sal Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 I'm curious about this band. The lineup with Lester Bowie, Eddie Gomez and John Abercrombie sounds fantastic. Anyone care to comment on this group's output? Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 This was a great group. I believe they only put out 2 albums - "New Directions" and "New Directions in Europe". Both highly recommended by me, for sure. AMG just gives the mediocre reviews, but I think they were much more interesting and introspective than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Saw this band live, and as great as the records are/were, live was that much better. A genuine band of eclectics, and it WORKED. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randissimo Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Yeah,, I really enjoyed their creations together.. What an interesting alchemy... Jack D of course is one of my all time favorites... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 DeJohnette has started his own label. From the LA Times yesterday: http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/c...?coll=cl-suncal Drumming up business his own way Starting a label gives Jack DeJohnette another outlet for his musically venturesome ways. By Don Heckman, Special to The Times "RENAISSANCE man" may be an overused term, but it's the first thought that comes to mind while talking with drummer Jack DeJohnette, a musician whose skills and interests stretch easily across the gamut of contemporary music. You may have seen him with Keith Jarrett and Gary Peacock, adding buoyant layers of percussive sound to their inventive cruises across the Great American Songbook. If you've listened to Miles Davis' classic "Bitches Brew," you've heard his drumming actively contributing to a set of performances that changed the face of contemporary jazz. Or you may have been fortunate enough to experience his transformative work with his own groups, Directions, New Directions and Special Edition. The ever-adventurous DeJohnette, 63, embarked on yet another creative journey earlier this year when he launched his own independent record company — named Golden Beams after a composition he wrote for his 1992 album "Earthwalk." Although he is following a path blazed by numerous jazz musicians, DeJohnette is characteristically doing so in his own fashion, with an initial release of three albums that might best be described as genre-resistant. The first was "Music in the Key of Om," a transcendent tapestry of meditative sound using resonating bell tones and a flowing, vocal-like melody produced on an acoustic-sounding synthesizer. It came about, says DeJohnette, because his wife, Lydia, wanted a tape that was grounded in relaxing sounds. "So I went into a meditative stage, went to my studio here at the house and made the CD, using these acoustic resonating bells," says the drummer by phone from his home near Woodstock, N.Y. "I played it for Lydia, she liked it, my family liked it, other people did and so we decided to put it out. Funny thing is it works for me too. When I'm on the road I put it on and fall asleep with it. It just puts me right out." The second release from Golden Beams, "Music From the Hearts of the Masters," takes a very different tack. An intimate set of spontaneous duets by DeJohnette and Gambia's Foday Musa Suso, who plays the lyre-like kora, it combines cruise-control jazz rhythms with hypnotic African melodies to create an irresistible momentum. "There are quite a few African kora players out there," says DeJohnette, "but Foday uses the instrument in a unique way, and he's not afraid to move it into more contemporary areas. We spent four days in the studio knocking grooves around, just drums and kora, and it came out pretty full, since Foday didn't hesitate to use electronic effects to fill things out. Funny thing is some of the reviews refer to him as a 'jazz kora' player — which was a very pleasant surprise to him." The just-released third album, "The Ripple Effect: Hybrids," takes DeJohnette's music into even more intriguing territory. Four of the tracks are enhanced and remixed versions of pieces from "Music From the Hearts of the Masters." Three feature eerie, atmospheric vocals from Brazilian singer Marlui Miranda, with multi-instrumentalist and frequent musical companion John Surman adding woodwind textures. Remixer Ben Surman (John's son and DeJohnette's son-in-law) pulls everything together in colorfully layered musical fashion. "We called the CD 'Hybrid' to reflect the balance of acoustic and electronic elements," says DeJohnette. "I like to think of it as being accessible while also being creative in the way that jazz improvisation is. The loops keep going on while different surprises grab your ear as the atmosphere keeps shifting — almost like cinematography." A creative overview THE sense of musical shifting is equally applicable to DeJohnette's future plans, both with and beyond his new record label. What he describes as his "Art of the Duo" series — which began with the Foday Musa Suso CD — will continue with recorded duets with Don Alias and Bill Frisell, and another "Music in the Key of Om" is already in the works. Asked if that's not an ambitious program for a small label, DeJohnette simply laughs. "Well, it's all my money, and we just try to get the most out of what we put into it," he says. "With the record business being what it is today, the idea of having my own creative control over