Brian Eno: Ambient 1/Music for Airports

A prior post here covered the amazing first collaboration by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, 1972's (No Pussyfooting) and, at some point, we'll have to delve into the remarkable Evening Star from 1975, as well.  As for Eno's solo work, however, that has only recently been explored and it's really too bad that it's taken so long.

Ambient 1/Music for Airports, released in 1978 on Editions EG, is an astounding recording and one that has an eternal feel to it and, to this listener, does not sound as if it is almost a half-century old.  What's notable is that, as Eno did with Fripp on the aforementioned albums and then on his own Discreet Music, also from 1975, he utilized tape looping of notes that either came in small clusters of three or four or of sustained tones with the timing based on the length of tape used.  These variations allowed for the establishment of new patterns or development of sounds.

The first piece "1/1" features Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt playing a piano, while "2/1" and "1/2" incorporate the voices of Christa Fast, Christine Gomez and Inge Zeininger singing one sustained note for ten seconds and then these looped, with piano utilized again in the latter piece.  Eno once stated, "I just set all of these loops running and let them configure in which ever way they wanted to, and in fact the result is very nice."  That it is and the feeling is of immersion in the sound world created.

Not unlike Anthony Braxton, Eno, who, though, does not read music, developed a graphic score for each piece, reproduced on the cover.   Each, however, represents the compositional approach of the phrasing and looping undertaken.  Employing the strategy recommended by Donald Ayler, whose brother, Albert, was a powerful force in free jazz, especially in the last half of the 1960s, to follow the sound, not the notes, letting this music be an experience.

Eno, in fact, was inspired by sitting in an architecturally compelling airport in Cologne, Germany, but was struck by the piped-in music being incompatible, in his view, with the surroundings.  This was his concept for how such a musical environment could be developed and introduced, though he also said in an interview that the idea that a traveler could end up in a fatal plane crash was a major part of this thinking.  As relaxing and enveloping as this music is, that is certainly not the impression left for this listener!

Madagascar: Pays Antanosy Sarandra

Madagascar, an island off the southeastern portion of Africa (and probably only known to most Americans because of the 2005 film of the name) is more culturally related to the Indonesian archipelago a few thousand miles east across the Indian Ocean though it is also deeply tied to France because of the colonial control asserted by that European power for about six decades until independence came in 1960 and also has strong religious affiliations with Islam.

The Malagasy people include the Antanosy, who largely occupy the southastern end of the island, and this recording from the great Ocora label focuses on sarandra, a genre of singing that the liner notes compares to the performances of Andalusian flamenco vocalists in northern Spain.  Moreover, it is said that the genre "really comes into its own when performed at funeral wakes" as "this music plays the role of memory" and involves "a sort of emotional commentary on the deceased" and relationships with the living and ancestors.  The singing is also described as blues-like and employs many notes to a syllable in the lyrics and it is telling that "the Antanosy say they love musical expression because it makes them cry."

Instruments include the sosoly, a type of flute broadly called the sodina, and is related to the ney used extensive in Arabic music; the kabosa, or lute, and which also came from the Arab and Persian migrations of long ago and another word used is mandaly, akin to mandolin; the langoro, or membranophone, which is a two-skin cylinder-shaped drum hit with a pair of sticks; and, occasionally, the atrañatra, a xylophone played only by women and situated on their legs, jejo bory, or short lute, and the lokanga, or fiddle, though these have been falling out of favor.

A little more than half the tracks, the first 11, were recorded in Paris in 2006, while the remaining nine were captured in various locations in Madagascar between 1998 and 2000 and, while the instrumental portions can be quite remarkable, it is the vocalizations that are the most striking and evocative.  As with other music in areas of the world that are totally, or almost completely, unfamiliar, hearing this album is an incredible experience, opening vistas that help bring at least a modicum of understanding about what brings people from very different backgrounds together through the universal language of music.

Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me

With Tim Berne, there's pretty much a constant that there is no constancy in his prolific catalog of work dating back now close to a half-century.  The alto saxophonist and composer is so fascinating because he continually pushes his music in new directions through varied ensembles, instrumentation, and sonic approaches to his pieces.  While he often has groups gathered under a banner, such as Snakeoil, even these can be very different from recording to recording.

With this project, Berne was signed to ECM, the German label that made its name largely because of its long-running association with Keith Jarrett and for whom Berne's wife worked as its American label chief, and this meant more opportunity for a broader audience, especially as he had not released a studio album in eight years when the self-titled Snakeoil album was released in 2012.  This was then followed the next year by Shadow Man, and then, in 2015, with You've Been Watching Me.

Recorded at the end of 2014, the album features Berne's usual pastiche of pieces offering complex themes, remarkable dynamics, often abrupt time-shifting and incredible playing requiring musicians who can listen to and work off each other.  Piano is not an instrument heard on that many of the composer's records, though the incredible Craig Taborn memorably made a huge impact on Science Friction and the astounding The Sublime And in the early 2000s.

Here, Matt Mitchell plays the instrument and introduces electronics to great effect, adding significant color and shading.  For the rhythm section, Ches Smith uses all the resources of his drum kit, as well as vibraphone, tympani and other percussive elements and works very well with Mitchell.  There is no bass guitar, by Oscar Noriega, bass clarinet and the impressive guitar work of Ryan Ferreira, often function to develop that section of the ensemble.  Moreover, Noriega provides a remarkable counterpoint in sound to Berne's alto when they play in unison and offers impressive solos.  Berne is always a fascinating player projecting innovation and intensity buttressed by awesome ensemble support and You've Been Watching Me is another compelling and deeply immersive listening experience by a great composer and musician who should garner more attention and support for his diverse and significant body of work over the decades.

