unusual record.

None of the three albums sold enough for Downes to keep trying out his solo stint. Comes then a gap where I guess he returned to studio sessions for the next couple of years, most likely appearing on avant-garde jazz albums. This in turn led him to be noticed by some Modern Artistic Dance companies and in 72, he was commissioned for two "dance" project. Forming his own trio OPEN MUSIC, named after his more successful album, "Diversion" proved an interesting release where jazz-rock alternated with free form music, while the catastrophic "Episodes At 4AM" (74), which was a Welsh project, filled with obtuse free-form music. The following year saw Downes release "Hell's Angels", then later "Dawn Dreams", "South American Journey" and "Inside Stonehenge", before taking a long break.

Bob Downes moved to the continent in the late 80's and is now currently based in Germany, and continues to perform as a solo artiste, playing during the execution of paintings and art exhibitions running flute workshops and releasing the odd album now and then, such as 93's "Dreams of Nature".

_written by Hugues Chantraine

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Vertigo ‎– 6360 039

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1971

Style: Fusion, Free Jazz, Jazz-Rock

Produced for Ronnie Scott Directions Ltd.

Recorded on the 14th and 15th of December 1970, London.

Design [Cover Design] – B.E. Ltd.

Engineer – Roger Wake

Producer – Pete King

Original VERTIGO, UK first pressing.

Matrix / Runout (stamped): Side 1: 6360 039 1 Y // 1 420 1 1 1 04

Matrix / Runout (stamped): Side 2: 6360 039 2 Y // 1 420 1 1 4 04

A1 - Elements I & II ................................................................ 2:12

A2 - Changing Times .............................................................. 4:44

A3 - Bedrock Deadlock ........................................................... 6:52

A4 - Spirit Level ...................................................................... 9:20

B1 - Torso ............................................................................... 6:12

B2 - Snakehip's Dream ......................................................... 15:16

Line-up / Musicians

- Ian Carr / trumpet, flugelhorn

- Karl Jenkins / oboe, Baritone Saxophone, E-piano, piano

- Brian Smith / Tenor Saxophone, Soprano saxophone, flute

- Chris Spedding / guitar

- Jeff Clyne / bass, contrabass

- John Marshall / drums, percussion

Guest musicians:

- Kenny Wheeler / trumpet, flugelhorn

- Harry Beckett / trumpet, flugelhorn

- Tony Roberts / Tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

- Ron Matthewson / bass

- Chris Karan / percussion

- Keith Winter / synthesizer

Solar Plexus is the third Nucleus album (now titled Ian Carr with Nucleus) and it is clear that a shift has occurred with Carr taking over songwriting duties from Karl Jenkins. The sound therefore is quite different, heavier predisposition to the brassier elements of jazz as well as a hint of experimental tones as the synth heavy "Elements I and II" display and reprised through the course of this recording.

Karl Jenkins was the main composer on NUCLEUS' first two albums, but "Solar Plexus" is 100% Ian Carr. I'll let Ian describe this album for you."I wrote "Solar Plexus" last year with the help of an "Arts Council" grant. It is based on two short themes which are stated at the beginning ("Elements I & II"). The first theme is angular and has a slow crab-like movement : the second theme is direct, simple and diatonic "Changing Times" and "Spirit Level" explore the first theme, and "Bedrock Deadlock" and "Torso" explore the second one. "Snakeships' Dream" tries to fuse both themes".

The big difference for me on this one compared to their first two albums is the bigger horn section. It's the same lineup here but there are 6 guests, 3 of which play brass.

"Elements I & II" is the just over 2 minute opening track. I'm thinking UNIVERS ZERO the first time I heard this dark and haunting soundscape. Synths and bowed bass help in that department. "Changing Times" opens like the sun bursting out from behind the dark clouds. Lots of horns in this very enjoyable track. This is simply a "feel good" song for me. Guitar with bass takes over late to finish the song. "Bedrock Deadlock" is very solemn with aboe and double bass for the first 2 minutes. Guitar, drums and percussion then take over. Sax after 3 1/2 minutes followed by trumpet. So much going on here. This is great ! "Spirit Level" sounds so amazing to start with those dark angular sounds. It then kicks in with bass, horns etc. The flugelhorn throughout is fantastic. Marshall really shines here as well. Ian had this to say about John's drumming."It's like an essay on how to play drums for this kind of music. He's got incredible strength, he's very powerful, yet he has equally incredible sensitivity". Some excellent sax in this song as well.

