ep1str0phy

I'm a fan of "In the Townships," recorded in 1971 for Earthworks. To my knowledge, it is still in print--last time I checked, you could purchase it off of Amazon. It's not quite in the BOB vein, or even jazz per se--one might call it afropop--but the spirit present in Pukwana's best work is definitely present. Most of the cuts are built around fairly simple riffs, building into improvised melodic deocration. There's little "real" collective improv here as most of the ensemble work is either "combo backing soloist" or "soloist with overdubs." As simple as the tunes are, the energy is infectious. The band, by the way, features many BOB regulars (including Feza, Moholo, and Miller). As far as I can tell, Pukwana is the one playing the piano parts (overdubbing again). On the matter of Feza--he reminds me of Lester Bowie, or--in his wilder moments--later Don Cherry. He's got a truly crumpled, malleable tone that is nonetheless very emotionally effective. I can't find the Ayler at a store, but I'm looking. And this link: Give the Drummer Some features an old radio show with full performances. Someone is bound to be interested.

As the only one who seems to give a shit at the moment: A nice little documentary--nothing really ambitious, but fascinating all the same. Cecil (himself) carries the film; the better chunk of the movie is simply cleverly edited performances and pseudo-interview/chats. There is no attempt to summarize CT's career, few direct references to historical context and/or fellow innovators, and only a modicum of talking heads (and, to warn, the requisite Amiri Baraka and Thurston Moore stuff). However, the film offers added insight into Cecil's musical processes--including his scalular concept, notation system, group dynamic, and teaching techniques. Practically everything that comes out of CT's mouth is quotable. One of my favorites: "...the joy of practicing leads you to the celebration of creation." Taken out of context, it seems a little odd/pretentious--but it's nice to see a man of his age and prowess (this was recorded a few years ago, as Elvin and Derek Bailey are both featured) so involved with the processes that the beginning improviser often takes for granted. He's a light on the scene, and it's nice to have him around. Note: the film is on cable for the purposes of some strange voting procedure that determines whether or not select movies make it onto either DVD or the movie theater. I think the company offering the film is directly linked to Comcast, so everyone else may be out of luck. For those who have it--watch, 'cause we might get CT into the cinemas.

Thanks--I'll look into it. On a related note (concerning one intrepid BOB member): I heard (the Bailey/Bennink/Evan Parker album) "Topography of the Lungs" is getting reissued. Any truth to this?

I don't know if someone's started a topic on this (here), but I picked this up on Jazzcorner: Comcast Digital Cable has a Cecil Taylor documentary on their "free movies on demand" section (it's aptly titled "Cecil Taylor" in the on demand section, I believe). I'll be watching it during lunch--will return with feedback. Anyway, the digital cable providers tend to match up on many of their on demand films, so I wouldn't be surprised if the doc is available somewhere else in the country (I'm in Berkeley, CA right now). Happy hunting, folks.

Thanks for the heads up, man.

Having listened to "Travelling Somewhere" a couple of times now, I too can testify to its quality. It's just as explosive, ragged, and fun as the Oguns, but with marginally better sound quality (McGregor is indeed far to the back, although that classic SA sense of propulsion is tactile). The playing here is far looser than the Neon date, more liberally interpolating the sort of unhinged freedom common among the British scene of the 70's. There's some gorgeous solo work here, excellent ensemble interaction, and some of the most combustible rhythm work I've ever heard (Moholo is a f'in madman). I really, really enjoy the versions of "Kongi's Theme" and "Ismite is Might," both of which manage to positively transcend and, strangely, thrive within the sonic anomalies of the mix ("Ismite" has some powerful, powerful clutter). Still, all the cuts have something to recommend, and I might say that the version of "Do It" here is better than Willisau, although it suffers from an early fade. I can only imagine what it must have been like to see this band live--what a spectacle! On other matters: anyone have anything to say about the Dedication Orchestra (a more recent big band assembled to play the tunes of the SA exiles)? Strangely, I purchased "Travelling There" and John Steven's "S.M.E. Big Band & Quintet" on the same day, both of which contain members of the DO (and both of which, I will stress, contain some phenomenal blowing). Edit to ask--wasn't "Spirit's Rejoice" (the Moholo album) just reissued? I can't seem to track it down.

The story of a jazz musician's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.

I'm probably in the minority here, but "Outer Spaceways Incorporated" is one of my favorite Sun Ra discs. Somehow, it feels better balanced than a lot of the Saturn albums (and with marginally better sound)--free-blowing interspersed with some fine, fine "straight" compositions. Marshall Allen's solo on "Somewhere There" is mind-blowing for its timbral complexity and sheer energy (one of my favorite "free" alto solos, perhaps). And, of course, we're talking about a prime band: Allen, Patrick, Gilmore, Boykins, Jarvis... just sick.

