Funny Rat

[Д.Д.]

Two new releases from RASTASCAN...

Some time in winter, I made an inquiry to Rastascan for foreign shipping rates. Still waiting for an answer.

[king ubu]

P.L.M., I just took that Columbia disc with the wonderful (playing & looking) Susie Ibarra home from the radio station I occasionally do some programmes for. Will report. Of course I have one of the discs Ware made with Cecil, namely the Enja disc "Dark to Themselves", which I like quite some.

And I don't find the duo track with Harris too weak - it's just more the "your usual kind of free jazz" stuff than the solos of Harris, which are great!

ubu

[king ubu]

Also got a burn yesterday of another great disc by Stephan Wittwer:

Not you usual ECM album!

Christy Doran

Fredy Studer

Stephan Wittwer

Red Twist & Tuned Arrow

Christy Doran electric and acoustic guitars

Fredy Studer drums, percussion

Stephan Wittwer electric guitar, synthesizer, sequencer programming

Canon Cannon

1374

Quasar

Belluard

Backtalk

Messing

D.T.E.T.

Recorded November 1986

ECM 1342

Doran is actually of Irish origin, but has been a mainstay of the swiss jazz/rock/free scene for several decades. He might be the best-known of the three. He was, together with Fredy Studer, part of the legendary swiss jazz-rock group OM (the other half being saxofonist Urs Leimgruber and bassist Bobby Burri) (I have yet to hunt some of their LPs or CDs).

Doran and Wittwer are both incredible, and it's great to hear them with just a drummer, as there is some space around them (which would probably be cluttered up by a bassist).

ubu

[Д.Д.]

Doran is actually of Irish origin, but has been a mainstay of the swiss jazz/rock/free scene for several decades. He might be the best-known of the three. He was, together with Fredy Studer, part of the legendary swiss jazz-rock group OM (the other half being saxofonist Urs Leimgruber and bassist Bobby Burri) (I have yet to hunt some of their LPs or CDs).

Doran and Wittwer are both incredible, and it's great to hear them with just a drummer, as there is some space around them (which would probably be cluttered up by a bassist).

I've been not able to warm to Doran so far. I've heard a couple of his works on Leo and Enja (the Enja one is with Robert Dick -a stunning flute player as far as (very extended) technique goes, but also not very interesting to me)... a competent player, for sure, and a lot of ideas, but something does not click.

Talking about ECM guitarrists, anybody's here into Steve Tibbets? I find him an extremelly talented musician, but a bit confused (I haven't heard his last one, though): too many things crowding on each other in his mucis. I am looking forward to him distilling all his ideas and coming up with a masterpiece (he is still a relatively young guy).

[Gary]

BTW, new solo Brötzm. is phenomenal. I will elaborate later, but everybody here should do himself (or herself, he-he) a favor and get it. According to (good) Steve Lake's liner notes, this is the best of 5 (!) Brötzmann's solo CDs.

Д.Д., any more comments on 14 Love Poems?

Won't be able to add any more comments before I get home and re-listen to it which will happen in mid-August only. But trust me, this is good stuff.

Probaly Gary could help a bit with reviewing this one before then.

Hopefully I'll be getting this one next Wednesday . I'll post my initial impressions then.

[king ubu]

Doran is actually of Irish origin, but has been a mainstay of the swiss jazz/rock/free scene for several decades. He might be the best-known of the three. He was, together with Fredy Studer, part of the legendary swiss jazz-rock group OM (the other half being saxofonist Urs Leimgruber and bassist Bobby Burri) (I have yet to hunt some of their LPs or CDs).

Doran and Wittwer are both incredible, and it's great to hear them with just a drummer, as there is some space around them (which would probably be cluttered up by a bassist).

I've been not able to warm to Doran so far. I've heard a couple of his works on Leo and Enja (the Enja one is with Robert Dick -a stunning flute player as far as (very extended) technique goes, but also not very interesting to me)... a competent player, for sure, and a lot of ideas, but something does not click.

Talking about ECM guitarrists, anybody's here into Steve Tibbets? I find him an extremelly talented musician, but a bit confused (I haven't heard his last one, though): too many things crowding on each other in his mucis. I am looking forward to him distilling all his ideas and coming up with a masterpiece (he is still a relatively young guy).