Edvard Grieg: Piano Music Vol. 2

The prolific piano works of the master composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) have been issued by the Naxos label in many volumes recorded by Einar Steen-Nøkleberg at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo with this August 1993 session yielding 70 minutes of works based on folk music traditions in the composer's home country.

There was great interest among many European composers in utilizing these resources, with Antonin Dvokrak and Bedrich Smetana particularly coming to mind with their work with Czech folk music, just as one prominent example, and this is a reflection of a growing nationalism arising in that part of the world, including the unification of such countries as Germany and Italy, not to mention the increasing desire of the Polish people to reestablish their nation.

Grieg tended to be best known for his "small form" work as opposed to larger-scale piano sonatas and concertos or orchestral works and the liner notes intriguingly quote from his letters regarding his popularity with audiences, but also the difficult reviews from critics.  The notes also point out the melodic bases for Norwegian folk music and the emphasis on harmony and rhythm which makes the composer's music particularly distinctive and appealing.  

In fact, it is remarked that Grieg was especially insistent regarding the importance of rhythm in works that were influenced by his country's dance traditions, while it was also noted that "harmony is at the heart of his work" with the master writing "the realm of harmony, has always been my dream world" and that there was a mystery to the tie between his sense of harmony and the folk songs that inspired him.  There are more than 45 such pieces and dances on this record, including two improvisations based on them nd two shorter works, as well.

It is said that his work was not particularly technically challenging, but that his compositions were very widely played and enjoyed, despite the lack of critical acclaim.  It is easy to hear why with this album, which is beautifully played and recorded, and is especially enjoyable in these challenging and difficult times.

Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark

Why it took this long to get to listening to Joni Mitchell is an interesting question because she's certainly been someone who's been on the radar for a long time—the same could be said for Neil Young or Brian Eno, the Rolling Stones and others who've finally been on the playlist lately.  For many people, the obvious place to start is Blue, Mitchell's phenomenal 1971 album that has bene heard as part of this discovery and will certainly get its due.

Court and Spark, however, from a few years later is where we'll start, not because it's considered better, but it's where this belated appreciation began.  With appearances from stellar musicians as Tom Scott, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, José Feliciano, Robbie Robertson, David Crosby and Graham Nash, among others, as well as comedic cameo from Cheech and Chong, Mitchell's complex and incisive songwriting and gorgeous singing are given ample support.

Moreover, this is a notable level of diversity in the tunes in terms of tempo, instrumentation, harmonics and other factors that make the album truly stand out.  As great as "Help Me," which remains her biggest hit is, there really are so many great songs on Court and Speak that it is hard to pick out some more than others.  The title track, "Free Man in Paris," "Down To You," "People's Parties," and "The Same Situation" stand out in this listener's mind, but it's actually what Mitchell does throughout the album that makes the biggest impact.

This means the multi-tracking of her vocals which, as a fan of Cocteau Twins since 1986, this blogger immediately recognized as major influences on that group's Elizabeth Fraser and her vocalizations.  The intricate and innovative melodies and the style of Mitchell's singing are also obvious focal points, as are her amazing lyrical abilities, which find some humorous expression in "Raised on Robbery," while her cover of "Twisted," with its trenchant lyrics by Annie Ross and set to a solo by the great tenor sax player, Wardell Gray, is an entertaining way to complete a stunning album.

Having started with Court and Spark, it was easy to move to Blue and then to follow that with other Mitchell albums, though, again, why it took so long to finally get here is more than puzzling.

China: Uyghur Music

One of the great tragedies of our time is the terrible treatment of the Uyghur people of the province of Xinjiang at the furthest western edge of China, with the government engaging in horrific efforts to suppress their culture and "reeducate" and indoctrinate them into Han Chinese society.  We can only hope that, ultimately, the cultural and social practices of the Uyghur will persevere in the face of such tyrannical actions, including the music.  

This recording from 2011 and released seven years on the incredible Ocora label of Radio France presents a dozen pieces, including the Chong Näghmä and the Dastan Näghmä, multi-movement works, and a Mäshräp vocal based on a Sufi poem.  Given the long history of these Muslim people, the musical ties extend throughout central and eastern Asia, including to Persia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan and other areas.

Vocals by men and women and instrumentation on frame drums and percussion, lutes and fiddles reflect a long tradition of complex and compelling music that is truly intoxicating to hear.  Hearing this music is a direct experience of how the famed Silk Road from Persia to China manifested its influences, just as music from India and the Middle East traveled, through the lute instruments from the sitar to the guitar, southwest through the northern portions of Africa to Spain via the incredibly rapid Muslim spread and then made the leap to the New World.

The muqam. or system of melodies based on arrangements of pitches, uses scales on which improvisation is developed and refers to these motifs during pieces that can often be quite lengthy.  So, on this October 2011 recording, the Chong Näghmä takes up well over a half hour and the Dastan Näghmä is just more than 23 minutes in length.  The mäshräp is a specifically male performance for social occasions typically one of significance for bonding Uyghur men.

Sadly, the repression of the Muslim Uyghurs threatens all aspects of their society, including their music, though one hopes that resilience will keep this remarkable tradition going in the face of oppression.

Horace Tapscott and the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: Flight 17

The great Horace Tapscott, as mentioned before, was the act in the courtyard of the now-leveled sections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art when I went with a friend to the free concert and was astounded by his amazing musicianship and that of his band, which included the volcanic and lyrical saxophonist Michael Session and bassist Roberto Miranda.  Subsequent performances were heard at the original Catalina Bar and Grill location, as well, but, then, in 1999, this titanic figure died, vastly underappreciated in so many ways.