Pretty bad excuse! EAC and some cheap software can do that job... But the 4CD package is great, anyway! Bad excuse? You ain't kidding. I appreciate 32 Jazz more and more every day--especially for the sheer ambition of the CD packages. Budget pricing, well-assembled, classic OOP albums--that's how you get this stuff back on the market. After all the 32 Rahsaan packages, Collectables's weird album pairings and botched single-CD releases just seem weak (although it's nice to have some of the stuff back on the market, and not all of the twofers are strange). I'm just waiting for the day that Rahsaan gets an Atlantic boxed set (e.g., Beauty Is a Rare Thing).

Something like that (frankly, I've forgotten the time). I'm from (born/raised in) the Valley, although I've always been fairly familiar with the LA area. For most of my youth, I never made Hollywood/downtown LA record buying into a religious habit--transportation issues being a factor, the lack of utter necessity being the other (there are enough well-priced rarity shops near the Valley and the shoreside, if one is willing to look hard enough). For whatever reason, subsequent the Amoeba opening, LA record scouting turned into a ritual of mine--enough to apprehend the detrimental effect on the smaller shops, enough to better appreciate the strange, ragged beauty of city. It's kind of tragic coming into the scene like this, although I can only imagine what (you) the more seasoned record buyers must feel. Interestingly, a good friend of mine--who's been buying records in LA for ages--has acclimated to the change of location pretty well. I suppose efficiency benefits when the better proportion of used-CD/rarity trades/sales go down in a central location, but we're losing the atmosphere--and LA can be a pretty beautiful place. Otherwise, why not buy online? Excuse me for waxing--it's just that I'm in Berkeley right now and I can feel the physical distance. I was just getting to know the place. But hey, I'll be back in a year or so.

I think the liner notes say something about it, but I don't have my copy handy. Anyone?

I was actually in a classroom when I heard... the lecturer had opened up some random news page, had the tragic headline at the bottom. Everyone seemed to be trying to fix the text size on the screen--I was about to shout, I was. That's the youth set, for you: we've got no history. Oh well--here's to the eternal sound and those privileged ears who hear it (and feel it). RIP, WP.

Looks like you cast it far enough. I'd almost call the Blue Note/Brotherhood guys a "school," although the Brotherhood went through enough personnel changes to really confound that term (and when you bring in cats like Windo and Evans, the term just seems sort of odd). Nonetheless, there's definitely an "extended family/sub-movement" thing going on, and a great deal of those old records certainly have a uniform emotional origin. On your recs--that Selwyn Lissack looks real good, although I'll probably never get around to finidng a copy... and I didn't realize that Dyani was on "Tes Esat," although I have a lot of the Free America series (looks like another bank breaker is on the way).

I picked up a copy (up here) in Berkeley some time last Fall. Surprised by the "sound" of the music (considering the nature of the Unheard Music catalogue), not by the quality. Very enjoyable session--Klook always kicks ass.

For whatever reason, I don't think this qustion got raised: what are your favorite Brotherhood/Brotherhood-related albums (I guess we can include the Dyani, Pukwana, McGregor (etc.) "solo" discs). I don't have as many as some of the individuals here (seem to) own. So--evaluations? Edit to say I just got my hands on a copy of Travelling Somewhere--listening soon!

No shit. I dunno. This one's pretty bad:

An easy solution--burn one of the albums onto a CD. A lot of burning programs allow you to choose the time between tracks (all the way down to zero), but some of them also append the tracks with lead-in seconds. Regardless, you may have the lucky burning program. Just a thought. As far as Collectables goes--it's a pity that 32 Jazz (etc.) went under, 'cause those were fine reissues. Sound wasn't great, but at least the albums were kept intact. Even if you don't like doubling up, I'd suggest buying the 4-CD "Aces Back to back" (if you don't already have it). It has "Rahsaan Rahsaan," "Left & Right," "Prepare Thyself..." and "Other Folks' Music"--all on separate CDs, all in good shape. On "3-Sided Dream..."--I can testify that the Atlantic reissue is actually alright.

In some strange way, this sort of reminds me of Hill's old Soul Note covers.

Picked these up yesterday: William Parker Quartet: O'Neal's Porch Elvin Jones/Jimmy Garrison Sextet (feat. McCoy Tyner): Illumination! Giuffre/Swallow/Bley: Emphasis/Flight (2CD Hat reissue) -Two words: kick ass

Supposedly, I'd still be listening to and playing music (of some kind). But what's the context? Are we assuming that jazz never existed, or that it's been outlawed--cast into the slagheap of some mindless, anti-emotional, Orwellian Alphaville? Who am I kidding--I'd probably be in jail.

I'm actually somewhat curious as to matters of sonic fidelity. Regardless of its pedigree (in terms of reissues), the Neon album is still one of the better-recorded examples of the Brotherhood. The band's power always comes though a sloppy mix, but the detail on the debut is just stunning. The reissue of the Willisau date is still pretty muddy, managing to confound the horn lines on "Davashe's Dream." Compare to the Neon album--"Davashe's Dream" comes in loud and clear, and Dudu's solo (in all its scratchy majesty) is up front--a thing of beauty. I haven't yet managed to get a hold of the Cuneiform sides--live dates, I know, but are they as poorly mixed as the Oguns?

