Bahia Black: Ritual Beating System

Another stellar release on Bill Laswell's short-lived, but spectacularly-diverse Axiom imprint from Island Records, Ritual Beating System is a variation on the so-called "collision music" concept in which Laswell puts musicians of very different backgrounds in a studio to create a hybrid of not just "world music" but music, generally.

In this case, the centerpiece is Brazilian guitarist, percussionist and singer Carlinhos Brown and the drumming ensemble Olodum, the latter a ten-piece group from that same country.  Laswell then brings in many of the "usual suspects" in his roster of musical masters.

These include jazz giants sax player Wayne Shorter, working on the soprano here, and pianist Herbie Hancock, best known as part of Miles Davis' classic 1963-68 quartet; the masterful Henry Threadgill, an alto sax player who focuses, however, on flute on this recording; and the great Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell.  Also on board are Larry Wright and David Chapman on buckets (yes, buckets) and Tony Walls on drums and metal. 

Wright, in particular, has been a legendary plastic bucket drummer in New York and was all of 16 or 17 years old when this record was made and Walls was also known in the city's subway culture as "Tony Pots and Pans" for his creation of a drum kit made entirely of metal objects.  The inclusion of the New York street musicians is an obvious contrast and comparison to the street musicians of Brazil's favelas (shanty towns.)

The disc begins with a gentle and mellow short piece by Brown on guitar and vocals called "Retrato Calado," that leads into "Capitão do Asfalto," in which Olodum provides their percussion background for Brown's sung vocals and rapping that sounds as if it has a scatting element to it. Threadgill's flute is nice touch, as well.  "The Seven Powers" has another Olodum backing percussion rhythm with Hancock's piano and Shorter's soprano getting lots of excellent solo time. 

Brown and Wright then collaborate on the mesmerizing "Uma Viagem del Baldes de Larry Wright," which naturally gives much emphasis on Wright's astounding technique on those plastic buckets!  With that comes a self-titled Olodum showcase that emphasizes an orchestral approach to a consistent rhythm that reminds this listener a bit of the Drummers of Burundi, who will get their feature here some day.

After the drumming workouts comes another cool, laid-back and catchy Brown tune called "Guia Pro Congal" with the Olodum drummers keeping their loy-key steady rhythm and interesting touches towards the end and Worrell providing a nice flow of organ accompaniment.  A second collaboration between Olodum, Hancock and Shorter is "Gwagwa o De," an eight-minute workout that starts with the deep and thundering rhythms of the drumming collective before Hancock enters followed quickly by Shorter's darting, soaring and gorgeous soprano work.  Hancock plays in almost avant-garde way  behind Shorter with hypnotic, shimmering figures.  It is interesting to compare the work of these two jazz legends with their duo record "1 + 1", a 1997 record that is absent of any rhythmic accompaniment.

The Tony Walls feature "Follow Me," is an interesting piece that features him on what appears to be conventional traps with metal pieces and, evdently, some accompaniment by other percussionists, though whether Brown or members of Olodum or both are not noted.  Again, the juxtaposition of Brazilian and American percussionists, in their own way working with African drumming origins with New World modifications, is very interesting and totally cool to here.

Finally, Brown concludes with "Nina in the Womb of the Forest," a short piece with metallic drumming and other percussion textures that takes on a hypnotic ambient vibe as if directly melding African, Brazilian and "Western" elements in a dense electronic and percussive stew.  It's quite a way to end a diverse and fascinating album, another excellent contribution to Laswell's Axiom catalog.

Bahia Black:  Ritual Beating System (Axiom, 1992)

1.  Retrato Calado  2:02
2.  Capitão do Asfalto  5:05
3.  The Seven Powers  7:04
4.  Uma Viagem del Baldes de Larry Wright  3:30
5.  Olodum  3:26
6.  Buia Pro Congal  5:20
7.  Gwagwa o De  8:08
8.  Follow Me  4:22
9.  Nina in the Womb of the Forest  2:26

Julius Hemphill Big Band

Another sadly underappreciated but masterful jazz performer and composer, Julius Hemphill (1938-1995), released his only big band recording for the Elektra Musician label in 1988 and this was an early jazz album purchased by this blogger a few years afterward.

