Another Review.....

[AllenLowe]

from the blog Stash Dauber:

"Musicologist-author-muso Allen Lowe always gives you More, and when you're time-and-attention challenged the way I am, it can take a minute to get through everything. His current release, In the Diaspora of the Diaspora, is a set of five CDs, all but one recorded this year, which you can purchase individually (a new thing in his discography), and I've been listening to them in my car, which is where I do my "deep" listening these days.

The absence in all but one case of Lowe's usual voluminous liner notes is indicative, perhaps, of a degree of explicatory exhaustion similar to that which befell FZ midway through his multi-volume You Can't Do That Onstage Anymore project. I Alone: The Everlasting Beauty of Monotony features the estimable pianist Matthew Shipp, half solo and half in group contexts, but is most notable to guitar freaks like your humble chronicler o' events for the presence of Michael Gregory Jackson on three tracks. There's more bop in his style than I remember from his '70s sides, and he does innaresting things with sustain and a whammy bar to boot. To these feedback-scorched ears, Shipp is heard to better advantage on Ballad for Albert, recorded a couple of months later, with a smaller ensemble.

Where A Cigarette is Smoked by Ten Men has Lowe playing vibrato-laden tenor as well as alto alongside clarinetist Zoe Christiansen, a player who combines modern ideas with a sound steeped in the history of her instrument. The spirit of Eric Dolphy is audibly present, both in the solos and in Lowe's writing. On We Will Gather When We Gather, featured guest Hamiet Bluiett fulminates with suppressed rage on baritone -- appropriate for a set that includes a dedication to the victims of the Charleston church shooting -- and coaxes fire from Lowe and tenorist Ras Moshe Burnett, but the big surprises are a trumpeter (Matt Lavelle) and guitarist (Ava Mendoza) who splatter and splinter their sounds in ways I respond to. Lowe's compositions here echo Mingus, with plenty of blues and blood in the mix.

The most forward-looking item in this series is also the oldest. Man With Guitar: Where's Robert Johnson? was recorded in 2013 and features Lowe alternating tracks on alto with ex-Miles sideman Gary Bartz in an ensemble that also includes both DJ Logic and Lowe mainstay Jake Millett on turntables and electronics, and Brian Simontacchi on trombone. Lowe always has a lot to say, and wants to share all of it. The net effect of this impulse is to reduce the likelihood that a lot of people will hear this music. A pity, as all of it is worth hearing. And We Will Gather When We Gather is essential."
 

Edited November 19, 2015 by AllenLowe

[jeffcrom]

Cool, and well-deserved.

[AllenLowe]

Phil Overeem:

 

"This segment is dedicated to the very recent work of Allen Lowe, not only one of the most ambitious, prolific, and interesting jazz composers alive but also a talented saxophonist, an essential author for anyone wanting to deeply understand this country's music, and a musicologist who can compile a 36-disc about the flexibility and mischievousness of the blues that, at this late date, is full of surprises, no matter how well-versed the listener is. Among musicians, only Swamp Dogg, Charles Mingus, and early Bob Dylan are his peers in piquantly and entertainingly writing one's own liner notes. He toils away in the state of Maine, pursuing the "everlasting beauty of monotony" (Benjamin Britten) and--successfully, I would argue--pushing his work to speak in new ways about who we are. If that sounds complicated, it is, a little, but it doesn't violate the law of diminishing returns, I assure you. He has recently released five new records that deserve praise; since, according to Roger Price's Law, "if everyone doesn't want it, nobody gets it," the best way to grab 'em is to contact Allen directly at allenlowe5@gmail.com about the ones you're interested in. Explore his previous work at http://www.allenlowe.com/ Keep your eyes peeled for his upcoming Mary Lou Williams Suite, portions of which appear herein. Now, to the reviews...

*MATTHEW SHIPP PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ALLEN LOWE - 8.8 - Shipp, who's made his pianistic bones in more abstract settings (notably with David S. Ware), is movingly earthbound here, often striking veins of dark, complicated romanticism that are, I think, at the heart of Lowe's work. The composer's alto will remind you of Dolphy's angularity and Parker's headlong expressionism--a pleasinngly drier-toned version--and bassist Kevin Ray, who plays on most of these recordings, is a wonder: I seemed to learned more about Lowe's writing following Ray on my third and fourth listen than from focusing on any other musician.
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From the IN THE DIASPORA OF THE DIASPORA series (Allen considers all of his work as fitting under this umbrella, which refers to the diaspora cascading out from the original music of the African diaspora--where, in Lowe's own words (words, I suspect, that have gotten him in Dutch), "tradition becomes both a means of respectful worship and a matter of subversion..."--but these four records are specifically designated as such):

*WE WILL GATHER WHEN WE GATHER - 10 - One of the very best jazz albums of the year, with the baritone of Master Hamiet Bluiett shooting worship and subversion through Lowe's blues- and gospel-colored compositions. Ava Mendoza's guitar-skronks, Matt Lavelle's skittery trumpet (makes me miss Don Cherry even more--and you should mos def try his Monk record!), and Jake Millet's turntable scrubs and scratches combine with Bluiett's inventions to do the most justice to Lowe's vision of any in the series. Pick to click: the first serious composition--to my knowledge--to honor and mourn the murdered Charleston churchgoers, "Theme for the Nine," maybe my favorite and definitely my most-played track so far. I wish I could share a track with the #CharlestonSyllabus project. There is a way....

*MAN WITH THE GUITAR: WHERE'S ROBERT JOHNSON? - 9.3 - Electronics and turntables are frequent voices in Lowe's work, and here DJ Logic and Millett answer the title question: Johnson's ghost haunts the spaces in our best music, as it certainly does on this record (though you won't hear Robert sampled, you'll be excitingly jolted out of your contemplation by flickers of Charley Patton's rasp). Lowe plays tenor and operates electronics on this recording along with playing alto, and Gary Bartz sounds more alive than he has in years, alto-testifying on "Slave Rebellion," "Delta Sunset," and "Blues Forever After."

*WHEN A CIGARETTE IS SMOKED BY TEN MEN - 9 - A showcase for an exciting young clarinetist, Zoe Christiansen, with a nod to Pee Wee Russell, a wry jab at Howard Hunt, and two joyful tracks with desolate titles.

*BALLAD FOR ALBERT - 8.5 - This is essentially a trio record, with Millet's almost-subliminal murmurings of current providing some disruptive texture. I am not sure which Albert the record's named for (could be Ayler, but, being a longtime fan, I don't quite hear it), but I am sure that the ballads are lovely and deep--in fact, Lowe's ballad playing is a shining thread that runs through all five records. Special shout-out to "Maui Shuffle," which, like many of Allen's compositions, can make you think the record's advanced a track if you leave the room, which I adamantly advise you not to do on these records. Hit the WC ahead of time, grab a drink, get comfortable, and lock in--you will be rewarded.

If you get into Lowe, advanced directly to his masterpiece, MULATTO RADIO: FIELD RECORDINGS 1-4, one of my very favorite records of 2014--so good I couldn't write about it, if that makes sense. And explore his earlier work, which, unsurprisingly--ranges across the diaspora of the diaspora.

This entry is dedicated to my fellow Facebook jazz fans who might feel there's no one left to explore (there are surely more players than Allen, but none with a deeper well), and to Allen himself--may you wander out of Maine and into Missouri one day."

Edited November 19, 2015 by AllenLowe