World Saxophone Quartet: W.S.Q.

This amazing collective of St. Louis-bred musicians recorded their third album, and second release with the Italian Black Saint label, in March 1980.  The eight pieces, with contributions from all four members, display their dazzling dexterity, strong sense of rhythm, complex harmonic interplay, and daring approaches to composition to great effect.

Over time, altoist and tenorist Julius Hemphill received more attention for his songwriting and it is true that his remarkable gift for creating compelling and complicated pieces were on full display with tracks like "Connections" and "Pillars Latino."  A centerpiece of this recording is the four-part suite, "Suite Music" by Hamiet Bluiett.  Lake's "Sound Light" is also highly effective, as is Murray's closer, "Fast Life."

Really, though, what made this great group so memorable was their mesmerizing way of melding their talents on several instruments, including clarinets, along with the range of saxes, to develop highly original approaches to saxophone-based music that didn't need standard rhythm instruments (piano, bass, drums.)

It took a real sense of synergy, a downshift of ego, and a commitment to truel collaboration that made the World Saxophone Quartet a truly special ensemble.  W.S.Q. is an especially strong release from one of the finest jazz groups of the 70s and 80s.

Ohm+: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music (Special Edition)

While the Ellipsis Arts label was best known for its "new age" and "world music" releases during its 1990s heyday, it did issue, in 2005, an interesting and notable triple-disc, with a bonus DVD, anthology, Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music.  Bad puns aside, this is an impressive collection spanning pre-1980s performances mainly from the so-called "classical" world, though there are contributions from some composers outside of that generalized genre.

There is quite an array of composers represented here, from well-known figures like John Cage, Terry Riley, Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Milton Babbitt, Edgard Varese, Olivier Messiaen to lesser-known, but important, pioneers like Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, the MEV collective, Morton Subotnick, Pierre Schaeffer, Luc Ferrari, and those outside "classical" and academic circles like Holger Czukay, Kalus Schulze, and Brian Eno.  Even the inclusion of a 1999 version of Reich's "Pendulum Music," in which suspended microphones are swung in pendulum movements to generate sound, by noise-rock legends Sonic Youth is something of a bridge between "serious music" and the pop-rock world.

Obviously, music like this is going to have a polarizing effect on most people, a great many of whom would find this unlistenable noise.  There is, however, a range of material with some pieces moving more towards some form of accessibility than others.  For example, the haunting excerpt from Tchaikovsky's "Valse Sentimentale" pairs piano with the strange and wonderful sounds of the theremin, as played by its greatest exponent, Clara Rockmore.

Messiaen's "Orasion" is also other-worldly, with its "ondes martenot,"a keyboard that provides pitch changes through a ribbon and a ring, and which is also linked to traditional music.  Babbitt's "Philomel" blends the human voice with the electronics in an appealing way.  Oliveros's stunning "Bye Bye Butterfly" skillfully wends excerpts from "Madama Butterfly" into her improvised electronic stew.

Subotnick's "Silver Apples of the Moon" had the distinction of being the first commissioned work by a major label, Nonesuch in this case, for an electronic composition.  Riley's looped piece "Poppy Nogood" [really, "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band"] is an amazing work using soprano saxophone, inspired by the great John Coltrane, and organ to develop a time-lag effect with a patch cord.

Czukay's mesmerizing "Boat-Woman Song" has medieval choral singing with the over-dubbed samples of simple and haunting folk singing to give it a highly memorable effect.  Paul Lansky's computer-generated "Six Fantasies on a Poem by Thomas Campion" has a warm and enveloping sounds of vocalizations of the poetic works that is quite beautiful.  Another computer-geneated piece, Laurie Spiegel's "Applachian Grove I" has a quiet, ambient approach to creating something that has melodic associations.

Alvin Curran's "Canti Illuminati," one of the longer excerpts, is a fascinating aural experience with a sequencer, a VCS3 (used by some "progressive" rock groups in the early 70s) and the addition of bass tones and the addition of falsetto vocalizations at the end softens the electronics.  Lucier's unplanned excursion "Music on a Long Thin Wire" has a droning, ambient quality that builds off a tuning from an oscillator and seems like a possible precursor to so-called "isolationist" electronic music.

Hassell's "Before and After Charm (La Notte)" has an eerie and compelling repetition of percussive sound accompanying keyboard drones in varying tones and his highly effective in giving an "Eastern" vibe, thanks to the composer's interest in Indian music.  Finally, Eno's "Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)" is a characteristiclly understated, yet warm, ambient piece that closes out the CD portion nicely.

The DVD is a great bonus, especially the filmed footage of performances and interviews, including one with Rockmore talking with her sister, nephew and Robert Moog, inventor of the (in)famous synthesizer, about her work with the theremin and its inventor, as well as a snippet of a performance with her and her sister pianist.  A great, though very short, clip of Paul Lansky being shown how to play the eerie instrument by an aged Leon Theremin in the latter's Moscow apartment in the waning days of teh Soviet Union is remarkable.

Milton Babbitt gives an entertaining and informative 1987 interview about his early associations with experimental electronic music, including the Mark I and II synthesizers.  A lengthy performance on film from Lucier dating to 1965 is of his incredible "Music for Solo Performer."  Here, Lucier is hooked by electrodes to several types of percussion, including a trash can, and uses his brainwaves to send waves in varying speeds and energy to play the percussion instruments.

A 2005 performance of "Bye Bye Butterfly" by Oliveros with visualizartions by Tony Martin is also something to behold--gorgeous musical conception with a visual accompaniment that fully supports the performance.

Finally, there is a six-minute segment from a documentary on Robert Moog, to whom the DVD is dedicated and who died in 2005, just prior to the release of the special edition.  This interview with Moog about his creation is an excellent capstone to a superb anthology (provided that the listener has any inclination towards electronic music to begin with, that is.)

One last word about the package:  Ellipsis Arts outdid itself (and it was at the end of its tether at the time) with a beautiful box for the discs in a clear plastic sleeve, while the 112-page booklet is chock full of commentary by the composers and others about the excepted pieces and a wealth of great photos.  It really is a work of art that fully complements and serves the amazing sounds found on the four discs.

The Hugo Masters: An Anthology of Chinese Classical Music, Volume 1

In 1992, the Tucson-based Celestial Harmonies label (yes, it does sound very "new age") issued a 4-disc anthology of Chinese classical music from the Hong Kong HUGO label called "The Hugo Masters."  Each disc focused on a classification of instrumentation, with the first dealing with bowed strings, the second with plucked strings, the third with wind instruments and the last installement concerning percussion.

The first disc is 67 minutes of amazing music from thirteen tracks with top-flight musicianship and virtuosity, as well as remarkable production and sound from the HUGO label, founded by Aik Yew-goh, who was a musician, engineer and producer.  Their release through Celestial Harmonies marked the first time this music had been heard outside of Hong Kong.

By "bowed strings," what is meant for this recording is various forms of lutes accompanied by percussion, plucked strings and others.  Some of it is vigorous and lively, others contemplative and plaintive, with strength and sensitivity often going hand-in-hand or leading from one to the other.

Chinese music often reflects beloved stories and tales from history and one can imagine, even without knowing the details of the narratives, how the music is composed to accompany the tales.  As importantly, the music often features imitative qualities, in which instruments are played to mimic human conversations, the sounds of animals, and natural features like the wind or flowing of water.  Human emotion is put forward in interesting ways, as well, reflecting martial qualities, pensive attitudes, cheerfulness, sadness and others.

As noted above, the playing is very impressive and the recording quality is top-notch.  HUGO and Celestial Harmonies created a memorable and very affecting package that gives a brief glimpse into the rich history of Chinese classical music.

The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute

Virtuosic guitar, dexterous drumming, classic organ, high-pitched rock screaming, usually- incomprehensible lyrics, sometimes in Spanish--these and other aspects made The Mars Volta one of the most interesting groups of the 2000s and one of the few rock bands this blogger has listened to over the last twenty-five years.

It is a mash up of instruments, styles, and sounds that could easily be judged as excessive, chaotic, strange and confounding--but that can all be said in a good way.  The ambition of the group's leaders, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and lyricist and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, is such that, even if some of the pieces are lengthy, the experimental sounds bizarre, and the lyrics strangely impressionistic, their ability to create a fascinating melange of sonic experiences is without question. And, there are times when this band is so tight, powerful, propulsive and precise that their peak moments are sheer exhilaration.