This included his commitment to community and the foregoing of what might have been a successful national and international career as Tapscott focused on his Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension organization and the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and promoting Black music through local talent, including free lessons for children and performing regularly at South-Central Los Angeles churches.

Tapscott's dedication to his cause meant that he was not recorded all that often, but the Nimbus West label was established by fan Tom Albach specifically to document the pianist-composer's work, including some stunning solo piano recordings.  This album is an "Ark" work recorded at the Immanuel United Church of Christ (now a Latino Pentecostal house of worship) and features Session, Miranda and many talented musicians creating a wonderful ensemble sound performing works by the teenage Herbert Baker, who died at just 17 years of age, Miranda, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Sharps, and saxophonist Sabia Matteen, as well as a medley of pieces by John Coltrane.

Notes from the legendary music educator Dr. Samuel R. Browne, who taught so many great musicians at Jefferson High School, remarks that "the talent displayed in this album is the result of a commitment made by Horace Tapscott many years ago 'to pass it on,'" in terms of working to give young musicians opportunities for developing their talent and, hopefully, improving their financial situation.  Tapscott is also quoted as remarking, that the U.G.M.A.A., formed in 1961, "contributes quality works of art that reflect the natural rays of creativity, the essence of our existence."  

We are fortunate to have these recordings as reminders of those rays reverberating among us today decades after their production and as Tapscott's enduring legacy.

Jennifer Higdon: All Things Majestic/Viola Concerto/Oboe Concerto

Despite having a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy, the Brooklyn-native composer Jennifer Higdon, who grew up near Atlanta and in eastern Tennessee, is relatively unknown, but her work is very rich harmonically, strong and forward rhythmically and deeply melodious.  The Viola Concerto was commissioned by the Library of Congress and Higdon made a point of writing a score that was lighter and brighter than most works for that instrument, while she also made the first movement slow, contrary to typical practice, and then increasing the tempo over the final two.

For the Oboe Concerto, the composer emphasized the lyrical nature of the instrument and its pairing with other instruments in the orchestra and Higdon, in the liner notes, observed that "I have always through of the oboe as being a most majestic instrument" and she was happy to focus on "its beauty and grace" in the piece commissioned by the Minnesota Commissioning Club.

All Things Majestic as commissioned by the Grand Teton Music Festival for its 50th anniversary and the setting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming provided more than enough inspiration for the work, which also promoted "the majesty of all our parks."  Higdon thought of each of the movements as reflective of "a musical postcard" evoking the natural wonders of mountains, lakes, rivers and the "cathedral" effect of park environments.  Given our current political climate, it is a shame that is not shared enough by those in positions of power.

Roberto Díaz, a longtime collaborator of the composer, shines in the viola piece and James Button fully evokes the qualities of the oboe, while the Nashville Symphony, led by Giancarlo Guerrero, performs beautifully in this 2016 recording released the next year by Naxos.  Higdon's work was a chance discovery, as is often the case, and a very rewarding one.

Burning Spear: Man in the Hills/Dry and Heavy

This reissue of a pair of classic prime-era reggae albums by Winston Rodney's Burning Spear project on Island Records takes us back to 1976-1977, after the phenomenal Marcus Garvey and its dub version, Garvey's Ghost, which have been featured here before.  With Bob Marley and the Wailers justifiably achieving international renown, many great bands and individuals were given the opportunity to demonstrate their talent, including the awesome Burning Spear.  

Not as hard-hitting as Marcus Garvey, 1976' Man in the Hills is a reflection of Rodney's youth growing up in the same area (St. Anne's Bay) as Marley, as well as political and spiritual concerns.  Moreover, you can't miss with his band mates, Delroy Hines and Rupert Willington, the Riddim Twins of Robbie Shakespeare (bass) and Sly Dunbar (drums), not to mention Marley's great Wailers drummer, Aston "Family Man" Barrett and other great musicians like Earl "Chinna" Smith, Tyrone Downie, Earl "Wire" Lindo and horn players like Bobby Ellis, Vincent "Trommie" Gordon, Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall and Herman Marquis.

With Dry and Heavy, from 1977, Rodney mined his earlier recordings for the famed Studio One and re-recording the material with Shakespeare, Barrett, drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, percussionist Uziah "Sticky" Thompson and many of the others who appeared on Man in the Hills.  This album was more of Rodney-directed project, with producer Jack Ruby dismissed, as were Hines and Willington, though there are backing vocals, and most reviewers view it as less successful as its predecessor.  For this listener, however, Dry and Heavy is a strong record, if mellower than Man in the Hills.

Burning Spear went to make Social Living, released in 1980, and we'll look to feature that in a future post here.  Meanwhile, interested readers might try and find this two-fer, as well as the two Garvey albums, and really delve into some of the finest music made during the essential reggae period of the last half of the Seventies, when there was far more to the music than Marley and the Wailers.

Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited

Before the film, A Complete Unknown, was known to this blogger, an interest in revisiting the music of Bob Dylan surfaced last year after close to four decades of not hearing much of his remarkable work.  After acquiring John Wesley Harding, which had not been heard before, a spate of other albums were purchased, including such classics as Blood on the Tracks, Bringing It All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde and, more recently, Before the Flood, the great live album with The Band.

A favorite of the Dylan recordings that have been rediscovered is Highway 61 Revisited, released at the end of August 1965 (when this blogger was a day shy of two months old) and appearing just four months after Bringing It All Back Home.  It's hard to argue that, with Blonde on Blonde being 22 months away, Dylan was at his creative zenith, churning out amazing songs with startling frequency on albums that redefined much of popular music.

