Once again, here we are in the perpetually listening to every record in my collection alphabetically and blogging unscholarly thoughts project. This installment stars Oliver Lake, Yusef Lateef, Hubert Laws and The Leaders.
Oliver Lake – Life Dance of Is – The issue I have with Free Jazz aka The New Thing aka Avant Garde Jazz aka Creative Music is that its nature is beyond category and therefore the conventional rules should not necessarily apply. That is, the issue I have is that the pervasiveness of conventional rules in music overall is so great and has such strength that this genre can only be heard as a reaction to or commentary on or within the context of conventionality. There are things I absolutely love about this realm. Virtually anything involving Ornette Coleman is gorgeous. Free bop, as a subgenre, is extremely fun to play. Evan Parker and Peter Brotzman and other European improvisers are fascinating. Sun Ra is the vibe. But what I can’t stand about the genre is predictability.
Predictability in tonal music is essential for the genre, and when it is employed seamlessly, or your expectations are surprised by the outcome, magic happens. But in this realm, predictability is a disaster in my opinion. The number one most predictable thing that happens is, in my estimation, this:
Band starts quiet and with low pitches, then builds to wide orchestral density with fast rhythms at a loud volume, then quiets back to the starting mood.
Ugh. Please no.
What does this have to do with Oliver Lake? This album is killer because this silly predictable silliness is virtually non-existent! Yeah, man! This album rocks. So many different sounds and approaches and musical realms, all on one LP. Totally worth it, from start to finish, and back again. Yeah man. Pheeroan akLaff, Anthony Davis, Michael Gregory Jackson, and Leonard Jones, and even one track with the great Buster Williams. Awesome.
Yusef Lateef – Angel Eyes – You know that thing where you just don’t know enough about a particular artist, and even after you have checked them out, you still feel like you don’t know anything? Man, Yusef Lateef is like that for me. There is so much in his playing that it feels like never quite figure out his language. That’s so inspiring because I am always trying to figure out where he’s going and what’s happening, but it is also frustrating because for some reason his playing remains a mystery for me. This record is of a classic jazz line up, with euphonium, tenor/flute/oboe, piano, bass and drums. Swinging record.
Yusef Lateef – Blues for the Orient – I’m sure that the money was terrible or non-existent for jazz musicians when the Prestige/Milestone “specially priced two-record set(s)” came out. But as a buyer with a limited budget, back in the days before Napster and Youtube, this was a great way to hear tons of music for short bread. This is a bundle of Eastern Sounds and The Sound of Yusef, which are both fascinating records. For me, it’s a blast to hear his approach to modal music, and his experimentation with instruments that are jazz a-typical.
Hubert Laws – The Right of Spring – I love CTI records. Love them. I was at a favorite record shop a decade or so ago and suffered through a barrage of hate thrown at CTI records, all from so called “purists”. Don’t you find that odd, that a music which itself a composite of many things could be followed by “purists”? I mean, what exactly is the pure form of this music? Trad Jazz? The composite of a enumerable influences? Big band music, the natural evolution of Trad? Bebop, still trad, but punk (in spirit)? …and so on and so forth. I hate that argument. I like Duke’s definition, that there are only two kinds of music, “good, and the other kind.”
I wouldn’t knock someone for disliking CTI records because of their production “values”, their choice of tunes, the preference for inside or even commercial approaches. But the purist thing isn’t going to work for me.
Anyway, I love CTI records. I asked Mr. Carter about this time in his career once, and he said it was the best time, “the only thing that mattered was the music.” I love that.
Anyway, this record has the stuff I love about CTI records on it. Interpretations of non-jazz music, with fascinating arrangements, performed by the heaviest cats on the planet. Gene Bertoncini? C’mon, he’s amazing. Hubert’s sound is gorgeous. Bob James is a genius…seriously. He’s an unbelievable musician. And Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira! And it has one of the most beautiful compositions ever on it: Faure’s “Pavane”. Absolutely awesome record.
The Leaders – Mudfoot – Yeah, man! Ok, first of all, I love Arthur Blythe and having studied with Cecil McBee, pretty much anything he does is super awesome, as far as I’m concerned. I dig this record a lot! Beyond being a fan of the cats, which also include Kirk Lightsey, Chico Freeman, Lester Bowie, and Don Moye, the writing is killer. “Miss Nancy” is a tune I play with Russ Gershon fairly often, so it’s great to hear this in a different context…even beyond me playing it, a context different from the original recording(s) by Blythe himself. It’s a great example of early 1980s jazz, captured on a well-produced record, showcasing the breadth of musical possibilities that were available to curious musicians at the time.