The band's second album Frances the Mute is, in some ways, an expansion of the sonic palette develolped on the debut De-Loused in the Comatorium.  Suites, electronic interludes, abrupt shifts in time signatures, quiet passages exploding into intense and rapid sections, squalling guitar solos, and Bixler-Zavala's keening singing and visceral wordplay are all given greater expression.  Latin rhythms and percussion, mournful trumpet solos, multi-tracking vocal harmony, and other effects broaden and deepen the rich stew of sounds that abound on the album.

The lyrics are printed on the multiple panels of the insert with striking photos that defy explanation, so it may or may not be helpful to be able to sing along with words that aren't really understandable (same for the titles and subtitles), though bits of meaning might be teased out.

It's really the melange of sounds that are something to behold and this is where Rodriguez-Lopez comes off as a Svengali with a pretty rare gift for pulling directly from punk, metal, Latin music and other styles but in a highly-personalized fashion.

The band including drummer Jon Theodore, bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña, keyboardist Isaiah Ikey Owens and percussionist and keyboardist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez is top-notch and they were joined by a host of guests including John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers tearing off some great guitar solos of "L'Via L'Viaquez", his bandmate Flea performing on his original instrument, the trumpet (rather than the bass that he is known for), and a slew of violinists, trumpeters, horn players and other musicians.

De-Loused was exciting because it was new and heralded the arrival of a duo and band with tremendous talent.  Frances may be excessive, but spectacularly so and the conception seems more assured and tied together.  While the rest of The Mars Volta's catalog features a lot of higlights, this album is, to this listener, the peak.  But, the remainder of the group's output will be covered here, because it was all interesting, if not quite at the level of the amazing (and confounding) Frances the Mute.

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette: Inside Out

This trio of master musicians has been playing together so long and with such amazing telepathy through a long series of recordings of standards that have received much acclaim and popularity.  Not so common among their work are totally improvised performances, which is interesting given that they were all young lions in the 1960s when so-called "free jazz" was ascendant.

In the case of Peacock, he was at the apex of that wild era through his work with Albert Ayler on such seminal recordings as Spiritual Unity.  DeJohnette may best be remembered for his youthful exuberance (and proficiency) with Miles Davis in the very late 60s and early 70s--part of this time working in that band with Jarrett.  The leader came up as an astounding prodigy with Charles Lloyd before striking out on his own (excepting his short stint playing electric keyboards for Davis.)

As mature musicians knowing how to use their technical virtuosity in more subtle ways, the trio has justly become famed for their interpretation of pop standards.  With Inside Out, however, which was recorded in London in late July 2000, there was a total reliance on improvisation.  But, instead of speed, dexterity, and power, the music here is filled with Jarrett's lighter touch, Peacock's uncanny way of anchoring the band with his steady pulse, and DeJohnette's understated but complete use of his kit.

There is no screaming, pounding and displays of dazzling technique.  What is present is a trio that has learned over years to listen to each other and then respond in a manner that is inventive, creative, spontaneous, yet still harmonically rich, tonally centered, and able to swing and employ melody while remaining "free."

Well, there is one fantastic exception: an encore rendition of "When I Fall in Love" that is just exquisite.  Performed with great tenderness, aplomb and feeling, this piece is an excellent way to conclude the recording.

It is also notable that this is one of many recordings where the three musicians are named singly as the artists, rather than as the Keith Jarrett Trio.  This seems to be a recognition of equity on Jarrett's part.  He is the bigger name and the record was issued by his label, ECM, but this is a shining example of true group synchronicity.  The trio issued another recording, a double disc set, of live fully improvised pieces in the excellent Always Let Me Go, as well.

Jarrett's liners are very clear: the reason for the title was to take the process of making music and turning it "inside out."  This was done when the pianist suggested to his cohorts that, if their sound check renditions of existing material did not measure up, then they would go completely improvised.  So, the two nights recorded in London turned out to be just that.

Being "attentive" and "in tune" with each other, Jarrett went on, were even more imperative than before and he takes a quick dig at Wynton Marsalis and Ken Burns (whose television series on jazz had just been issued) over what constitutes "free" playing--and it is true that Marsalis, Burns and company gave short shrift to most "free jazz".  Yet, there is plenty of harmony, melody and structure in the improvisation, so it might be seen as a more mature form of free playing.

But, as Jarrett concludes, there is a great deal of blues feeling expressed on this album and he wrote that "sometimes we live the blues even when we're free of the blues."  It might be free, but it's not absent of accessibility, even within a totally improvised format.  Inside Out is a departure from the usual body of work of this great trio, but their approach to working in synthesis is fundamentally unchanged, which makes this album so stellar.

Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 64, #s4-6

From the late 1980s on the German budget label, Pilz, comes this fine recording of three of Haydn's best-known string quartets, filled with gorgeous melody, rich harmony and excellent playing by the Caspa da Salo Quartet.

Composed in 1790 and often called the Tost quartets after Johann Tost, a Hungarian violinist who assisted the composer in finding a publisher for much of his work and who is given a dedication by Haydn for the Op. 64 works, this trio includes the fifth, called the "Lark Quartet", and which is one of the most famous of his pieces.

All six of the set are remarkable works.  The quality of these pieces reflect Haydn's full development, by his sixties, of both the string quartet and the symphony genres.

They were also written just as the maestro was ending a decades-long employment at the Esterhazy court and soon to be sent to London, where he reached new levels of fame with some of his late symphonies.

When it comes to bargain-basement budget classical labels, Pilz is probably the most notable of all.  This blogger has hundreds and hundreds of classical recordings, many on high-end labels, and quite a few on Naxos, Pilz and other budget ones, and does not have any pretension as to knowledge or deep understanding of the technical underpinnings of the music.  But, this recording and the few dozen others from Pilz are enjoyable.

Click here an interesting take on what the Pilz series has to offer for the "frugal" classical music consumer--this was definitely relatable!

Alhaji Bai Konte: Kora Melodies from The Gambia

This was another memorable purchase in the early Nineties as explorations in "world music" were beginning and it was the first introduction, outside of an abridged piece on a JVC sampler CD, to the amazing and rich sound of the kora.

The 21-stringed gourd-like instrument has so much range and complexity and, in the hands of a master griot like Bai Konte, it takes on an otherworldly quality to it.  Beautiful melodies, deft arpeggios, and an assured technique mark this 1973 recording, released to coincide with Bai Konte's first tour of the United States and released by Rounder Records.

Then a three-year old company, Rounder was becoming well-known for its releases of folk, bluegrass and other American forms of music, but the beauty of this music inspired the label to issue the album because it seemed to relate in spirit to the rest of Rounder's expanding catalog.

The 1990s purchase of the album was on cassette, so the great thing about the CD version is the presence of four extra tracks, three of them recorded at a college concert in Pennsylvania.  The remainder of the album was recorded in The Gambia, including one of the bonus tracks which was taped at a performance in the town of Sinanor.

Most of the insert is about the sights and sounds encountered when the producers spent time with Bai Konte in The Gambia and give some idea of the important of Islam, Gambian traditions, and family in the musical world of the kora master.

After this first foray into world music, Rounder later released over fifty volumes of the remarkable "Anthology of World Music" series.  More selections from that series to come soon!

The Durutti Column: The Guitar and Other Machines

This was an album bought new on cassette when issued in 1987 and it was striking how different much of the sound was compared to earlier records.

For one thing, even though drum machines had been used on the first Durutti Column record, The Return of the Durutti Column (1979), there was an increasing use of electronics for The Guitar and Other Machines, as discussed in the liner notes of the expanded album version released under the Factory Once iteration of Anthony Wilson's Factory Records label.

In his typically breezy and idiosyncratic style of writing, Wilson observed that "Vini had some new technology thrust upon him" in the form of a Yamaha sequencer and a DMX drum machine.  With these new tools, the guitarist created a recording that featured much of his gorgeous guitar, as well as keyboards (he was first a pianist) and which was augmented with drums, xylophone and the drum machine by longtime compatriot and manager Bruce Mitchell, violist John Metcalfe and guests Stephen Street, who played bass on one track as well as produced the album, Rob Gray, provider of mouth organ on two tracks, and vocalists Stanton Miranda and Pol.  Tim Kellet, who had been in the band but left to join Simply Red, contributes a good trumpet solo on "When the World."

