Fred Anderson w/William Parker & Hamid Drake

[Steve Reynolds]

some thoughts from me - recently posted on another board....enjoy - if you like

Recorded 12/12/04 @ Johnson State College, Vermont

On eremite records

2 discs – the first one about 44 minutes one continuous performance, the second is longer – but broken down into three tracks

Fred Anderson: tenor saxophone

William Parker: bass

Hamid Drake: drums

I think Fred is a romantic, I think Fred is about the sound, I think he is about a search for a few of those moments. Maybe due to this, much of what comes out of his horn sounds pretty damn sweet – but where is it going, and what is the reason for it?

Is it all good - or is it just a search with little in the search?

have I heard this before?

Parker is playing in a basically straight walking groove based way – a way that some are very familiar with – yes there are inflections here and there – but it is about support – and maybe listening – or maybe just playing – Hamid drives it sounds great – sounds like Hamid – is there a purpose to this – other than to reach those moments of potential epiphany?/

It is music of a language that is , by now well worn – are they worn out?

Sometimes yes – sometimes no – they sound *great*

What am I feeling?

Not sure if it is me today – or maybe there isn’t a reason for this on a record – maybe it is only to see live – then again, I can listen to Hamid any time – and if I’m right – maybe I am not today – I am very aware of how much I can change day to day – or hour to hour – I am free of the shit that used to control how I feel..

well this is the first disc - I think I heard some of those moments - but I'm not really sure - didn't I hear more on the Velvet disc with Kowald and Drake from a few years back?

wasn't there more of an urgency to it all? or is it me?

Well – I will listen to the second disc maybe tomorrow- and then go back to the first – I wonder if it is me…..

the next day....

part of it is me, for sure, part of it is , when I am centered, I am not jaded, I am not intolerant – I am able to accept the good and the bad – and the stuff that is in between – and maybe find the beauty despite the longuers that might hinder some of this music – especially when it is played by guys that really do have a somewhat limited palette – And Fred has always been a hero – he is one of my guys – and he still is…..

the second disc (save for the middle track – whose inclusion is beyond questionable)is stronger – Fred is a stylist – at this point in his playing life, he is really about the sound – and a feeling – the melodies invented or reused – his phrases and lines (stock or not) are familiar and yet they sometimes are still somewhat elusive – but as the night wore on (if this is in the order they played), the team builds a fire…

Parker’s arco portion about half way through the first track is ok – somehow the audience always reacts so strongly when William goes through this exercise – in this case, it seemed a bit planned and it seemed like an exercise

but then the groove starts to take flight - one really never knows when it actually is gonna click , when it is gonna go – maybe it is still the one mysterious aspect of what the two of them do - with Fred out – the King and the Man at the kit go places – it is at once of a time – and beyond it – the last half of the 37 minute piece is worth the record – as is the final half of the last 14 minute track – this is what it is, baby – beyond time – romantics really all of them – and Hamid’s *sound* - the snare goes on – the hi-hat sets the groove – and the rest falls into place – as relaxed as a drummer can be while driving inexorably to the heart of the groove – accents all in the right places – but never *exactly* where even those of us intimate with his playing completely expect them to be – almost out of his hands….even when the groove is almost pure funk it eventually fades into the loose groove with the hi-hat driving the music into the night – as I am driving to see some friends at the diner – four of us, me, my friends Andy, Darryl and Sara – they don’t know what I hear – they don’t understand the music, but we understand each other – and maybe I was better because of this – no – I am better because of people like that – and I am better enough these days to be able to write about music that has always had a emotional effect on me.

Where worlds collide – is it free – not free jazz anymore – not avant-garde anymore – it really is more like tradition of jazz without the themes – that sound of the tenor – sometimes nothing more than that – and maybe that’s ok – how many of his CD’s to own?

At least a few if one still likes jazz – if one just really wants to hear a great tenor sound with the boys in the back – who are really are in the front – have been for while out front – and what still amazes is that some think this is hard music – for me, it might be easy – easy and smooth for the most part – but a beautiful example of three men doing what they do – maybe just for the love of the sound – and the love of the groove

was December 12th last - year - was a bit on a cloud when I found out about the show last November - called Gary - tried to see if I could make the trak - had no car, had no money - I have a little of that today - next time (hopefully there will be a next time) maybe I bring Darryl to see the boys

right now, he's committed to 1/24/06 to see William's Quintet with Hamid at the kit

and Darryl is a drumemr who has heard Hamid from me - and said that this guy is like nothing in this world that he has ever heard when it comes to the kit

It's Always a Pleasure

[jazzbo]

I like this one. Drake is far from a favorite of mine, but he plays well here. Parker too. Anderson is wonderful: the sound, the texture, the ideas.

[sal]

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=21972

[Jim Dye]

I'm looking forward to checking this one out.

Thanks for your thoughts, Steve, Lon and everyone!

[Steve Reynolds]

this is not the sort of thing that I spend much of my time listening to these days - I have been a Joe Maneri enthusiast for quite some time - and seeing and hearing him live (about 5-6 times, I think) is a very special and different experience - and it isn't the same thing

for new music, I gravitate more towards things by Rowe or that type of thing

doesn't mean there isn't room in my head for a romantic like Fred