Hemphill was known to this listener because of his work with the World Saxophone Quartet, another great jazz group that will be covered here subsequently.  But, he also had some amazing solo recordings from the early 1970s until his death and some of these will be featured here later, as well.

In the meantime, Julius Hemphill Big Band is a fabulous recording of complex, adventurous and intricately-performed arrangements that develop their own styles but one can hear echoes of influences, perhaps, from Ellington to Mingus and others.

"At Harmony" begins with a building buzz of sound from the ensemble and then the rumbling drums of Ronnie Burrage before giving a platform for fine solos from trombonist Frank Lacy, Marty Ehrlich on soprano sax, John Stubblefield's tenor, Burrage's drums and the leader's own alto playing.

This piece is followed by the contemplative, moody and gorgeous "Leora" in which Hemphill is the featured soloist and performs with great complexity, depth, feeling and beauty.

"C/Saw" is a fleet, uptempo tune with more great interplay between the band and Hemphill's alto solo followed by a nice electric guitar workout from Jack Wilkins, Lacy's trombone and a solid solo from tenor sax player John Purcell.  Jerome Harris's bass and Burrage's drums hold down the rhythm quite well and Harris's work has a strong funk quality to this listener.

"For Billie," named clearly for the legendary singer Billie Holiday, is a stately, lithe ballad and Hemphill's alto introduces a gorgeous theme with his crystal clear, highly controlled, and highly evocative feeling being well suported by a variety of horns and the rhythm section.  His performance here is just outstanding and is followed by Wilkins's guitar and the unusual pairing of French horns, played by Vincent Chancey and John Clark.

The eight-part, eighteen and a half minute, sprawling epic, "Drunk on God," often gets criticized because of K. Curtis Lyle's abstract, psychedelic and obtuse poetic musings that talk about peyote in Mexico, a character named Nago, the jazz center of Kansas City, and a lot else.  He published Drunk on God & From Out of Nowhere, among his several volumes of work, in 1975.  This blogger has never been bothered by Lyle's contribution and Hemphill's arrangment comes across as seamless with the text, as well as experimental and yet accessible. 

Instrumentally, the work begins quietly and slowly builds with some notable percussion effects by Gordon Gottlieb standing out in the opening sections.  Then, the band begins to raise the intensity and the complex interactions of the horns in particular are striking in the fourth section, "Motion as the Terrible Language of the Future," and Harris's strong bass work anchors the ensemble's work here.

About halfway through the band lays low for a few seconds and then launches into another fantastic section of wild and wonderful sounds for about a minute and then halts while Lyle recites the opening lines of "Gates of Kansas City."  Burrage and Gottlieb lay down some cool rhythms, Hemphill comes out with some striking lines and the ensemble returns just after the 12-minute mark with a toe-tapping groove behind more Hemphill blowing.

A little over a minute later is a nice, laidback trumpet solo from David Hines and at about 14:30 there is a typically soaring, eruptive and distinctive guitar solo from Bill Frisell, who recorded a number of interesting albums for the Elektra Musician/Nonesuch label in the late 80s and into the 90s, while the band backs him up with a bluesy groove.

Then at about 16 minutes, an R & B like pattern, very catchy, is laid down and the band begins to move with Lyle into the grand finale, building into a richly complex crescendo and a phenomenal release of tension.  This piece is exhilirating and inspiring, whether or not Lyle's highly stylized poetry and recitation is tangential or not.

This great album concludes with "Bordertown," a nine and a half minute ballad with another fine, wistful and fragile melody by Hemphill, who also plays a somewhat rare solo on soprano saxophone.  After a few minutes, the pace picks up and has a strong blues feel with another fine solo from Frisell.  After some more inspired ensemble playing behind Frisell's keening and wailing, the move abruptly shifts back to the relaxed theme and brings the proceedings to an end with a bit of a funky groove and more excellent horn interplay behind Hemphill's slightly abrasive soprano before coming to an abrupt close.

It's too bad Hemphill didn't get to make more big band records; too bad he died just a few years later, after being incapacitated by heart surgery and diabeted; too bad he didn't get more recognition.  He did have devoted students, however, most notably Ehrlich, who carried on Hemphill's work in performances and on recordings, and the distinctive and highly experimental altoist Tim Berne, who will be covered here soon.

