Jump to content

Raphe Malik


David Ayers

Recommended Posts

I dusted off my copies of 21st Century Texts (FMP) and The Short Form (eremite) last night. I found these interviews with Malik today, at AAJ and Opprobrium. I don't know if there is much love for Malik-led sessions on this board (I searched and found a smattering of references pro and con). I find him enjoyable but finite, by which I mean I like him but his playing only expresses certain things and the players he appears with are fluent but too frequently border on bombast. Other opinions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only got the Jimmy Lyons Ayler box with Malik on disc 1. Initally i , like Ubu, thought he sounded too overpowering & that he took over the session , but the CD grew on me with more listens , I think i'll give it another spin this evening

On that session I found him quite alright. I'm thinking more of the New World Taylors. Though I need to spin those again soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Malik appears on five Taylor recordings that I know of: the Enja, the two New Worlds, Black Forest (MPS) , and One Too Many... (Hat)

As I remember, the Enja was badly reviewed and the New World's never got much acclaim. That is possibly because people found Mailik hard to take compared to memories of Dixon, and because people were at that time used to the trio/quartet based around Lyons and couldn't quite get the feel of the new voice. The presence of Ware and Edwards on Dark To Themsleves also made this seem like an imperfect offering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Malik appears on five Taylor recordings that I know of: the Enja, the two New Worlds, Black Forest (MPS) , and One Too Many... (Hat)

As I remember, the Enja was badly reviewed and the New World's never got much acclaim. That is possibly because people found Mailik hard to take compared to memories of Dixon, and because people were at that time used to the trio/quartet based around Lyons and couldn't quite get the feel of the new voice. The presence of Ware and Edwards on Dark To Themsleves also made this seem like an imperfect offering.

All these Taylors are classics, though! (I haven't heard the MPS, but have and like/love/appreciate all the others to some degree).

I don't think the Enja is second rate compared to the others, drummer Mark Edwards brought in some new stylings after Ronald Shannon Jackson, and the absence of bass (though not an all too rare feat for Taylor groups) makes for another change in sound. The CD restores the full 60+ minutes of that concert, from which the LP was taken.

ubu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Malik appears on five Taylor recordings that I know of: the Enja, the two New Worlds, Black Forest (MPS) , and One Too Many... (Hat)

As I remember, the Enja was badly reviewed and the New World's never got much acclaim. That is possibly because people found Mailik hard to take compared to memories of Dixon, and because people were at that time used to the trio/quartet based around Lyons and couldn't quite get the feel of the new voice. The presence of Ware and Edwards on Dark To Themsleves also made this seem like an imperfect offering.

All these Taylors are classics, though! (I haven't heard the MPS, but have and like/love/appreciate all the others to some degree).

I don't think the Enja is second rate compared to the others, drummer Mark Edwards brought in some new stylings after Ronald Shannon Jackson, and the absence of bass (though not an all too rare feat for Taylor groups) makes for another change in sound. The CD restores the full 60+ minutes of that concert, from which the LP was taken.

ubu

I should have said - I like those sessions! I was just recalling that reviewers were iffy about them at the time and they weren't a massive career boost for Malik.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Malik appears on five Taylor recordings that I know of: the Enja, the two New Worlds, Black Forest (MPS) , and One Too Many... (Hat)

As I remember, the Enja was badly reviewed and the New World's never got much acclaim. That is possibly because people found Mailik hard to take compared to memories of Dixon, and because people were at that time used to the trio/quartet based around Lyons and couldn't quite get the feel of the new voice. The presence of Ware and Edwards on Dark To Themsleves also made this seem like an imperfect offering.

All these Taylors are classics, though! (I haven't heard the MPS, but have and like/love/appreciate all the others to some degree).

I don't think the Enja is second rate compared to the others, drummer Mark Edwards brought in some new stylings after Ronald Shannon Jackson, and the absence of bass (though not an all too rare feat for Taylor groups) makes for another change in sound. The CD restores the full 60+ minutes of that concert, from which the LP was taken.

ubu

I should have said - I like those sessions! I was just recalling that reviewers were iffy about them at the time and they weren't a massive career boost for Malik.

:tup

I know about those reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was too a bit underwhelmed by Malik. Great chops amd stamina, for sure, but not that many interesting ideas, IMO. I remember listening to one of the Lyons' Black Saint CDs recently (forgot the title) and thinking: "well, this Malik guy is not that bad, after all"... only to find out later that it was Enrico Rava playing the trumpet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I read the posted opinions about my contributions to the world of music, I thought of John Coltrane's response to a Downbeat article in the early 60's. He said basically that critics did not know that reviews affected the ablity of an artist to sustain himself or support a famiily.

Aside from the fact that there are some obvious mistakes in chronology of my work (Marc Edwards played with Cecil before Ronald Shannon Jackson), I would like to point out that Jimmy Lyons was asked by Black Saint to use Enrico for his second date and he would have preferred me for whatever that is worth.

As far as being called a blowhard, .... . I like the fact that your forum exists, and hope that as time goes on music will be a greater force for humankind. A lot of great musicians have died ignoble deaths for lack of an ability to support themselves in society. I woke up today and am trying to live a positive life. That is as good as it gets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I read the posted opinions about my contributions to the world of music, I thought of John Coltrane's response to a Downbeat article in the early 60's. He said basically that critics did not know that reviews affected the ablity of an artist to sustain himself or support a famiily.

Aside from the fact that there are some obvious mistakes in chronology of my work (Marc Edwards played with Cecil before Ronald Shannon Jackson), I would like to point out that Jimmy Lyons was asked by Black Saint to use Enrico for his second date and he would have preferred me for whatever that is worth.

As far as being called a blowhard, .... . I like the fact that your forum exists, and hope that as time goes on music will be a greater force for humankind. A lot of great musicians have died ignoble deaths for lack of an ability to support themselves in society. I woke up today and am trying to live a positive life. That is as good as it gets.

Welcome to this board, Mr. Malik!

You're right of course about Edwards/Jackson, sorry for that! I was posting that when being at work and didn't have my CDs there...

ubu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I read the posted opinions about my contributions to the world of music, I thought of John Coltrane's response to a Downbeat article in the early 60's. He said basically that critics did not know that reviews affected the ablity of an artist to sustain himself or support a famiily.

Aside from the fact that there are some obvious mistakes in chronology of my work (Marc Edwards played with Cecil before Ronald Shannon Jackson), I would like to point out that Jimmy Lyons was asked by Black Saint to use Enrico for his second date and he would have preferred me for whatever that is worth.

As far as being called a blowhard, .... . I like the fact that your forum exists, and hope that as time goes on music will be a greater force for humankind. A lot of great musicians have died ignoble deaths for lack of an ability to support themselves in society. I woke up today and am trying to live a positive life. That is as good as it gets.

Your contribution is well taken.

Keep being positive!

And a very hearty welcome to this Board

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Raphe,

If you do a search on the board, primarily in the "Funny Rat" thread in the Recommendations forum, you will find many positive comments on and reviews of your albums as well as some not so positive. Many of us here have greatly enjoyed your discs that we have heard, but we are also not afraid to be critical.

It would be great if you stayed around to discuss your work. I know that many of us would love to hear about upcoming albums / shows and also be able to discuss some of the sessions you have been a part of through the years.

Welcome!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 14 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...