AOTW January 15-21

[ep1str0phy]

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.

Edited March 31, 2006 by Jim Alfredson

[clifford_thornton]

Great record - just have to find the box it's still packed in!

Yes, it is the first "official" BOB record, though was preceded by The Chris McGregor Group - Very Urgent (Polydor, 1968), with Feza, Dudu, Ronnie Beer, Dyani and Moholo, and before that, a record on Gallo Africa, the name of which escapes me.

But for fuck's sake, "MRA" absolutely slays!

[John B]

I just bought this album a few weeks back and have been loving it.

You did a fantastic job describing the group, but I'd also add that the music is joyful, too, and swings like mad.

Based on my overwhelmingly positive reaction to this disc I just ordered two of their archival live releases: Bremen to Bridgewater and Traveling Somewhere.

It's a shame that so much of their music is oop or very difficult to track down around these parts.

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, joyful it always is - they are a gas to listen to. Most of the live stuff is way, way freer than anything on the Neon (or even the Victor LP cut a year later), but those Cuneiforms are amazing discs. I listen to them far more than any of the LPs.

The Brotherhood are still quite underrated, which is strange considering how the internet has made finding that music much easier. I would think cats would have jumped all over the shit at this point... they had a pretty strong following among European audiences in the 70s, if I am not mistaken. Seems like you couldn't put on a festival without that band showing up!

[White Lightning]

Yeah, joyful it always is - they are a gas to listen to. Most of the live stuff is way, way freer than anything on the Neon (or even the Victor LP cut a year later), but those Cuneiforms are amazing discs. I listen to them far more than any of the LPs.

Agree! The Cuneiforms are great. I especially partial to "Travelling Somewhere" - an amazing CD!

[clifford_thornton]

Funny, I've never really given any time to their recordings from later years, as much as the 70s material is a gas to listen to. It's something about being without Feza and Dudu that just doesn't make it the same - maybe why those later Blue Notes recordings are in another area entirely. For Mongezi is heavy, but also rather directionless, for example. Then again, I guess it was edited down from a long concert, but still...

[Alexander Hawkins]

Mongezi and Harry Beckett - right there you've got two HEAVY trumpet players. Massive sounds, both.

Travellin' Somewhere is the only Brotherhood record I have, but here in the UK on the free scene, these guys are all idols. Shame that one by one, they're not around anymore.

[clifford_thornton]

I'm pretty sure my copy of the AOTW is still in storage, as I've only been able to get to a few boxes and none of them yielded it. O'wise I'd play-by-play-by-play. I've always liked the first side so much that I often never get into the spare rustling improvised suite that makes up most of the second side. It doesn't sound much like the rest of their material, even the live 'free' jams.

[ep1str0phy]

I'm pretty sure my copy of the AOTW is still in storage, as I've only been able to get to a few boxes and none of them yielded it. O'wise I'd play-by-play-by-play. I've always liked the first side so much that I often never get into the spare rustling improvised suite that makes up most of the second side. It doesn't sound much like the rest of their material, even the live 'free' jams.

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.

[clifford_thornton]

"Night Poem," that's it. If I could find my copy of it, I'd revisit it and probably get more out of it now. Since you bring it up as an intro, or a transitional piece, it might be interesting to program the CD with that, say, between "MRA" and "The Bride" (stripped bare by her bachelors, even?) or something, just to get a feel for it in a different context. It might carry more weight like that. I seem to remember "Night Poem" being a lot more AACM-ish in texture than most of the dense, free escapades that characterize the Cuneiform discs, etc., though I could be totally mis-remembering it.

[ep1str0phy]

"Night Poem," that's it. If I could find my copy of it, I'd revisit it and probably get more out of it now. Since you bring it up as an intro, or a transitional piece, it might be interesting to program the CD with that, say, between "MRA" and "The Bride" (stripped bare by her bachelors, even?) or something, just to get a feel for it in a different context. It might carry more weight like that. I seem to remember "Night Poem" being a lot more AACM-ish in texture than most of the dense, free escapades that characterize the Cuneiform discs, etc., though I could be totally mis-remembering it.

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?