Have you heard the discs of the Anderson-Doran-Bennink trio on hat?

Review by Glenn Astarita

A multinational group, trombonist, Ray Anderson, (United States) and drummer, Han Bennink (Holland) are known for injecting wit and whimsy into various musical frameworks. The musicians infuse their playful tendencies into this set also featuring the equally talented electric guitarist, Christy Doran (Ireland). On this release, the trio is simply having a blast as they surge forward with the intensity of your average high-octane, heavy metal rock outfit. Here, Anderson's often-verbose mode of execution rides atop Bennink's rolling thunder, and Doran's quasi free-jazz/hard-rock style licks.

The trio engages in uninhibited dialogue in concert with ominous sounding undercurrents thanks to a rollicking and rolling presentation of pieces spanning bluesy, dirge-like progressions and turbulently executed exchanges. Doran utilizes delay effects amid blazingly fast single note leads, and a few ostinato motifs while Anderson and Bennink frequently trade sprightly fours. The musicians also provide the listener with softly enacted swing vamps along with some downright riotous interplay. Recommended!

Review by Thom Jurek

This trio's first recording, the wonderful Azurety, met with acclaim by critics and music fans alike for its gleeful abandon, musically astute terrorism, and tunes that were stop-on-a-dime tight. The trio, which was initially together just for a tour, is now a working unit and this second recording proves it. The originals by Christy Doran and Ray Anderson were written specifically to the strengths — and current obsessions — of each musician. Doran wrote "No Return" — with its crunchy New Orleans funk — with Han Bennink in mind (the drummer had just returned from West Africa and developed a jones for using bells). For his part, Anderson composed "My Own Children Are the Reason Why I Need to Own My Publishing" — which is all but humorous — as a bluesy wonder for his trombone's lyrical swing and Doran's trademark atmospheric shading. It's late-night lounge blues with a purpose, which is, it seems, a tender and loving paean to Anderson's kids. The free stuff ("Tabasco Cart," "Buckethead," etc.) is so playful it's hard to notice at first all the maneuvering that's going on between the three. Bennink is ripping the skins off in an attempt to make Doran push himself beyond his usual Jimi Hendrix machinations and match him in percussive expression. The title track is more bells from Bennink and whistles, and Doran using an African folk song as his root melody for Anderson to cruise through the registers on the tuba. It's a joyous dance of melodic invention and polyrhythmic grace. The overtones created by Doran's riffing play an excellent invertible counterpoint to Bennink's bells and whistles. When it slides into guttersnipe funk and slips into an off-kilter Cuban mambo, Doran takes off Robert Fripp style, and carries the band into the stratosphere. This date is killer — a blast to listen to. Guaranteed to cheer you up, even if you don't need it.

I haven't had them for a long time, and listened to only a couple of times. Will listen again and post some comments.

Also what I know of Doran is his recent project, the "New Bag" band. Some tough and straight, pretty dark, and pretty rock-drenched music, with the astonishing vocalist Bruno Amstad. I'm not sure how much I like that group, however.

Tim Berne and Jim Black sat in with them for a concert at Willisau in 1999 - this to make it understood in what general "direction" the music belongs.

ubu

[Д.Д.]

Have you heard the discs of the Anderson-Doran-Bennink trio on hat?

I haven't. These look really interesting. Hopefully they will get reissued by HatHut.

[king ubu]

Have you heard the discs of the Anderson-Doran-Bennink trio on hat?

I haven't. These look really interesting. Hopefully they will get reissued by HatHut.

I guess they will, sooner or later - why not drop Mr. Uehlinger an email?

On Doran again: listening to a few tracks from the Doran/Studer/Wittwer disc, his playing quite reminded me of McLaughlin. As with McLaughlin, what Doran does is a very competent (technically speaking) and creative handling of the WHOLE guitar tradition, from Charlie Christian to Jimi Hendrix. All there. I guess Wittwer, in the end, is more interesting, as he's a loner and not that prone to influences, but together, they make for some interesting walls of sound. And these walls are quite transparent, as there's no bass included.

ubu

[king ubu]

I like the phrase "musically astute terrorism" a lot . However, it would rather fit some Brötz or Ayler or such stuff, than this trio... but you know your Jurek, don't you

[Д.Д.]