"Torso" is uptempo with guitar, horns, drums and bass. An outstanding sounding track. Sax solo before 2 minutes. A collage of sounds 4 1/2 minutes in then Marshall starts to solo. "Snakehips' Dream" is the over 15 minute closer. I like this one a lot. It's relaxing with electric piano and other sounds that come and go tastefully. Guitar comes in. I could listen to this all day long. Sax after 4 1/2 minutes. This song has the same main melody throughout.

I like this better than their debut but "We'll Talk About It Later" remains my favourite probably because it sounds a lot like Miles Davis at times. Interesting though that the first three albums really are quite different from one another. I'd like to dedicate this to the memory of Ian Carr who died six years ago. A great loss. I mentioned somewhere else about being surprised to see Ian had guested on one of the NO-MAN albums a few years ago, and at the time I thought "How did they manage to get Ian Carr to play on here". A true legend.

Note:

Ian Henry Randall Carr

Scottish jazz trumpeter, band leader, writer, and composer.

Born: 21 April 1933 in Dumfries, Scotland.

Died: 25 February 2009 in London, England, UK (aged 75).

He was perhaps best known for his group Nucleus which was successful throughout the 1970s, but also his work as one of the two leading members of the eponymous The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet during the 1960s, has in more recent times been much sought after by jazz music collectors for it's unique characteristics.

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Ogun – OG 410

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: UK / Released: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at the Seven Dials, Shelton Street, London WC2 on 18 November 1976.

Artwork By [Front Cover Painting] – John Christopherson

Engineer – Keith Beal

Liner Notes – Elton Dean

Mixed By, Edited By – Elton Dean, Keith Beal

Photography – Yuka

Producer – Elton Dean, Keith Beal

Recorded By – Ron Barron

A - Naima .................................................................................. 20:30

(Composed By – Coltrane)

B1- Dede Bup Bup ....................................................................... 8:50

(Composed By – Dean)

B2- Nancy (With The Laughing Face) ......................................... 3:12

(Composed By – Van-Heusen, Silvers)

B3– a) Easy Living ....................................................................... 8:40

(Composed By – Robin, Rainger)

b) Overdoing It

(Composed By – Lawrence, Moholo)

c) Not Too Much

(Composed By – Dean, Tippett)

Elton Dean – saxophone [saxello]

Keith Tippett – piano

Chris Lawrence – bass

Louis Moholo – drums, percussion

Elton Dean, period 1975/1978 was very tumultuous and resulted in a series of good performances and albums for the label Ogun. This is one of them.

Elton Dean was a totally unique musician : at times lyrical and moving, at others explosive and unsettling, his approach of saxophone playing was totally his own, besides the fact that he favoured a little-used member of the sax family : the saxello, an hybrid between alto and soprano, with an instantly recognizable sound. Over the years, Dean lent his immense talents to bands like Soft Machine, Soft Heap, In Cahoots and L'Equip'Out, as well as many jazz ensembles featuring Keith Tippett, Hugh Hopper, Pip Pyle, Mark Hewins and John Etheridge.

Elton Dean / Louis Moholo

In January 1975, Elton Dean launched his most ambitious project to date, the large ensemble Ninesense, which included many of the British jazz scene's most talented musicians, including Keith Tippett, Mark Charig, Nick Evans, Harry Miller and Louis Moholo. He also formed his own quartet, EDQ, with Tippett, Moholo and bassist Chris Laurence, recording They All Be On This Old Road (1977) for Ogun Records; around the same time he also formed El Skid with fellow saxophone player Alan Skidmore. In the autumn of 1975, he also joined forces with Tippett, Jim Richardson (bass) and Pip Pyle (drums) as the Weightwatchers, whose brief existence culminated in September 1976 with an epic tour of the Netherlands, The following month, Dean and Tippett formed yet another quartet, this time with Hugh Hopper and Joe Gallivan (drums and synthesizer), which recorded the album Cruel But Fair for Compendium.