the music that I put out feels like a pretty good idea." And one that's consistent with DeJohnette's creative overview, an all-embracing perspective that has been a driving force in his career. "I believe that jazz has always been a world music," he says. "But that's what music in general is. I've heard reggae in country music. There's a potpourri of the rich diversity of cultures that are available for musicians, if they take the time to listen to it. "Even given that perspective, though, it's ultimately up to the creativity and the ability of the artist to tell a convincing story. Somebody once said that written music is crystallized sound which slows down so that you have to read it. But the way it was created, the way all music is created, was spontaneously done, in the moment. And that's the place that I hope my music — no matter what style I'm working in — comes from." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 A friend of mine gave me "New Directions in Europe" some time ago. It's a fine album with some excellent improvising (this is the one that turned me on to Eddie Gomez). Still, I feel the band was capable of much more. There's quite a bit of heat for an ECM album, but the spectre of "iciness" really diminishes the band's more dynamic edges. Something tells me that an album of more compact features (ala "Nice Guys") would have served the band better (recording-wise). Still, better than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 I only have "Have You Heard?" but I like it A LOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 great article, I'd like to check out that Suso/DeJohnette LP. I love Jack, one of the things that grabs me about him is the innate funkiness he brings to everything (must be his bass drum playing) and that swinging ahead of the beat, much like Elvin. Its occured to me that theres a lot of Elvin in Jack, but he has totally molded it to his own thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 (edited) Not the line-up wanting to be discussed in the original post in this thread, but I have fond memories of this release... Don't have a copy any more (haven't seen it in years, did I trade it? ), but I'd love to hear it again. With Osby and another favorite of mine - Gary Thomas - I remember it being a pretty solid outing, including the one Ornette tune it included. Kind of a cross between Harmelodics and M-BASE. Edited October 25, 2005 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 Kind of a cross between Harmelodics and M-BASE. ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 Saw this band live, and as great as the records are/were, live was that much better. A genuine band of eclectics, and it WORKED. Fully agreed! Saw the earlier edition too, with Alex Foster, Mike Richmond, and Abercrombie, which had its own special alchemy. Eicher's aesthetics is not "black" enough for this kind of music, it seems ..... Album-wise, I enjoy the Prestige albums the most, Cosmic Chicken is crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest akanalog Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 yeah thats another prestige which should be set free on CD-cosmic chicken. and the "new rags" one on ECM, i think it is called, is good too-but the prestige is better. i agree about eicher not making things "black" enough-though this i think is true on albums by whitees like dave liebman as well. everything could use some dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 Jack D of course is one of my all time favorites... ← Same here. But I've never heard him perform. I should do something about that! When I started a business with my Dad, I didn't have much money (I was in my late 20s, it really sucked). But I'd save it up and every weekend I'd go to the Princeton Record Exchange and buy used ECM cutouts for 1.99-2.99. It's amazing how many of those albums he was on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 Not the line-up wanting to be discussed in the original post in this thread, but I have fond memories of this release... Don't have a copy any more (haven't seen it in years, did I trade it? ), but I'd love to hear it again. With Osby and another favorite of mine - Gary Thomas - I remember it being a pretty solid outing, including the one Ornette tune it included. Kind of a cross between Harmelodics and M-BASE. ← I have this on vinyl if you want it. I thought it was real cool, but then I noticed his drums, particularly the cymbals - sounded different on Impulse than on EMC. And those electric harmonisers on the horns became dated real quick. No problems with the playing, those guys smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 really 7/4? To me on Michael Brecker's Impulse dates Jack's cymbals sound fine. Dry as always, perhaps you may not dig the sound b/c by that time he had switched to the Sabian models he now plays and I think with ECM he may have used Istanbul and Paiste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 really 7/4? To me on Michael Brecker's Impulse dates Jack's cymbals sound fine. Dry as always, perhaps you may not dig the sound b/c by that time he had switched to the Sabian models he now plays and I think with ECM he may have used Istanbul and Paiste. ← The Brecker album sounds fine. But then I haven't heard Audio-Visualscapes in years. I never thought it was an equipment issue, I thought it was an recording issue. Maybe I was just hooked on the EMC sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.