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Charles Brackeen


romualdo

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Any love out there for Charles Brackeen?

Hasn't recorded for a while now - is he still active?

Would love to get my hands on a copy (CD preferably) of Rhythm X (Strata East) - was released in Japan (Bomba) in the early/mid 90's & also through Strata East (when?) - I never see it second hand

Jonathan Horwich should reissue this on his International Phonograph label - maybe I should add this to that thread (if I can find it again)

Just ordered some CD's from Nobusiness Records (Lithuania) - I mentioned Brackeen in my email & this was the reply from Danas Mikalilionis

"I am planing to release Evan Parker trio next March, also will be putting out a double CD

and vinyl of Melodic Art-Tet where Charles Brackeen played together with Ahmed Abdullah

back in 70s. He has recently been discovered by his fellow musicians, so who knows, maybe

he'll start playing again"

Has the Melodic Art-Tet been previously released on vinyl or will this be a first?

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Last I heard (several years now), Charles was still living in Los Angeles, but had stopped playing. He and Billy Higgins were apparently very close, and had continued to play together (privately only?) over the years, but Billy's passing was rather devastating to him.

Seems like some or all of this was summarized in a SIGNAL TO NOISE article some years back focusing on Dennis Gonzalez's attempts to reconnect with Brackeen.

Don;t sleep on BANNAR or any of the Silkhearts, for that matter.

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In addition to his own releases on Silkheart, Brackeen is also featured favorably on a few of Dennis Gonzalez' recordings on the same label as well with Paul Motian on ECM in the seventies. I have heard some live stuff by the Melodic Art-Tet, but I do not know if anything by that group has ever been officially released.

Edited by relyles
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the two great ones on Silkheart are:

Worshippers Come Nigh:

Charles Brackeen tenor saxophone

Olu Dara cornet

Fred Hopkins bass

Andrew Cyrille drums

Dennis Gonzalez Sextet:

Dennis Gonzalez trumpet, pocket-trumpet, fluegelhorn, pao de chuva, Pakistani bells, kalimba, vocal

Ahmed Abdullah trumpet, fluegelhorn, balafon

Charles Brackeen tenor sax, conga

Douglas Ewart alto sax, bass clarinet

Malachi Favors bass, vocal

Alvin Fielder drums, percussion

the opening 15 minute title track on this one is one of the great jazz performances ever.

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Has the Melodic Art-Tet been previously released on vinyl or will this be a first?

As far as I know this is a first.

Ahmed Abdullah, when you moved to Brooklyn in 1970, what was it like for jazz in Brooklyn at that time?

Ahmed Abdullah: ...

In the 1970s many of the musicians lived around Williamsburg, around Broadway and Bedford. Rashied Ali had a group there called the Melodic Art-Tet, and the group actually consisted of [saxophonist] Charles Brackeen, [bassist] Ronnie Boykins, and Roger Blank, and we used to rehearse at Rashied Ali‘s place; he had a loft in Brooklyn. This was before he got his loft in Soho that became Ali’s Alley in the mid-70s.

http://jazztimes.com/articles/27324-sista-s-place-a-jazz-cultural-beachhead-in-brooklyn-part-one

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Brackeen was homeless recently, I know that much. I wanted to connect with him but it seemed nearly impossible to do so.

that's very sad indeed. Sad when anyone find themselves in such a situation but seemingly more so here even though the only connection I have with him is greatly enjoying his music since first hearing the Silkhearts

Edited by mjazzg
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Brackeen was homeless recently, I know that much. I wanted to connect with him but it seemed nearly impossible to do so.

What a pity

National treasures relegated to the bin

Upsets (& angers) me whenever I read this sort of outcome but alas I'm not familiar with the details of his story

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