1977 was another busy year, with more Ninesense activities, a tour of France and Germany with Tippett/Hopper/Gallivan, an album and European tour with Carla Bley's band (alongside Hugh Hopper and Gary Windo), and a trio album with Gallivan and Kenny Wheeler, The Cheque Is In The Mail. In 1978, he formed Soft Heap with Pip Pyle, Hugh Hopper and Alan Gowen. An inaugural French tour with Dave Sheen replacing Pyle resulted in the Soft Head album Rogue Element, and later that year the band went in the studio to record its eponymous debut, with Pyle back on the drum stool. Around the same time El Skid finally made its recording debut...

HUGH HOPPER / ELTON DEAN / ALAN GOWEN / DAVE SHEEN – Rogue Element (LP-1978)

Label: Ogun – OG 527

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Experimental

Recorded May 1978 at Chez Jacky "A L'Ouest de la Grosne" Bresse sur Grosne, on the Van Acker Mobile.

Design [Sleeve] – Liz Walton

Engineer – Jean-Pierre Weiller, Pierre Richard

Mixed By, Edited By – Keith Beal

Photography By [Front Cover] – David Graham

Photography By [Back Cover] – Jean-Pierre Duplan

Producer – Ron Barron

Matrix / Runout (Side 1): OG 527 A C 2929

Matrix / Runout (Side 2): OG 527 B C 2929

A1 -Seven For Lee.....................................................................8:40

(Written-By – Dean)

A2 -Seven Drones...................................................................... 4:20

(Written-By – Hopper)

A3 -Remain So........................................................................... 5:05

(Written-By – Gowen)

B1 - C.R.R.C. .............................................................................14:01

(Written-By – Gowen)

B2 - One Three Nine ...................................................................6:17

(Written-By – Dean)

Hugh Hopper– bass guitar

Elton Dean– alto saxophone, saxello

Alan Gowen– electric piano, synthesizer

Dave Sheen– drums, percussion

_1 This band was supposed to call themselves Soft Heap and include drummer Pip Pyle, but though a tour was booked, he found himself otherwise engaged, and Dave Sheen was hired to accompany fellow Canterbury scenesters Alan Gowen, Hugh Hopper, and Elton Dean on a tour of Europe. Calling themselves Soft Head, they hoped to draw in those frustrated fans of Soft Machine and Gilgamesh. And perhaps they did on this night in France in 1978. But make no mistake, even though Hopper and Dean are present here, this is no pure fusion date with a bunch of knotty harmonics and angular changes riffing around all over the place. This is an electric jazz date, period. Largely this is due to Gowen's compositions and arrangements that walk a tense line between strictly composed elements and improvisation, and the fire of the band themselves, who are -- on this night anyway -- inspired beyond belief. Thank God somebody recorded it. Even at the risk of overstatement, Elton Dean has never played like this on a record. His legato phrasing is lightning-quick and moves through harmonic figures against Gowen's keyboards like a knife cutting through butter. Counterpoint battles are pitched and waged in these tracks, coming down to riding the steady yet flailing rhythm section of Hopper's modally expansive bassing and the avant-swing of Sheen's drumming. While everyone but Sheen contributes originals to the mix here, the arrangement signature is all Gowen, even on Dean classics such as "Seven for Lee", or Hopper's signature "Seven Drones." The spaces for movement between members are held tightly by Gowen, who underlies everything with a chromaticism that is inclusive yet modally and dynamically driven. This is killer stuff that makes one long for the good old days of electric jazz that was still jazz.

_ (Review by Thom Jurek)

Hugh Hopper / Alan Gowen

_ 2 This is a live album recorded in a club in France in 1978. Alan Gowen, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean and Dave Sheen make up this band.The first three are all gone now sadly. It's hard to believe when looking at the pictures of Alan Gowen in the liner notes that just three years from this recording he died of cancer while still in his thirties. In the liner notes it describes Alan as "a jazzer by nature, but his writing was dominated by elaborate and expansive themes. His playing had litheness and lightness which blurred what was scored and what was improvised. Running parallel jaunts with Elton's bitter-sweet saxello, Alan could wail in a way that stretched tonality to it's limit".

"Seven For Lee" opens with bass as light drums join in then keys. Sax before a minute. Great sound here. A calm arrives around 6 1/2 minutes then it builds with bass and drums. Sax before 8 minutes then keys. "Seven Drones" is a Hopper composition. Drums and dissonant keys lead the way as sax comes and goes. Bass before 1 1/2 minutes as the sax starts to play over top. The sax and keys become dissonant. Crazy stuff. It figures that this is a Hopper tune. "Remain So" picks up quickly with piano but the tempo changes often on this one. Bass takes over before 3 minutes. Sax is back late.

