"Top Ten From the Free Jazz Underground"

Here's an oldie but a goodie from Thurston Moore, that I like to come back to from time to time. His "top ten" list (which let's face it, went way beyond a top ten) has been a source of inspiration as I've searched to find exciting music to listen to, and occasionally share.

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TOP TEN FROM THE FREE JAZZ UNDERGROUND

by thurston moore

No matter how you listen to it JAZZ is ostensibly about FREEDOM.

FREEDOM and the MYSTERY surrounding it.

And, like MUSIC, it is an ABSTRACT.

It's SHAPES, FORMS (SOUNDS!) are DISTINCT and PERSONAL and SENSITIVE to each player's DESIRE.

And the DESIRE is INFINITE.

FREEDOM is not just another word for nothing left to lose.

We know this from MESSAGES beamed from the space-lantern of his cosmic highness SUN RA!
The MESSAGE was clear:

"NOTHING IS."

To freely improvise a solo within a structural context may have begun with a young Louis Armstrong in the early 20's. As a boy he grew up in New Orleans hearing and seeing musicians both black and white cultivating a celebratory and spiritual vibe.
They were flowers in the dustbin.
Slaveships stole the horns and drums. The captured African would not be allowed to communicate as they had.
Upon THE FREEDOM ACT the freed slave sought and fought for the EXPRESSION oppressed.
And THE FREEDOM PRINCIPLE developed.
Jelly Roll Morton, like Louis Armstrong began to record compositions of PURE BLACK AWARENESS. Both these men had been witness, early in the century, to BUDDY BOLDEN - a man who supposedly blew the cornet so masterfully (and so loud!) that his legend was rampant. He supposedly recorded upon a cylinder (pre-vinyl format) and it has yet to be found!!
Ideas of improvisation, live and on recordings, became increasingly more sophisticated and political throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's. From Lester Youngs' twisting reedy tones to Charlie Parkers spurious key changes and (along with Miles Davis, Max Roach, et al) hyper-fast note-fly.
John Coltrane was the man. With the introduction of the long-playing record, people like Trane could experiment and extend their playing for posterity.
The vinyl communicated around the world. Trane's SOUND was BEAUTIFUL and COMPLEX and inspired all who received it. Trane himself was duly inspired by some of the most far-out musicians of the then burgeoning jazz avant-garde. Chief amongst them was Sun Ra & his Arkestra.
Factions of experimentation abounded throughout the 50's and 60's. Trane, Ra, Ornette Coleman and his white plastic alto playing notes and tones at once beautiful and harsh. Thelonius Monk, Lennie Tristano, Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy composing and playing music inspired by whole worlds of experience (blues, eastern and western classical, religion, etc.)
Music like no one had yet imagined would emanate from the wild hearts of those such as Albert Ayler and Cecil Taylor.
These are all names of artists commonly associated with the avant-garde jazz underground of the 20th century. They all recorded fairly prolifically throughout their lifetimes (and some, like Cecil Taylor, continue). But there were so many more musicians performing and recording so-called "new" music at the time. It happened mostly in the late 60's/early 70's with the concept of artist-run collectives coming into fruition.
To play jazz totally FREE and ORGANIC was a gesture whose time had come in the 60's. It was SOCIAL and POLITICAL for reasons involving relationship, race, fury, rage, peace, war, love and FREEDOM.
We search for artifacts from this underground constantly. They were arcane and obscure at the time and are even more so today. No record labels are reissuing this stuff (some are e.g.: Evidence Records reissuing all of Sun Ra's independent Saturn label releases).
Here's a list of ten (out of hundreds of) LP's recorded in total grassroots fashion from the FREE-JAZZ underground. These are fairly impossible to locate and if you want to know what FREE-JAZZ may sound like you can get CD's of certain crucial classics where this music was allowed to exist: John Coltrane-Interstellar Space (Impulse/MCA), Ornette Coleman-Beauty Is A Rare Thing (Atlantic/Rhino), The Art Ensemble - 1967/68 (Nessa, PO Box 394, Whitehall, MI 49461), Sun Ra-various titles (Evidence)

TOP TEN FREE JAZZ UNDERGROUND

1. DAVE BURRELL - Echo (BYG 529.320/Actuel Volume 20)..

In the fall of 1969 Free Jazz was reaching a kind of nadir/nexus. Within the industry it was controversial. Classic traditionalists (beboppers included) were outraged by men in dashikis and sandals jumping on stage and just BLOWING their guts out creating screaming torrents of action. Most musicians involved with this crying anarchy could get no bookings beyond the New York loft set. The French lovers of the avant-garde embraced this African-American scene wholly. This recording is one of many in a series of LP's with consistent design. BYG released classic Free Jazz documents by Archie Shepp (at his wildest), Clifford Thornton, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Grachan Moncur III, Sunny Murray, Alan Silva, Arthur Jones, Dewey Redman and many others. A lot of these cats are present on this recording where from the first groove it sounds like an acoustic tidal wave exploding into shards of dynamite. If you can locate Alan Silva's "Lunar Surface" LP (BYG 529.312/Actuel Vol. 12) you'll find a world even that much more OUT.

2. MILFORD GRAVES & DON PULLEN - Nommo (S.R.P. LP-290)

Milford may be one of the most important players in the Free Jazz underground. He enforces the sense of community as a primary exponent of his freely improvised music. His drumkit is home-made and he rarely performs outside of his neighborhood. When he does perform he plays his kit like no other. Wild, slapping, bashing, tribal freak-outs interplexed with silence, serenity and enlightened meditation. This LP was manufactured by the artists in 1967 and is recorded live at Yale University. The interplay between Milford and Don (piano) is remarkable and very free. There's a second volume which also is as rare as hen's teeth.