Julius Hemphill Big Band is not easy to find, but is well worth the effort and funds if hearing inventive and expressive modern big band music is appealing.  It is a superior work by a great, if little known, artist.

Julius Hemphill Big Band (Elektra Musician, 1988)

1.   At Harmony  8:55
2.  Leora  5:53
3.  C/Saw  8:19
4.  For Billie  8:24
5.  Drunk on God  18:38
6.  Bordertown  9:27

Fripp & Eno (No Pussyfooting)

In early September 1972, Brian Eno, having just left Roxy Music and pondering a future in exploring sound for its own sake rather than as a basis as song, invited Robert Fripp, whose latest iteration of King Crimson had been a thoroughly mixed bag and had just dissolved, to his home studio to try out an experiment with two reel-to-reel tape decks that would create a continuous loop with Fripp's guitar augmented with the guitarist's clear and fluid soloing over the top.  The technique was later dubbed Frippertronics and Fripp created several albums and engaged in short tours performing that way in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  In the mid-1990s, he developed a digital version called Soundscapes that spawned more solo recordings, live performances and occasional inclusions of the format in the later lineups of King Crimson.

The experiment was done in one sitting and proved so inspiring that the two decided it was a finished work.  Fripp suggested that the 21-minute piece be called "The Transcendantal Music Corporation," a reflection of some his philosophical interests, but Eno thought the title too serious and opted for "The Heavenly Music Corporation," which is what stuck.

Considering where rock music was in late 1972, even though tape loops were pioneered by modern "classical" composers like Terry Riley and Steve Reich, both featured here previously, the result is astounding.  Eno established an ambient environment that allowed a masterful guitarist like Fripp to weave his crisp soloing through the tape loops and create a warm recording, where much ambient music is often considered mechanical and harsh.

This listener has become quite interested in ambient music over the years, beginning with the cruder efforts of Cabaret Voltaire, whose work, heavily influenced by Eno, in sound manipulation began in 1974, just after this record was released in September 1973.  The difference here is that, like Eno, the trio in CV (Kirk, Mallider and Watson) never claimed to be musicians, but Fripp is an estimable guitarist, playing complex and creative lines and runs without trying to overly impress with speed, volume, and effect.  Eno's supportive recording techniques maximize the guitarist's inventiveness in a way that separates this record from anything before or since.

Eno has more a presence, via a VCS3 synthesizer, used by King Crimson in its 1971-72 incarnation, as well as a digital sequencer and the Revox tape recorders that he modified, on the second track, "Swastika Girls," which was recorded at a professional studio, Command in London (where Crimson did much of its early recording.)  A swirling looping figure starts the piece and Fripp brings in his Gibson Les Paul in with a sort of chiming sound supplemented by a simple one-note bass-like background.  About 7 1/2 minutes in, Fripp comes in with more sweeping, but harsher, guitar figures that breaks up the repetitious, but hypnotic, foundation laid over that first portion.  Fripp's playing is fascinating as he sustains his notes, then bends them and opens up their sound in a series of variations.

"Swastika Girls", incidentally, got its name from a magazine article page Eno stumbled upon that had women in various stages of dress/undress with Nazi uniforms.  Eno taped the page to the mixing desk in the studio and the track had its name.

The record had a subtitle of (No Pussyfooting), with the brackets often omitted in later references, and this was a way for Fripp and Eno to remind themselves not to compromise with their experiments in the face of negative feedback from Eno's Island Records label, which was preparing to release his debut solo record Here Come the Warm Jets, which appeared in January 1974, and Fripp's new bandmates in the 1973-74 edition of King Crimson.

In 2008, Eno and Fripp supervised a reissue on Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile label that included a rarity:  in December 1973 the remarkable BBC DJ John Peel, who championed a vast array of experimental and unusual musicians and bands, played "The Heavenly Music Corporation" on his show, except that the reel was wound "tail out" instead of "front out."  Consequently, the piece was played reversed and when Eno called to alert Peel and his producer to the fact, the call was treated as a hoax.  So, there are reversed versions of both pieces. 

Moreover, a half-speed edition of "The Heavenly Music Corporation" was also issued because it was a practice of some people to listen to vinyl records on the 16 2/3 rpm setting on the turntable (half of the 33 1/3 standard, of course) and try to pick up on the technique and nuances in the music.  This provides a 42-minute version of the track, interesting and more ominous and foreboding (but in a good way) on its own.