As with McLaughlin, what Doran does is a very competent (technically speaking) and creative handling of the WHOLE guitar tradition, from Charlie Christian to Jimi Hendrix.

He-he, McLaughlin I cannot stand at all. All these fast up-and-down runs, too many notes and boring sound. I normally go to restromm during McLaughlin's solos on electric Miles discs. McLaughlin is one ofthe main reasons I don't listen to "Bitches Brew" too much.

I still have to hear his early disc with John Surman, which is supposed to be good, but other than that there is not much hope I'll become a McLaughlin fan.

[Claude]

Talking about ECM guitarrists, anybody's here into Steve Tibbets? I find him an extremelly talented musician, but a bit confused (I haven't heard his last one, though): too many things crowding on each other in his mucis. I am looking forward to him distilling all his ideas and coming up with a masterpiece (he is still a relatively young guy).

I think his album Safe journey/url] (already 20 years old) has been the peak of his recodings career, and that the following albums have just repeated the concept, although not as successfully.

http://www.frammis.com

[king ubu]

As with McLaughlin, what Doran does is a very competent (technically speaking) and creative handling of the WHOLE guitar tradition, from Charlie Christian to Jimi Hendrix.

He-he, McLaughlin I cannot stand at all. All these fast up-and-down runs, too many notes and boring sound. I normally go to restromm during McLaughlin's solos on electric Miles discs. McLaughlin is one ofthe main reasons I don't listen to "Bitches Brew" too much.

I still have to hear his early disc with John Surman, which is supposed to be good, but other than that there is not much hope I'll become a McLaughlin fan.

Now what am I supposed to answer to that?

Should I say: my dear gentleman, I consider this statement to be intolerable, impossible to say, and thus, never spoken?

Or should I say: has someone mentioned anything about John McLaughlin, I haven't heard anything...

Well well well well well, you, my dear friend don't know what you miss! Don't you just love his soloing on "In A Silent Way"? Also the very early stuff by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra I consider to be GREAT!

ubu

[gnhrtg]

McLaughlin (D.D.) - And in case it might lead to a favorable updating of your opinion of him, I'd also recommend his work with Shakti and Remember Shakti, the live ones in particular. The live record with Shakti, early one, packs a lot of fire and intensity.

[king ubu]

McLaughlin (D.D.) - And in case it might lead to a favorable updating of your opinion of him, I'd also recommend his work with Shakti and Remember Shakti, the live ones in particular. The live record with Shakti, early one, packs a lot of fire and intensity.

I heard/saw Remember Shakti live only a few months ago, and it was a great show! I can understand that some people could think of it as some self-indulgent virtuoso-playing without too much depth, but then I think McLaughlin really has learned a lot about classical indian music, and you ought to consider that when listening to his newer music, as he's as much (or even more) into that as into jazz.

[Д.Д.]

McLaughlin (D.D.) - And in case it might lead to a favorable updating of your opinion of him, I'd also recommend his work with Shakti and Remember Shakti, the live ones in particular. The live record with Shakti, early one, packs a lot of fire and intensity.

I heard/saw Remember Shakti live only a few months ago, and it was a great show! I can understand that some people could think of it as some self-indulgent virtuoso-playing without too much depth, but then I think McLaughlin really has learned a lot about classical indian music, and you ought to consider that when listening to his newer music, as he's as much (or even more) into that as into jazz.

I actually like "classical" Indian music (or musics - there are several different schools, as far as I understand). I have probably 20 CDs, collected absolutely randomly, and I plan to expand. The guy who played vioin with McLaughlin in Shakti - Shankar is phenomenal musician, and I have his discs where he's playing Indian ragas on his double-necked violin (it's on ECM), and they are unbelivable (I also have a couple of Frank Zappa bootleges with Shankar - now this is a genial violin-guitar interplay!). However the stuff I heard of him with McLaughlin I thought was only marginally better then Mahavishnu stuff (and I found it actually surprisingly similar to it, frankly, just packaged a bit differently), and is truly simplistic compared to Indian music.

I am not familiar with anything McLaughlin did after 1980 though, so obviously my knowledge is far from comprehensive. I guess I will pick up the Remeber Shakti if it is cheap.

[king ubu]

If you're into indian music, you should definitively check out Hariprasad Chaurasia! Probably my all time favourite. When you get a chance to, go see him live too (I've seen him twice) - an astonishing, and wonderful musician!