3. ARTHUR DOYLE Plus 4 - Alabama Feeling (AK-BA AK-1030)

Arthur is a strange cat. Not too many people know where he's from (Alabama is a good guess). He resided in New York City in the 70's and showed up in loftspaces spitting out incredible post-Aylerisms. Mystic music which took on the air of chasing ghosts and spirits through halls of mirrors (!). He hooked up with noise/action guitarist Rudolph Grey who was making the current No-Wave scene and with Beaver Harris (drums) they played gigs in front of unsuspecting art creeps apparently not "hip" enough to dig, let alone document, the history blasting their brains. Arthur did release this lo-fi masterpiece and it's a spiraling cry of freedom and fury. AKBA Records released a number of classic NYC loft-jazz sessions, most notably those of label boss Charles Tyler, a screaming tenor player who also blew with Rudolph in the late 70's/early 80's. Arthur continues to play/teach etc. in Binghamton, N.Y. and recently released in 1993 "More Alabama Feeling" on yours truly's Ecstatic Peace label (available from Forced Exposure/POB 9102/Waltham, MA 02254)

4. SONNY MURRAY - Sonny's Time Now (Jihad 663)

Sonny was the drummer considered to be the first to realize and recognize and perform, on drums, pure FREE jazz. He played behind and along with Ayler early on and Cecil Taylor. He constructed groups which always flew and raged with spiritual abandon. He took time as an abstract and turned it into free motion. This recording is super-lo-fi and is awesome. On it play Ayler(tenor) and Don Cherry (trumpet) as well as Leroi Jones (now known as Amiri Baraka) reading a killer poem called "Black Art". This music is very Ayler but more fractured and odd. Like a lot of these records there is only a front cover with the back of the jacket blank. Whether this was done for economic or artistic reasons is unclear. Jihad was a concern of Leroi Jones and anything released on this label is utterly obscure. The only other title I've seen is one just called "BLACK AND BEAUTIFUL" from the mid-60's which is Leroi and friends sitting on the stoops of Harlem chanting, beating drums and celebrating Leroi's "poems" ("The white man/at best/is..corny!") There was an ad for Jihad in an old issue of Jazz & Pop magazine which announced a Don Ayler (Albert's amazing trumpet-playing bro) LP but I've yet to meet anyone who's actually seen this. "Sonny's Time Now" was reissued a few years ago in Japan (DIW-25002) on CD and LP (with an enclosed 7" of two extra scratchy tracks!) but even that is near impossible to locate. Recorded in 1965.

5. THE RIC COLBECK QUARTET - The Sun Is Coming Up (Fontana 6383 001)

Issued in the UK only in 1970. Ric was an interesting white cat who came to the U.S. to blow some free e-motion with NYC loft dwellers. He's most well known for his amazing playing on the great Noah Howard's first ESP-Disk release (ESP 1031). The whole 1000 series of ESP is critical & crucial to anybody wanting to explore this era of Free Jazz featuring recordings by Ayler, Ornette, Sonny Simmons, Sun Ra, Henry Grimes, Steve Lacy, Sunny Murray, Marzette Watts, Patty Waters, et al. I'm not including any of these in this list as they're all available on CD now (from Forced Exposure, address above). The picture of Ric on the Noah Howard LP shows a man with race-car shades and a "cool" haircut playing his horn while a ciggie burns nonchalantly from his relaxed grip. A very hip dude. And very FREE. His only solo recording is this Fontana LP which he recorded while cruising through Europe. He connected with South African drummer Selwyn Lissack (whatever happened to...) and the UK's famous avant-altoist Mike Osborne and bassist J.F. 'Jenny' Clark (student of 20th century compositionists Lucian Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen) to create this exceptional and complex masterpiece

6. JOHN TCHICAI AND CADENTIA NOVA DANICA - Afrodisiaca (MPS CRM711)

Tchicai is a 6'6" Danish/Congolese tenor sax player who, in the early 60's, started blowing minds all across the Netherlands with his radical "music for the future". Archie Shepp encouraged him to come to NYC and join like-minded souls of avant-guardia. Tchicai came over and kicked everybodys ass. Leroi Jones shouted his name and talent loudly as Tchicai hooked up with Shepp and Don Cherry for the New York Contemporary Five and later an even heavier ensemble with Milford Graves and Roswell Rudd called the New York Art Quartet. The NYAQ recorded one of the most crucial sessions for ESP-Disk (esp1004) which had Leroi reciting his infamous BLACK DADA NIHILISMUS (available on CD from Forced Exposure). AFRODISIACA was released in Germany (and in other re-release configurations...supposedly) and is Tchicai gathered with 25 other local-Euro musicians playing a hurricane of a piece by trumpet/composer Hugh Steinmetz. This music gets way way out and has the real ability to take you "there". The echo effect on some of this shit is quite ill in a very analog way. And the way the shit gets that dirty-needled distortion at the end of side one (all 25 cats GOING AT IT!) is beautiful, baby, BEAUTIFUL!!

7. RASHIED ALI and FRANK LOWE - Duo Exchange (Survival SR101)

Frank Lowe has been studying and playing a consistently developing tenor sax style for a few decades now. At present he's been swinging through a Lester Young trip which can be heard majestically on his Ecstatic Peace recording (E#19..from Forced Exp.) In the early 70's, however, he was a firebrande who snarled and blew hot lava skronk from loft to loft. He played with Alice Coltrane on some of her more out sessions. Rashied Ali was the free-yet-disciplined drummer whom Coltrane enlisted to play alongside Elvin Jones and Pharaoh Sanders (and Alice) in his last mind-bending, space-maniacal recordings (check out surely the Coltrane/Ali duet CD Interstellar Space). Elvin quit the group cuz Rashied was too hardcore. Those were the fuckin' days. And Rashied had his own club downtown NYC called Ali's Alley! Duo Exchange is Rashied and Frank completely going at it and just burning notes and chords where ever they can find 'em. Totally sick. Survival was Rashied's record label which had cool b&w matte sleeves and some crucial releases mostly with his quartet/quintet and a duo session with violinist LeRoy Jenkins.

8. THE PETER BROTZMANN SEXTET/QUARTET - Nipples (Calig - CAL30604)

The influence of Free Jazz-era Coltrane, Ayler, Esp-disk, Shepp, etc. on hard drinking, knuckle-biting European white cats is formidable. These guys didn't care so much about plaing "jazz" as just totally ripping their guts out with high-energy, brain-plowing NOISE. Brotzmann (sax, German), Evan Parker (sax, UK), Derek Bailey (guitar, UK), and Han Bennink (drums, Dutch) are a few of the spearheaders of this Free-Euro scene and are caught on this insanely rare early document. The b&w cover has a fold-out accordion post card set of personal images of the musicians glued and paperclipped to its front. Brotzmann went on to help further the critical documentation of the Euro-Free-Jazz scene with FMP (Free Music Productions) Records which still exists to this day. There are over a 100 releases on this label of pure Euro-improv and they all offer remarkable moments. Derek Bailey went on to create his own categorically similar Incus Records in the UK which is also still extant. As is the Han Bennink associated I.C.P. (Instant Composers Pool) Records. The most mind-blasting of these recordings may be MACHINE GUN (FMP 24 CD available from NorthCountry Distr./Cadence Bldg./Redwood, NY 13679) where Brotzmann leads an octet through a smashing clanging wonderland of noise. Improvisation and classic western musics are seriously tended to by a large Euro community and it's all pretty fascinating. Check out the works of Alexander von Schlippenbach, Barry Guy & The London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Misha Mengleberg, Peter Kowald, Andre Jaume, Andrea Centazzo, Lol Coxhill and just about anybody who plays with them.