The truth is:  this record was way ahead of its time or, perhaps, in its own time.  Years later, ambient music became, more or less, a sub-genre to some of electronic and techno, but it basically started here when it comes to the rock/pop dimensions of it.  Play most music from 1972-73 and see how dated the pieces might be and then try this one.  It just doesn't sound like that era, or any era for that matter. 

The magic of (No Pussyfooting) is its essential timelessness, at least for those who appreciate its approach to sound.  Two years later, in 1975, the duo created Evening Star, a refinement of the process begun on (No Pussyfooting) and another essential recording to be covered here at a future date.  Although Fripp guested on other Eno projects subsequently, the two did not reconvene for a follow-up until 2004's The Equatorial Stars, which is decidedly more ambient and less overtly guitar oriented than the earlier work.   Perhaps some day, the two will work together again and it is amazing to think that their collaboration began four decades ago this year.

Fripp & Eno (No Pussyfooting)  (2008 remaster, Discipline Global Mobile)

Disc 1:

1-5:  The Heavenly Music Corporation  20:52
6-7:  Swastika Girls  18:58
8-12:  The Heavenly Music Corporation (reversed)  20:52

Disc 2:

1-5:  The Heavenly Music Corporation (half-speed)  41:49
6-7:  Swastika Girls (reversed)  18:54

Lou Harrison: La Koro Sutro

This New Albion recording, released in 1988, is a brilliant collection of three works by the great composer Lou Harrison (1917-2003). 

The title piece is the one for which he is best known and it is a gorgeous rendering on this album with the 100-voice chorus singing from the Buddhist Heart Sutra, rendered here, however, into Esperanto, the language intended to be universal, though it has, so far, been anything but so.  In any case, the singing is complemented by harp, organ, and American Gamelan, Western-tuned percussion instruments built by the composer's partner and collaborator William Colvig.  Component parts include oxygen tanks, garbage cans, brake drums, sheets of aluminum, a metallophone made of PVC pipe, and other wonderful combinations of material.

Harrison and Colvig titled the instrument to distinguish it from the Indonesian gamelan from which it derived and the effect is, in conjunction with the voices, harp and organ, stunning.  "La Koro Sutro" was first performed in San Francisco in 1972 and this November 1987 recording was done by The Chorus and Chamber Chorus of The University of California, Berkeley under the direction of Phillip Brett.  The harpist was Karen Gottlieb, the organist was Agnes Sauerbeck and the American Gamelan players were Peter Thielen, Todd Manley, Gino Robair Forlin, Scott Evans, Don R. Baker and director William Winant, also a co-producer of this album.  It is a sure sign of a masterpiece when the work is so well constructed that it seems to end far too soon, even though this piece is nearly a half hour.

Fans of Anthony Braxton might recall Gino Robair as one of Braxton's many collaborators--the two making an album of duets in 1987 that this blogger owns.  William Winant is very well known as a percussionist, who has frequently performed Harrison's works and has also been on several John Zorn recordings, such as Kristallnacht (featured on this blog), Music for Children, and Elegy, these other two also being in this listener's collection.

The "Varied Trio" for Winant, pianist Julie Steinberg, and violinist David Abel was written for the trio, which has recorded many albums over the years, in 1986 and was first performed in February of the following year.  Winant, especially, is outstanding for his playing of the gong, vibraphone, rice bowls played with chopsticks, Chinese drums and bakers' pans.  Of the five movements, the fourth is performed without percussion and the interplay between Abel and Steinberg is tremendous.  Steinberg and Abel also performed on Zorn's Music for Children.

The last work is "Suite for Violin and American Gamelan" which Harrison and Richard Dee wrote in 1973.  Here Abel, who made his concert debut at only age fourteen, gets to demonstrate his skills on the violin in the seven parts of the 28-minute piece.  John Bergamo, an avid student of music from India, Bali and Java, conducts this piece, in which the gamelan effect merges so harmoniously with the violin.  The delicacy and feeling of this piece is extraordinary and it is as staggering as "La Koro Sutro."

