Frank Lowe's ESP Disk Reissued

Originally posted on October 9, 2008

The late tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe recorded and released an album in the early ’70s [Black Beings (ESP)] that at the time I thought was the most extreme music I had ever heard. It’s Lowe and AACM/Art Ensemble tenor man Joseph Jarman with electric violin, bass (William Parker), and drums. It was the tenor playing that was the kicker. They both honked, squealed, screeched and caterwauled with frenzy and abandon throughout in a tour de force of extreme weirdness.

ESP has released an unedited version with extra minutes that originally had to be removed for the performance to fit on one LP. It still sounds pretty extreme, but maybe not nearly so to me as it did then. Of course, I’ve listen to a great deal of out music since 1973, and the sounds produced by the tenor duo are more mainstream now, to those that listen, than they used to be. That is not to say that this disk doesn’t have the power to send the uninitiated through the ceiling. It isn’t going to get on the airwaves next to Nelly in the coming months. It still has enormous power and that can intimidate someone who doesn’t yet hear the passionate music as a high point in human expressivity.

Like the birds, there are those that warble and chirp, those that honk and give out with piercing swoops of sound. On the human level we can choose what sounds we make. Not the birds. A crow cannot wake up one morning and ask himself which sorts of sounds he is in the mood to let loose. At least not as far as I know.

This Frank Lowe album greatly benefits from being reissued without the edits. It is more balanced, more whole and organic. Don’t expect John McCain to be playing it at his next fund raiser. The rest of us can and should experience this music as part of our cultural heritage. It is a classic of hyperventilation and aggressive music making. Good for that. Let’s make this more popular than Britney and her cutesy dithering. Why not? We aren’t birds. We get to call the tunes we want to make, the music we want to hear.

Gunter Hampel's First Reissued

Originally posted on September 17, 2008

The free jazz, new thing, and/or improv movement in jazz was well underway in the mid’60s. By that time there was a rising coterie of players in Europe who had begun to add their own twists and turns to the music. One of the first, and one of the best of the European recordings documenting the scene was released in the States some time around 1967. It was led by vibist, reedist and composer Gunter Hampel as Music from Europe (ESP) and it gave notice to the world that henceforth the music was to have multiple centers, that New York was only one of the creative hubs on the scene.

The album has been reissued and those with hungry ears will want to listen to it. Gunter is joined by reedman Willem Breuker in a quartet setting. Willem was to have an important influence on the music and that continues today. Mr. Hampel went on to make many interesting recordings and remains an important influence in his own right. The ESP recording is a mix of ever-shifting instrument combinations and composed frameworks introducing freely expressive work. I am glad I can listen to and enjoy the disk again after so many years have passed.

Don Cherry Live During A Peak Period, Montmartre

Originally posted on August 20, 2008

When the late trumpet player, avant jazz leader and conceptualist Don Cherry brought his current quintet into the famed European Jazz club Café Montmartre in 1966, he was in many ways at the peak of his powers. Leaving his mentor Ornette Coleman towards the beginning of the decade, he co-lead a number of groups.

By ’66 he had established a definitive group identity with an international coterie of avant players of the first rank. Notably on board were tenorist Gato Barbieri and vibesman Karl Berger, both unique voices and masters of inventive improvisation. A radio broadcast captured the band in great form on Live at Club Montmartre (ESP). The entire set of tapes eventually surfaced in three separate volumes and have now been reissued. Today we look at Volume Two.

The sound is good, the players energized. This is avant music with a large component of sheer JOY. Great compositions, a few oddities (like a version of “Taste of Honey”), and the kind of inspired moments you can get at a live club date—it’s all there. Very good music indeed!

Bassist Henry Grimes and His Album on ESP

Originally posted on July 29, 2008

In 1965 bassist Henry Grimes was seemingly in a good place in the jazz world. He had played with more than a few of the classic jazz artists and was especially in demand in avant circles. But a few years later he literally disappeared from the music world; Grimes stopped playing altogether, leading a day-to-day life far removed from his former existence. He ended up in San Francisco where he was rediscovered a few years ago, given a bass and is now back on the scene.

He recorded one album under his own name back in the sixties and ESP has wisely decided to reissue it as part of their extensive revival. The Call is a trio with clarinet, bass and drums, the great Perry Robinson taking the reed spot. It is a mini-gem of “new thing” music, controlled, thought-provoking and filled with miniature classics. Robinson is in top form, Grimes right there with him. Drummer Tom Price plays freely and sets up the improvisations of the two masters with sensitivity. This is "out" music with a soul and a brain. It sounds as contemporary now as it did in 1965. Tomorrow, we extend the bass playing theme with some Jaco.