9. THE MARZETTE WATTS ENSEMBLE - (Savoy MG-12193)

Marzette was a serious black art cat who resided in downtown NYC when Free Jazz as a NEW cultural revolution was in full gear. He painted and composed wonderful music where some of the coolest locals could flow their flavor. One of the heaviest ESP-disk recordings is Marzette's MARZETTE AND COMPANY (On CD from Forced Exposure) which has the incredible talents of saxist Byard Lancaster (who released an early indie b&w Free Jazz classic out of Philly called LIVE AT MCALLISTER COLLEGE - find it and send it to me..) and guitarist Sonny Sharrock (check his wild influence on Pharaoh Sanders' TAUHID Impulse CD and his own obscure noise guitar masterpiece BLACK WOMAN on Vortex) and cornetist Clifford Thornton (academic NEW MUSIC/Free Jazz "teacher" who released a few crucial sides such as COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK on Third World and THE PANTHER AND THE LASH on America) and the amazing free vocalist Patty Waters (who recorded two infamous hair-raising platters on ESP-Disc). This recording on Savoy was one of a series produced by Bill Dixon, an early associate of Archie Shepp's, who was an incredible composer in his own right. I've heard tapes of Dixon leading Free-Jazz orchestras into sonic symphonic heavens. Very hardcore.

This recording I list because of all its obvious loaded references but it's also quite happening and anything with Marzette, Dixon (especially INTENTS AND PURPOSES on RCA Victor), Byard (careful, there's some clinkers) and Clifford is extremely worthwhile.

10. MARION BROWN - In Sommerhausen (Calig 30 605)
BLACK ARTISTS GROUP - In Paris, Aries 1973 (BAG 324 000)
FRANK WRIGHT QUARTET - Uhuru Na Umoja (America 30 AM 6104)
DR. UMEZU-SEIKATSU KOJYO IINKAI - (SKI NO. 1)
CECIL TAYLOR - Indent, part 2 (Unit Core 30555)

Five way tie for last? Well, seeing as there's no "beginning" or "end" to this shit I have to list as many items as possible just to reiterate the fact that there was (indeed) a ton o' groovy artifactual evidence to support the reality of the existence of FREE MUSIC. Dig? There's used record stores all over the country (the world!) and they all have the potential to be hiding some of these curios amongst the bins and most peeps just ain't sure of their worth and sometimes you can find 'em really cheap. It's definitely a marketplace of the rarefied so when peeps are "hip" to it expect this shit to be way pricey.

Marion Brown was/is an alto player who made an incredible LP with Tony Oxley and Maarten Altena called "Porto Novo" that just twists and burns start to finish. Marion could really get on OUT as well as just play straight up. Shepp dug him and got him to do some great LP's on Impulse. He had a septet at one point that was especially remarkable featuring Beaver Harris (drums), Dave Burrell (piano), Grachan Moncur III (bone), and Alan Shorter (trumpet). Alan being Wayne Shorter's (Miles Davis sideman/classicist) brother. Where Wayne was fairly contemporary (though eclectic as a muh'fuck) Alan was strictly ill and has two obscuro LP's worth hunting down: "Orgasm" (Verve V6 8768) and "Tes Estat" (America AM 6118). "In Sommerhausen" is Marion in late 60's exploratory fashion and is quite freaky with the vocal whoops of Jeanne Lee. There's another LP from this period called "Gesprachsfetzen" (Calig CAL 30601) which really lays down the scorch.

The Black Artists Group was an unit not unlike that of The Art Ensemble of Chicago. Except they only recorded this one document and it only came out in France on a label named after the group. This is squeaky, spindly stuff and very OPEN and a good indication of what was happening in the early 70's with members Oliver Lake (later of the infamous World Saxophone Quartet) and Joseph Bowie (Art Ensemble's Lester Bowie's bro, later to start Defunkt).

Tenor saxist Frank Wright may be (previous to Charles Gayle's current reign) the heir apparent to both Trane and Ayler. Unfortunately he had a heart attack a few years back while rockin' the bandstand. All his recordings are more than worthwhile especially his BYG outing "One For John" (529.336/Actuel Vol. 36), his two ESP sessions (on CD from Forced Exposure) and his Center-of-the-World series of trio recordings with Alan Silva (bass) and Muhammed Ali (drums - Rashied's brother, not the pugilist) on the French label Sun. This LP "Uhuru.." is nothing short of killer with the great Noah Howard (alto), Bobby Few (pianist of Steve Lacy fame) and Art Taylor (heavy old-school drummer in free mode) going OUT and AT IT in stunning reverie.

FREE JAZZ of course made a strong impression on the more existential-sensitive populace of Japan. Some real masters came out of the Japanese scene and were influential to some of the more renowned noise artists of today (Boredoms, Haino Keiji). One such Jap-cat is alt-saxist Dr. Umezu who has mixed it up with NYC loft-dwellers on more than one occasion. On this completely obscure, underground release he unleashed some pretty free shit with the likes of William Parker (bass), Ahmed Abdullah (trumpet), and Rashid Shinan (drums). Parker is possibly one of the most important FREE musicians working in NYC. He's got his own constant writing/performing schedule as well as gigs with anyone from Cecil Taylor to Charles Gayle. He recorded one solo LP in the 70's called "Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace" (Centering Records 1001) which is, as you might've guessed, "good".

I suppose we should wind things up with the king of FREE MUSIC then and now: Cecil Taylor. Cecil started experimenting with sound, new concepts of "swing", open rhythms and room dynamics very early on. He furthered his adventure with music-conservatory studies and applied a master's technique to his fleeting, furious, highly-sensitive pianistic ACTIONS. Today he's almost shaman-like in his mystic noise transploits. He hates record business weasels after years of scorn and neglect (club owners had been know to beat him up after gigs claiming he damaged their pianos) and records now for the aforementioned artist's label FMP. In the early 70's he had his own label called Unit Core and released two crucial LP's: the one listed above and one titled "Spring of Two Blue J's" (Unit Core 30551). This is when his group included two critical figures on the FREE scene. Alt-saxist Jimmy Lyons (now deceased) was a consistent improviser and a perfect player alongside Cecil as was veteran drummer Andrew Cyrille who recorded his own solo (and duos with the likes of Milford Graves and Peter Brotzmann) LP's on various small labels (BYG, FMP, Ictus).