The other major change was that, while there was plenty of the precise and atmospheric guitar playing that has distinguised Reilly from anyone else emerging from the postpunk era, The Guitar and Other Machines features some examples of performance that are more "rock" like.  The most amazing result was the absolutely scorching guitar solo from "When the World."  There are similar sounds on "Arpeggiator," as well.

Finally, there is Stephen Street's production.  He had produced Morrissey's Viva Hate, which Reilly, who had been in a short-lived punk band with Morrissey in the late 1970s, performed on, so the partnership here appears to have meant a more direct and, perhaps, accessible sound.  This is a good thing, actually, as the opening up of the sound takes Reilly out of a more confined environment without sacrificing any of his aesthetic.

What is rather typical, though fantastically so, is the way that Reilly and his collaborators blend instrumentation, creates evocative emotional sounds, and makes his work so personalized.  A beautiful piece like "Jongleur Gray" with Reilly's guitar and piano juxtaposed with Gray's harmonica is then followed by :When the World" which begins with drum machines, Reilly's rhythm guitar, and a distant harmonica before the vocals from Miranda come in.  Suddenly, the uncharacteristically searing guitar blasts through the piece, changing the atmosphere substantially and in a thrilling way.

After that is the sublime "U.S.P." which is a feature for Reilly's fantastic acoustic guitar playing--something that hasn't been heard often enough for this admirer.  Then, on the excellent "Bordeaux Sequence" more drum machines and electronic keyboards lead into some plucked viola from Metcalfe before Pol's beguiling vocals take the piece somewhere else.

Following is the beautiful "Pol in B," following a long tradition of Reilly's in naming pieces for those close to him.  The extraordinary lead is echoed by pretty acoustic flourishes and keyboard touches--yet another example of his unique penchant for creating some of the most striking mood music.

These examples show how the diversity and the sequencing of the pieces make The Guitar and Other Machines a highlight in the long and extraordinary career of one of the most interesting musicians around.

There are four bonus pieces known as "Related Works" in the Factory Once reissue series, including "Don't Think Your Funny" which provides Vini's oft-maligned vocals with a backing vocal layered behind and is another simple and effective little piece at under two minutes.  The unusual use of bongos and sampled audio make "Dream Topping" and "You Won't Feel Out of Place" distinctive for the DC discography.  "28 Oldham Street" has a rhythmic keyboard pattern under Reilly's trebly work on his guitar, while drum machines come a bit in to the piece, making for a nice piece.

On the CD insert, there is reference to four other pieces from a performance at Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival in 1989, but this must've been for a UK version, because the one discussed here lacks these tracks.  These can be heard elsewhere, notably on the 1989 album Vini Reilly, as well as 1991's Dry collection, and include the incredible "Otis," a sampling of soul singer Otis Redding's voice with one of Reilly's most memorable guitar lines.

Miles Davis: In a Silent Way

Saxophonist Bob Belden died a few weeks back and, while he was a well-known and respected musician, he also was a contributor to some of the remarkable box sets issued by Sony/Columbia Records regarding the music of the great Miles Davis.

One of the sets in which Belden made a significant contribution concerns one of the great Davis recordings, 1969's In a Silent Way.  This album marked Davis's first extensive use of electric instrumentation, but it also represented a shift in composing style and recording techniques employed by the trumpeter and his long-time producer, Teo Macero.

What is striking about this album compared to recent Davis releases with his great quintet (Hancock, Carter, Williams and Shorter) and anything else from the period is not so much that he used electric instruments, but that he created a type of sound that was more atmospheric and groove-oriented.

Bassist Dave Holland, whose dexterity, speed and power have been amply demonstrated elsewhere, plays highly repetitive lines here, but it's perfectly in service to the music Davis orchestrated.  Tony Williams, whose mastery of the cymbals was exceptional, largely plays that part of his kit for the recording, excepting towards the end of the recording.  Keyboardists Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, all brilliant players, are primarily concerned with laying down the ambiance that anchors the album.

The soloists are Davis, Wayne Shorter and, getting his first major exposure in the music world, the incredible John McLaughlin on guitar.  The interplay between Shorter and Davis, honed over just beyond four years of working together, is clear and precise.  Hearing the two, though, with the five-man rhythm section playing the way they did, is fresh and new compared to the quintet music that preceded this record.

McLaughlin is really, however, the linchpin of this record.  His guitar work is at times subtle, at other times direct, and usually inventive and unique.  He expanded his sonic palette on the phenomenal Bitches Brew, along with an augmented and beefed up ensemble that Davis employed.  On In a Silent Way, though, Laughlin gets more of the spotlight because of the way the sound was constructed.

Another key player is producer Teo Macero, whose uncanny way of working with Davis's methods of recording and concepts behind the music often generated some remarkable results.  Macero's edits are sometimes very jarring, as is the case with side two's In a Silent Way/It's About That Time, but his work deserves praise for the creative way in which he stitched the recordings together.  This process became more marked with subsequent records and it has been hotly debated whether there was merit in much of this.  Clearly, though, Davis wanted Macero to work in this way and, on this record, the results are excellent.

This may not be an apt corollary, but, to this listener, there is something about this record that is akin to the Birth of the Cool recordings.  It is probably more in the general sound and tempo--in which the ambiance and mid-tempo stylings are effected.  Yet, the album is anything but a reference to the past, at least not directly.  Instead, it is an emphatic nod (and it is subtle, like a nod--whereas Bitches Brew was a direct shake of the yead) toward the future.

Miles did what he needed to do after several years with the quintet to move his music in a different direction, but, in doing so, he incorporated the spirit of (and, often, direct connections to) rock, soul, pop and modern classical music.

In a Silent Way was an almost ambient way to chart new directions, where Bitches Brew was a powerful pathbreaking effort.  They are perfect companions to show where, 20 years in as a leader, Miles was going to go next.  He was called a sellout for using electric instruments and making references to popular and other forms of music.  But, how can you sell out, when you're making album long sides of 20 minutes or more?

Miles wasn't selling out, he was moving on.  The fact that he could do so, once again changing his style, personnel, composing, production and editing, and image and create another chapter in his career, when most of his contemporaries were still playing the same way they had done in the Forties, Fifties or early Sixties is testament to his greatness.  In a Silent Way is an amazing record, somewhat overshadowed by Bitches Brew, when, perhaps, it should be seen as a precursor and direct linkage.

Luciano Berio: Sequenzas I-XIV

This is a spellbinding and utterly absorbing three-disc set of performances, released by the Naxos label in 2006, on an array of solo instruments written by the Italian composer over a forty-four year period from 1958 until just a year prior to his death in 2003.

The lengths of the sequences run from just over five minutes for the first of the lot for flute to sequence ten on trumpet with piano resonance at just over seventeen minutes.  Other instruments featured are harp, piano, trombone, viola, oboe, violin, clarinet, guitar, bassoon, accordion, cello, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, and the female voice.

The recordings were made between 1998 and 2004 and are uniformly stunning in the composing, beautiful in the playing, and especially crystalline in the recording.  In fact, the use of St. John Chrysostom Church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada provided a very particular environment in which the sounds emanating from the instrument filled the structure and almost makes the venue another instrument with the rich timbres and sustained echo adding so much to each performance.

Of particular note is Berio's extensive use of extended techniques beyond traditional methods of performance on any given instruments.  These can be done any number of ways in terms of tapping rhythms on the body of an instrument, overblowing through a mouthpiece to create multiphonic sounds, bowing or plucking strings on a different part of a fret or rethinking how an instrument is generally used (such as a harp being played more aggressively through tapping on the body as well as varied strumming.)

Perhaps the most interesting of the extended techniques comes in the aforementioned sequence ten, in which the trumpeter blows into an open piano to generate the resonance referred  to in the title.  Also amazing is the sequence for bassoon (twelve), in which it appears that the player is utilizing circular breathing to continue the performance all the way through--this is truly amazing to hear.

It is probably too much to attempt to listen to all three discs and fourteen sequences at one time, but with each disc running at approximately an hour, taking them individually makes for an easier digesting of the rich content of the compositions and a fuller appreciation for the playing and, again, for that venue.

This listener, very new to Berio, having only heard his vocal masterwork Coro, approached the box that way, taking each disc on its own and absorbing what was heard before moving on to the next. Also very helpful are Richard Whitehouse's liner notes, pointing out that the complexity of the composing and technical virtuosity are matched by the emotive expressiveness brought to the performances by the musicians.