If you're lucky, you'll hear him with Zakir Hussain, one of the best (if not simply the best) tabla player. Beautiful stuff!

[7/4]

If you're into indian music, you should definitively check out Hariprasad Chaurasia! Probably my all time favourite. When you get a chance to, go see him live too (I've seen him twice) - an astonishing, and wonderful musician!

He's amazing. Also check out Hindustani Slide gtr by Debashish Bhattacharia, the best stuff is on India Archive Music.

[Д.Д.]

If you're into indian music, you should definitively check out Hariprasad Chaurasia! Probably my all time favourite. When you get a chance to, go see him live too (I've seen him twice) - an astonishing, and wonderful musician!

He's amazing. Also check out Hindustani Slide gtr by Debashish Bhattacharia, the best stuff is on India Archive Music.

Thanks for Indian recommendations, gentlemen. Good timing - I was just recently thinking about delving more into different "folk" musics.

Anybody's into African musics? One of my favorite discs (in my entire collection) is the one by Jali Musa Jawara called Yasimika (released on Ryko subsidiary Hannibal Records, now very much OOP). Jawara plays kora (a string lute-like sounding instrument) and sings; there are also two guitars, balafon (a percussive marimba-like thing) and otherworldly (is there a word in English?) female back up singers.

Everything on this disc is perfect, IMO: melodies (very rich), voice, background vocals (absolutely "non-Western" and just chanelling warmth and wisdom... I've never heard anything like this), musicanship (the guys - particularly Jawara on kora and the balafon guy are total virtuosos, as far as I can judge), improvisations (pretty unpredictable ones). A lot of emotion. I used to listen to this disc for days, and probably know it by heart now. There is something very deep and real about this music (and this is a common thing about "folk" music - you just feel that it is real).

AGM link: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&t...10:7027gj4r86iw

Started looking a bit, and found a relatively new release by Jawara (spelled Diawara):

So yeah, this improvisations on "Yasimika" are not for nothing. I'l be gettingthis one of course (although I normally don't have too much trust in modern bands that have "jazz" in their name).

Edited July 19, 2004 by Д.Д.

[king ubu]

D.D., I'm not much into this music (simply for lack of knowledge), but it really seems you ought to check out Roswell Rudd's recent MALIcool (Universal France)!

There's a thread somewhere in the new releases section!

ubu

[John B]

If you're into indian music, you should definitively check out Hariprasad Chaurasia! Probably my all time favourite.

His album Call of the Valley, with Shivkumar Sharma and Brijbushan Kabra is fantastic! Very highly recommended. He also appears on Zakir Hussain's Making Music, with John Maclaughlin and Jan Garbarek, which is another essential disc.

[John B]

Anybody's into African musics?

Yes, very much so. "African Music" is a very broad category that encompasses many varied types of music. Some of my current favorites are Fela Kuti, Ali Farka Toure, Thomas Mapfumo and several of the African discs in the Nonesuch Explorer series.

With Fela it is hard to go wrong with anything he released in the 1970's. An extremely solid and vastly influential body of work. MCA has been doing a wonderful job of re-releasing his albums with 2 records on 1 cd. I recently bought Koola Lobitos / The '69 L.A. Sessions, which feature his earliest released music, going back to previously unreleased material from 1964 by his band Koola Lobitos. This material predates his stay in the U.S. with his immersion in the music of James Brown as well as other U.S. soul and funk, leading to his creation of afrobeat. This disc is nowhere near as essential as his later '70's work but I enjoy it very much.

Ali Farka Toure is a guitar player and singer from Mali. He bridges the U.S. blues music of John Lee Hooker with traditional music of Mali. All of his albums that I have heard are very good, but The Source is my favorite, partially because it is the one I heard first and partially due to the beauty of his solo guitar track Cinquante Six.

Thomas Mapfumo is from Zimbabwe and features the mbira, an african thumb piano, in his group Blacks Unlimited. There are several collections of his work that are quite nice and I really enjoy his Live in El Ray album.

The Nonesuch explorer series is well worth ecploring (no pun intended) for anyone interested in "world music." There are many strong releases in the African series, featuring everything from solo oud to tribal chanting. They are very affordably priced, which makes it very easy to take a chance on some music you have never been exposed to before.

