Tag: Cecil Taylor

April 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To

I will again try to comment meaningfully on each of the following alphabetically-ordered new release in single complete sentences. Two introductory notes, though:

  1. Later this year, Phil Freeman’s Cecil Taylor biography In the Brewing Luminous will be published. I’m reading a review copy, and I’m here to tell you it’s outstanding. First of all, this book was badly needed, given Taylor’s singular genius and influence; second of all, in well-documented form it gathers much info that’s out there in one place; third, it’s so comprehensive it’s alerted this passionate fan to recordings he’s never heard of; fourth–no surprise with Mr. Freeman–it advances some critical arguments very convincingly; and fifth, in a continuance from Freeman’s stellar electric Miles investigation, Running the Voodoo Down, the author excels–really excels–at describing a furious, sometimes byzantine music in very distinctive and accurate detail. That’s a trick I really envy; if I could do a fifth as good a job as Freeman, I’d be writing about jazz much more frequently. Check out Phil’s chock-full Burning Ambulance Substack to learn more.
  2. I’m not that much a fan of Light in the Attic’s new Lou Reed tribute The Power of the Heart–at all–but that damn Bobby Rush will be ninety-one in November, and if Sally truly can’t dance, he sure as hell can. He elides a few phrases in Reed’s lyric I bet he wasn’t wholly comfortable with, but he, as per usual for many, many years, sells the song. Hear it in the Spotify Playlist linked at the bottom!

April Top 15 New Platters:

Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music: Lord, when you send the rain (Sinking City)–Like Asher’s previous Skrontch Music album, the problems of New Orleans’ (and other places’) present send him backwards into the future, with spoken clips, traditional instrumentation, and post-modern feints and juxtapositions helping us get why.

Bruno Berle: No Reino Dos Afetos 2 (Psychic Hotline)–The Bandcamp description of this soothing singer’s project (the first volume is excellent, too) informs us that lo-fi, dub step, and other ingredients are utilized to help Berle break away from the Brazilian expected–but I also note that it notes the album’s “sun-soaked” and “sun-drenched” affect, so maybe that’s just historical gravity, not at all a bad thing.

Beyonce: Cowboy Carter (Parkwood Entertainment)–OK, so it’s not all that country (please dig out featured vet Linda Martell’s Color Me Country if you want that)–it’s just a really good Beyonce album, but, with much less pre-release hype and in-release bombast, I’d argue Mickey Guyton made a stronger statement with Remember Her Name in ’21 without riding a horse or wearing a cowboy hat (plus she turned whiskey into wine).

Buck 65, doseone, Jel: North American Adonis (Handsmade)–Rap earworm line of the year from this on-a-serious-verbal-roll Canadian MC is that he bets his CDs are gonna be “alive in a landfill”–that’s thinking ahead.

Cedric Burnside: Hill Country Love (Mascot / Provogue)–The North Mississippi Hill Country blues practitioners are getting whittled down something considerable, R. L.’s grandson’s has gamely tried keep the style alive with some gently modern tweaks, and he finally nails it here.

James Carter: UN (J.M.I. Recordings)–J.M.I.’s cutting analog jazz vinyl, and, while I have not heard them all (David Murray’s 2023 offerings, solo and with Plumb, were impressive), this is tops for them so far, causing one to wonder why it’s taken JC this long to wax an unaccompanied set…though I’m still waiting for his Earl Bostic tribute album.

Big Freedia & The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: Live at the Orpheum Theater (Queen Diva)–A bounce orchestra’s taking it too far, you might think, but you SHOULD already know not to sell the Queen Diva short.

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)–When I received a digital review copy of this 5-disc collection of new compositions and improvisations by the 26-year-old Slovenian pianist, I rolled my eyes but, as I have sworn to do with these “gifts,” gave it a shot–then found myself so mesmerized not only by the variable moods and configurations (strings, solo, drums only, collab with sax sensation Zoh Amba, etc.), but also by the distinctiveness of the six-count-’em-six pieces that I listened to the whole thing straight through and determined that it’s my favorite jazz release of the year.