Quite AACM-ish. Somewhere in-between the Art Ensemble, Sun Ra, and Cecil Taylor, I'd say. I think it's a terrifically potent piece, but it does lose some of its power within the context of the album (hampering the momentum a bit--especially with all the hard-groove swirling about). It makes you wonder--what would have happened had this album been released during the CD era? More tracks? Re-programming?

I'm more familiar with the "heyday" Brotherhood--not so much the later 70's albums. I agree that the improv jam is a world all its own, especially when compared to the "hard grooving" cuts elsewhere on the album. It's a powerful contrast, but not so much because the extended "free" cut is a total break with band convention. With "Night Poem", the Brotherhood is venturing into an area only narrowly (if often) explored elsewhere in the group's catalogue--the sort of metrically-open, polyrhythmic, polytonal melee so often invoked as introductory/transitional material for live shows. I think it's stunning, sort of Sun Ra-ish--a free-flowing, "primordial" mass from which phrases, rhythms, and timbres are constantly evolving, settling into decay. Rare material for the big band, but wonderfully illustrative of the group's range.

Chris McGregor - Brotherhood of Breath (click here to buy) It was either this or Bennie Maupin’s “The Jewel in the Lotus,” and the Brotherhood won by a coin toss. Either way, we’re left with a terrific album by a woefully obscure artist. See, cats like Maupin and the Brotherhood… well, that’s why I’m in the music. The full story of the Brotherhood of Breath need not be recounted—not here, anyway. For those among us who are in the dark, do yourselves a favor and seek out an album or two (this one, of the handful I’ve heard, is my favorite). The history of South African jazz is a long, inspiring, sometimes frustrating saga, somewhat poorly documented and—due in no small part to the scarcity of available CD issues—difficult for the new listener to apprehend. If it weren’t for boards like (and including) this one, I’d probably never have heard the likes of Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Johnny Dyani, Louis Moholo… Long story short, there are a number of individuals far more capable of providing a summary of this facet of jazz history. In distressingly abbreviated form, the history of the Brotherhood is this: Chris McGregor, alongside fellow South Africans Pukwana, Feza, Dyani, Moholo, and Nick Moyake, formed the remarkably successful—if still somewhat unknown—Blue Notes. After winning the Johannesburg Cold Castle Festival, the multi-racial group decided to remain in Europe. By the 1970’s, McGregor, together with several of the former Blue Notes, had formed the Brotherhood of Breath, a multinational big band of well-seasoned veterans and burgeoning legends. This session, originally released on Neon, was (correct me if I’m mistaken) the first of the Brotherhood’s albums… and it’s a stunner. There’s a sort of Ellingtonian grace here, a haunting undercurrent of sentimentality—informed, in ways both subtle and obvious, by the scars of apartheid, a yearning for universal sympathy, and, perhaps, a foretaste of the vague, untimely ends of many of the South African expatriates. There, too, is resilience, strength, a fervent passion every bit as bluesy and bruised as the best Charles Mingus. Shades of free jazz—most apparently, the strained, humanistic voices of Albert Ayler, Charles Tyler, Ornette, and Don Cherry—permeate the album. Yet, the Brotherhood is never so impenetrable as the most “avant” of the American “avant-garde.” Perhaps it’s a matter of isolated development, maybe it’s a testament to the idiosyncrasies of the cast herein assembled, but there’s something truly unique about the Brotherhood, a once-in-a-epoch’s gathering of talent that could not, never would happen again. I’ll leave further superlative (not to mention the requisite track-by-track analysis) to the Organissimo townfolk. My feeling is that any discussion of the Brotherhood is good discussion—and boy, is this the place to do it. We—the listeners, the connoisseurs, our loose cadre of musicianhood—sometimes lose track of jazz’s little-known lights. Well, that’s what AOTWs are for… so preach, brothers and sisters, preach.

I dunno, but I noticed the influence of Tony's new heavy drumming style was all over the progressive rock scene after "Believe It" was out. Thanks, Tony. Thanks a lot. On a related note, one of Jack Bruce's (probably now deleted) live albums (from the 70's--Live On the Old Grey Whistle Test) has a version of "Spirit" on it. The lineup is Bruce, Mick Taylor (g), Carla Bley (org & synths--seriously), Ronnie Leahy (piano & synth), and Bruce Gary (drums). To put it lightly, the ensemble sound is far more "light prog rock" than Tony would ever get--a sort of precursor to the mullet-brandishing fusion of subsequent years. As much as I like Bruce, it honestly seems as if the majority of prog rock groups glommed on to Lifetime's style--and not the substance. The opposite, perhaps, may be said of the punk bands.