John Gruntfest - Ritual Band Live at Kommotion

John Gruntfest - Ritual Birth: Ritual Band Live at Komotion

John Gruntfest - alto sax
Sybl Glebow - drums
Cheryl Schwartz - tenor sax
Bill Crossman - piano
Jim Flam - tenor sax
Yancie Taylor - vibraphone
Jan Labate - alto sax
JA Deane - trombone

This live recording from 1989 of Gruntfest's long running group (1982-1991) is my favorite Gruntfest record right now. Don't know who Gruntfest is? Join the club. Gruntfest is one of the
unsung originals in a genre rife with them. Gruntfest has been playing free music on saxophone since at least the late 1970s. His unique approach to the horn involves a laser tone of such purity that there's no breath in the attack or finish and it's difficult to tell what instrument you're hearing at times. Also, though he brings the noise without hesitation, his work is filled with melodies (some times composed ahead of time, sometimes appearing spontaneously) largely based on major scales (to these ears anyway). Add to this his frequent use of the altissimo register in a full and beautiful tone and you've got a truly unique player.
Though I've had this particular disc for a few years, I've only recently realized what a gem it is.
The first track is a short sax solo that Gruntfest starts far off stage with blasting high notes that quickly morph into some pretty melodies that feature altissimo playing that is impressively incorporated into the melodies. This is followed with some sax pyrotechnics, skronking and screaming before a sudden end.

The 2nd track is a long improvisation with a lot of nice sax & piano (I think it must be an electric piano) interaction. Then there's an interesting vibe solo followed by a horns build that falls apart into a drum-sax duo. There's some more nice group playing and then a trombone solo with a good deal of power & nuance. More group playing follows marking the most chaotic moment so far. This dissipates into a more reserved section of group playing that seems to flirt with a structured melody before committing to a bouncy version of Mac the Knife. When Mac the Knife ends the group immediately launches into another tune with a repetitive, 9-note melody. This melody is used as a bridge to get the group into Space is the Place. On the way there the group improvises on the first melody as it merges with the 2nd. At one point about half the group is playing off one and the half the other. Space is the Place dissolves quickly into a slow, minimal percussion, unison, melodic riff. This shifts into a more jerking & driving melody with sax solos over it which then ends all-together. This is a really fun piece that gives enough time to each section while not dwelling so long as to become boring. The songs they embed in the piece work really well and are very satisfying for the listener without snuffing out the improv.
The 3rd track is really several songs that are lumped together as one track. It opens with a tune that sounds like classic Gruntfest: major scale, repetitive but with alternating melodic lines & improvisation happening around the band throughout the tune. A few minutes in, Gruntfest lets loose with some screaming high notes and I'm again amazed at how clear those tones are. The band then goes back to a tight repetition of the head before it ends on a dime. Following this is another tune that is equally fun. The tune goes through a few permutations with different melodies and then a unison ending. A high energy improv follows that rides up and down in intensity a couple of times until the end. This track is great for the way it features Gruntfest's ensemble writing. This kind of music is satisfying to me - someone who loves the really bombastic end of improv as well as my partner, who heard this playing in my car and said she would love to see this band play live. She's generally not much of a free jazz listener.
Gruntfest is a unique voice in free jazz who should be heard by more people. I'm not sure if this is the CD to start with but knowing Gruntfest's music, the CD has become a real joy to listen to for me. Perhaps start with one of his more recent recordings and then tryout this one? But if you do check it out, or already have, let me know.

Jack Wright, Fabrizio Sperra & Gust Burns

Through the work of the Creative Music Guild of Oregon (of which I am a board member) I was able to see Jack Wright, Fabrizio Sperra and Gust Burns this past weekend. I'm not very familiar with any of their work so I'm happy to report that the show was great- one of the best CMG shows I've attended.

Jack Wright's alto and soprano sax playing was very musical and tasteful. He wasn't afraid to take the reins and lead the group but he was equally happy playing a more supportive role. While Burns and especially Sperra pushed the group to higher highs, Wright held the group back to further develop each section of the music. This made for an exceptionally well crafted performance. While I appreciated the way in which Wright kept the group in check so that the highest energy parts really stood out, I felt like he never got past level 7 or 8 in the intensity. Personally, I like a good helping of level 10 in pretty much all situations. That's not much of a criticism because there's not much to criticize about his playing.