Obviously, his move from acoustic folk to electric rock was controversial to the ardent fans of the former —and the fourth volume of the Bootleg Series comprising two discs of the notorious Royal Albert Hall concert in London in May 1966 during which an outraged Luddite yelled "Judas," to which Dylan sardonically replied, "I don't believe you"—is a fantastic document of that move.

Highway 61 Revisited is a staggering record from the opening "Like A Rolling Stone" to the rollicking "Tombstone Blues" to the "Ballad of a Thin Man" and ending with the epic "Desolation Row."  With musicians like Mike Bloomfield and his impressive guitar work and Al Kooper's iconic organ on that first tune and elsewhere, not to mention Bobby Gregg's drums and Charley McCoy's guitar, accompanying Dylan's impressionistic and immersive lyrics, the album is a masterpiece from start to finish.  

Listeners expecting to get some enlightenment from Dylan's liner notes can be amused by the wordplay and seemingly stream of consciousness expressions including his remark that "the songs on this specific record are not so much songs but rather exercises in tonal breath control" while the lyrics about "beautiful strangers, Vivaldi's green jacket & the holy slow train."  Dylan often commented that the content meant various things to different people and it may be better to enjoy his way with language and the performances of the musicians rather than to try and interpret the so-called "voice of his generation."

Music of Polynesia II: Tuamotu, Austral Islands

This excellent release from the JVC World Sounds series from Japan includes 20 pieces, all but three from the Tuamotu Islands and the remainder from the Austral Islands, both in the broad archipelago of French Polynesia and collectively comprising fewer than 16,000 residents.  These people are increasingly affected by climate change in terms of such threats as ocean warming and acidification and sea level rise and who knows what will happen to them and their culture as conditions continue to worsen.

This makes recordings like this all the more valuable as documentation of the rich and fascinating musical heritage of the Tuamotu and Austral societies.  Recorded between 1977 and 1990, these pieces reflect a wide range of songs pertaining to aspects of everyday life and are a potent reminder of how music in much of the world is not professionalized and distanced from those practices and rituals.

The core of this music is the beautiful harmonies and melodies of small choral groups, often sung a capella and otherwise accompanied by hand claps and some instruments, including guitars and like ones, while dancing is an important component to the performances of many of the tunes.  As a part-Hawaiian, this listener readily hears comparisons to music from that part of Polynesia, taking in commonalities and appreciating the differences.

Fundamentally, there is a gorgeous expression of the musical cultures of these remote Pacific Ocean societies and the songs here actually serve, especially at this moment, as a soothing tonic in the face of so much tension and turmoil in the world.  Anyone seeking a similar treatment and is open to the experience is well-advised to seek this or other recordings of Polynesian music and will not be disappointed.

Anthony Braxton/Kyle Brenders: Toronto (duets) 2007

One of the many amazing attributes of Anthony Braxton's music is that he shines in duet performances, as this listener personally witnessed at a concert performed with harpist Jacqueline Kerrod and held in the lobby of The Broad contemporary art museum in Los Angeles in 2019, and that he supported and encouraged students in recordings with him during his nearly quarter-century tenure teaching at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

The featured album for this post is just such an example of both aspects, a double-disc recording with Kyle Brenders in a session in Toronto that comprises two of Braxton's Ghost Trance Music, which he noted was influenced by his taking classes at Wesleyan on Native American music, including those dealing with the Ghost Dance rituals.  The box set 9 Compositions (Iridium), which may someday be featured in this blog, included a quote from the composer about the influence that the music from these spiritual practices had on him as "various tribes came together and compiled whatever information they had left" before most of their culture was decimated—this included the perspective of tying our reality to communication with the spirit of ancestors.

As is often the case in Braxton's complex music, the performance of these numerically-assigned compositions, in this case, 199 and 356, allow for the transposition of elements from other pieces within the GTM system that could also involve the varying of tones, tempo and other aspects.  Not surprisingly, his philosophy and systems can be very complicated and challenging for non-specialists (like this blogger) to comprehend.

What stands out in this recording is the use of themes that sound like military music and repeat before the players move into other melodic and tonal territory, some of it quite beautiful and reflective amid frequent use of repetition.  Braxton, playing alto, soprano and sopranino saxophones, meshes so well with Brenders, on clarinet, soprano and tenor, that their playing almost seems telepathic, though this is clearly the result of the two of them fully utilizing the resources of the GTM model.  Brief notes by Scott Thomson observe that the use of "dialogue" means a reference to "language," which is how Braxton often speaks of his approach to musical composition and Thomson rightfully calls this recording an expression of "a beautifully original dialect" spoken by the players.  

PainKiller: Samsara

Samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth in our material world in Indian philosophy) is a welcome return to recording by PainKiller, the trio formed in 1991 comprising saxophonist John Zorn, bassist Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris, whose lightning fast drumming is replaced by beats and electronics, and which quickly recorded two albums in 1991-1992, followed by a 1993 live album and 1994's Execution Ground, which reflected a gradual move into more ambient and dub territory.  A second live recording, made in 1994, was issued eight years later, followed by a couple more live recordings with other drummers.

In 2008, Harris joined Zorn and Laswell for a one-off performance in Paris, accompanied by vocalist Mike Patton and Fred Frith, whose Guitar Solos was the last post here.  It seemed like that was going to be the last time we'd hear from PainKiller, until the surprising news that Samsara was to be released last November.