Simply put, this album is a fantastic example of modern music that might be experimental but is also approachable, non-traditional but not off-putting, intellectually stimulating but exudes warmth.  Harrison is one of the giants of modern classical music and this record amply demonstrates why.

Lou Harrison:  La Koro Sutro  (New Albion Records, 1988)

1.  La Koro Sutro  28:50
2.  Varied Trio  15:19
3.  Suite for Violin and American Gamelan  28:14

Olatunji! Drums of Passion

Released in early 1960 on the powerhouse Columbia label, Drums of Passion was among the first so-called "world music" recordings made and released in the U. S.  Its impact was stunning:  five million copies were eventually sold and the album transcended the novelty-chic that accompanied its release as it became a true classic.  In a way, the record is a hybrid, substantively based on west African rhythms, specifically from Nigeria, but the presence of several Americans, especially in the chorus, added another dimension to the music that may actually had aided in its appeal to Western audiences.  In any case, Drums of Passion has great historical as well as musical interest.

Babatunde Olatunji, born in 1927 in a small village in southwestern Nigeria, came to the United States in 1950 to study on a Rotary International scholarship.  He attended Morehouse College, a black college in Atlanta, and created a percussion group to play his native music while going to school.  In 1957, he was signed to Columbia and Drums of Passion was his surprisingly successful debut. 

Olatunji's emergence might be tied in general ways to the post-World War II period was one in which African independence movements had a kindred response from many black Americans participating in the civil rights movement in the U.S.  It seems impossible to imagine him being able to accomplish what he did in the pre-1950 era and it could be a fascinating, if ultimately fruitless, endeavor to try to explain what, socially and politically, the influences were in the acceptance of this record.  Unless, the appeal was purely musical, which is entirely possible.

In any event, Olatunji became quite close to one of the giants of the early 1960s era, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, who named the song "Tunji" after the percussionist of the 1962 Coltrane album.  He also assisted Olatunji in opening up a musical and cultural center in Harlem and, in fact, Coltrane's last recorded public performance was for a 1967 benefit at the center just a few months before his death from liver cancer. 

There were a couple of follow-up albums on Columbia and the percussionist guested on jazz albums led by Randy Weston, a devoted follower of African music who later lived in Morocco, Cannonball Adderly, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln and others.  By the mid-1960s, however, Olatunji's wave has crested, though there was comeback of sorts in the 1980s, when Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, among others, championed Olatunji's resurgence.  A Rykodisc release from 1989 called Drums of Passion: The Beat was an early example of "world music" in this listener's collection shortly afterward.  Olatunji continued to work and teach until his death in 2003 the day before his 76th birthday.

The eight tracks on this record provide a spectrum of percussion sounds, vocalizations and themes.  The opener, "Akiwowo," pays tribute to a noted trainman in Nigeria and the rhythms mimic the repetitive sounds of a train and the singers pay homage to the subject.  "Oya" is the sole original piece by Olatunji and concerns the development of fire as an early human tool, hence the translated title of "Primitive Fire."  It is a showpiece for the hypnotic, powerful drumming that makes this album so memorable. 

After a New Year's Day piece comes one of the most distinctive of the record's songs, the title track, "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba" or "Drums of Passion.  A duet between different types of drums, the liner notes describe this as "a symphonic drum drama."  It certainly has that feeling of expansiveness and power.  The most melodic of the pieces, to this listener, is "Kiyakiya" or "Why Do You Run Away?" which reflects the changing pace of life in then-modern Africa as people were increasingly hurrying to and fro and the rhythm details the fast-paced life that proves so worrisome.

A fliratation dance duet between Olatunji and drummer Aquasiba Derby is followed by a tune "Oyin Momo Ado" or "Sweet as Honey" which includes the thumb piano, a ubiquitous native African instrument.  These interludes lead to the staggering closer, "Shango", or "Chant to the God of Thunder," which builds to a frenzied climax of impassioned drumming and ululations, shouts, cries and other vocalizing.  It is a fantastic end to a remarkable record that sounds as timeless as the tradition that birthed it. 

The mark of a great album is that it never fails to thrill even upon repeated listenings.  Drums of Passion is one of those.