Burns, a Seattle player who organizes shows in that area, was equally terrific in his approach to his instrument. I appreciated his playing because it seemed to me that he approached the instrument without an idea of "the right way" it should be played- which is to say it didn't seem like he was encumbered by whatever training he's had (and I would guess that he's had a substantial amount of training). His playing was also tasteful and musical moving between highly energetic and contemplative. He and Sperra often took off into high speed romps but Burns just often played in the more sparse mode Wright offered at times.

Sperra's energy was pretty ferocious though his volume was held back by his use of brushes, mallets and BlastStix. Sperra also made use of bells, cups and other resonant objects that he scraped on the drum heads and bowed. He often established a rhythm with these resonant objects that propelled the group. Sperra was extremely fun to watch and his ability to play in a blow out or a more reserved group was evident.

Overall, the group was really enjoyable to watch.

The 2nd set featured Bob Jones and Kelvin Pittman, two local musicians in addition to the traveling players. Bob played with Gust and Fabrizio on a high energy piece that was problematic only because Bob wasn't loud enough. The three of them matched up nicely. Kelvin played in a duo with Jack that featured a series of chirps and clacks such that if you weren't looking at the stage you wouldn't be able to say what instruments were playing. The night ended with all five musicians playing together in what was a tentative but rewarding piece.

Disappointment

I caught Ornette Coleman at the Portland Jazz Festival recently. This was my first time seeing him and my last, I think, as I found the show a real disappointment. I'm a fan of Coleman's music, like anyone who listens to the music this blog "covers" would be. I think Free Jazz is one of the best records ever and his early stuff (The Shape of Jazz to Come, Change of the Century and This is Our Music among others) are fantastic. I can even get into the occasional Prime Time tune and I really enjoy Skies of America. There have been a few clunkers in his catalog (The Empty Foxhole being the worst, I think) but largely, Coleman is someone who's gone out and made great (albeit largely the same) music for 50 years. So it was really a drag to drop a chunk of change on a really bad concert.

The lineup was Ornette on sax (occasionally trumpet or violin), his son Denardo Coleman on drums, Charnett Moffett on electric bass, Tony Falanga on upright bass and Al McDowell on electric piccolo bass. Denardo played way too flamboyantly with too much rock feel and occasionally losing the time all together. McDowell's bass often sounded like a guitar and was generally inoffensive (thought the wah pedal should be smashed). Moffett played a lot of wanky funk licks that sounded terrible to my ears. Falanga held the time together and was the most integral and musical of the side musicians. Ornette can form any band he wants to and he does this? I guess it's to his credit that he's still trying new and different things in music but it's too bad he doesn't seem to know what sounds good and what doesn't.

The playing was largely quite tight and they played a series of short versions of Coleman's tunes. Overall, I found it incredibly boring and, by the number of people who started leaving only one song into the set and continuing throughout, I clearly wasn't the only one.

Oh well. The time to see Ornette was long ago I guess.
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Another big disappointment for me recently was hearing the new John Gross CD. John Gross was active in LA for about 40 years before moving to Portland at the end of the 90s. He has been playing in a duo with drummer Billy Mintz for many years whom some drummers I know worship. I saw the Gross/Mintz duo play shortly after I moved to Portland last year and I was not really that interested. They played traditionally structured tunes with slightly out melodies and solos. But so many people love them here in PDX that I gave their CD, Beautiful You, a listen. Surprisingly, it's great. The playing is really different and beautiful and deep. I know none of those words really mean much but I can't really describe it otherwise. It's stuff that I usually wouldn't like but the quiet beauty and strength of it is astounding. Though the tunes are traditionally structured, there's something about their playing that makes this recording special. Neither player is in any hurry but they also don't seem to over congratulate themselves on their own playing. It's not lowercase music and it's not free improv. It's just really, really well done free jazz by a couple of unique players.

So it is with regret that I tell you to avoid Gross' new disc, "Strange Feeling." It's a collection of straight tunes played straight in a trio of drums, bass and sax. It's really too bad because Gross' playing is so one-of-a-kind on Beautiful You. But when he plays this straight stuff he sounds like just another jazz horn player.

Fortunately, the Cecil show at the PDX Jazz Fest was great. So all is not lost.

