AOTW June 4-10

[Guest akanalog]

the musicians-

Hamiet Bluiett Clarinet, Flute (Wood), Wood Flute, Sax (Baritone)

Fred Hopkins Bass

Don Pullen Piano

Famoudou Don Moye Percussion

the tracks-

Disc 1:

1. Oasis/The Well

2. Sobre Una Nube (On a Cloud)

Disc 2:

1. Pretty Tune

2. Yusuf/Sankofa

3. Tune Up

4. R.B. (Dedicated to Ronnie Boykins)

the label-

india navigation

not trying to get a jump on things, but i found out earlier this week that i will be leaving tommorow for eastern europe for a week and a half so i have to do this now. i guess i could have traded with someone, but what the hell. hopefully there will be some good discussion while i am gone.

i picked this album as AOTW because at least for me, there is definitely enough music on this double disc set to last one through at least a week, if not many weeks.

it is a lot to take in, i think.

but i am curious what others think.

i really like the music. i am not saying it is hard to listen to, just that it is really dense and goes so many places.

maybe i am being duped here. most of the songs sort of follow the same format-a catchy almost thematic statement and then a continuously growing more out solo by bluiett, then pullen going out, then hopkins and or moye going a little out, then a more gentle easing back into the original theme, or perhaps a new theme.

i like bluiett when he plays pretty and i wish sometimes he would keep on with the attractive themes for a while more before taking the turn into higher and lower notes. so maybe i am getting suckered into the whole tension-release thing with this album, but i really feel that each song goes somewhere and it wasn't a rote formulaic thing for the musicians.

speaking of performance, that is what this album is. it is a live performance from sometime in 1977 at a no longer existing soho club called axis. and this was during the whole loft performance thing (when stanley crouch was still a big man in the avante scene). and being as i was just being born in 1977 it is exciting for me to hear this document of a musical period that really interests me.

it is especially interesting to see the inclusion of "tune up" on this album. i do not know how prevalent the playing of standards was in the "loft scene", but the band on this album certainly gives the song a thorough workout. not my favorite song on this performance with moye's style perhaps not being the best fit here. a little light.

i think if the album had been cut to one disc, disc 1, let's say, it would have been more than enough. disc 2 is not as strong, IMO.

incidentally, those of you saying to yourself "damn, i don't have this album", might actually own some of it because disc 1 track 2 was originally released as an LP called S.O.S.

[Guest akanalog]

let me also add i am glad moye is on the date because the lengthy explorations really are added to by his ability to shift from a trap set to hand percussion and back.

also let me add that no matter what don pullen is doing, it sounds good to me. as far out as he goes, he really had a knack for making it pleasant to listen to. why is that? i do not feel the same way about cecil taylor. though perhaps on this date pullen maybe also goes to the chaotic bag a bit more than he could at the expense of more straight playing.

the beginning of sobre una nube (over a cloud) really does make me feel like i am headed up into the sky and over a cloud. the weather gets stormy for a while up there but then clears up pleasantly.

the only song i don't like is "yusef/sankofa" which is pretty piddly boring, but after almost 2 hours of music, they are allowed to cool out pensively in my book.

i just recently ordered bluiett's "resolution" on black saint based on my enjoyment of this album and hope it is as good if not better.

[Guy Berger]

Unfortunately I do not own this album and am barely familiar with Bluiett but based on your recommendation I will add this to the want list.

Guy

[Guest akanalog]

guy, i am not so familiar either.

i am not so into newer productions by older jazz musicians, but bluiett has an album on mapleshade which if you want to hear something more recent-it has a weird and interesting group (mark shim and jack walrath and larry willis and jimmy cobb and keter betts). but let's not talk about that album. i will say it has a pretty cool duet between bluiett and cobb where cobb gets a bit more wild than you might imagine.

lets hear what others say about im/possible to keep.

actually the penguin guide and AMG don't seem to love too many bluiett albums from after this one i am AOTWeeking. some of the other black saints (or is it soul notes) sound interesting. the penguin guide says one is reminiscent of archie shepp's late 60s stuff with philly joe jones for instance.....but it doesn't get good reviews.

this one here is a REALLY dense album-3 of the songs are over 35 minutes and one other one is 18 and a half and one is 12.

when i say i might be duped i mean-it is so much to go through but maybe there is less substance here than i think. let's hear what others say....

[JohnS]

Why haven't I got this? I eagerly snapped up most IN and similar things when they came out. I remember the album, just short of cash maybe or I thought I had enough of Bluiett at the time or perhaps it wasn't available in London for too long. Sorry I missed it.

[ep1str0phy]

I found this one for a fairly reasonable price--in prime condition--not too long ago. It's a fine album, but the performances are dense--almost impenetrably thick at times, to be honest. Long and tough, but heavy, dark, and startlingly powerful--still working on it. Still, if you're a fan of any of these musicians, I'd urge you to check it out (thanks for bringing this one up, akanalog)... Moye gets ample space to move (and he's far too seldom heard outside of the AEC sides), Pullen is at his schizophrenic best, and Hopkins is a delight. Hamiet deserves special mention for his work on the bari--not only for his always remarkable command of register and pitch, but also for stamina... makes for an exhausting--if fulfilling--listen.

-More personal note: there's a fine, if short version of 'R.B.'--one of my all-time favorite tunes, immortalized on Air Mail. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

[Guest akanalog]

if anyone cares, i picked up "resolution" and like it a lot.

i also saw "SOS" in a record store recently and almost bought it because it was cheap and has a nice cover and i guess i could hear the originally released music from my AOW in its original context.

anyways-"resolution", i didn't realize, has billy hart on drums! and moye also playing some kit i think, but a lot of percussion.

i guess hart went through kind of an avante phase near the end of the 70s because i also have his record "enhance" which gets a bit out from this time period.

shorter and more concise on the studio disc, but a nice distallation of some of the ideas on the live set (though it's nice to hear things slowly and organically develop on the live material).

the studio stuff is perhaps a bit too high-energy.

i think bluiett sometimes goes too high for too long on his baritone. it's nice he can do that but not my favorite sound. i like the breathy tone he gets when he is just playing and not showing off technique.