Matt Lavelle and the 12 Houses: The Crop Circles Suite, Part 1 (Mahakala Music)–NYC clarinetist, trumpeter, composer and conductor Lavelle, long a very underrated player on the jazz scene, released this, (it looks like the first half of) his “life’s work,” on his 54th birthday: easily one of the genre’s most ambitious, successful and inspiring records of the young year.

Meshell Ndegeocello (and Friends): Red Hot & Ra – The Magic City (Red Hot Org)–You know you cannot resist the pull of the perennially underrated Ndegeocelleo, assisted by jazz compatriots Immanuel Wilkins and Darius Jones, putting a fresh spin on The Sun One–which the Red Hot Org label seems recently dedicated to doing, with a Kronos Quartet set in the offing.

Tomeka Reid Quartet: 3 + 3 (Cuneiform)–More and more predictably, when you put Reid and guitarist Mary Halvorson in the same room, sparks will fly along with those fingers, and aural magic will be the result, as it is here.

Ann Savoy: Another Heart (Smithsonian Folkways)–Surprise of the month: a passionate combo of covers (Springsteen, Sandy Denny, Kinks!) and originals sung and played by acclaimed Cajun historian and member of one of the style’s most acclaimed and hardest working families, a Top-Tenner to my ears (and…heart).

Reyna Tropical: Reyna Tropical (Psychic Hotline)–I swear I’ve run into one of these albums every month for a couple of years: a moody, sexy, lithely swinging, electronic trance-r&b–maybe in this case, yeah, trance–tropical–album that I can’t quit playing and beats monkey gland shots or whatever, which means I might need to dive into the artist’s considerable (for her age) back catalog.

Fay Victor: Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)–I’ll admit that, while an earlier 2024 group from Brazil did successfully sing Bill Evans, I thought star-crossed jazz pianist Nichols’ quirky compositions were too high a hurdle, but then I didn’t know diddley about Victor, whose scatting isn’t just experimental but vies with Carter, McRae, Ross, and Vaughan (stylistically, not really Ella, though) at their most daring; the band makes it over the bar as clearly.

Bob Vylan: Humble as the Sun (Ghost Theater)–A youngster for our times, though, compared to his last two records, this one seems almost autumnal, as if the pure revolutionary fire he regularly lights has prematurely aged him–but these times can do that, too.

April Top 10 Old Platters [Post-Record Store Day CD Meteor Shower (for me, every day is RSD)].

Alice Coltrane: The 1971 Carnegie Hall Concert (Impulse!)–The latest entry in the Alice Coltrane revival is the rowdiest and maybe the best, thanks to horns shaking things up.

Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru: Souvenirs (Mississippi Records)–As they do a Professor Longhair platter, all homes that dig music need a record by the recently-departed, ghost-fingered Ethiopian pianist and nun, but this is her first recording with vocals, which I wasn’t completely certain hadn’t slowed down her already sauntering roll–but, upon two more listens, I was wrong again.

Grupo Irakere: Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital (Mr. Bongo)–Cuban bands come no hotter than this one, and this is their long-unavailable debut recording (and it’s not just hot).

Rail Band: Rail Band (Mississippi Records)–Another debut recording by a legendary band, this one from Mali, this one too long-unavailable, and featuring not one but two legendary vocalists:  Salif Keita and Mory Kanté.

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)–My good pal Chris Gray, referring to this album, wondered who could complain about “live Rollins ’59,” and. while I whole-heartedly agree, especially since Sonny’s working in a trio format, Sonny would soon hit the bridge to…woodshed; I promise you that if you’re ever this good at what you do that you think you’re not good enough, you might just need lysergic therapy. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Sun Ra: At the Showcase Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Elemental Music)–Ra in Chicago, always a spot for top-of-the-line spaceworks, with the band orbiting. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Art Tatum: Jewels In the Treasure Box (Resonance)–Mainly, you need to know this Tatum is in trio mode, which naturally cuts into his usual carnival of pianistics but also allows guitarist Everett Barksdale and legendary bassist Slam Stewart to show their scintillating stuff. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Various Artists: Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Analog Africa)–Key words: “Congo,” “Funk!” (exclamation point earned), “Sound Madness,” “Mighty”–and “Analog Africa; in other words, “Merde, putain, lâche-toi le cul et jam !” (Et j’adore de la confiture!)

