AOTW January 8-14

[felser]

Gary Bartz - I've Known Rivers (click here to buy)

It was July 7, 1973. The possibilities for jazz still seemed endless, even thought it would all come crashing down shortly. A couple years before this, no one embodied these possibilities of a new and exciting music better than Gary Bartz, but we weren't prepared for what he unleashed that night at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Bartz was Juilliard trained, and had served underrecorded apprenticeships with Charles Mingus and Art Blakey. He then worked with Max Roach, making major contributions to the magnificent 'Members, Don't Get Weary', funked along with Miles Davis in the Live-Evil era, and participated on the great McCoy Tyner albums 'Expansions' and 'Extensions'. Along the way, he recorded five albums as a leader for Milestone, the first three being forward looking hard bop outings, and the next two mixing his own musical gumbo out of jazz,blues,soul,funk,and folk influences, with Andy Bey and Bartz adding vocals. The two Harlem Bush Music albums ('Taifa' and 'Uhuru"), recorded for Milestone in 1970 and 1971, are unique achievements that to this day sound like nothing else, but were fairly inconsistent. This was followed by a move to Prestige records and a mainstreaming Bartz's eclecticism. The two albums recorded for Prestige in 1972 and in June of 1973, 'Juju Street Songs' and 'Follow, the Medicine Man', combined socially consicious lyrics on Bartz originals reflecting prevailing musical trends, with some popular music of the period such as "I Wanna Be Where You Are" (actually done in an amazing instrumental version), "Black Maybe", and "Betcha By Golly Wow". The promise of the Harlem Bush Music sessions seemed to have faded away. But on this night, the 32 year old Bartz and his young band (Hubert Eaves on keyboards, the wonderful Stafford James on bass, and 17 year old Howard King bashing on drums) took the stage and created a statement for the ages.

To understand the context of this music, consider the words of Bob Blumenthal (edited here) on the back cover of the CD reissue of this 2LP set: "...'I've Known Rivers' flows from the confluence of four major streams of late-20th century African-American music/culture: the spiritualism and modality strongly associated with John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme'; the spectrum of electric sounds and bristling funk-rock rhythms of Miles Davis's 'Bitches Brew'; the new funk directions of Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone,and James Brown; and the dramatically expanding Afrocentric consciousness during the Vietnam War era."

The concert begins and ends with musical pleas for peace and love ("Nommo" and "Peace and Love"). In between are excellent instrumental songs such as "Sifa Zote" and "Bertha Baptist", presenting the unique Bartz confluence of styles, and truly memorable vocal/instrumental cuts such as "Jujuman", "Uhuru Sasa" and the title track (based on a poem by Langston Hughes) , which pay homage to 'A Love Supreme', the struggles of life, and the dignity of the American black man.

The album and the band are both cases of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. A magnificent concert.

Unfortunately, the wheels came off almost immediately afterwards. Bartz was soon hooked up with the dreaded Larry Mizell. I saw him live at the Tower Theatre in the mid-late 70's, and he had two chick singers on stage singing "Macaro-o-ni". By that point, fusion had rightly become a four letter word, McCoy Tyner was being teamed with Phyllis Hyman and Carlos Santana on cuts, Jackie McLean had recorded a disco album for RCA, Chick Corea was seeing leprechauns and Gayle Moran, Stanley Clarke was funking it up, Chuck Mangione was feeling so good chasing the clouds away, and it took the return of Dexter Gordon from Europe to gain any media notice for the real music. But in '73, the promise was still in the air, not yet having betrayed those of us who believed, or at least hoped.

[marcello]

I remember seeing some film of this concert.

I liked the record.

July 7 1973

Congrès Montreux

* Gary Bartz (as,ss, bs, voc, perc)

* Stafford James (bs)

* Hubert Eaves (p)

* Howard King (dr)

1. Suite : Nommo - The Magic Song - Sifa Zote - Juju Man - Bertha BVaptist - ... (00:00)

. Don't Fight That Feeling - Mama's Soul - I've Known Rivers (56:30)

2. Warrior Dance (06:30)

3. Ruru-Sasa (02:15)

. Love And Peace, Love And Health (09:55)

[marcello]

By the way, this is the line up for that night; all were recorded for Milestone/Fantasy:

Montreux Jazz Festival July 7, 1973

GENE AMMONS & HAMPTON HAWES (Congrès Montreux)

GARY BARTZ NTU TROOP (Congrès Montreux)