"C.R.R.C" is the long thing and takes whole 14 minutes. I like the sound here as keys and sax lead while the bass and drums are also prominant. The tempo picks up after 5 1/2 minutes. It calms right down a minute later with piano, bass and drums. "One Three Nine" is a jazzy little number with sax and keys leading. A bass solo after 5 1/2 minutes.

A very important document really of these talented men playing live. The electric piano, sax, bass and drums are played as only these men could play them.

_ (Review by Mellotron Storm)

Enjoy!

If you find them, buy these albums!

Label: World Artists – LP WA 1004

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Canada / Released: 1979

Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz

Recorded live at the BIM-house, October 13, 1979, Amsterdam, Holland.

Produced by – Walter Zuber Armstrong Production

Photography by – Tom Strappers

Cover Design – Sheila Miller

Engineer – Sjaak Willemse

Composed By – Walter Zuber Armstrong

A- Alter Ego............................................................................. 25:53

B- Alter Ego............................................................................. 23:37

Walter Zuber Armstrong– contrabass, bass clarinet

Steve Lacy– soprano saxophone

Recorded in 1979 in Holland, this intriguing duet album between multi-reedist Walter Zuber Armstrong and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy is endearing and charming for its radical approach to the intimacy of what focused instrumentalists can attain when approaching the same goal from different directions and learning from the other's process on the way. There are two takes of the title track, clocking in with an average time of 24 minutes.

Here Armstrong plays bass clarinet to Lacy's soprano. What becomes startling immediately is how both men look to establish from their corners melodic invention and a lyrical sensibility for their tonal explorations. Tonal journeying is a big part of what these two long compositions are all about, meeting in the middle of extremes and dovetailing one another with a timbral elegance that offers the listener the gentler side of each instrument without either player backing off of his exploratory nature. There is little drama that plays out here in an hour, but there doesn't need to be, because what is happening here is of the aural reception variety, deep listening music made by two masters of both hearing and speaking. What is left unsaid here is almost as important as what is, and the poetry of that knowing, that will to silence and economy, is what shapes this recording and gives it its considerable depth and dimension.

_ Review by Thom Jurek

Walter Zuber Armstrong / Steve Lacy - Call Notes, recorded also in the Bimhuis, on October 13, 1979, Amsterdam, Holland, is a continuation of the first album.

WALTER ZUBER ARMSTRONG / STEVE LACY – Call Notes (LP-1980)

Label: World Artists – WA 1005

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: US / Released: 1980

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at the BIM-house, October 13, 1979, Amsterdam, Holland.

Produced by – Sheila Miller, Walter Zuber Armstrong

Photography by – Tom Strappers

Cover Design – Sheila Miller

Engineer – Sjaak Willemse

Composed By – Walter Zuber Armstrong

Call Notes

A1 - Cut 1 ................................................................................... 12:18

A2 - Cut 2 ..................................................................................... 3:14

Walter Zuber Armstrong – flute, Bolivian wooden flute

Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone

Lost Lagoon

B1 - Cut 1 ................................................................................... 13:52

B2 - Cut 2 ..................................................................................... 1:26

Walter Zuber Armstrong – bass clarinet, soprano flute

A West Coast reed player with a haunting tone and an armload of self-published albums, Walter Zuber Armstrong was highly influenced by free jazz legends Eric Dolphy and Anthony Braxton. Like them, he was drawn to the idea of multi-instrumental textural dexterity. Zuber Armstrong chose the bass clarinet and flute to cover opposite extremes, a pair of instruments Eric Dolphy had used as an exotic sideline to his alto sax.

Then Zuber Armstrong pretty much set aside the entire jazz content of Dolphy's music to concentrate on more spaced-out ideas. From Braxton he adopted the idea of solo reed performances, although unlike his model he was not particularly into shrieking displays of intensity. Zuber Armstrong was based out of the sleepy border town of Bellingham, WA, for most of his career, meaning that one of his main performing possibilities was nearby Vancouver, British Columbia. The bustling jazz scene in this city led to collaborations with Canadian performers such as pianist Paul Plimley and drummer Greg Simpson. Zuber Armstrong cannot be said to have toured excessively during his career, yet he did leave behind collaborations with multi-instrumentalist Milo Fine taped in Minnesota as well as duos with Steve Lacy recorded in Amsterdam. The latter session is considered by many free jazz fans to be Zuber Armstrong's finest recordings.