The most striking difference from earlier recordings is Harris' use of electronic percussion, which he has focused on in myriad ways for the last three decades, and, to this listener, it takes the PainKiller sound in an interesting and welcome direction.  Zorn, who played to Harris' recorded material sent to New York City from Birmingham, England, shows all of the incredible technique and power he's had for a half-century, and, as always, is very impressive.

Laswell has had serious health and financial issues and Zorn has worked frequently with his old friend in recent years to help him deal with both and, if for no other reason, this is a fundamental reason for PainKiller to reunite.  Laswell has great difficulty in playing the bass and so relied on some technical assistance while resorting to playing that is far more basic and simple, but still very effective in holding the bottom along with Harris' contributions so that Zorn can explore the dynamic range of his sax.

A new album, The Equinox, is due to be released this month and, apparently, an ambient recording is also in the works sometime this year, so there will likely be more PainKiller posts in the offing relatively soon.

Fred Frith: Guitar Solos

The last thing anyone should expect in listening to this remarkable and fascinating compilation are "guitar solos" in any popular sense.  Fred Frith has spent decades exploring the sonic range and textures of the instrument using fingers, picks and a great many other devices and tools, so that a "prepared guitar" is commonly utilized, not to mention sounds made by his breath and feet.

Moreover, improvisation is core to these eighteen pieces, the first eight of which were recorded in 1974 over four days with remainder recorded in 1976, 1978 and 1988 and the compilation made in 1991 by the Swiss label Rec Rec Genossenschaft.  Beyond this, it helped this listener to dispense with the idea that there are songs, though some titles like "Glass c/w Steel," "Out of Their Heads (On Locoweed)," "Alienated Industrial Seagulls," and "Insomnia," are evocative what is heard in the pieces.

This is also not background music and dedicated attention, either through headphones or the volume turned up is most cases, is the best way to approach these challenging works.  Though there is some harshness, including the "Alienated Industrial Seagulls" and its intense string-stretching and other elements, much of this could be heard as ambient.

The goal is not the representation of traditional technique in terms of riffs, the rapid recitation of notes in soloing and so on, but, it seems, the exploration of tone, color and the evocation of environment.  In this, Guitar Solos is a decided success, especially if one allows for the music to envelope the listener as an engrossing atmospheric experience.

Music of the Nubians, Northern Sudan

The northeastern portion of Africa known as the Sudan is an area that has endured terrible warfare and suffering in recent decades with a horrific humanitarian crisis taking place now amid famine and violence.  Moreover, the gutting of USAID makes the situation much worse and the need for the people there even more acute and urgent.

The history and culture of the Sudan is incredibly ancient and rich, including its music, and this post features a two-disc set, released in 1998 on compact disc and 1980 on vinyl, by the Staatlische Museen zu Berlin, an institution under the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, celebrating the music of the Nubian people of Northern Sudan.

The recordings date to 1973 and 1974 with the kisir (lyre) being the dominant musical instrument along with a frame drum called the taar.  Clapping and the stamping of feet are also used to accompany singing, whether soloists, small ensembles and large groups and the 33 songs are representative of such themes as religion, patriotism, work in the fields, lullabies for children, weddings and many others.

There is a great booklet with thirteen photographs and detailed text by Artur Simon discussing Sudanese history, culture and specifics about the music, instrumentation and the varied pieces.  A second booklet includes musical transcriptions and the lyrics.  These are valuable enhancements to a fascinating listening experience, especially as Simon observes that a lack of instrumentation, compared to Western nations, is hardly a lack of musical expression, which is abundant on this memorable recording.

Cabaret Voltaire: Plasticity

This one, a 2-LP vinyl set, was bought just after its October 1992 release at a Portland, Oregon record store and, a few years removed from Groovy, Laid-Back and Nasty, with the 44-minute EP Colours and Body and Soul as precursors that found CV trying to rebound from that strange 1990 relic, Plasticity was a welcome move into a new (and final) phase for Cabaret Voltaire. 

Released on the Plastex label set up by Stephen Mallinder and Richard H. Kirk after their EMI debacle, the recording was the first of three releases, followed by International Language (1993) and a personal favorite, The Conversation (1994), in which the music was all-instrumental.  While it has been said that Mallinder still had an active role, it sounds like Kirk exercised more control over these albums.  They can also be compared to such projects as Sandoz and Electronic Eye from that era.

In any case, a favorite CV track, "Low Cool," opens the record with a sample of Los Angeles gang members casually talking about the violence and nihilism of their world. "Soul Vine (70 Billion People)" took found sound from the 1981 underground dance floor hit, "Yashar," while "Inside the Electronic Revolution" is a highlight, as is "Neuron Factory."  More ambient tunes like "Resonator" and "Deep Time" nicely provide alternates to the flow of the album, while "Soulenoid (Scream at the Right Time)" hits the sample peak with an eerie and unsettling series of female screams to end a fascinating record.

The CD version omits "Brazilia" and "UFO" erasing almost 13 minutes from the double vinyl version and a planned 60-minute video was shelved because of financial concerns, but, despite this, Plasticity rates high among the mammoth CV catalog and showed the Kirk and Mallinder were able to find redemption and relevancy after a significant bump in the long road of their 20-year career.  The duo managed to stay abreast of changes in electronic music, while keeping the core of what made them so great going back nearly two decades, including abundant sampling, unnerving ambience and potent up-tempo elements.

John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy: Evenings at the Village Gate

To hear some critics, with their infinite reservoirs of wisdom, tell it in 1961, the inclusion of the masterful multi-instrumentalist and composer Eric Dolphy in John Coltrane's band was a blasphemy against jazz.  The Los Angeles native wrote and played in unconventional and highly distinctive ways and to those unimpressed ears, his work was harsh, noisy, dissonant and not tonal enough.  