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, who knows. I'm not sure if there is any extra material in the vaults for this, as I just have the Neon LP and I'm willing to bet the Akarma transfer is from a cleaned-up vinyl source. Maybe Maxine McG knows?

Funny, I've gone from saying "Great Record!" to admitting it's in storage, to finally admitting I never listen to the second side!

Edited January 17, 2006 by clifford_thornton

[ep1str0phy]

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?

[Steve Reynolds]

Travelling Somewhere is pretty muddy as well- the piano is undermiked and maybe out of tune - the performances are pretty damn fantastic, fwiw

[clifford_thornton]

[clifford_thornton]

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?

1. Yes, the Neon is by far the best-fidelity prime BOB date.

2. They are comparable to or at least in between the two Oguns in terms of fidelity. As for the Oguns, Procession is pretty good compared to the Wilisau date, as I see it.

Edited January 19, 2006 by clifford_thornton

[Kalo]

You guys make this sound great. Too bad I'm on a self-imposed music-buying moratorium.

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, me too, and it never fails to backfire almost daily!

[Kalo]

Yeah, me too, and it never fails to backfire almost daily!

Why does that give me hope?

To paraphrase Mr. Rogers: "Won't you be my enabler?"

[Nou Dadoun]

I'm a big fan of South African jazz and I just tripped over the fact that you've chosen one of my favorite recordings as AOTW; I'll weigh in in more detail a bit later but I thought I'd launch in with a few comments that the BoB as recorded on this first Neon release (there was a second) was far from McGregor's first big band and not even his first big band recording. Besides being a gifted instrumentalist at an early age, he was a music student at the University of Capetown and studied harmony and arranging. Later after winning the Cold Castle festival competition with 'The Chris McGregor Group' (some of which has been issued on an oop cd), his prize was the funding of a recording session. He chose to take some of the best players at the festival including Kippie Moketsi, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Chris Columbus and others to form a big band and released "Jazz: The African Sound" on Gallo (issued briefly on CD in the 90's but now oop again). Even later in London, he had a rehearsal band at Ronnie Scott's "old place" which eventually evolved into the BoB but which was around for quite a while before producing that first record on Neon.

Anyway, more later .... N

====

Nou Dadoun

dadoun at cs.ubc.ca

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[clifford_thornton]

Thanks for the additional info - that Gallo record is pretty damn scarce, but would love to find a copy even if on CD. I think somebody booted it recently as well. I'd always thought it was a smaller group, though. The Band at Ronnie's was closer in size (large) to the Neon, and was pared down subsequently, right? I seem to remember something about the large group playing at Amougies for the BYG festival as well.

Unless there's a session I'm forgetting, the second BOB LP Brotherhood was/is on Victor, rather than Neon. Great cover photo, too!

[ep1str0phy]

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!

Edited January 20, 2006 by ep1str0phy

[clifford_thornton]

How far are you willing to cast that net?

[clifford_thornton]

Even though the aesthetic is somewhat different - dare I say more Afro-American - I really like the Friendship Next of Kin record on Goody, led by South African drummer Selwyn Lissack and featuring Feza, Miller, Osborne, Ken Terroade and Earl Freeman for two sidelong pieces. One is much more of a heavy, church-y post-Trane romp, the other a spare, Magic City-era Ra-like tonal exploration with Freeman reading some pretty odd poetry. Heavy heavy LP!

Dyani's African Bass on Red is great, solos and duets with Clifford Jarvis. Nice folky themes and some wigged bass playing (ever hear Dyani cut loose on Al Shorter's Tes Esat?). He was one of the original Blue Notes, though he did other projects during the BOB tenure, not least of which was a trio with Feza and Turkish drummer Okay Temiz... Music for Xaba (Sonet) is a cool record, and to me always seemed much more involved musically than the similar lineup with Cherry instead of Feza.

Bremen to Bridgewater is my favorite BOB set so far, though there's probably a lot more clamoring to be issued from the vaults.

Would like to get some of those Harry Miller records on Ogun; I have the solo-with-overdubs thing but need to get the group material. They always looked interesting.

Edited January 20, 2006 by clifford_thornton

[ep1str0phy]

How far are you willing to cast that net?

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).

Edited January 20, 2006 by ep1str0phy