Despite snippy comments made by some players and critics about his technique, Zuber Armstrong was a classically trained musician who studied at the New York College of Music, the Julliard School, and Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. He largely supported himself by teaching contemporary music at Western University in Bellingham and Fairhaven College in the town of the same name. He performed two of his final concerts in the late '90s at Bellingham events in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month. His recordings with Lacy were done in 1979, and were released on two different albums. In the early '80s, he performed at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, teaming up for part of the show with the reclusive and fussy improviser Milo Fine. The earliest of Zuber Armstrong's releases on his own World Artists label dates from 1973 (Alpha And Omega, WA 1001).

_written by Eugene Chadbourne

If you find them, buy these albums!

Label: India Navigation – IN 1056

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1982

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at India Navigation Company, Nyack, NY., 1982.

Cover Art by – Barney Zeitz

Album Design by – Koji Morioka

Liner photo by – Daryl Bradley

Composed By – Anthony Davis

Produced by – Bob Cummins

A- Variations In Dream-Time ...................................................... 24:30

B- Enemy Of Light ....................................................................... 22:01

1 Drones And Clones

2 Enemy Of Light (Romantic Interlude)

3 Fugitive Of Time (Reprieve)

Anthony Davis – piano

J.D. Parran – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute

George Lewis – trombone

Abdul Wadud – cello

Rick Rozie – bass

Pheeroan AkLaff – drums, percussion

Perfection in composition, textural work, timbres, interplay... What more can I say? This is a masterpiece of modern jazz!

Anthony Davis / George Lewis

Though it received far less public notice upon its release, Variations in Dreamtime is in many respects a companion album to Anthony Davis' highly regarded Episteme and, in fact, is just as superb. The two lengthy pieces on this recording encapsulate many of his exciting compositional ideas from the early '80s: highly complex, contrapuntal melodic lines; propulsive rhythms in unusual and often overlapping time signatures, a number of which derived from Balinese music; and inspired improvisation from a first-class ensemble, here including the great trombonist George Lewis and the underappreciated clarinet master J.D. Parran. The compositions percolate, roil, and swing, branching out into unexpected territories but always feeling of a piece. There is a near Romantic sense of melodic exploration and, indeed, several themes that Davis would often return to in the next decade are heard here, especially the heartbreakingly lovely melody which became known as "A Walk in the Valley." This record captures Davis on the enticing cusp between avant-garde jazz and the increasingly "classical" direction his music would take in ensuing years.

Difficult to find, Variations in Dream-Time represents Anthony Davis at the pinnacle of his powers and is very highly recommended.

Review by Brian Olewnick

Reading Davis' liner notes - here for reference's sake - shows just how much thought he's put into what could easily feel like collections of random bits of improvisation. Knowing the underlying structure of the pieces adds a lot to the listening experience.

Notably, the way that Davis plays with rhythm during sections of the first track, casting a constant 5/4 piano motif against parts written in 7/4 and 15/4 to remarkable effect.

A telling piece of the write up for "Variations in Dream-Time": 'I think part of the composer's function is not only to create a roadway for the improvisor, but also to construct roadblocks that force the performer to listen and create.' In keeping with that, the improvised parts of the piece are even less linear than you'd expect from avant-garde jazz and the piece is all the better for it.

There aren't as many roadblocks in "The Enemy of Light," but its themes are so invigorating and complex that its more rigid structure isn't a strike against it.

George Lewis' trombone playing seems to be the focal point far more often than either Davis' piano or J.D. Parran's clarinet, though Davis does a good job of letting all of his players have their moments.

Of course it could just be that Lewis' playing is so forceful that he commands attention in a way that Parran doesn't.

Cello/bass duets are my weakness, one that's far too infrequently exploited to really cause much inflation on the whole but one that Davis milks just enough here to put him even further into my favor.

The end of "The Enemy of Light" is absolutely perfect. The rigid rhythm of the bass meshing with the wild improvisations of every other instrument in the sextet until thing coalesce back into the call and response theme between the clarinet and trombone. It's gloriously foreboding.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Strata-East – SES-19758

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1975

Style: Post Bop, Avant-garde Jazz, Spiritual, Free Jazz

Recorded 3rd July 1973 and 23rd May 1974 at Media Sound, New York.