Perhaps the most impressive achievement in this series, though, is the way in which Berio wrote in a modern fashion while making reference to tradition.  This is not an extraordinarily difficult set of recordings to listen to--at least, not in three doses as noted above.

Someone who doesn't have a particular interest in so-called avant garde classical music, but may be willing to venture beyond traditional expressions on a variety of largely tried and true instruments, might find that taking the sequenzas in one disc at a time can be highly rewarding.  This listener has even listened to these recordings in two consecutive home gym workouts, which might (or might not) mean something in terms of the power and complexity of the sounds developing a strong sense of highly creative energy.

As is so often the case, Naxos is to be commended for putting together such a gorgeously-recorded, stunningly-performed and very affordable set of this remarkable music.

Flamenco Live!

This 4-disc box set, issued by the British Nimbus label in 2000, is a collection of four previously-released live albums from the label.  Three of the four feature singers and guitarists performing cante with the traditional-style vocals of María la Burra, María Soleá, José de la Tomasa, Chano Lobato, Manuel de Paula, Gaspar de Utrera, Miguel Funi, El Cabrero, Tina Pavón, Emilia Jandra, Rafael Calderón, Manuel Márquez, and Monica Dominguez--all of whom deserve mention because they are all excellent in conveying the passion and intensity of the form.

On two of the cante discs, the guitarists, who play with great dexterity, emotion and the use of variations are Paco del Gastor and his brother Juan.  They provide a perfect accompaniment to the vocalists in the environments of flamenco clubs, with a few in larger concert settings.  The fourth disc, another cante, features guitarist Manolo Dominguez, whose daughter Monica is one of the five vocalists, with the material also recorded in clubs.

The third disc is a spotlight for Paco del Gastor, whose talents took him from his native Morón de la Frontera, where much of this music was recorded and where the del Gastor dynasty of excellent guitarists were from, to the Spanish capital Madrid.  After hearing three recordings of cante, in which the singers are justly at the fore, demonstrating their various talents and abilities to the fullest, it is a bit jarring to hear a solo guitar performance--at least at the beginning.  But, Paco del Gastor is such an amazing performer that any sense of disconnect melts away quickly as the listener is absorbed in the work of this master.

That said, the highlight of this box, at least for this listener, are the two performances at the end of the second disc, Cante Flamenco, in which the del Gastor brothers take a back seat to the remarkable talents of El Cabrero (José Dominguez Muñoz), who had a twelve-year partnership with Paco del Gastor.

That synergy definitely shows on these pieces, recorded at a larger festival, but El Cabrero is the main attraction, with his vocals featuring a distinctive ululating at the end of certain phrases, a very strong elongating of the syllables that characterize the cante, but in a way that appears more like a plaintive and anguished cry, and politicized lyrical content.

There is a lot of material in this set, four-and-half hours worth, but most of it consists of rare instances of traditional pieces recorded in small flamenco clubs in Andalucia, the cradle of the form, and this is a paramount reason to shell out for the whole set, though the individual discs are available from Nimbus.  Those who favor the guitar work over the vocals would be advised to search out the Flamenco de la Frontera disc from Paco del Gastor, or the several albums on Nimbus from Paco Peña, another giant of the flamenco guitar.

For this listener, relatively new to the music, though, the vocals seem essential in conveying the passion and intensity as reflected in the cante that is ultimately the heart and soul of flamenco.

Black Uhuru: The Dub Factor

It was probably Fall 1984, not long after this blogger saw Black Uhuru open a wondrous double bill with the phenomenal King Sunny Ade, when I bought this album on vinyl.  From the first listen, the recording made a huge impression because it was the first of many excursions into the heart of dub, that amazing offshoot of reggae featuring a wide palette of processed sounds injected into the instrumental mix of a song, with occasional samples of the vocals by lead singer Michael Rose and backing vocalists Puma Jones and founder Duckie Simpson.
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When reggae shifted gears into dancehall and other genres after the mid-80s, it was years before I went and bought a CD version of this album and all of the great memories of the sonic experience flooded back.  Recently, several albums of choice dub from the likes Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Trojan Records label have rekindled that interest in the outer limits of reggae that dub embodies.

Black Uhuru's The Dub Factor is a reworking of tracks, largely from the great Chill Out album from 1982, which immediately preceded this dub masterpiece.  A few songs, principally "Youth" and "Puffed Out" from Red's "Youth of Eglington" and "Puff She Puff" come from other sources.  The 2003 remastered version adds three tracks, including takes on "Carbine" and "Journey", also from Red, a take on the title track from Chill Out called "Destination Unknown."

As great as the dubs are with the echo, reverb and other effects rendered to the instrumental backbone of these songs, as well as the disembodied vocal samples, the greatness of Black Uhuru, in addition to the excellent musicians and the preeminent Riddim Twins of Robbie Shakespeare (Basspeare) and Sly Dunbar (Drumbar), was the top-notch songwriting of Rose.  He wrote so many memorable songs for the band in that first half of the 80s, when classic reggae was gradually giving way to a digital movement and Black Uhuru reigned as the supreme band in the genre after the untimely demise of Bob Marley.

In addition to the production skills of Dunbar and Shakespeare, who embraced the technological movement to electronics through syndrums and other devices, this album is testament to the skill of Paul "Groucho" Smykle, an Island Records producer, who remixed the record.  Even though The Dub Factor has a crystalline sound benefiting from the latest in studio wizardry, the album delves deeply into the dub aesthetic, combining the studio sheen with a sense of audio adventure.

Following this recording, Black Uhuru issued one more album, 1985's Anthem, which won the first Grammy for a reggae album.  Yet, there was a lack of passion, energy and urgency to that ultra-sleek sounding record that was a precursor to Rose leaving the group.  Though there were several versions of the band over the years, Black Uhuru never again approached anywhere near the heights of its early 80s heyday.  Rose was away from the scene for a time and then returned with dancehall-infused solo albums that sold decently, but were a far cry from his peak as a socially-conscious crusader.  For a brief period a decade ago, Rose rejoined Black Uhuru, but it was a very brief reunion.

It's hard to believe that it has been over 30 years since that record was first heard by this blogger, but its qualities as a landmark in reggae and dub are as obvious as ever.

Ornette Coleman: Town Hall, 1962

The death of the great Ornette Coleman yesterday at age 85 means the loss of another master of creative musical expression, not just in jazz, but in all music.

This blogger has vivid memories of buying, in the same day in 1990, John Coltrane's My Favorite Things and an album of Atlantic outtakes from Coleman's years there, The Art of the Improvisors, especially its opening, frenetic "The Circle with a Hole in the Middle."  That recording let quickly to purchases of such classics as The Shape of Jazz to Come, Change of the Century, Free Jazz and many others.

Coleman's approach to harmony, his melodic sense, and the total freedom given to the musicians to play what felt right, provided they were listening and responding to each other, was revolutionary, drawing scorn and appreciation across the spectrum.

While his influence wasn't such that covers of his pieces are very common, outside of a few iconic tracks like "Lonely Woman" or the rare tribute album, like John Zorn's amazing Spy vs. Spy, his legacy is perhaps best represented in the spirit of expression that the murkily-defined concept of harmolodics, in which harmony is given equal weight with melody in the context of free expression concerning time, rhythm and other structures, embodied.

Now, in 1990, this listener, new to jazz, did not appreciate much of these notions, but was drawn to the playful, celebratory, light and crisp sounds of those Atlantic recordings that were made at the peak of Coleman's notoriety.

Of course, Coleman continued to probe, explore and express through his years at Blue Note, Columbia and then on to his electric group, Prime Time, and more modern pursuits, including the remarkable Sound Grammar, the fantastic collaboration with Pat Metheny, Sound X, and the little-discussed duet with Joachim Kuhn, Colors, a rare instance of the use of piano in Coleman's music.  That live recording in Leipzig from the mid-1990s represented Coleman's unceasing explorations in instrumentation, as well as sound, and may have had a precursor from over thirty years before.

This was the Town Hall concert of 21 December 1962, recorded by Blue Note Records, but then released on the fledgling ESP-Disk label, which went on to a notable career of releasing free jazz, underground rock and other cutting edge sounds.  Having left Atlantic and not feeling appreciated for his utterly original approach to music, Coleman decided to use his own limited funds to rent New York's Town Hall and present a concert that took evolving ideas of composition and expression to a level beyond what he had done at Atlantic.  Bernard Stollman, who founded ESP-Disk, was also Coleman's manager at the time.