So..that's it...and that's not it. If you're at all intrigued by this personal primer do yourself a favor and seek some of this shit out and free yr fucking mind and yr ass will surely scream and SHOUT.

later...............thurston
Copyright Grand Royale magazine/Thurston Moore
http://www.evol.org/free.jazz.html

Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Conspiracy Nation

Performers:
Arthur Doyle (tenor sax, voice, flute, recorder)
Leslie Q (bass, guitar) Ed Wilcox (drums, percussion)
Vinnie Paternostro (Roland 505)
Tim Poland (Clavinova) Dave Cross (turntable, Ibanez DM 1100 sampler, drums on side 1, track 1.)

Tracks:
1. Birdman
2. Ahead A Pothead
3. Barbatiri
4. Love Ship
5. Pull the String
6. Alabama and Mississippi Reunited
7. No Title

Side One rec. at Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY on January 24, 2002. Side Two rec. at Analog Shock Club, Rochester, NY on January 26, 2002. Available as LP only

One of a number of vinyl-only releases on Qbico. Doyle has been on a roll since he began his comeback in the 1990s.

Download Conspiracy Nation

Arthur Doyle and Sunny Murray: Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe

Performers:
Arthur Doyle (flute, tenor sax, voice)
Bengt Frippe Nordström (alto sax)
Sunny Murray (drums)

Tracks:
1. Spontaneous Creation, Pt. 1
2. Spontaneous Creation, Pt. 2
3. Spontaneous Creation, Pt. 3
4. African Love Call
5. Two Free Jazz Men Speak
6. Nature Boy
7. Joy

Liner Notes: Arthur Doyle and Sune Spångberg
Photography and Cover Art: Åke Bjurhamn
Engineer: Per Ruthström

You know if Arthur Doyle and Sunny Murray are involved, the results will be incendiary.


Download Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe

Arthur Doyle: Plays and Sings From the Songbook Vol. 1

Here's another Arthur Doyle album - this one recorded around the time Doyle began his comeback after returning from France, where he had done time for a crime he didn't commit. While in the joint, he wrote down a bunch of tunes and lyrics, and some of that material became among the first songs he'd record once he finally got the chance again. Doyle fans will know what to expect in this set - it's a solo recording in the truest sense of the term, with Doyle playing multiple instruments (flute, piano, and of course, tenor sax) as well as serving up some vocal performance art. I've mentioned before that his vocal style is definitely unique. Listeners with an ear for free jazz will likely have the open mind needed to truly appreciate what Doyle is trying to do here. Many of these songs have been since recorded in a variety of contexts, from solo performances to sax-drum duos, to various electric and acoustic combos.

Recorded in 1992, it would take three years for it to finally see the light of day on Audible Hiss.

Tracks:
1. Ozy Lady Dozy Lady
2. Yo Yoo>Yo Yoo
3. Olca Cola in Angola
4. Hey Minnie Hey Wilbur Hey Mingus
5. Flue Song
6. Just Get The Funk Spot
7. Goverey

The cover art and design were handled by Doyle's old friend and former Blue Humans band mate Rudolph Grey.

Download Plays and Sings From the Songbook Vol. 1

Arthur Doyle: Live in Japan Doing the Breakdown

By this point, you should know what you're getting into whenever you download and play an Arthur Doyle joint. This recording features Doyle performing solo during his late 1990s tour of Japan. Doyle is credited with playing tenor sax, piano, and vocals; and of course all compositions and words are credited to Doyle. The album was released in 1998 on Yokoto Music Entertainment. Other credits:

Produced by Yokoto Shigeru

Master Engineer: Hashimoto Yoei
Photography (cover and back): Wakui Hiromi
Designer: Akiyama Shin

Tracks:
1. African Queen
2. Ozy Lady Dozy Lady
3. Noah Black Ark
4. Goverey
5. Doing the Breakdown
6. Just Get the Funkspot

Tracks 1-3 recorded at Modern Art Museum Sendai (11-5-1997)
Track 4 recorded at Barber Fuji (11-10-1997)
Tracks 5-6 recorded at Shuyukan (11-8-1997)

I'm not sure this recording will necessarily win over any new fans, but for those of us who are Arthur Doyle completists, it's a must.

Download Live in Japan Doing the Breakdown

Ilia Belorukov

Here's a bio from Ilia's website:

Ilia is a young (born 1987) saxophonist from Saint-Petersburg, Russia. He works in the direction of free improvisation, free-jazz, noise and electroacoustic music. Ilia practices an experimental approach of sound extraction on different types of saxophones (alto, tenor and baritone) and on flute (inc. fluteophone). In his compositions and improvisations you can find out influences of John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker and other masters of improvised music.
The artist records and distributes his music by himself. He often plays at The Gallery of Experimental Sound – 21 (GES-21), Saint-Petersburg.

Ilia has played with such musicians as David Stackenäs (Sweden), Ignaz Schick (Germany), Arkadij Gotesman, Skirmantas Sasnauskas (Lithuania), Black Motor trio, Tero Kemppainen, Jaakko Tolvi & Topias Tiheäsalo (Finland), Edyta Fil (Poland), George Bagdasarov (Armenia/Czech), Demetrius Spaneas (USA), Vladislav Makarov, Sergey Letov, Nikolay Rubanov, Alexey Lapin, Dmitriy Kakhovskiy, Alexei Borisov, Philip Croaton. Together with Dots & Lines group (trio with Roman Stolyar and Andrey Popovskiy) he performed on the festival of Jazz.Ru portal dedicated to it’s 10th anniversary. He’s also a member of Wozzeck, Totalitarian Musical Sect (TMS).

He collaborates with musicians of other genres: with Moscow groups crrust (experimental hardcore), Tooth Kink (noise, live electronics), Motherfathers (noise-rock), Solntsetsvety (magical unicellular music); with St.-Petersburg avant-rock band Hg (Rtut'). Benzolnye Mertvecy (improvised noisecore), with Samara mathcore-band Penny Flame.