Arranged By, Composed By, Producer – Milton Marsh

Artwork [Graphics] – Carole Byard

Published By – Milton Marsh Publishing Co.

Matrix / Runout (Side A Etched Runout): SES-19758-A e

Matrix / Runout (Side B Etched Runout): SES-19758-B

A1 - Vonda's Tune (part 1 of "Earth, Home Of The Mortals") ........................ 2:14

A2 - Community Music ................................................................................... 6:43

A3 - Monism ................................................................................................... 8:49

B1 - Metamorphosis .......................................................................................5:57

B2 - Ode to Nzinga ........................................................................................7:18

B3 - Sabotage, 3 preparations .......................................................................9:15

alto saxophone, conductor, voice [spoken text] – Milton Marsh

piano – Cedric Lawson

alto saxophone – Joseph Ferguson, Rene McClean

baritone saxophone – Reynold Scott

tenor saxophone – Bill Cody, David S. Ware

trombone – Charles Stevens, Bill Lowe, Bill Campbell

trumpet – Kamal Abdul-Alim, Sinclair Acey, Bubbles Martin, Frank Williams

tuba – Bill Davis

double bass – Don Pate

drums, percussion – Greg Bandy

One of the harder to find records on Strata East, and a beautiful set of spiritual/free jazz tracks composed and arranged by reed player Milton Marsh.

Recorded in 1973 and 74 and released in limited quantities in 1975. Six song album of free jazz mixed with African rythmns! Personnel include: Rene McClean, Joseph Ferguson, David Ware, Bill Cody, Reynold Scott, Frank Williams, Sinclair Acey, Bubbles Martin, Kamal Abdul-Alim, Bill Campbell, Charles Stevens, Bill Lowe, Bill Davis, Cedric Lawson, Don Tate, Greg Bandy. ULTRA-RARE!!

arranged, composed, producer – Milton Marsh

In 1975, Milton Marsh released his first album "Monism" for the Strata-East label. Marsh, a composer, arranger, saxophonist and flautist, recorded the album in New York City, and the musicians on "Monism" represent some of the finest living in NYC at the time: pianist Cedric Lawson, bassist Don Pate, along with two rising stars at the time, David Ware on saxophone and Greg Bandy on percussion. Ironically, all of these artists would go on to record several volumes of music in their careers except for Marsh, who recorded only one additional album, 1985’s Continuum, after a decade long absence.

Marsh composed and arranged all of the album’s six compositions, each of which featured between nine and 17 players. This sizable headcount explains the album’s ability to soar from quiet, minimal moments to robust, dissonant explosions, depending upon the track.

“Vonda’s Tune”, the album’s opener, begins with a brief solitary and somber horn solo, which later opens up to the more “avant” sounds of “Community Music”. The title track is where Marsh’s compositions reach their most unpredictable and exciting moments, however. “Monism” closes out the A side with a free jazz jamboree, complete with a spoken word delivery of a Sufi poem from Marsh himself. The album’s B side is relegated to more traditional structures, and features some of the most driving piano, drum and saxophone playing. Nice stuff, and one of those that you hardly ever see!

An incredible album from Milton Marsh on Strata East. Essential.

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: Delmark Records – DS-428

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1974

Style: Free Jazz, Avantgarde

Recorded At Delmark Records, December 29, 1971.

Design [Cover And Liner Design] – Turtel Onli

Producer – Robert G. Koester

Recording Supervisor [Supervision] – Anthony Braxton, Joseph Jarman

Note:

Track titles and placements differ on the labels from the sleeve as follows.