Various Artists: New York City Hardcore: The Way It Is (Revelation Records)–I had not heard of any of these bands, but all the vocalists sound in some way like my best friend, former ranter, opera buff, free jazz buff, French-Canadian advocate, European football nut, and scientist Mark Pelletier, so it’s a win.

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)–Both these now-underrated instrumentalists started out trad, in a way–pianist Waldron accompanying twilight-era Billie Holiday, soprano saxophonist Lacy playing New Orleans jazz–but ended up taking things just out enough to be trenchantly in, and they were master players, especially live, and here they are backed by two more flexible and pretty legendary rhythm controllers you heard about last week: bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD–and it might be the pick of the litter.)

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:

LABELS TO WATCH: Psychic Hotline (Durham, North Carolina), Sinking City (always—New Orleans), Mahakala Music (Little Rock, Arkansas)

From the Page to the Earbud (May 20th, 2018, Columbia, MO)

A nice buffet of music journalism led me to some fantastic listening experiences this weekend. If you don’t feel like listening to today’s highlighted tracks, try the articles, and maybe you’ll change your mind.

First up was Adam Shatz’s simply beautiful New York Book Review piece on the recently departed Cecil Taylor. Aside from being very sensitively written, it’s awash in rare insights about the pianist’s work and life, and provides some links to other essential Tayloriana (including a brilliant Cesar Aira short story). Read “The World of Cecil Taylor” here, and check out this track, discussed therein:

I am barely conversant about classical music, but much of it I like, even if I can’t explain why. I like fury, apostasy, minimal stillness, angles–stuff like that. I happened across a New York Times review by Zachary Woolfe of a performance by the pianist Yuja Wang that piqued my interest. The title incorporated the phrase “dazed chaos”–perhaps that was a dig, but it intrigued me. In addition, an accompanying photo by Hiroyuki Ito reinforced the phrase’s intrigue; apparently Ms. Wang’s garb often has reviewers’ knickers in a twist, and she does indeed look fetching in Ito’s photo, but it’s the fury of her motion he captures that ran the hook further through my lip. Check the article out and compare it to a Wang performance, as I did. I haven’t yet arrived at a judgment yet–I’m harder on the classical genre than any other.

Finally, I stumbled upon a couple of reviews of albums by reedman Michael Moore’s now-defunct Jewels and Binoculars project, which was devoted to an extremely unlikely aim: interpreting noted melodist Bob Dylan’s compositions in a relatively free jazz vein. It’s funny how often I’ll drift to realities that oppose views I’ve just very reluctantly resigned myself to. I was carping here two days ago that, with the advent of streaming, it’s no use having music anymore. Where’s the fun? I have owned one Jewels and Binoculars release for awhile but–Eureka!–there were three, and one the two I don’t have isn’t streaming (from what I can tell). Grail mode reactivated (because the album I own is stellar, almost alchemic). After reading the reviews, in Jazz Times and The New York Times, I reacquainted myself with Ships with Tattooed Sails, the one I have. Try it, you’ll like it.

Short-shrift Division:

Now’s as great a time as any for a Black Arts flare-up in jazz! To wit:

Idris Ackamoor…

…and Shabaka and The Ancestors.

GOOD SHIT!

So Long, Cecil (April 6th, 2018, Columbia, Missouri)

taylor_cecil

The great pianist Cecil Taylor passed away on Thursday, April 5, at age 89. I devoted the next day to listening to his music. Taylor, sometimes confronted with pointed questions about his musical aims, once pointed out that he was creating a language; I’d advise newcomers, rightly curious about his work in the wake of his death, think of it that way as they get started. They could also think of the grandeur of the ocean waves, if they’ve ever stood on a coast–a Taylor composition can capture their roaring power, their whispering delicacy, their dynamic regularity. A drum solo by a master like Andrew Cyrille or Milford Graves; a surge of choreographed motion by a master like Martha Graham or Mikhail Baryshnikov, suggestive of nothing but freedom; a clot of lines following a polygraph pattern, penned by a master like Allen Ginsberg or Nikki Giovanni–it might behoove the first-time listener to think of Taylor’s pianistics as if they’re from a different physical source of art.