He had the perfect rhythm section for his new phase in drummer Charles Moffett, whose cymbal work in particular was notable, as well as the stunning bassist David Izenzon, whose clasically-dervived bowing technique was phenomenal in addition to his pizzicato playing.  On this record, there are two short pieces, "Doughnut" and "Sadness," in which these two masters utilized their individual and collective strengths to give Coleman a new palette of textures and colors from which to solo.

"Dedication to Poets and Writers," written for a string quartet played by violinists Selwart Clark and Nathan Goldstein, celloist Kermit Moore and Julian Barber on viola, was Coleman's first attempt at a notated piece along classical lines.  Coleman had been involved in a project of so-called Third Stream music, blending modernist classical music with jazz, through its most noted promoter, Gunther Schuller, in which the composer wrote "Abstractions" specifically for Coleman.

Remco Takken's notes point out that Izenzon's classical training and approach to bowing on his double bass provide a bridge between the string quartet and the trio performances at this show and this listener totally agrees that what could have been disparate, jarring contrasts became more of an organic, unified program because of Izenzon's way of playing.  Coleman's approach to harmolodics, which was always being refined and redeveloped, is also detectable on close listening.

"The Ark" probably represents the closest linkage between the trio and string quartet sections of the concert.  A sprawling, multi-faceted, and fascinating excursion into all the tools Coleman had to offer at the time, the piece really is a stunning effort, with Coleman exploring the full range of his alto, Moffett using his highly effective and understated approach, even on his fine soloing, on the kit, highlighted by his shimmering cymbal work, and Izenzon demonstrating why he was a marvel of playing the bass in both the arco and pizzicato styles.

Coleman, however, was thoroughly demoralized by the conditions surrounding his music in terms of what he felt was a lack of appreciation as well as financial concerns and went on a self-imposed hiatus from public performance and recording that lasted two years.  During 1963 and 1964, however, he worked busily on his compositional approaches through harmolodics and looked for new ways of expression through learning two new instruments.  Although his technique was rough, the emotive content of his playing on trumpet and violin added new dimensions of sound, in terms of color and texture.  These are, probably, best exemplified by the stunning recordings from the Golden Circle in Copenhagen from 1965, released on Blue Note.

As a document that was, simultaneously the end of an era from the big splash he made in New York in 1959 and the harbinger of a new phase that was delayed for a couple of years, Town Hall, 1962 is probably, along with a record like Colors, among the least appreciated of Coleman's half-century of recorded work.

Listening to this album tonight evokes clear recollections of the 1990 trio performance (intended to be a reunion of the 1959 quartet, but trumpeter Don Cherry had to bow out because of the flu) at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles during Peter Sellars' Los Angeles Festival.  Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins were certainly different in their approaches as the rhythm section, but the full integration of drummer and bass player with the leader is striking in both cases.

Finally, from the perspective of remembrance, this blogger is grateful to have heard Coleman in one of his last local performances, at UCLA's Royce Hall nearly five years ago.  It was typically probing, with two bassists, Coleman's son Denardo playing with great mastery on the drumkit (amazing that his father was derided for using his 10-year old son, along with the late, great Charlie Haden on bass, on 1966's The Empty Foxhole), a Japanese singer employing wordless and otherworldly vocals, and then, for a couple pieces, bassist Flea, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers but also a huge jazz fan, joining the quartet and showing that his jazz chops were substantial.

Even at 80, Coleman demonstrated his lifelong commitment to expressing, fully and freely, the wonder of sound.  That may be his legacy:  taking himself, his fellow musicians, and listeners on an uncharted journey into the ineffable joys of music.

Now, as "The Ark" has just ended and the applause fades, this is the time to say to Ornette Coleman, one of the great creative artists of our time, rest in peace and thank you for sharing your wonder with us.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerti for Harpsichords, Recorders, Flute and Violins

This excellent recording on the Naxos label by the Cologne Chamber Orchestra conducted by Helnut Müller-Brühl features four concertos by the great composer with emphasis on the lighter-sounding instruments of harpsichord, recorder, flute and violin.  With all of the harmonic richness and melodic expressiveness representative of the baroque style mastered by Bach, the disc provides a great cross-section of concertos, an area of Bach's work which received relatively scant attention compared to his organ and clavier (pre-piano) work.

The Concerto in A Minor for harpsichord, violin and flute is, as the liner notes observe, a companion piece of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, a famed series, though it is in a slower tempo and with a more restrained sense of dynamics.  Copies of the score, however, are from students who made their transcriptions after Bach's death in 1750, so estimates place the composition at around 1740.

The Concerto in F major for two recorders and harpsichord is immediately familiar with its bright and famed melody being the precursor of the fourth Brandenburg Concerto.  Dating also to about 1740, the work includes a single violin part reproduced on the harpsichord, while it is fascinating to hear the complement of recorders with violin.

Utilizing three harpsichords, the Concerto in D Minor is complicated and brisk piece and appears to date to 1730.  It was also said to be a featured piece for the master and two sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, to perform.  The second movement is slower and more stately with a lilting dance movement guiding it.  Finally, the third movement, performed in a fugue form, is a dense and uplifting one, providing a nice closure to the piece.

The final of the four concertos is in C is also for three harpsichords, though it is performed with violins here.  Two separate works are combined here and the performance is very beautiful with the sweeping grace of the violins contrasting with the crisp sounds of the keyboards.  A simpler, more subdued second movement has a slower tempo and a yearning melody of great emotional content.  Returning to a faster tempo and more complex harmonization, much like in the first movement, the third contains pretty performances on the violin and provide an excellent way to end a very entertaining disc.

Bach's amazing compositions with their palette of refined harmonics, gorgeous melodies, and demands placed on the soloists and accompanying musicians is on full display and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra deserves kudos for their sensitive renderings of these fine works.

Hamdulillah: Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, Volume II

The 2015 edition of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in Fes, Morocco is going on right now, having started last Friday the 22nd and ending this Saturday the 30th.  Established in 1994 by Association Fes Saiss, which is concerned with "artistic preservation, international cooperation, and other humanitarian causes," the festival presents a wide array of music from around the world.  This year's lineup, for example, includes musicians from sub-Saharan Africa, Scotland, Iraq, Portugal, India, China, Azerbaijan, Spain and even the current lineup of The Temptations!

This recording consists of two discs sampling some of the amazing music from the 1997 and 1998 Fes festivals.  Musics included in the set provide a fascinating array of performers.    On disc one, featured performers include The Ahmed Piro Ensemble, representing Arab-Andalusian (medieval Arab Spanish origins) music, was joined by the impressive Amina Alaoui on vocals.  The ensemble Taqtouqa Al Jabaliyya performs Taqtouga music from the Rif Mountains region of Morocco.  Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar brings classical Indian vocals from the Hindustani region.  The remarkable Children of Abraham is a consortium of choirs featuring Christian, Jewish and Muslim youth.  The great Alim Oassimov, from Azerbaijan, demonstrated his remarkable vocalizations from Sufi-inspired chants.  The gorgeous voice of Francoise Atlan, of France, emphasizes Jewish Sephardic song traditions.  Albert Bouhadanna is joined by the Arab-Andalusian Orchestra of Mohammed Briouel for a performancebased on the piyyout, a Jewish music from Morocco.

The second disc includes Central Asian sufi music as performed by Monajat Yulcheva of Uzbekistan; the Iraqi maqam tradition of mystical texts and poetry performed by Hussayn Al Azami and the Al Kindi Ensemble.  The breathtaking sound of Javanese gamelan is represented by the Wacana Budaya Gamelan group.  The amazing vocalist Sharam Nazeri of Iranian Kurdistan (a people who have been much oppressed in Iran, Iraq and Turkey) is backed by the excellent Dastan Ensemble.  Finally, there is the monumental 39-minute rendering of the phenomenon of The Whirling Dervishes of Konya representing the fantastic traditions of the Sufi mystic and poet, Jallaluddin Rumi--a stunning end to a fantastic sampling of music from the two festivals.

The Sounds True label, much like the Ellipsis Arts label, has released a great deal of spiritual material of all kinds, much of which has New Age connotations.  Whatever one makes of some of this, there are some excellent recordings of spiritual musics from around the world released by the label, including a fine album by the late, great Sudanese oud master  Hamza el-Din, as well as some excellent compilations, including this one.