DEXTER GORDON + HAMPTON HAWES TRIO (Congrès Montreux)

HAMPTON HAWES TRIO (Congrès Montreux)

MCCOY TYNER QUARTET (Congrès Montreux)

[felser]

By the way, this is the line up for that night; all were recorded for Milestone/Fantasy:

Montreux Jazz Festival July 7, 1973

GENE AMMONS & HAMPTON HAWES (Congrès Montreux)

GARY BARTZ NTU TROOP (Congrès Montreux)

DEXTER GORDON + HAMPTON HAWES TRIO (Congrès Montreux)

HAMPTON HAWES TRIO (Congrès Montreux)

MCCOY TYNER QUARTET (Congrès Montreux)

Would love to hear the Tyner set! Do you have the personnel on that? Most if not all of the rest did come out on record and CD.

[marcello]

Personnel: McCoy Tyner (piano, percussion), Azar Lawrence (soprano & tenor saxophone), Joony Booth (bass) and Alphonse Mouzon (drums). Recorded at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, on July 7, 1973. Includes original liner notes by McCoy Tyner and Orrin Keepnews. Digitally remastered by Kirk Felton (1990, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

From the Montreaux Sounds database:

July 7 1973

Congrès Montreux

Total Timing : 01:08:54

* McCoy Tyner (p)

* Azar Lawrence (ts, ss)

* Juni Booth (b)

* Al Mouzon (dr)

1. Enlightenment Suite 1 (10:05)

2. Enlightenment Suite 2 (04:18)

3. Enlightenment Suite 3 (10:36)

4. avec 1 mouv. 10' / solo basse 3' / 2 mouv. 11' (32:45)

5. rappel (11:10)

Edited January 8, 2006 by marcello

[felser]

Personnel: McCoy Tyner (piano, percussion), Azar Lawrence (soprano & tenor saxophone), Joony Booth (bass) and Alphonse Mouzon (drums). Recorded at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, on July 7, 1973. Includes original liner notes by McCoy Tyner and Orrin Keepnews. Digitally remastered by Kirk Felton (1990, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

From the Montreaux Sounds database:

July 7 1973

Congrès Montreux

Total Timing : 01:08:54

* McCoy Tyner (p)

* Azar Lawrence (ts, ss)

* Juni Booth (b)

* Al Mouzon (dr)

1. Enlightenment Suite 1 (10:05)

2. Enlightenment Suite 2 (04:18)

3. Enlightenment Suite 3 (10:36)

4. avec 1 mouv. 10' / solo basse 3' / 2 mouv. 11' (32:45)

5. rappel (11:10)

Of course I have that one! Just a brain burp on my part! I'm still thinking Sonny Fortune at that point. Thanks.

Edited January 8, 2006 by felser

[Guest akanalog]

i always find montreux dates disappointing and the bartz is no execption. i hoped for more. it is ok and has some good stuff but never really connects with me. this tyner montreux set actually is probably my favorite live montreux disc. actually no, larry coryell's "fairyland" is but i doubt that is on CD any time soon.

i am also surprised bartz had some a bad collaboration with the mizells. "music is my sanctuary" is by far my least favorite mizell sessions i have heard from their work with any artist. however i do find "the shadow do", which is on prestige and has one mizell involved, to be an awesome album. bartz nasally singing really gets me on that one, unlike on "i've known rivers".

why don't i like "i've known rivers". i think a lot of the funky stuff goes on too long and doesn't go anywhere interesting and in the middle there is that blast of disonnance for no reason ("the warriors song" i think). just doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the set. i wonder if was not sequenced in the actual recording order..... i wish the different musical ideas offered by the bartz quartet were more intergrated so it was less of a hodgepodge of ideas from song to song.

oh i also like "slingerella". will that ever be on CD i wonder....

[felser]

in the middle there is that blast of disonnance for no reason ("the warriors song" i think). just doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the set.

I agree with you about "Warriors" making no sense in the context, and I almost always skip over it when I play this set. It is the original running order, to my knowledge.

[mikeweil]

.....

3. Ruru-Sasa (02:15)

.....

That's Uhuru sasa - Swahili for "freedom now".

[Cali]

I'm a big Bartz fan (his blowin', not his singin'). I wish the total IKR album lived up to the title track. The title track is epic with a great groove and incendiary blowing by Gary. Had the LP in the 70's and bought the CD when it was issued a couple of years ago 'cause that one cut is worth the price of the album.