Olatunji!  Drums of Passion (Columbia Records, 1960)

1.  Akiwowo
2.  Oya
3.  Odun De! Odun De!
4.  Jin-Go-Lo-Ba
5.  Kiyakiya
6.  Baba Jinde
7.  Oyin Momo Ado
8.  Shango

Alice Coltrane: Ptah, the El Daoud

Pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane has often been overlooked and overshadowed by the massive presence and legacy of her husband John Coltrane, but in the decade after the latter's death in July 1967, she produced a body of work that stands on its own as among the best in American music, much less jazz.

Born Alice MacLeod in Detroit in 1937, Coltrane played in a club in Paris and studied there with the great Bud Powell.  She also was an excellent vibraphonist and first gained notice in the Terry Gibbs band in the early 1960s.  Briefly married to singer Kenny Hagood, perhaps best known for his vocals on the Birth of the Cool recordings led by Miles Davis in the late 1940s, she had a daughter, Michelle, with him, but the marriage soon ended.

Not long after meeting John Coltrane, Alice married him and the couple had three sons in short order and John adopted Michelle.  Then, at the end of 1965, when McCoy Tyner left John's band, Alice stepped in as pianist and immediately gave the band a different feel and presence from Tyner's strong block-chord style to a more flowing and delicate way of playing.

A devotee of Hinduism, Coltrane gradually moved closer to an all-encompasing devotion to her music that promoted those religious concerns, but for several years she produced recordings that blended those elements with excellent jazz components, creating a unique hybrid, even for that experimental era.

The high point might well be her 1970 album, Ptah, the El Daoud.  The title seems awfully dated, but the music hardly is.  Regarding that title, Coltrane offered the explanation that "Ptah" is an Egyptian god, who was "one of the highest aspects of God.  The reference to "El Daoud" deals with "the Beloved" and her use of it manifested a desire "to express and bring out a feeling of purification."

The title track begins with a steady march-like statement from the incomparable Ron Carter, who is best known for his years as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet from 1963 to 1968.  Coltrane's piano and Ben Riley's drums then enter to establish the steady rhythm.  Solos come from the dual horn section of Joe Henderson, always rock solid on the tenor and who was given the left channel throughout the recording, and Pharoah Sanders, also on tenor and on the right channel.  Sanders was a member, with Coltrane, in her husband's last group in 1966 and 1967, when his music became its most experimental and adventurous.

Coltrane's piano playing, heavily in the modal framework, is light-fingered, fluid and permeating, reminding this listener of how drummer Roy Haynes would play.  The pulse is not strong or powerful, but steady, persistent, rhythmic and melodic.  It is also highly distinctive.  Being one of the very few women instrumentalists to have a significant body of work, Coltrane created a way of playing that always impresses, without being overly flashy and showy.

In fact, her playing on the second track, "Turiya and Ramakrishna," is gorgeous, bluesy and soulful, sensitively accompanied by Riley's excellent brush work and Carter's higher register playing.  Absent are Henderson and Sanders and this is Coltrane's showcase.  Again, she plays with great feeling, fantastic control and fluidity and no bluster and Carter's solo is the embodiment of tastefulness and faithfulness to the tune.

"Blue Nile" then features Coltrane on the harp, on which instrument she masterfully plays while Henderson and Sanders provide a solid flute accompaniment.   Again, Carter proves to be so adept at placing the right notes in the perfect spots during the course of the piece.  This meditative piece manages to evoke real spirituality while keeping a steady jazz rhythm.

"Mantra" then passes the baton onto the horn players, who play their solos, but also intertwine their playing in an interesting, complementary and compelling way.  The lengthy piece gives Henderson and Sanders plenty of room to demonstrate their ample talents and Sanders especially shows that his playing could be a lot more bluesy, soulful than he was known for earlier when his multiphonics and extreme upper register blowing got plenty of notoriety with John Coltrane's band.

Ptah, the El Daoud is a distinguished record from a great bandleader, a woman who maintained a high standard of performance when women rarely had the opportunity to be leaders.  With excellent support from Sanders, Henderson, Carter and Riley, Coltrane created a masterpiece with this record.

Alice Coltrane:  Ptah, the El Daoud (Impulse, 1970)

1.  Ptah, the El Daoud  13:58
2.  Turiya and Ramakrishna  8:19
3.  Blue Nile  6:58
4.  Mantra  16:33