At the same site, he lists as his influences:

John Coltrane, John Zorn, Tim Berne, Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Frode Gjerstad, John Butcher, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Lasse Marhaug, Phill Niblock, Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, Jeff Beck, Leonid Fedorov & Vladimir Volkov, Zu, Fennesz, Anton Webern, Alban Berg, Arvo Part, Gyorgy Ligeti, Alfred Schnittke, Valentin Silvestrov, Louis Andriessen, Paul Desmond, Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Grenouer, crrust, Converge, Isis

One thing rather notable about Ilia Belorukov is that a number of his recordings are available for download free of charge. What I'll be doing here is to provide a sampler of albums from projects that he is involved with in order to give you an idea of his range of interests. I'll start with the album that served as my introduction to his music.

dadazu: sin of omission



The music is a continuous 79 minute jam from a live gig in late 2007. It's a dark, moody, improvised drone piece, for lack of a better description. From the recording's site:

Recorded live at 13/11/2007 [esg21]
Mixing & recording: Dima Yalkin
Mastered by M. Pozin & I. Belorukov
Cover photo: M. Pozin

Ilia Belorukov – baritone saxophone, delay-sampler
http://www.myspace.com/belorukov

Maxim Pozin – prepared tenor saxophone, electronics
http://www.myspace.com/bbiimmkkaa

Pavel Mikheev – electric guitar
http://www.myspace.com/ejectyourcd

Mikhail Ershov – electric bass guitar

Dadazu is free improvising collective includes a couple of young musicians from the modern St.Petersburg’s experimental scene.
Contact:
http://www.aposition.org/e_v/dadazu_e.htm

The recording was made available on April 12, 2009 by Clinical Archives.

Next up is some solo work. This one is called Saxophone Solos Vol. 1.:




Some info about the album:

Ilia - Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones, Mouthpieces
Recorded at Illusion Studio on 21 February 2007 & 7, 8, 14 April 2007
Engineered & Mixed by Ilia Belorukov
Mastered by Philip Croaton at Fate Speaks Studio
Cover Art by Ilia Belorukov

All track titles are simply Roman numerals, except for the last track, which is titled "IX (for Philip Croaton). The recording was issued January 27, 2008 by Clinical Archives. Since Coleman Hawkins first dropped "Picasso" about six decades ago, the sax solo recording has become something of a jazz staple - especially in avant-garde circles. The music here is not easy to describe. The reference points that seem to work for me at the moment are the solo recordings from the AACM crew, to the extent that there is a lot of open space to be found on each of the recording's tracks; and Kaoru Abe's solo recordings in some of the louder moments (Ilia Belorukov does seem to channel some of the dark foreboding that Kaoru Abe made into a veritable art form). Unlike Abe, or perhaps one of my favorite sax players to record regularly as a solo artist, Arthur Doyle, this is music that seems to privilege the rational over the emotional. Also, there's something rather interesting in Belorukov's technique - in spots makes the sax sound like a stringed instrument being plucked (see IV, for example). I can't say I've heard anything quite like that. You'll hear some very interesting soundscapes to say the least.

Finally, let's check out another project with which Belorukov has been involved, Totalitarian Musical Sect. Clinical Archives has two of this combo's recordings available.

Warm Things vol. 1 - Live in GES-21:




Info:

Dmitriy Kakhovskiy - bass and objects
Vitaliy Kucherov - guitar and objects
Alexey Stavizkiy - trombone and clarinet and flutes and objects
Ilia Belorukov - alto and baritone saxophones
Maxim Pozin - alto and prepared alto sax and clarinet and flutes and objects

Recorded by Dmitriy Yalkin at GES-21 on 9 May 2007
Mastered by Dmitriy Kakhovskiy

Photo by Nikolay Ovcharenko
Cover Art by Ilia Belorukov

Tracks:

Thing One
Thing Two
Thing Three
Thing Four
Thing Five

Warm Things vol. 2, Live in GES-21:




Info:

Dmitriy Kakhovskiy - contrabass
Vitaliy Kucherov - electric guitar & flute
Ilia Belorukov - alto saxophone & flute

Recorded by Dmitriy Yalkin at GES-21 on 14 January 2008
Mastered bu Dmitryiy Kakhovsky

Photo by Eugene Apollonsky
Cover art by Ilia Belorukov

Tracks:

Thing Six
Thing Seven
Thing Eight
Thing Nine

According to the first of the recordings, the Totalitarian Musical Sect cites as influences Can, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Sun Ra, and refer to their sound as "a new Russian primitivism." And yes, the influences they cite seem to make their presence felt on both recordings.

What I've done here is to embed the recordings here on Nothing Is. Follow the links to the respective recordings and you can download the mp3s, cover art, and booklets free of charge - the works are licensed under Creative Commons. If these recordings whet your appetite, Ilia Belorukov is a very busy individual, who records prolifically in various combos, much of which should be commercially available. Since I'm relatively new to the Russian jazz scene, I'm sure I'm just barely scratching the tip of the iceberg. At age 22, Belorukov is just getting warmed up. His career will be one to watch.

Alice Coltrane: Lord of Lords

Lord of Lords was Alice Coltrane's last record for Impulse! prior to her brief stint with Warner Bros. She made a remarkable musical transformation in the years following her husband's untimely death. By the time of this particular recording, like a lot of jazz artists, Alice Coltrane was crossing over, but not to fusion, funk or disco: rather she was crossing over into another realm altogether. The music seems to have much more in common with Western classical music (her fascination with Stravinsky and with lush string section accompaniment should be one strong hint), and arguably Indian classical music. The selections sound much more scored than improvised, but somehow no matter what the context there beats the heart of a jazzer. If you're new to Alice Coltrane's work, I'd strongly suggest trying out her earlier Impulse! albums before listening to this one - in particular Ptah the El Daoud and Journey in Satchidananda. This recording is more for the seasoned fan or completist, and ideally those open to her subsequent musical output for Warner Bros.

Tracks:
1. Andromeda's Suffering (9:04)
2. Sri Rama Ohnedaruth (6:12)
3. Excerpts From The Firebird (5:43)
4. Lord Of Lords (11:17)
5. Going Home (10:02)

Credits:
Bass - Charlie Haden
Cello - Anne Goodman , Edgar Lustgarten (2) , Jan Kelly , Jerry Kessler , Jesse Ehrlich , Raphael Kramer , Ray Kelley
Drums, Percussion - Ben Riley
Harp, Piano, Organ, Tympani, Percussion - Alice Coltrane
Producer - Ed Michel
Viola - David Schwartz , Leonard Selic , Marilyn Baker , Myra Kestenbaum , Rollice Dale , Samuel Boghosian
Violin - Bernard Kundell , Gerald Vinci , Gordon Marron , James Getzoff , Janice Gower , Leonard Malarsky , Lou Klass , Murray Adler , Nathan Kaproff , Ronald Folsom , Sidney Sharp , William Henderson (2)

Music arranged and conducted by Alice Coltrane
Produced by Ed Michel under the direction and inspiration of Alice Coltrane
Recorded and mixed at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, from July 5 to July 13, 1972
Engineering by Baker Bigsby

Dowload Lord of Lords

Marion Brown: Live in Esslingen

It's been a little while since I posted any Marion Brown recorded material, so I thought I'd hook you up with a live bootleg recording that I happened upon about three or four years ago. The sound on this live bootleg should serve as a bridge between Brown's live recordings from around 1968 or 1969 (as well as the album Porto Nova), and his ECM release Afternoon of a Georgia Faun and his duets recordings during the early 1970s. In fact, those latter releases are arguably quite similar to what you'll find here with this quintet. The ECM connection should be apparent not only from the basic approach this particular combo takes, but from the personnel list: ECM founder Manfred Eicher plays bass on this session. Expect a fairly minimalistic soundscape, "little instruments", and plenty of open spaces. In other words, don't expect a noisefest, but don't expect easy listening. Brown's music, no matter how spare, refuses to stay in the background. It's also a pleasure to hear a young Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet. Marion Brown fans will want this.