Ali/Silva/Few: More or Less

More or Less
1973, Center of the World
Bobby Few-p Alan Silva-b Muhammad Ali-d

This record was of interest to me because these folks so often played with Frank Wright on some of the best record he (or anyone) released. I am a particular fan of Ali (Rashied's younger brother) whose records are largely out of print and unaffordable. Alan Silva's Celestrial Communication Orchestra is one of my favorites- I'm a sucker for big group improvs and Few's work on the classic Wright records is fantastic. I'll give you a track by track breakdown.

Track 1 - More or Less: There's a really nice head with a falling melody line that starts this piece. Ali is moving fast and providing plenty of crashing cymbals while Few is moving equally quick between runs and two-handed chords. The three players really work together to bring a swirling motion to the music as it gathers steam in the middle. They play the head again at the end for a tight finish.

Track 2- Few's Blues: The punchy head this starts with is repeated several times throughout the piano solo that follows the head. There's an out of time bass solo next with some quiet piano accompaniment and then they're back to the head to finish.

Track 3 - Simone: This piece has a lot of space in it so there's a nice contrast with the first two tracks. Also unlike the first two pieces there's no pulse and the bass is bowed to add to the out-of-time feel. Ali's drumming is dense and heavy with rolls and crashes that reveal his crisp playing. Again the piece ends with a restatement of the original theme.

Track 4 - I'll Never be the Same Again: This a unique piece has a sung melody, followed by Few repeating the melody on the piano followed by the sung melody again. The lyrics are about a guy smoking, drinking, singing and dancing. Again, a truly unique piece on this album and I suspect in the discographies of these players.

Track 5 - Chasing the Piano: This is an apt description for a piece with the piano dashing about while the bass & drums seem to be in hot pursuit. There's no real pulse, it's fast and furious and chaotic- a real burning improv. There's some yelling and then someone plays an organ (?) for a minute or two. Then the piece turns a sharp corner breaking down to a slower piece with spoken word. This is followed immediately by returning to the earlier furious pace and then a sparse and heavy drum solo. Back to the earlier fast improv feel again and ending with a more spaced out improv.

This is a fascinating record because it gives you some insight on a couple of players that, at least in my personal discography, played a mostly supporting role (Silva being the obvious exception). Ali's drumming is very clear so you can put a real close listen on it. No surprise that this is a real joy to do. Should you seek this one out? If you're a fan of these guys and you want to hear them in this context, it's worth finding someone who can help you out. I don't think it's worth your money to buy one unless it gets rereleased.

(Anybody have a picture of the cover of this one?)

Bill Dixon: Papyrus Vol. II

Papyrus Volume 2
Bill Dixon - trumpet
Tony Oxley - percussion
Soul Note, 1999

If it's possible to say so, then this is a "typical" Dixon record. Which is to say that it's impossibly slow and excruciatingly sparse- and I mean that as a compliment. His work presents a challenge in a way that few others do: rather than attack you with a barrage of sounds, Dixon has a real minimalist approach. It's so slow and sparse that I can't really tell if there are any "heads" present or if it's all improvised. And these pieces seem to all eschew the idea of creating a beginning, middle and end - something many improvisers work very hard to achieve. Instead, they're all middle. There's almost nothing to hook a listener- no melody, no pulsing rhythm, almost no sounds that typically come from a trumpet or drum set. So when I line this up next to, for instance, Brotzmann's Machine Gun, I have to say that Papyrus Vol. II is a far more challenging listen.

Tony Oxley is an excellent accompanist on this record employing a variety of scrapes and clashes that keep the overall sound fresh and interesting. How he knows what to do with what Dixon plays is beyond me. When he drops out, which is frequently, he leaves space for Dixon to take what must be the most strange and out trumpet solos in the history of music.

Dixon has mastered extended technique for his horn which is in evidence with fast little runs in the highest register followed by the lowest pedal tones - for which your mother would probably scold him for being obscene.

Dixon also overdubs trumpet and piano on a couple of tunes as well as bookends the record with solo piano pieces that seem to exactly translate his music to that instrument. As if this record needed to be any weirder.

Dixon is in a class by himself and personally I find his music fascinating. With that said, I don't know how strongly I can recommend this record. If you like really out music, music that makes Ascension and Free Jazz sound like Top 40 records, you should check this out. Perhaps this is musicians' music? I don't know. Like I said, I love this stuff but I can see how it would not be interesting to others.