A1- Together Alone ............................................................................. 5:39

Composed By – Jos. Jarman

A2- Down Dance 1-Morning (Including Circles) ............................... 16:04

Composed By – Jos. Jarman

B1- CK-7-(GN) 436 ............................................................................. 6:10

Composed By – Anthony Braxton

B2- SBN-A12 66 K ............................................................................14:53

Composed By – Anthony Braxton

Joseph Jarman– soprano saxophone, synthesizer, flute, sopranino saxophone, alto

saxophone, bells, voice

Anthony Braxton– contrabass clarinet, alto saxophone, piano, flute, voice

It's a matter of fact that the late 60s and early 70s was a time of great artistic experimentation and achievement for creative improvised music. Paris, in particular, lured some of the AACM's most important musicians from Chicago (Art Ensemble of Chicago. Anthony Braxton. Leroy Jenkins, Leo Smith, Steve McCall, et. al.). where their music faced largely indifferent reception, to participate in a community that truly appreciated discussion, interaction, innovation, adventure, intellect, and raw creativity. Rather than performing their music for a handful of folks as they had at home, they encountered large enthusiastic audiences genuinely interested and appreciative of their work. The great proliferation of recordings on excellent labels like BYG-Actuel, Freedom, and America offers testimonial to the abundant opportunities to have their music not only heard, but recorded as well. Back in the states only Delmark Records and Nessa Records, dedicated but financially limited at the time, had been interested in their music.

Joseph Jarman, c. 1970, Chicago by Tom Copi (Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images)

The remarkable recording you now possess was a part of the fruit of this fertile period. Recorded in December of 1971, it didn't see release until 1974. an era when interest in this music was quite low. Consequently, it pretty much slipped through the vast cracks that swallow so much music outside the leading movements of the day. Fusion's popularity had long knocked this stuff out of real contention.

Although the purer thrust of issues originally addressed by that AACM as a communal organization had changed through interaction with other musicians —Braxton, for example, was in the midst of working in the landmark group Circle with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul— Together Alone, as author Ronald M. Radano suggests in his excellent book on Braxton New Musical Figurations (University of Chicago Press, 1993), "looked back on performance approaches first developed in the AACM. " Braxton and Joseph Jarman, both with the Art Ensemble and on recordings of others (BYG's catalog is rempant with semi-ad hoc configurations that both Braxton and Jarman had participated in), had laid to rest the conscious insularity that made the AACM's deliberate collectivism so effective at its peak, but this album proves they hadn't surrendered the spirit that guided them in Chicago.

The album opens with three Jarman compositions. The title track finds both Braxton and Jarman on alto saxophone spinning long, languid, serene, and melancholy unison lines; the path eventually forks and Braxton takes on a more rugged and jagged trail while Jarman's remains smooth and flowing. Despite the musical separation, the saxophones remain inextricably linked. One of the AACM approaches Radano surely refers to on this recording is the integration of silence and space. At times, the music goes against the grain of time, and other moments it rejects it altogether. Leaving the music strewn with gaps of silence rather than opting for a total sound density, the AACMers were among the first in jazz to exploit space as a compositional tool.

The opening track flows into "Dawn Dance." Braxton moving to piano and Jarman picking up his flute. Oblique, spacious keyboard punctuations-including some compelling inside-the-piano tinkling—provide a bed for Jarman's outpourings which range from gentle, highly lyrical dreamweaving to almost sharp, stuttered jags. The brief "Morning (Including Circles)" leaps from a soothing peal of hand bells into dense cacophony. Amid myriad layers of sound, the static bells become suddenly abrasive, Braxton and Jarman shouting out of sync, while their shrill horns seem to simulate electronic white noise. It's an exhilarating, early ascent into coarse textural exploration.

Braxton's "Composition 21" ("CK7 [GN]") elaborates the textural layering on a grander scale. Flutes, piano, contrabass clarinet, alto sax. whistles, and abstract, sometimes jarring sounds on electronic tape provide an extremely dense sonic collage, yet once one abides by the superficial level of chaos, it becomes obvious that Braxton's sound sculpture is most certainly ordered and well-conceived. Finally. Braxton's lengthy "Composition 20" ("SBN-A-1 66K") constructs a fine tension between lyrical horn lines (his contrabass clarinet and Jarman's soprano saxophone) and an almost static but changing ring of jingling bells. The bells develop in complexity throughout the composition, providing an increasing tension with the horns. Although the bells suggest no melody, their pattern becomes more and more dense harmonically, while the attack of the horns doesn't fluctuate.

Aside from being the only duet recording there is between these two masters. Together Alone is far more than just a curious meeting. Elaborating on AACM concepts with lessons learned in Paris, its exciting combination of one-on-one collaboration with through-composed material sounds more vibrant and vital than ever, over four decades since it was recorded.

_Review by Peter Margasek

If you find it, buy this album!