Also, to bring this post back to Funny Rat a bit, The fantastic Peter Brotzmann album The WELS concert features Hamid Drake along with Mahmoud Ghania from Morocco.

Edited July 20, 2004 by John B

[king ubu]

John, I know a little by all the three guys you mentioned - some best of from Mapfumo, some broadcast from Touré, both good!

Fela of course, well, is Fela... was it Lester Bowie that came to Nigeria somewhen in the seventies? I remember reading some great story! Gotta look for that, it's on the www somewhere.

ubu

[king ubu]

Here is an interview with Bowie, remembering his months with Fela:

LESTER BOWIE on Fela Kuti

[Jay Babcock]

Lester Bowie, who died Nov. 8, 1999 of complications from liver cancer, was

one of America's most acclaimed trumpet players and jazz composers. He is

best known for his work with the adventurous avant garde troupe Art

Ensemble of Chicago [see "Art Ensemble of Chicago: Great Black

Music-Ancient to Future" for more info]. Less than two months before Lester

joined the great orchestra on the other side, I was privileged to visit the

great labcoated trumpeter at his Brooklyn home.  As we shared half a

watermelon, Lester recalled his 1977 trip to Nigeria...

 

Lester Bowie: I'd always wanted to go to Africa. The Art Ensemble of

Chicago had been trying to get to Africa for years. So after one of our

European tours, I had enough money for a one-way ticket to Nigeria and I

think I had a hundred dollars. I didn't know anybody there, no idea about

anything. The hotel in Lagos where I was ended up staying at, the

restaurant's waiter found out I didn't know anyone, and he says, "Well what

you need to do is go see Fela." And I told him I ain't never heard of this

Fela before. And he said, "Well just get in a taxi cab and say, 'Take me to

Fela.' Everybody knows where Fela is."

        So the very next morning I get in a taxi cab and tell him to take

me to Fela. The guy takes me to this Crossroads hotel where Fela had really

taken over. The cab pulled up into the courtyard and I got out. I had my

horn with me and a couple of photos and records and so on, and this little

guy comes up to me and said, "Well, you're a musician?" I said, "Yeah." He

says, "What instrument do you play?" I says, "Trumpet." He says, "Well, You

must be pretty heavy. What kind of music do you play?" I says, "Jazz." He

says, "You must be pretty heavy then." I says, "Well, you know, a little

bit." He says, "Well you come to the right place." I say, "Why is that?" He

says, "Cuz we the baddest band in Africa!" [laughter]

        Fela was asleep. So he took me to a room and said, 'We'll get Fela

up.' Fela got up and we talked for a minute. He said, "Ah Lester Bowie,

you're from the Chicago Art Ensemble." I say, "Yeah that's right." And then

he tells this guy to bring in a record player. And he tells this other guy,

"Bring me my horn." The record was one that just had a rhythm section, so

he figured we'd play along with that. So I just blew. I didn't know anybody

in the town, I was playing my heart out there! So after I play about two

[verses], Fela says, '"STOP! Stop. Go get his bags. He's moving in!"

[laughter] And I stayed there I think for about six months.

        I stayed as an honored guest, so I was treated with the same

respect as Fela was treated with. He said, "I'll show you how to be an

African man. You want to be an African bandleader? I'll show you what it's

about." And he showed me what it was about! They'd bring us food. Nobody

else could eat until we finished. Which I wasn't used to, but I just played

it off like, you know, 'Cool with me too!' [laughter] He showed me about

all the wives. He had eight wives at that time. At that same time, I was

believing I should have more than one wife. At the time I was getting

divorced, I was between marriages. I thought the best thing for me to do

was have a couple of wives. But after I stayed with Fela for that time, I

saw that one was better! [laughs]  And I told him, "Fela, you've got too

many women. You don't have time to put into practice. You want to get into

jazz, it takes time, you know. You've got to practice. You can't just be

mediating arguments about who get the clothes or who get to drive this or

do that.

        Fela had about 50 people around him, and he was responsible for

'em. He was the chief, so they would come to him with ALL their problems.

Anything, he'd have to solve anything. There were people comin' in off the

streets asking for money all the time. And Fela, you have to realize, there

was always 10 to 15 people around him but him and I were sitting there

having a private conversation like you and I are right now. He always had a

court around him. But me and him were...