Not unlike those who could not wrap their heads (ears) around other great innovators of the era, whether it was Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor or others, these critics were also generally unhappy with Coltrane's move into more experimental territory after he left Atlantic Records to join the upstart Impulse! label, where among his first recordings were the amazing performances from November 1961 at the Village Vanguard in New York City.

The album released early in 1962 with three tracks "Spiritual," "Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise," and the astounding "Chasin' the Trane" were divisive among many so-called experts, who decried the leader's explorations into the varieties of sound generated by his soprano and tenor saxophone playing.  Dolphy played bass clarinet on "Spiritual" and did so on "India" when that tune and "Impressions" appeared on the 1963 release titled after the latter.  In 1997, however, a 4-disc set of the complete Village Vanguard recordings provided devotees with an aural feast with Dolphy and Trane joined by pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassists Reggie Workman (the sole survivor of these recordings and now 86 years old) and Jimmy Garrison.

A fascinating complement to these recordings is Evenings at the Village Gate, released last year after the tapes, recorded by engineer Rich Alderson with the venue's new sound system, were discovered at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts by an archivist working on Bob Dylan recordings, as the folk artist was recorded at the Village Gate that year, as well.  These tapes were from August 1961, but with the same sextet format and with Art Davis as the other bassist.

Coltrane and Dolphy famously issued a published answer to the naysayers in Down Beat magazine, but this album and the Vanguard tracks should suffice in hindsight because Trane's observation that Dolphy broadened the band's sound as well as freed its musicians to take the music in new directions is on the mark.  All that critical angst is a reminder that innovators have to be allowed to pursue their passion for finding new ways to express themselves and those wedded to "tradition" shouldn't stand in the way or criticize honest and authentic artistic endeavor.

These pieces range from 10 to 22 minutes allowing the band to explore at a comfortable and organic pace and for soloists to take their showcases wherever they need to go.  The hit "My Favorite Things," which would be reprocessed into much freer territory in subsequent years, "Impressions," and, especially, "Africa," long a favorite of this listener, are especially impressive, while "Greensleeves," part of Trane's repertoire at the time is also taken to new levels of expression.  The surprise here, perhaps, is "When Lights Are Low," in which the 1930s chestnut sounds somewhat out of place on one hand, but, on the other, shows what innovators can do to both respect and expand upon tradition.

Sadly, Dolphy died in 1964 at age 36 after falling into a diabetic coma and a 9-disc box set of his complete Prestige recordings is a phenomenal document of his underappreciated career.  Coltrane went on to greater success, peaking with the transformative A Love Supreme, but was soon stricken with liver cancer from which he died at age 40 in 1967.  These two giants, criticized as they were in 1961, left behind some of the greatest music ever produced and this is a great document to show that.

México: The Festival of San Miguel Tzinacapan

Issued in 1996 on the great Ocora label from Radio France, which has issued some of the most amazing world music available, this recording from the village of San Miguel Tzinacapan, in the state of Puebla northeast of México City, is a reminder of the importance of going back to the essence of music as a part of some vital human activity.

In this case, the hour-and-fifteen-minute album is a showpiece for the Nahuat people, who live in the Sierra Norte Mountains and merge ancient indigenous traditions with more modern European ones in the annual celebration of the festival of San Miguel (St. Michael.)  It is also good for us to remember that music and dance, as well as pageantry, theatrical presentation and others, are usually not separated in much of the world.

The performances here reflect Christian themes, as well as those relating to Spain of centuries ago, so the Santiago dances concern the Reconquista in which Spanish Christians battled to reclaim their land from the Muslim Moors, who conquered most of the Iberian peninsula in the 8th century.  This is reflected in dialogues in the sons, or the compositions, between St. James and Pontius Pilate, but there is also the syncretic aspect of words in Nahuatl, a language of the broader indigenous Uto-Aztecan family.

There are also dances related to bullfighting, to St. Michael the Archangel battling evil angels the voladores invoking indigenous gods of water and the negrito concerning a Black teenager's treatment for a snake bite with African rituals.  Drums, flutes and bells are the main instruments and, while there was an indigenous clay flute, the ones used in the recording seem more European.  

Listening to music from other parts of the world feels educational as well as entertaining and this one is a transport to a place that holds on to ancient native traditions while adopting those of the colonizers, even as these are now from five centuries ago.

Alexander Scriabin: Mazurkas (Complete)

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) was one of the many remarkable Russian musicians and composers of the late 19th and early 20th century, creating, as the empire was in rapid decline and revolution in the near future, some of the greatest music of the era.  He was the son of a pianist and became a virtuoso on the instrument receiving, just barely past his teens, the Gold Medal, the highest honor of the famed Moscow Conservatory.

Later, he taught at the institution for several years before leaving to focus solely on writing and performing, including spending six years in western Europe and touring America in 1906.  He became fascinated by mystic teachings and abandoned religion to delve deeply into esoteric philosophy.  While Scriabin wrote a few symphonies, a pair of tone poems and some other pieces, he is best know for composing more than 200 works for the piano.

He wrote 23 mazurkas, the name coming from a fast-tempo Polish folk dance genre, and these date from 1888 to 1903 and these are redolent with beautiful melodies, strong emotion and, even as the liner notes that the young composer was under the spell of Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann, it adds that there is a distinctive characteristic of "poetic improvisation, full of magic and charm" and that, as the pieces became more complex and with greater feeling and atmosphere, Scriabin demonstrated the marks of a mature creator.