Label: BYG Records – BYG 529 112

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold jacket / Country: France / Released: 1969

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded by Stereo Sound Studios, N.Y.C., 1967.

Liner Notes – Philippe Carles

Producer – Bill Dixon

Recorded By – Jerry Newman

Matrix / Runout: BYG 529 112 A

Matrix / Runout: BYG 529 112 B

A1 - Morning Colors .......................................................................................... 16:07

A2 - The Dragon And The Rainbow: Forum With Modernmen .......................... 3:49

B1 - The Rainbow ............................................................................................... 0:32

B2 - Twilight Dance............................................................................................ 7:39

B3 - Meditation: The Sea, The Fire, The Earth................................................. 12:07

Marc Levin : flute, trumpet, woodwind [wind instruments], composed

Jonas Gwanga : trombone

Cecil McBee : bass

Calo Scott : cello

Frank Clayton : drums, percussion

I have not heard this vinyl for a long time but I remember that I loved this fine album (and kept it), it's free jazz, but not as wild as some other recordings, rather a chamber-jazz approach with its exciting and dense moments, but at times very subtle and never lost in screaming.

Players are Marc Levin on wood flutes and some smaller cornet-type brass instrument, South African trombonist Jonas Gwanga, Calo Scott on cello (who is magnificent as always), Cecil McBee on bass and Frank Clayton on drums. Bill Dixon (Levin's teacher) produced the album.

Originally released: Savoy Records ‎– SMG-12190

Levin is a rather obscure figure - he recorded another self produced album in the 1970's (again with Scott and Clayton and the drummer's wife at the time, Jay Clayton), and one for ENJA after he moved to Europe, but I haven't heard of him since.

Both sides of this probing avant-garde LP begin with unaccompanied flute intros that sound almost more like electro-acoustic classical sounds rather than flute. They gradually open up as others join in, and in both cases the results sound remarkably the similar. This I emphasize, of course, in the positiv context, in order to better understand the essence and structure of this unusual work. The added instrumentation (trombone, cello, bass, percussion, and other various brasses) is a combination of low-key and mellow sounds that, perhaps because of the exclusion of reed instruments, maintains a calm demeanor despite the sporadic increases in volume and fervor. Where other sessions of this genre tend to include an alto or tenor player here we have something else. The Dragon Suite sounds more like an instrumental dinner conversation. Levin's varying brasses and Jonas Gwanga's trombone in particular keep these free excursions grounded and their speech-like patterns sound. This is a perfectly enjoyable record, and like the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Tutankhamun session, it tends to wander rather aimlessly at times. With all this must be added a typically fine performance from bassist Cecil McBee and unusual excitement that provides Calo Scott on cello, as well as Frank Clayton's magical percussion.

I think that you should love this beautiful LP.

If you find it, buy this album!

CONFLUENCE – 4 Voyages (LP-1976)

STEVE LACY – Dreams (LP-1975 / Saravah – SH 10058)

JOE McPHEE – Old Eyes (LP-1980)

WILLEM BREUKER KOLLEKTIEF – Driebergen - Zeist (LP-1983)

ANTHONY BRAXTON – For Trio (LP-1978)

ANTHONY BRAXTON – Solo - Live At Moers Festival (LP-1974)

LOL COXHILL – Lid (LP-1978)

PER HENRIK WALLIN / KEVIN ROSS / STEVE REID – Raw Material (LP-1983)

KARL BERGER – We Are You (LP-1972, Japanese press)

COE, OXLEY & Co. – Nutty On Willisau (2LP-1984)

THE COMPOSERS COLLECTIVE – Poum! (LP-1974)

RAY RUSSELL – Secret Asylum (LP-1973)

BOB DOWNES – Open Music (LP-1970)

IAN CARR with NUCLEUS – Solar Plexus (LP-1971)

ELTON DEAN QUARTET – They All Be On This Old Road (LP-1977) + another

WALTER ZUBER ARMSTRONG / STEVE LACY – Duet - Alter Ego (LP-1979) and Call Notes (LP-1980)

ANTHONY DAVIS – Variations In Dream-Time (LP-1982)

MILTON MARSH – Monism (Strata-East / LP-1975)

JOSEPH JARMAN / ANTHONY BRAXTON – Together Alone (LP-1974)

MARC LEVIN AND HIS FREE UNIT – The Dragon Suite (LP-1969)