The quality of sound from these live productions is very good and is clear and crisp.  Notably, the hauntingly beautiful Children of Abraham performance was engineered by Steve Van Zandt, presumably the guitarist best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen, while the rest was done by another engineer.  A handsomely-produced booklet details each track with photos and information on the performers.

There is a companion volume, the first, called Bismillah: Highlights from the Fes Festival, sampling from earlier editions of the festival. Hopefully, a copy can be located and highlighted here sometime.  Meantime, anyone interested in music from the Middle East, northern Africa and central Asia would benefit greatly from picking up a copy of this stunning album.

Horace Tapscott: The Giant Is Awakened

It's hard to believe it's been a quarter century since this blogger went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on a Friday evening and, before going to see the exhibits, happened to stop to hear a free jazz concert out in the museum's plaza.  There was the mesmerizing, powerful, brilliant pianist Horace Tapscott, whose The Dark Tree, Volume One was highlighted here previously.

Tapscott forsook what could have been a major career in jazz to stay in Los Angeles, work for his South Central community, raise his family, and create a number of ensembles to play his remarkable music.  While largely unknown to the public, if not to musicians, Tapscott's dedication and devotion to community was amazing.

In 1969, producer Bob Thiele, who had left Impulse Records, where he worked closely with John Coltrane and others on that major label's roster, was developing his own imprint, Flying Dutchman.  When he contacted Tapscott about recording with him, the pianist was suspicious, echoing the general concern black jazz musicians had about record labels and producers and the exploitation that was usually the case in these situations.  Thiele, however, convinced Tapscott to enter the studio and the result was the stunning The Giant Is Awakened.

Tapscott's quintet included stalwarts of his Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra big band, most of whom are all but unknown, including the rhythm section of bassists Walter Savage, Jr. and David Bryant and drummer Everett Brown, Jr., but the trio play beautifully and sensitively (Brown especially) behind the soloists, comprised of Tapscott and "Black Arthur Blythe," the altoist, who later dispensed with the first part of that name, but also went out to become one of the great saxophonists for the 1970s and 1980s, best known as a member of the great World Saxophone Quartet.

In fact, this album is largely an opportunity to hear some of the earliest recorded work of this master and Blythe is just staggering with his phrasing, power, clarity and confidence.  He proves to be a perfect counterpoint to Tapscott, whose command of the piano is no less impressive here than in the later records for which he had some reputation, particularly The Dark Tree live albums and the solo work he did for Nimbus West, of which some examples will be featured here subsequently.

"The Dark Tree" is, in fact, present on this recording, but in a much shorter and less awe-inspiring version than would be found on the 1989 live performances.  Instead, the title track here is the centerpiece, at over seventeen minutes, and it is actually no less impressive than the later versions of "The Dark Tree."  Much of this is due to Tapscott's writing and arranging, in which he brings out the most of tension, space, power and energy to give himself and Blythe all of the opportunities for expression in their solo work that they can give to the piece, with the bottom held firm by the rhythm section.  "The Giant Is Awakened" should have, in a better world, been more than true to its title and given Tapscott more recognition for his talents.

The too-short "For Fats" is a contribution by Blythe with its staccato rhythm and dual melodic statement by the alto and piano providing a memorable structure and then a bit of an avant-garde touch behind Blythe's keening and very impressive soloing, particularly on the second run.

The misnamed "Nyja's Theme," rendered as "Niger's Theme" is a tune Tapscott would revisit a number of times.  Here a dual-note phrase by the bass and piano leads into a statement by Tapscott with a martial drumbeat and then the memorable melodic statement rendered by the piano and Blythe's crystalline alto.  Blythe solos first and pours out a torrential fire of a solo, showing why he would become one of the greats on his instrument.  Tapscott, from the 5 minute mark on, then issues forth some of his signature soloing techniques, including dramatic block chords, the use of the sustain pedal to create atmospheric mood and uniquely angular phrasing.

Tapscott's reticence in working with a major label was such that he requested involvement in the mixing--an entirely reasonable suggestion given the care he put into every aspect of his music.  However, that promise was broken, only reinforcing the mistrust the pianist and composer felt about the music industry.  It would be a full decade before he recorded again and then only for small labels that dealt with Tapscott more fairly.

It's a shame that this arrangement couldn't have worked out better, because The Giant Is Awakened is an amazing record, assured, confident, performed with great skill and comprised of three works by the leader that showed his genius for composition and performance.  By all rights, this man should have been given some of the opportunities afforded other pianists of the time--if Keith Jarrett could have gotten an ECM behind him, why couldn't have Tapscott had something similar?

At least, we have this one masterpiece to show the talent the late, great Horace Tapscott possessed.

The Best of B.B. King: The Millenium Collection

The announcement yesterday of the death at 89 of the great B.B. King takes away one of the last of that generation of classic blues performers.  King's piercing, keening and sharp soloing and that slightly husky and emotive singing style are among the most easily recognizable in music over the last fifty plus years.

This greatest hits compilation by MCA is a brief survey of a stellar career that is mostly from material recorded from 1966 to 1976, excepting his mid-80s hit "Into the Night," which was wisely put at the end of the collection as it is obviously different in production values and intent.

You can't find a better example of the pure soulfulness of King's work than the opening track, "The Thrill is Gone," which features his voice more than his guitar.  This 1969 masterpiece is easily one of the great songs of the last fifty years.

By contrast is the upbeat "Ain't Nobody Home," where King's restrained vocals backed by a female trio and including organ, piano, horns in a bigger band, but a thinner sound.  This pleasant piece is then followed by a rollicking live version of "Let The Good Times Roll" with the irrepressible Bobby Bland working with King to take the sound to a higher level.  It's a fantastic version and King gets in some tasty soloing, as well.

The party gives way to one of the sweetest and finest ballads of King's work, introduced by a highly soulful and mournful solo backed by horns and piano in the excellent "Guess Who," from 1972.  Here, though, it's King voice that  takes center stage and his singing is just beautiful.

"I Like to Live the Love" has the horns, basslines, and, especially, the drum tuning that is pretty clearly an attempt to emulate the Al Green sound, since that soul singer was at the top of his game in 1973 when the tune was recorded.  King, though, sings with great effectiveness, even putting in a little Green-like effect on the chorus.  A nice addition, as well, is the percussion (conga drums and so on), though there isn't much guitar at all.

On 1966's "Don't Answer the Door," the first of a trio from blues central in Chicago, there is a deep blues groove with the high trebly guitar intro over an organ drone sounding like it is in another room, but it is a sweet solo to start. King's vocal is outstanding, imploring, shouting and showing the man at his best.  It's quite a contrast to the previous song and shows King at the peak of his classic blues period.

Another great live tune, also from '66, is "Sweet Sixteen," another slow blues groove where King's soloing at the start has a lower range than on "Don't Answer the Door" until he moves higher up in range and lets loose some hot licks, before his impassioned vocals, accompanied by a sax, elicit screams, yells and other loud affirmations from a highly-appreciative crowd.

The short, radio-ready, "Paying the Cost To Be the Boss," shuffles along nicely behind the short opening solo until King hits his soulful stride in his vocal.  With some tasty horns, percolating organ, a sinewy and prominent bassline and a nice steady drum beat, this is another classic King tune from 1967.

1971's "I Got Some Help I Don't Need," has a short intro with a bit of an organ solo before King launches his vocal, mixed in an interesting way, but it's great because his singing his outstanding.  The drums are also mixed in a strange way, though the crystalline cymbals work well.  It may be that the sound came out as it did because the tune was produced by Ed Michel, who did a ton of great jazz records for Impulse! and other labels at the time.

That leaves "Into the Night," which is definitely an artifact of that mid-1980s film soundtrack era.  The synthesizers, at least two of them, and the bass are jarring compared to the other pieces on the record, but there is some good soloing by the guitar master and his singing is given a blues shouter gusto, especially as he bellows out the title, that does offset to a significant degree the instrumental backing.  It's as if King knew that he had to turn up the heat on his singing to take attention away from the rest of the performance!

R.I.P. B.B.

Clearly, B.B. King enthusiasts will point to any number of proper albums or other compilations as more representative of the greatness of this outstanding blues legend.  The Best of B.B. King is, however, a good overview of a decade of some of the master's best work, even if "Into the Night" is a bit out of place.