Personnel:
Marion Brown - Alto Sax
Leo Smith - Trumpet
Thomas Stoewsand - Cello, Flute
Manfred Eicher - Bass
Fred Braceful - Percussion

Tracks:
Note that although the track listing consists of a part A and B, on the CD I have, it simply appears as a single continuous improvised piece, running 46 minutes.

Download Live in Esslingen

Joseph Jarman: Earth Passage/Density

Here's another one from the vaults for fans of Joseph Jarman. Earth Passage/Density features Jarman and Moye, accompanied by two other multi-instrumentalists on four very distinct tracks, from the world music rooted "Zulu Village," to the relatively swinging straight-ahead jamming on "Happiness Is," the moody "Jawara," and to the concluding number "Sun Spots" (which is very free sounding and quite dominated by Moye - reminiscent of something from an AEC session). Challenging yet fun music that is easily worth a few listens.

Personnel:
Joseph Jarman - Flute, Clarinet (Bass), Flute (Alto), Flute (Bass), Piccolo, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Clarinet (Alto), Bamboo Flute
Famoudou Don Moye - Percussion, Chimes, Drums, Triangle, Bells, Cowbell
Rafael Garrett - Bass, Clarinet, Flute, Pan Flute, Conch Shell, Bamboo Flute
Craig Harris - Flute, Percussion, Trombone, Vocals, Voices, Didjeridu, Cowbell, Bamboo Flute

Tracks:
1. Zulu Village (13:11)
a. Hommage
b. Summoning The Elders
c. Children's Sun Celebration
2. Happiness Is (10:15)
3. Jawara (12:15)
4. Sun Spots (11:00)

Recorded on February 16 & 17, 1981 at Barigozzi Studios, Milan, Italy, and released on Black Saint in 1981. The album saw one reissue in 1993.

Download Earth Passage/Density

Alan Shorter: Orgasm

I managed to score a copy of Orgasm when Verve briefly reissued the album as part of its short-lived "Elite Edition" series. It's kind of an odd album in that in the middle of recording Alan apparently switched producers, and also had to replace some of his players. In spite of the behind-the-scenes turmoil, Orgasm is a consistent sounding recording, and one of the more beautiful statements from the free jazz community. I've heard of comparisons between this album and Ornette Coleman's early work (the two composers share a common bassist, Charles Haden), and I find that I can play this album fairly comfortably side by side with some of Coleman's classics (Change of the Century comes to mind). Much has been made about his apparent lack of training and technique, although honestly I can't really hear any deficit in his flugelhorn playing. He seems to get the job done within the parameters of his compositions, which I would suppose is pretty much what matters. It's a painfully hard to find album, but worth finding and spinning. Shorter would go on to record Tes Esat, which was reissued briefly a few years ago.

Alan apparently had a number of personal problems that made him difficult to work with, and he died in obscurity in the late 1980s. His brother Wayne had this to say about him:

The strongest thing you can say about Alan is that he was an original, as original as you can get. He didn't want any academic guidelines to equip him to reinvent the wheel. He was always in confrontation, or there was confrontation on the horizon...with record executives, rehearsal places, front offices, professors in school. Teachers would mark on his papers, and he would ask "Why?" on top of the teachers' remarks.

I gather that Alan did quite a bit of composing during his brief life, and left behind scattered remains of those compositions as his legacy. Wayne once commented that he would one day look through Alan's work and do some of his compositions (Wayne used his brother's "Mephistopheles" on one of his mid-1960s albums), although as far as I am aware that has yet to bear fruit.

Personnel:
Alan Shorter - Flügelhorn (all tracks except track 4), Trumpet (track 4), Tambourine (track 4)
Gato Barbieri - Tenor Sax
Charlie Haden - Bass (tracks 1, 6)
Reggie Johnson - Bass (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5)
Rashied Ali - Drums (tracks 1, 6)
Muhammad Ali (Drums (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5)

Tracks:
1. Parabola
2. Joseph
3. Straits of Blagellan
4. Rapids
5. Outeroids
6. Orgasm

Recorded at A&R Recording, NYC, September 23, 1968 (tracks 3 & 4); September 25, 1968 (tracks 2 & 5); and November 6, 1968 (tracks 1 & 6). Released on Verve, catalogue # V6-8768.

Download Orgasm

Griot Galaxy: Kins

Griot Galaxy was a Detroit-area crew that flourished during the 1980s. Kins was, as far as I know, their first release. I first of heard of Griot Galaxy in 2004, and over the next year learned a good deal about the band and one of their members, Faruq Z. Bey. These cats at times sound like a portion of one of Sun Ra's arkestras - indeed the song titles alone suggest a Sun Ra influence, as did the band's apparent tendency to perform in Sun Ra-style costumes. At other times throughout the album, they show some definite punk and funk influences, such as on "Zenolog Aintro". Overall, the music is moody, angular music, perfect for the times (then and now). Fans of Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman (especially his Prime Time band), James "Blood" Ulmer (even though there is no guitarist in this band), late-1970s Human Arts Ensemble, and Defunkt should find plenty to like about this crew.

Personnel:
Jaribu Shahid - Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass
Tani Tabbal - Drums
David McMurray - Flute, Tenor Sax, Alto Sax, Soprano Sax
Anthony Holland - Alto Sax, Soprano Sax
Faruq Z. Bey - Tenor Sax, Alto Sax

Tracks:
1. Xy-Moch
2. Zycron
3. Zenolog Aintro
4. Androgeny
5. Kins
6. Xy-Moch Theme

Recorded September 13 & 14, 1981 at Spectrum Sound Studio, Detroit, Michigan. Poem by Mashashahid dated 1-4-82. Released on Black & White Records, catalogue # B & W 001.