The pianist for this 1995 recording issued four years later by Naxos is Beatrice Long, a Taiwanese artist who teaches at the Brooklyn Conservatory for the campus there of the City University of New York, and her excellent playing is beautifully recorded.  Her rendering of these amazing short pieces has lately been a tonic for tense and troubled times and anyone seeking such a balm could benefit from listening to this excellent recording.

The Kinks: The Kink Kronikles

Years ago, a friend gave me the 1972 double-disc set, The Kink Kronikles, comprising 28 pieces from the last half of the Sixties and very early Seventies and, after a listen or two, it was put away and largely forgotten.  Why it didn't get more of my attention is baffling now, especially because as a long-time admirer of The Jam, it should've been abundantly clear to me just how much Paul Weller drew/nicked from one of his idols.  This hour-and-a-half recording is a staggering compilation of consistent greatness from a band that was part of the first British Invasion with proto-metal tunes like "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night," but moved into richer, deeper territory that left them far less appreciated stateside than such peers at The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and others.

Presumably, a major reason why The Kinks did not resonate as much with American listeners, excepting tunes like "Lola," is because they were "too British."  Principal songwriter Ray Davies crafted carefully constructed character studies coupled with remarkable instrumental touches steeped in music hall, as well as rock, and with the occasional horns or the vastly underappreciated keyboard work of frequent contributor Nicky Hopkins (who did this for the Stones and many others).

Davies told of British life in ways that were wistful, ironic, critical, comedic, wry and detached, yet trenchantly observant.  The other band members including Davies' brother Dave, whose guitar work is not always as recognized as it should be; drummer Mick Avory, bassists Peter Quaife and John Dalton and keyboardist John Gosling that could, though often after intense arguments or outright fisticuffs, adapt beautifully to his highly unusual and idiosyncratic methods and provide top instrumental accompaniment to these immersive works.

It should be added that Ray Davies is a preeminent songwriter, but three songs by Dave Davies, including "Death of a Clown," "Mindless Child of Motherhood," and "Susannah's Still Alive," are top-notch tunes, as well.  Those early 1964 hits, as well as "Tired of Waiting For You" and other tunes may not be here, but this album is filled to the gills with unforgettable and remarkable music, much of which should be better known here in the States.

Mary Halvorson Octet: Away With You

This remarkable composer and guitarist, who'd played her instrument since she was 11 years old, was studying biology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, when she took a class taught by the great multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Braxton (oft-featured here, though not as often as wished) and decided to change her career course.

Like her mentor, Halvorson writes and plays in a dizzying array of styles even if she, like Braxton, is generally considered a jazz musician.  She has a clear tone, a clean sound and is a masterful soloist and sensitive accompanist to the wide variety of players with which she associates, but she can also unleash wild and unorthodox solos that are dazzling.

As importantly, she is a very interesting writer with wide latitude for the improvisation that makes jazz such a great musical form, though she brings rock, flamenco and other genres into her mind-bending works.  Notably, Halvorson recently commented that she had a tendency in the past to overwrite in her compositions, but 2016's Away With You, released on Firehouse 12 Records, which has featured Braxton and many other great musicians (Tyshawn Sorey, Myra Melford, and co-founder Taylor Ho Bynum) on its roster.

With four horns (alto and tenor sax, trumpet and trombone), a pedal steel guitar and bass and drums, Halvorson creates a diverse palette of sound in the eight pieces on the recording.  Like Braxton and another great composer/musician Henry Threadgill, she deftly orchestrates for the several instruments in ways that are richly creative, sometimes spiky, often contemplative and always interesting with an unerring eye for experiment.

Alim Qasimov: Azerbaïdjan

Along with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani Qawwali master singer, Alim Qasimov, who hails from Shamakha in the Central Asian republic of Azerbaïdjan (often rendered as Azerbaijan), is an amazing vocalist.

Qasimov did not come from a family of musicians, but his performances in the mugham tradition led him to the heights of recognition in his country while he was in his mid-twenties, including several genres as well as in playing the framed drum, or daf.  He has toured much of the world, including in Iran, where the mugham form began.

On this 1992 album from the remarkable Radio France label, Ocora, Qasimov is accompanied by the Mansurov brothers, Eisah on the kamancha, a bowed string instrument, and Malik on the tar, a plucked lute.  The trio, honing their skills in a partnership developed over years, perform seamlessly and telepathically, conveying the beauty and complexity of Azerbaijani mugham.  

Qasimov is obviously the central figure and his technique is stunning, projecting great clarity, enunciation, tone and emotion, as well as his remarkable improvised vocal effects.  It is said in the very informative liner notes by Jean During (who discusses Azerbaijani music, the instruments and the pieces) that, as is often true of master musicians, Qaismov and the Mansurovs were best appreciated in a large-scale live setting became of the impact they had on audiences.

Fred Tompkins: Curve Extended

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing some presentations for an Art Collectors program in Los Angeles for the lifelong learning Road Scholar/Elderhostel organization and briefly mentioned that Gordon Getty, son of the (in)famous oil tycoon and collector J. Paul Getty, is a classical music composer.  During a break, one of the participants, Fred Tompkins, walked up and asked about this and then mentioned that he was a flutist and composer.

As we talked, I learned that Fred has had a long and interesting career working with jazz and classical elements in his work, including the composition of the song "Yes" on the Poly-Currents album by the late, great drummer Elvin Jones, best known for his work with John Coltrane.  This is a record I've long enjoyed, so it was great to meet Fred, who is based in St. Louis which has an incredible jazz history as a  Mississippi River crossroads for all kinds of music, and, briefly, talk about his work.