Or maybe they need to just to say to themselves: “Prepare for something you’ve never heard before. Prepare to surrender your attention fully. Prepare to hear a new language that might quicken your heartbeat.”

I chose three of my favorite Taylor records to surrender to yesterday. The first was 1966’s Unit Structures, featuring a septet that included his longtime musical partner, Jimmy Lyons, on alto, and Cyrille on drums:

The second was a 1974 solo recital at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland–the first Taylor record I ever bought and ever heard. I can say truthfully, though I’d read his work was challenging, that it made sense to me. I could hear dancing, drumming, call and response, dark ruminations and joyous exhortations, whispers from the past–in short, Africa. What do you hear?

I closed out the afternoon with 1988’s Alms / Tiergarten (Spree), recorded in Berlin during a month-long celebration of Taylor’s music in which he was given a free hand, an excellent instrument, and the service of a wrecking crew of improvisatory musicians. Surely it was one of the most rewarding episodes in Taylor’s life, and, across 11 discs, he responds with an outpouring of music in multiple settings. This one’s comprised of two compositions, each about an hour long, played by 13 musicians, including such luminaries as Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, William Parker, Harold Stanko, and Peter Kowald. It’s a must for admirers of Coltrane’s Ascension, I think, and it is indeed challenging–but invigorating!

SORRY! No YouTube track available–if everybody doesn’t want it, nobody gets it!

Please read Ben Ratliff’s obituary for Taylor, published in The New York Times. It’s very true, and also a good way for the beginner to start out with a firm handle on a man who resisted many attempts to reduce him, personally and artistically, on an innovator who took even fellow innovators aback but never faltered.

Short-shrift Division:

You’re sunk when you’re considered in the shadow of Cecil Taylor’s work, but Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy, just released, if not as wholly undeniable as her singles or personal appearances, is pretty entertaining. I do think, over the course of an entire record, that her rapping is revealed as still a work in progress.

I also sampled the equally new record by the great Ghanaian bandleader, composer, and instrumentalist Ebo Taylor, previously vaunted on this site. It’s called Yen Ara, and it’s a joy. Here’s a taste:

 

Noise. (April 5th, 2018, Columbia, MO)

For whatever reason (possibly that I’ve been deeply dosed in pop over the last few days), I felt I was obligated to blissfully defile my ears with weird and / or ugly noise.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?–Weird? Ugly? I know–NOT. But I think it’s easy to forget how it might have hit folks at the time. Jimi was a genius at wrestling chaos into flow, but I got this out strictly for the explosions, feedback, and riffs that stalk your inner peace.

Pere Ubu: Datapanik in The Year Zero–Disc 1 (1975-1977)–Weird? Ugly? I know–YES! A thousand times (and ways) YES! A drunken-sounding, wheezing, groveling, murmuring, whispering, squealing, desperate, eloquently incoherent singer, tortured by a stabbing, drilling, whirring, grinding guitarist, tracked under the street by a bass threatening to break through the pavement, driven on by a drummer here-again-and-gone and a synthesizer player revving and veering in and out of the mess. What’s not to be disturbed by?

Brian Eno: Another Green World–One of the most perfectly titled albums ever. The noise here is strictly weird–never ugly, only galaxies away. And very lovely. It was always, with Miles’ In a Silent Way and Robert Ashley’s Private Parts, one of my favorite Nyquil companions when I was a bachelor and sick as a dog. It’s plenty wonderful when you’re well. I love how Eno’s voice is just another synthesizer.

Maybe I was recovering from all of the pop, most of which I admittedly love. Or maybe I was receiving signals from the near-future: one of the noisiest, most unique and inventive, bravest musicians ever passed from this plane at 89. So long, unclassifiable genius. We will not see your like again.

https://youtu.be/66n0IXwm7Ag

Short-shrift Division:

Tucked away down here, under all the noise, a confession: I think Chloe x Halle’s The Kids Are Alright might be the best r & b, the best pure pop album of the year. I can’t get enough of it: great singing, surprising arrangements, inspiring content.

https://youtu.be/-0JGwrTKGRA