Arnold Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2/Die Gluckliche Hand/Wind Quintet

Conductor Robert Craft's series of recordings of the work of the renowned modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg for the Naxos label includes this interesting combination of works showing the range of material produced by Schoenberg over a long, productive career.

The Chamber Symphony No. 2 was begun in 1906 when the composer was in his early thirties and the first of the two movements bore the hallmarks of the romantic approach to lush melodies and fairly standard harmonies of the era, but with a new ending and different instrumentation when Schoenberg completed the work in 1939.

The second and longer movement, however, is reflective of the changes in the composer's approaches in the three decades since his first attempt.  In a rapid allegro tempo, the movement emphasized polyphony, a syncopated rhythm and a complexity that makes the performing far more challenging from the musicians than the simpler first movement.

A "drama with music," the four movement "Hand of Fate" from 1913, just after Schoenberg's famed "Pierrot Lunaire.  It was an impressionistic pantomime for two silent performers, the main being "The Man," or Schoenberg as an artist, who confronts the ego and its desire for fame.  The opening scene finds a Greek-style chorus offstage mocking "The Man" for his blatant desires as he lies outstretched on the stage.

A woman then appears with a goblet for the man who, taking the drink, does not acknowledge the woman, who then leaves with another man, but later returns, before once again departing.  This mirrored Schoenberg's painful experience of having his wife elope with an artist, who then hung himself, and the spouse, at the urging of the composer's student, Anton Webern, returned to her husband.

In a third scene, the man finds a goldsmithng operation in a cave and determines to do the work better than the workers there.  In so doing, he inadvertently creates a jeweled crown of incredible proportions while crushing the anvil in the shop.  As he gives the object to the stunned workers, they attack him.  Suddenly the woman and the third man she'd left with earlier return and the female ascends a high mountain with the artist in pursuit.  From the pinnacle, however, she flings a large rock down and crushes the artist.

In the final scene, there is a return to the beginnings of the pantomime with the chorus again mocking the prostrate man.

The symbolism is also musical with the artist representing Schoenberg's new method of composing (serialist, twelve-tone row) crushing the tonality of tradition (the anvil) and revealing the crown (atonal music), which he attempts to give to the workers (composers trapped in old forms) who, of course, attack him for his impudence.

Speaking of which, the Wind Quintet of 1923-24, finds Schoenberg deep in the early stages of his serial development, composing a symphonic sonata in four movements that stretches for nearly forty minutes.  Between the new sounds expressed in twelve-tone form, the length of the work, and the fact that it is a technically demanding piece for the tempos involved, this work contrasts significantly with the others.

Adjusting for the atonal form of hearing twelve tones, rather than a piece developed around a single note (or tone, expressed as the tonic), ordered in a row called a "basic set," which forms the basis, but is not the entirety, for the piece, as the tones relate to one another without a dominant tonic.

There is a richness, nimbleness, and range of fascinating instrumental contrasts in this work that can be very rewarding, even for amateurs who don't fully appreciate the systemic concepts embodied in the serial technique.  There is no question, even for the untrained ear, that the dispensing of traditional tonal and harmonic approaches gives the music a more "open ended" form that, to this listener, finds the "speech patterns" among the various instruments compelling and intriguing.

This disc is an excellent survey of different aspects of Schoenberg's evolution as a composer over a thirty-plus year timespan, carried out by Craft's passion and expertise in developing the project of recording all of Schoenberg's published pieces for Naxos.

Global Meditation: Authentic Music from Meditative Traditions of the World

So, the title sounds very New Age-y and the label, Ellipsis Arts, which issued this four-disc box set in 1992, was devoted to products that emphasized the deeply spiritual in a highly earnest, if dated, manner.

However, the musical content and the sound quality of Global Meditation is top-notch.  The set is divided thematically, with the first disc dealing with "Voices of the Spirit: Songs and Chants."  From Norway, Albania, Australia, Bali, Hawaii, the pygmies of Central Africa, Japan, Tibet, and Russia are a broad array of vocal music that, philosophizing aside, represent a fantastic cross-section of sounds from around the world.

The second disc, "Harmony and Interplay: Ensembles," takes on large group performances from the Gnawa of Morocco, gamelan from Java, African group playing, the amazing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Pakistani qawwali music, and Indian and Egyptian pieces, as well.  Putting gnawa, gamelan and qawwali on one disc is reason enough to hear this amazing music.

"The Pulse of Life: Rhythm & Percussion" provides a wide range of pieces that should make any percussion lover very happy.  African, Indian, Haitian, and Japanese taiko ensembles predominate here, with a New Age selection by Glen Velez tossed in, though it is a pretty good piece.

Finally, the box ends with "Music of the Heart: Melody," including works Ireland, Turkey, Korea, India, Armenia, China, Egypt and Japan showcasing instruments like the Celtic harp, the Indian bamboo flute, the duduk, and the shakuhachi, among others.  Much of this is solemn, contemplative and very beautiful melodic work.

There is a 32-page booklet giving concise, but very useful, information on the performances, players and traditions from which they developed, as well as some photos of musicians.   Compiler Brooke Wentz and associates did a remarkable job in finding and licensing from many record labels such a diverse range of material and, as explained in the booklet's introductory note, should be congratulated for doing so despite the project representing "a sizable task for our lean staff."

Global Meditation is a great survey of some of the world's most interesting and compelling music.  For those not spiritually oriented, but are interested mainly in the musical quality of the set, there is a bounty of great performances here that are well worth hearing if a copy can be located.

Funkronomicon: Axiom Funk

Courtesy of the prolific and diverse Bill Laswell came this 1995 release on his Island Records-distributed Axiom imprint, highlighting a varied selection of funk-related music comprised of some previously-recorded tracks and material that had not been released.

With its fundamental contributions from keyboardist Bernie Worrell and bassist Bootsy Collins and an appearance on one track by George Clinton, the lineage with Parliament-Funkadelic is clear, but there are also elements representative of new formulations shepherded by Laswell that add to the appeal of this masterpiece.

For example, who else other than Laswell could get reggae rhythm legends Robbie Shakespeare (bass) and Sly Dunbar (drums) to appear with Clinton and Collins, as well as jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and alto master Henry Threadgill, all on one tune, "Under the Influence (Jes Grew)?  How about violinist Lili Haydn and the amazing guitarist Buckethead teamed with Collins and Blackbyrd McKnight (formerly with Hancock's Headhunters, P-Funk, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others)?

In addition, you've got among the last recordings of the phenomenal guitarist Eddie Hazel, the great alto sax player Maceo Parker, the amazing guitarist Gary Shider, a rare appearance from Sly Stone, Abiodun Oyowole and Umar bin Hassan from the legendary Last Poets, organist extraordinaire Amina Claudine Myers, and other fine musicians added to the mix.

Finally, what would an album like this be without the artwork of Pedro Bell, who illustrated so many classic P-Funk covers?   From the front cover image shown here, to a fantastic collage of images on another panel to the hilarious cartoon "Funkcronomixx: Wot Da Hell Is up?!", the use of Bell's work is a perfect capstone to a great album and it is worth noting that, in the credits, after Bell's listing is the phrase, ". . .And may we be forgiven for we know not what we've done."

A short essay (statement) on Funkcronomicon (a play on Necronomicon), employing clever wordplay, playful nonsense, a nod to the late Eddie Hazel, and possibly a hint of seriousness about what funk can do to shake up a complacent, overly-ordered and jaded word is attributed to Sir Lleb of Funkadelia!

Considering that the funk embodied by Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective had its heyday in the late 1970s, Laswell's embodiment of "collision music," in putting together so many diverse musicians on Funkcronomicon nearly twenty years later is an impressive achievement.  Those expecting a rehash of the prime P-Funk era will be disappointed, but that would be the easy way out.  Channeling the spirit of the collective while moving the music in new and compelling directions is what makes this album so good.

As the label on the packaging calls it, this is music "probing the depths of futuristic funkadelia."  It is a great recording from Laswell and his P-Funk and other partners.

John Zorn: Voices in the Wilderness

Last night was an event a quarter century in the waiting--the opportunity to see John Zorn and Bill Laswell live.  Saturday was a marathon for Zorn, who had a series of performances at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art during the day and then an evening of concerts at U.C.L.A.'s Royce Hall.  The latter featured Zorn compositions performed by Abraxas, Secret Chiefs 3 and Bladerunner.