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Arthur Doyle Quartet: Live @ The Cooler

Live @ The Cooler is a nice follow-up to the Blue Humans album I posted previously. This time around, Arthur Doyle is in charge. The tunes are ones that are among Doyle's standards (to the extent that someone as obscure as Doyle can have songs considered standards) - especially "Flue Song" and "Noah Black Ark". The former features Doyle playing the flute; the latter is a homage to Noah Howard, who gave Doyle his first big break in the free-jazz realm on The Black Arc (the piece builds on that album's tune "Mount Fuji"). On the opening track, Doyle sounds like he's playing multiple reeds at once. For his part, Rudolph Grey's playing is as loud as ever, but the sound is more atmospheric. To these ears, 15 years allowed Doyle and Grey to become wiser, more skillful collaborators. It doesn't hurt that the rhythm section is up to the task of keeping up with those two.

Personnel:
Arthur Doyle (tenor sax, flute)
Rudolph Grey (electric guitar)
Wilbur Morris (bass)
Tom Surgal (drums)

Tracks:
1. Spiritual Healing
2. Flue Song
3. Noah Black Ark

All compositions by Arthur Doyle (BMI)
Photos: Simon Badger
Liner Notes: Sumner Crane
Recorded March 15, 1995

Released on The Lotus Sound in 1996

Download Live @ The Cooler

Noah Howard: Live in Europe Vol. 1

Here's another one of those extreme hard-to-find albums. I obtained my copy several years ago on one of the p2p networks, and haven't seen it around the internet tubes since (save perhaps for the long-gone Church Number Nine blog). The sound is practically Coltrane-esque. This is music with plenty of fire, yet pleasing to the ears in much the same way that Trane's classic quartet was circa 1965. Noah Howard authored or co-authored three of the tracks. The remaining tracks are covers, including one of 'Trane's standards, "Ole'".

Personnel:
Noah Howard - Alto Sax
Takashi Kako - Piano
Ken Carter - Bass
Muhammad Ali - Drums (except track 4)
Oliver Johnson - Drums (track 4)

Tracks:
1. Creole Girl (N. Howard - N. Dove)
2. New Arrival (N. Howard)
3. Lift Every Voice And Sing (J. R. Johnson)
4. Ole' (J. Coltrane)
5. Kanpai (N. Howard - N. Dove)

Nat Dove is credited with arrangements for all tracks except "New Arrival". All tracks recorded at various European venues during 1975, and released on Sun Records, catalogue # SR 105.

Dowload Live in Europe Vol. 1

Bobby Few: More Or Less Few

Both Center of the World and Sun Records released some powerful music during their brief runs. Bobby Few, pianist who collaborated with Frank Wright, Alan Silva, and Muhammad Ali during the 1970s recorded a couple albums under his own name (one each for Center of the World and Sun). This particular recording is a piano trio date with Silva and Ali. The title track, "Simone", and "Chasing the Piano" are fiery energy pieces. "Few's Blues" is a free-jazz-blues tune that you can hum to. The boppish "I'll Never Be the Same Again" has Few on vocals, and has that late-night, bar is about to close feel to it. Dig it!

Personnel:
Bobby Few - Piano, Melodica, Voice
Muhammad Ali - Drums
Alan Silva - Bass

Tracks:
1. More Or Less Few
2. Few's Blues
3. Simone
4. I'll Never Be the Same Again
5. Chasing the Piano

Recorded in Paris, November 1973 and subsequently released on Center of the World, catalogue # CW 003.

Download More Or Less Few

Gato Barbieri and Dollar Brand: Hamba Khale

Here's an interesting pairing: Gato Barbieri just before transitioning to a world fusion and later jazz-lite saxophonist and legendary South African pianist Dollar Brand. Lots of interesting jazz coming out of Europe in the late 1960s.

Personnel:
Gato Barbieri - Tenor Sax
Dollar Brand - Piano, Cello, and Tambourine

Tracks:
1. The Aloe and the Wild Rose
2. Hamba Khale
3. To Elsa
4. 81st Street

Download Hamba Khale.

Bobby Few, Alan Silva, & Frank Wright: Solos and Duets

Here are both volumes of Solos and Duets by Bobby Few, Alan Silva, and Frank Wright. Both albums were recorded at various intervals in 1975, and the music on each album lives up to the title.

Frank Wright, Bobby Few, Alan Silva - Solos & Duets Vol 1

Released in 1976 on Sun Records, catalogue # SR102. Recorded at Massy Paris Reims between January and November 1975.

Personnel:
Bobby Few - Piano
Alan Silva - Bass
Frank Wright - Tenor Sax

Tracks:
1. Side A. (23:31)
a. Song For Cyrille, Children Of Joy
b. El Torro
c. Unknown Step

2. Side B. (15:48)
a. Echo Send
b. Sound Of A

Frank Wright, Bobby Few, Alan Silva - Solos & Duets Vol 2

Released in 1976 on Sun Records, catalogue # SR103. Recorded at Massy Paris Reims between January and November 1975.

Personnel:
Bobby Few - Piano
Alan Silva - Bass
Frank Wright - Tenor Sax

Tracks:
1. Side A. (24:00)
a. Grenada
b. Fondemental Blues

2. Side B. (24:15)
a. Who's Got The Keys
b. We Have Found The Keys

Fans of Joseph Jarman and Famoudou Don Moye's Egwu-Anwu and Marion Brown's Duets albums, who want something with just a bit more edge (Wright seems to be chaneling Albert Ayler on his appearances during these sessions), will find plenty to love about these albums. Note that each of the tracks on these rips is of a complete album side. Muchas, muchas gracias to Arcturus (if u r still reading this blog) for sending these my way last year when I was having some computer difficulties.

Download Solos and Duets Vol. 1

Download Solos and Duets Vol. 2

Frank Wright: Last Polka in Nancy?

Last Polka in Nancy? was the second album released on the Center of the World label (catalogue # CS 002). The album was later reissued as a CD in 1999, with a bonus track on Fractal Records (catalogue # Fractal 007 CD). Like its companion recording, Center of the World, Vol. 1, Last Polka in Nancy? is out of print, and will cost an arm and a leg if you can find it. Besides, it isn't often that one gets to hear a free jazz polka tune (see track 5).