That led me to purchase his 2006 recording, Curve Extended, which is a fascinating mixture of textures through varied instrumentation and small group combinations, as well as having notated and improvised components.  Among the more interesting pieces is the title track, for which Tompkins wrote that it "employs the use of multiphonics" as being "in the real of new techniques," through the simultaneous playing of a series of notes.

The two "Con Moto" pieces are also notable for his use of an E-mu sampler, while the last two works, "Coming Together" and "La America" feature the poems and readings of them by Michael Castro an contributions by Debby Lennon on the first of these.  Excellent work is provided on guitar by Dave Black, drums by Charlie Dent (NOT to be confused with the Pennsylvania politician), and soprano sax by Paul DeMarinis.

I'm always about supporting under-recognized and less-appreciated musicians of all kinds and those with an interest in jazz and classical connections should definitely check out Fred Tompkins and his very interesting work.

Harriet Tubman: The Terror End of Beauty

Following the great Oceans And, comprised of Aurora Nealand, Hank Roberts and Tim Berne at last week's double bill at Zebulon in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles was the phenomenal power trio, Harriet Tubman.  The group includes guitarist Brandon Ross, who I knew from his work with Henry Threadgill, starting thirty years ago with the phenomenal Too Much Sugar for a Dime by the Very Very Circus group and on several subsequent albums through the early 2000s; Melvin Gibbs, who stood out to me for his work with the incredible Sonny Sharrock on the Seize the Rainbow album (1987) and the Live in New York recording from two years later; and J.T. Lewis, whom I'd also heard on the Threadgill collective Make a Move (also featuring Ross) 1996 album, Where's Your Cup?

There was a huge contrast between the acoustic and contemplative work of Oceans And, which played one continuous piece during its approximately 50 minute set, and the bracing electric intensity of Harriet Tubman, which flexed its considerable muscle through the powerful work of Lewis cymbal-focused drumming, Gibbs' dexterous and deep bass work, and Ross' pedal-heavy explorations of the guitar.  At two points in the show, Gibbs paid homage to two of their most admired influences and favorites of this blogger: Sharrock and the sublime Alice Coltrane.

This band could do it all—nimble jazz, reggae-inspired riddims, the heaviest of metal and far more—and they had many in the audience dancing, headbanging, nodding and demonstrating engagement in all kinds of physical ways, not to mention hearty applause that grew louder as the set progressed.  By the time they finished, including a guest appearance by a remarkable vocalist who stepped on the stage from the audience and scatted, screamed, crooned and evoked in many ways, the crowd was roaring with appreciation.

The Terror End of Beauty is the fourth of five Harriet Tubman albums and the 2018 release features several songs rendered at the concert including "The Green Book Blues" and the title track (which evokes Sharrock in composition and Ross' playing), both show highlights.  The album captures the range of the band's tonal palette, including contemplative guitar treatments by Ross, the deep-end playing of Gibbs and the solid percussion work by Lewis.  It is very well recorded, mixed and engineered and is the product of a band the other recordings of which I definitely need to explore more.

The live show, though, demonstrated that Harriet Tubman is a trio that needs to be experienced live to be fully appreciated as the group takes their studio work and applies a much greater level of power, intensity and drive to move an audience to the types of reactions seen at last week's concert.  It would be very interesting to hear the band recorded live and to compare that with the studio work and I would love to see them again!

Tim Berne/Hank Roberts/Aurora Nealand: Oceans And

After 32 years of following an incredible array of immensely creative and intensely restless musical explorations from the amazing Tim Berne, I finally got to see him perform live last night at Zebulon in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles with long-time collaborator, cellist Hank Roberts, and accordionist, clarinetist and vocalist Aurora Nealand under the banner of Oceans And.

The concert was one extended piece featuring the remarkable interplay between these three master musicians and it was striking to hear the tonal relationships between Roberts and Nealand, especially when he was playing arco, with Berne demonstrating his usual stunning excursions on his alto.  To see all three listening intently, eyes closed, as the performance unfolded was interesting to observe as well as to hear what they offered up.

Often, Roberts would turn to playing the cello pizzicato, as well as tapping and drumming on his instrument, sometimes with breathtaking variety.  Nealand made the most of the accordion in terms of her solos and accompaniment, including as a drone.  The interplay between these two was often staggering as they provided an underlayment to Berne's playing.

There were long passages of quieter performance as well as those with a boiling intensity and it ebbed and flowed (perhaps this is where the ocean metaphor comes in?) and Berne's weaving in and out, sometimes with a plastic bottle inserted in the horn was often very powerful.  So, too, were sections in which overtones were employed and the three instruments were so in sync that it sounded almost orchestral.  Beautiful, mysterious, contemplative, unnerving—a wide range of emotions were expressed, including when Nealand offered wordless vocalizations that echoed what her bandmates were playing.

In many ways, the Oceans And album, released by the Swiss label Intakt in April, is what was heard in the concert, but longer and divided into a dozen tracks.  All of the qualities and characteristics are there, but it doesn't really seem to matter that there are individual pieces and titles and listening to the recording, which is beautifully rendered, recorded, mixed and engineered, it felt like the breaks into the tunes didn't matter because the performance of this highly immersive music made it seem like time was being stretched.

After the playing stopped, a man in front of me commented that, if someone was looking to discover jazz, this was probably not the place to start.  Perhaps—but Tim Berne's immense discography should be part of any primer even if a major recalibration is needed in terms of how to listen to music not observing standard conceptions of time, rhythm and harmony.

The other act performing last night was the power trio Harriet Tubman, so the next post will feature that amazing group and its latest recording, The Terror End of Beauty.