The first group was led by bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and included a duo of dueling lead guitarists and a blisteringly fast drummer while Blumenkranz held down the bottom with his bass and the Gnawa instrument, the gimbri, on a couple of pieces.  The band generated huge amounts of fast, loud and virtuosic energy, broken up on occasion by slower, quieter passage, and were well-received.

Secret Chiefs 3 is led by guitarist Trey Spruance, formerly of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More, who led an sextet with a keyboardist, bassist, drummer, second guitarist and violin and, while the volume and speed were usually milder than that of Abraxas, the musicianship was remarkable and there was still plenty of powerful playing.  This group got more of a response, possibly because there were a number of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle fans in the audience.

Then came the headlining Bladerunner, with Zorn on alto, Laswell on bass and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.  Given that Zorn and Laswell's Pain Killer is a well-known project, mainly with ex-Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris, comparisons were obvious for those familiar with that earlier group.  Lombardo, however, is a supremely-talented drummer, who could not only provide sheer energy, volume and force, but has the technical facility and agility to give a more complex percussive backing for both Zorn and Laswell.  The bassist employed several types of playing on his instrument using a bank of effects pedals and his techniques were familiar to those who know his work.  Laswell and Lombardo provided a huge bottom that rattled seats and bodies for Zorn to explore the full tonal range of his instrument.

And that he did!  At 61, Zorn shows no sign of slowing down as a composer and performer.  He wailed, screamed, honked and blew with tremendous power and employed his circular breathing techniques to display his staying power.  There were times, however, when the music slowed down, Lombardo relied on complex cymbal work and Laswell simpler bass lines and Zorn played more melodically and showed fantastic control and coloration.

Maybe there'll be a live recording coming from this "Triple Threat," as it was known, because it would be great to have a document of this stunning concert from three amazing ensembles.

Meantime, over the last few days, while working out in the home gym and doing yardwork, this listener had the pleasure to revisit Zorn's masterpiece, Voices in the Wilderness, a 2003 double-disc release on the composer's non-profit label, Tzadik.  This staggering recording features two-dozen pieces from the Masada songbook and represented the second of five releases commemorating the tenth anniversary of the project which marked Zorn's rediscovery of his Jewish heritage.

Each of the pieces was arranged by friends and musicians of the composer and the stylistic range, instrumentation and approaches in arranging are really something to behold.  Moreover, the performances by the many musicians are just remarkable.

Blumenkranz's group, Pharoah's Daughter, pianist Uri Caine's trio, the trio of Medeski, Martin and Wood, altoist Peter Apfelbaum, pianist Anthony Coleman, tenor player Larry Ochs, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, clarinetist Chris Speed, vocalist Jewlia Eisenberg, bass clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, guitarist Eyal Maoz (who was fantastic with Abraxas last night), laptop electronics player Ikue Mori, vocalist Mike Patton, percussionist William Winant, guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist Jamie Saft and drummer Kenny Wollesen are among the dozens of musicians whose work is represented on this standout album.

Zorn had not played in Los Angeles since 1990, the year this blogger got into his music, and Laswell has not often appeared in this area over the years either, so last night was a "bucket list" type of evening, with the added pleasure of hearing the high caliber of performers in Abraxas and Secret Chiefs 3.

Albert Ayler: Spirits Rejoice

This entry is in response to the death on 19 April of Bernard Stollman, the attorney who founded ESP-Disk in response to hearing the amazing Albert Ayler perform live in 1964 and told him he was founding a label and wanted the tenor sax player to be his first artist.

Stollman, whose first release on ESP-Disk was actually a record about Esperanto, the universal language that has never caught on, liked to advertise that with his label, "the artists alone decide what you hear on their ESP-Disk."  And, however true that may have been, the label recorded some of the most expressive and off-putting (to most ears) of the so-called free jazz players from the middle and late sixties.  Ayler was perhaps the most notorious of them.

Stollman, however, was roundly criticized from musicians who recorded for the label and found themselves receiving little or no royalties and having no control over their music.  At the same time, the label made so little money that it was closed after about a decade, though revived again in 2005.  This version of Spirits Rejoice was issued in 2012 with a new design and layout and remastering.

Recorded at Judson Hall in New Tork on 23 September 1965, Spirits Rejoice is a prime example of Ayler's peak ecstatic phase, in which the songs largely revolve around spiritual themes exemplified by references to martial, New Orleans, R&B and other genres.  In a rare occurrence, another sax player, altoist Charles Tyler, recorded with Ayler, whose brother Donald also marks his debut as a rather raggedy, but very emotional, trumpeter.

The three horns are generally either playing the strangely uplifting themes or tearing into powerful solos, but they sound quite harmonic in the former, while moving in different directions, but with an ear to each other, into the outer limits of jazz on the latter.

Meanwhile, the remarkable Sunny Murray, eerily moaning most of the way through, plays his drums with the kind of meterless freedom that allows the soloists to play however they'd like, while keeping a sense of order to the proceedings.

The drummer is joined by bassists Henry Grimes and Gary Peacock, who are often not heard well in the mix unless soloing, even with a good remastering job.  This is a bit of a shame because both played often with Ayler and knew how to use their instruments, particularly Peacock, in the service of the music.

On at least one piece, "Angels," Ayler pairs up with the much older harpsichordist Call Cobbs, whose instrument was often used in pop, rock and jazz in the Sixties and sounds quaint, yet oddly appealing.  The again, hearing enough of Ayler's music and its obsession with spiritual concerns, Cobbs' playing does have an uncanny way of harmonizing with the somewhat maudlin melody of the piece.

Through Bernard Stollman and ESP-Disk, much of Ayler's best and most challenging work was released (even if Ayler received very little money for his work, if the accusations against Stollman are true) and we are fortunate to have the documentation of music from one of jazz's most intriguing musicians.  Throughout, Ayler's huge tone, melodic simplicity, utter sincerity, and his frenetic and fantastic solo work present him as one of the era's most distinctive performers.

Franz Schubert: Trout Piano Quintet/String Quartet in A Minor

In addition to immediately being drawn to the music of the great Franz Schubert back when discovering him in 1990, this listener was particularly attuned to the work of the Austrian master in 2008 for a variety of reasons.

Schubert only lived thirty-one years, but was similar to Mozart and his contemporary Mendelssohn in being a prodigy and prolific.  This Durkin Hayes-released album by the British Royal Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, recorded early in 1994, presents two of the composer's best-known chamber works.

The gorgeous, stately and highly emotive melodies of the Piano Quintet in A Major, known as the "Trout", was completed in 1819 when Schubert was 22, but was not published until 1829, the year after his death.  In addition to the time-honored beauty of the melodies and harmonic richness of the score, there is the matter of the unusual instrumentation and structure.  The name derives from the piece's connection to a lied (song) called "The Trout" that the composer used in the fourth movement.

Normally, works like this match the piano to the standard string quartet of two violins, viola and cello, but Schubert removed one of the violins and inserted a double bass instead, which provided a deeper, richer bottom end that worked particularly well with the slower, more somber aspects.  Moreover, the composer  wrote the piece in five movements, instead of the usual four.  This allowed him to develop more variations on themes and, because of the wealth of wonderful motivic material found in the piece, the expanded movement structure gives the listener that much more to enjoy.

The "Rosamunde" string quartet, in A Minor, is another masterpiece with a series of gorgeous melodies that have endured.  Achingly beautiful and simple, the theme is followed by a section with a strong sense of drama and tension, one anchored in a deep wellspring of emotion.

The composer had his upbringing in a musical family that performed chamber music at home and he began writing fine string quartets at a young age (not unlike Rossini).  Of the numbered set of fifteen quartets attributed to Schubert, the A minor is the thirteenth and often called the "Rosamunde."  It was completed in the first months of 1824 and was not as popular in later years as his epic "Death and the Maiden" which was completed at the same time.  Yet, it was the only of his quartets published in his lifetime.

The name "Rosamunde" came from the fact that part of the piece was extracted from a song included in Schubert's incidental music for a play of that name and included in the slow second movement.  In terms of his amazing knack for highly lyrical themes, sense of powerful dynamics and complex textures, Schubert, in the "Rosamunde", creates a masterpiece that, coupled with "Death and the Maiden" set a high standard for the string quartet form.