Here's Thom Jurek's review in AMG:

The second volume in the excellent Fractal live retrospective of the Frank Wright Quartet comes to us from Nancy in 1973. Pianist Bobby Few, bassist Alan Silva, and drummer Muhammad Ali (no, it's not) with Wright blowing the living hell out of his saxophones and clarinet, are a picture of free jazz as it permeated the European landscape at the time. This is a freewheeling exorcism of a set with spar but well placed dynamic sequences that accent all the textures possible when the boundaries to expression are gone. Silva uses a bow as much as he plays pizzicato; Few uses his keen sense of harmonic balance to open the upper register of the instrument while playing huge ninth and even 11th chords like a bell, ringing in the tone fields for Wright who bleats, squawks, screeches, screams, and moans through his horn, playing ostinato blues lines through his horn like Albert Ayler (check "Guana Dance, Part 2" by Silva especially). His notes are harsh, bitten off and bloodied curdles of the human voice as it attempts to express what it can never state in words. The compositions, if they can be called that, are by Few and Silva, and as open mode pieces; they work as such, especially on the level of timbral sonance and microtonal systemic work. Wright is no match for Few's sharp, elegant range on his instrument, and so he uses force as counterpoint, while Silva and Ali engage in the dance of shimmering tempos. There aren't many recordings like this out there, and this one is as essential and as blessed by demonic inspiration as Vol. 1 is.

Personnel:
Frank Wright - Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet
Bobby Few - Piano
Alan Silva - Bass
Muhammad Ali - Drums

Tracks:
1. Winter Echoes (Few) 14:47
2. Guanna Dance, Part 1 (Silva) 4:04
3. Guanna Dance, Part 2 (Silva) 11:33
4. Thinking of Monk (Few) 1:21
5. Doing the Polka (Few) 10:16
6. Two Birds with One Stone (Wright) 18:57

Tracks 1 - 5 were recorded at the Jazz Pulsations Festival in Nancy, France 10/10/73. Track 6 was recorded at Detmold, Neue Anta, in 1978.

Download Last Polka in Nancy?

Byron Morris & Gerald Wise: Unity

Here's another worth reposting. This album, Unity, was originally posted by the now apparently defunct Reality Unit Concepts in 2006. Here's how RUC described the album:

Byron Morris & Gerald Wise - "Unity" (EPI)

“The idea for this album was mostly spontaneous… until the actual recording, we had never performed together as a group. The result was not only beautiful, it was also a little unbelievable.” – Byron Morris
.

This is the album that Byron Morris put out in 1972, before “Blow thru your mind,” but bears little to no resemblance to any of his later albums. Recorded several years earlier in 1969, it is two sides of blistering, raw, unhinged jazz. . . .Also features an early appearance by two Philly artists who would later be frequently recorded: Byard Lancaster, who even contributes some Leon Thomas-esque yodels, and Keno Speller.

Here's the AMG review of Unity:

A few years before co-founding Unity with Vincent McEwan and Gerald Wise, Byron Morris co-led this rare 1969 date with Wise. Playing Unity next to the LPs that Morris recorded in the 1970s, one hears quite a contrast. The main focus of Morris' 1970s albums was a melodic, relatively accessible style of modal post-bop, whereas Unity favors abstract, uncompromising, mostly outside free jazz. The two instrumentals on this LP -- the 16-minute "JWM + 53" and the 23-minute "Black Awareness" -- aren't for the uninitiated. Like a lot of 1960s avant-garde jazz, Unity must be accepted on its own terms. And for those who do, the rewards are certainly there. The stream-of-consciousness approach serves Morris well, and he has very uninhibited company in Wise (trumpet), Byard Lancaster (soprano sax, flute, trumpet, drums), Vins Johnson (baritone and tenor sax), Freddie Williams (upright bass), Abu Richard Sharrieff (percussion), and Keno Speller (percussion). Unfortunately, this LP has long been out of print and is extremely difficult to find, so if by some chance you come across a copy somewhere, grab it immediately.

This session was recorded in 1969 and released in 1972 on E.P.I. Records (catalogue # EPI-01).

Personnel:
Byron Morris - Saxophone [Alto, Soprano], Vocals
Gerald Wise - Trumpet
Freddie Williams - Bass
Keno Speller - Congas, Effects [Special Effects]
Byard Lancaster - Flute, Saxophone [Soprano], Trumpet, Drums, Vocals
Abu Sharrieff - Percussion, Vocals
Vins Johnson - Saxophone [Tenor, Baritone]

Tracks:
1. JWM+53 (15:33)
2. Black Awareness (23:03)

Dowload Unity

Frank Wright: Church Number Nine

Church Number Nine was recorded March 7, 1970 in Paris, and released on an obscuroid French label called Calumet (catalogue # 3674) in 1973, in an extremely limited run (only 300 copies were produced). It was briefly reissued a few years ago as a CD on Black Keys. The music is one continuous piece, broken up only due to the limitations of the vinyl LP format, and it's everything you'd expect for a free jazz blowout that includes both Frank Wright and Noah Howard. Frank Wright also adds voice periodically - saying, among other things, "It's time for the world to be at peace" (to which I say, amen!). The tune, "Church Number Nine" has also appeared in truncated form on Noah Howard's Space Dimension (utilizing the same lineup on that song only) and as a bonus track on the Fractal reissue of the Frank Wright album, Center of the World Vol. 1.

This particular lineup also recorded One For John in late 1969 for BYG/Actuel. Also, note the liner notes written by Valerie Wilmer, author of a book about the free jazz scene entitled, As Serious As Your Life.

Personnel:
Frank Wright - Tenor Sax, Voice
Noah Howard - Alto Sax
Bobby Few - Piano
Muhammad Ali - Drums

Tracks:
Church Number Nine Part 1 (25:44)
Church Number Nine Part 2 (19:18)

Download Church Number Nine

Frank Wright & Muhammad Ali: Adieu, Little Man

Here's a reed/drum duo, in the tradition of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali (Muhammad's brother), tearing the roof off the sucka! If you like energy music, and loved Interstellar Space, you'll love this. Muhammad Ali didn't get a lot of recording opportunities during his career; his brother, who was also under-recorded, fared somewhat better. Those sessions on which Muhammad did appear quickly went out of print, with few being revived on CD (perhaps among the more noteworthy of those reisues was his appearance on three of the tracks on Alan Shorter's debut as a leader, Orgasm).

Adieu, Little Man was recorded in Paris in April 1974, and released on Wright's Center of the World label, catalogue # 004. The top image is from the front cover of the album (thanks to Rate Your Music); the remaining two images are of Frank Wright and Muhammad Ali, respectively from around that time. I don't know if those were part of that album's artwork or not. Whoever originally ripped this, thanks! Also props to Arcturus who sent this my way when my computer system went down last year.

Personnel:
Frank Wright -Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet
Muhammad Ali -Drums

Tracks:
Side 1 (21:46)
Side 2 (22:20)

Download Adieu, Little Man