        He was like the village chief. He showed me what that was like and

I was helpin' him with the music. I was with Fela the whole time-I [even]

used to go to court with him when they were giving him a lot of

problems...Fela's house was burned down, they burned down the free clinic

he'd established for the people. I don't remember if he was in a cast at

the time, but he was HURT.

So during those six months, was he performing live?

He'd do performances in the courtyard of the hotel where we stayed. And we

did mostly studio work. We were in the studio a lot at that time. A lot of

the time Fela was just kinda showing me around. Fela would ask, "Lester,

you feel like playing tonight?" I'd say, "Yeah." So he'd find where a band

was playing, and then he owned a bus, about 30 people would get in the bus

and we'd sit in and play, you know. [chuckles] We'd get to the club, the

club owner would have a big table set up for all of us. It was something

else. His band, all the guys were really great, the whole band...and they

really treated me well and I had a good time. We played all the time, I'd

go around and hang out with all the different cats, show cats different

things about the music. Rehearsing with them a lot. It was quite

educational, believe me.

What did you learn?

It's a way of learning how to adapt what you know and fit it into what's

being played at that time, and seeing what works and what doesn't. It

broadens you, anytime you play in a different set of circumstances. I've

tried to play in just about any kind of situation. I could play with a bus.

A motorcycle. A baby crying. You learning how to deal with all these

different sounds. It's all about sound. You don't play bebop licks with a

truck going down a highway, you have to have something that works.

[laughter]

        Fela and I just hung out. Fela was interested in music, he was a

jazz fan! [laughs] He liked jazz... Like I said, he'd heard of me before.

So most of the time, we talked about the music. Music and its

ramifications. What it implied. What is it. What can it be used for. It's

about... Basically, I always believed art is functional. It's not just

something you put in museums, it's better for it to be used for something

functional: educational usage, therapeutic usage. But it should be USED.

Music should be used, not just as entertainment. I'm not saying it's NOT

entertainment. It's EVERYTHING. It's entertainment, it's religion, it's a

lot of things. That's what most of what our conversations would be about.

The spiritual aspect to the music, what binds all these different types of

musics together. That's why we say great Black music. I think Black music

is the only music that can be subdivided down into ten subdivisions, and

each division is like world astounding-type music, you know what I mean?

What was it like being in the studio with Fela?

When Fela was in the studio, we were either learning the tunes or playing

the tunes or recording the songs. He was very serious about the music, and

he was serious in a way I can respect. He would do a lot of parts on the

organ or keyboard or something. He would maybe write something out for his

own reference, but after that he would go play it. He always created our

songs in the studio. He'd do a part and show it to the horns and say, do

that. He'd work em out on keyboard. I just did what he wanted me to do. If

he'd suggest something, I'd suggest something, we'd just do it. But he had

kind of the same work ethic as me. Like when I work, I'm going to work. If

I'm gonna play, I'm gonna play. If I'm working, I'm working. If I'm making

a record, I'm making a record. So we got on great.

Why did you leave?

After seven months, I was starting to get migraine headaches. Between eight

wives...seeing all that entourage Fela had... the police and the

soldiers...When they suggested I leave, I was ready to go! [laughs] What

happened was word came down that people were asking, "Who was this guy from

New York? We heard he's a troublemaker. It'd be best for him to get out of

town."  Which I rapidly did, because I didn't want to end up in a Nigerian

jail! And I had to bribe-this is the type of corruption going on there-I

had to pay 50 bucks at the airport to a uniformed guy just to get a plane

reservation!

        Later on someone gave me a tape of those same guys in the band. And

those guys were still playing like me, especially the trumpet player, still

playing some of my stuff! We had a good time. I'd always try and see Fela

when he came to New York [later on].

Ginger [baker] said Fela was a truly humorous man.

Oh yeah, he was.

Always in his underwear.

In his underwear, smoking those big ol' joints... [laughter]

Edited July 20, 2004 by king ubu

[John B]

great interview! thank you for posting that, ubu.

[king ubu]

great interview! thank you for posting that, ubu.

Welcome!

Here's the source: http://www.jaybabcock.com/lester.html

I read the story in another interview, but that one was on lots of other things, and Fela was mentioned only shortly.

ubu