Free Jazz Music

As I type I am listening to my copy of this box set. When I first noticed how much used copies of this set were going for, I hesitated and thought seriously about parting with my copy. I am in the process of selling much of my jazz collection.

You will notice that my copy is not for sale. Why not?

The truth is that the late Thomas Chapin may well be one of my favorite alto players to listen to. He has fire, drive, and intensity that remind me of my teacher and all-time favorite alto player: Jackie McLean.

And like McLean, even at his most Avant Gaurde, Chapin is never a relativist. Much of the music in this set is VERY free, yet it is always engaging and, more often than not, beautiful. This is because Chapin remains rooted in the tradition. The only successful free players are those who remain rooted in the tradition; these are the players stretch the bounds of "orthodoxy" and grow the music without breaking it apart beyond recognition. We all know of free players who alienated the audience, and destroyed their own potential, by going to sophomoric and self-indulgent extremes. You won't find that here.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention his flute playing; it is gorgeous, fluid, and his use of extended techniques stretches the imagination. How did this guy get such mastery as to have such a large tonal palette on more than one instrument? What could he have achieved had leukemia not claimed him so young?

If you can afford it, you should shell out the cash to buy this set used. My copy is not for sale.

Jazz seems to have produced more than its share of great artists who died far too soon, many regrettably from their own demons. Thomas Chapin's death from leukemia in 1998 is a tragic loss because it occurred just as he was hitting a creative high, and achieving some real recognition in the broad jazz community. This boxed set, Alive, collects all of his Knitting Factory recordings plus a live set from 1992 that is a posthumous release. Chapin was a rare combination of adventurous "out" player who also brings a more conventional or "inside" sound that has a broader appeal. His inspiration from Rahsaan Roland Kirk led him to playing multiple instruments (primarily alto sax and flute, with occasional other wind instruments). I was fortunate to see Chapin play a benefit concert in 1997, and his energy and creativity on stage were amazing. The live recordings in this set (discs 2, 3, 5, 8 and parts of disc 1) capture a lot of that spirit.

Though his working trio was the backbone of Chapin's output, there is some variety here too - the brass section on Insomnia (disc 3), John Zorn guesting on Menagerie Dreams (disc 4) and the string trio on Haywire (disc 5) are great additions.

This is a fantastic overview of a wonderful musician, and highly recommended. The single CD "Ride" is also a very good document of Chapin that can be ordered here or from Playscape records website.

This set contains seven previous CD's from "Anima" to "Night Bird Song" plus a new release "Live! on Tour" . I already have two of them in my collection "Haywire" and "Skypiece". The two constants in this music are Mr Chapin on a variety of reeds (alto sax,flute,soprano sax, mezzo-soprano sax,sopranino sax) and Mr Mario Pavone on Bass. Another constant is the originality of the music, of which more than 90% are originals by Mr Chapin. I find the level of musicianship very high. The recording quality is start of the art. If you like music of now, where risks and passion and honesty prevail, then I would find it hard to pass up this outstanding release by the Knitting Factory. My impression is that Mr Chapin was a much loved and much respected artist. Although the trio of reeds, bass and drums predominate featuring the two fabulous drummers Mr Steve Johns and then Mr Michael Sarin, as well there is Mr John Zorn, Mr Vernon Frazer, Mr Curtis Fowlkes,Mr Mark Feldman, Mr Kiyoto Fujiwara, et al. In addition to the music, the packaging is exemplary with each disc holder featuring the repoduction of a different collage by Mr Chapin. The music is worth having at any price. . . One of my most satisfying purchases.

Heavy, heavy, heavy stuff!!!The more you listen, the more you hear. Two saxophones, two basses, and Hamid Drake on drums. Wow!
Very dense, very meaty. Spend some time with it and the pieces just sort of fit together. The aural landscape is constantly shifting and changing. One voice will dominate. And then another. And so on....Worth struggling with this one if you're a newcomer...again, the recording quality for this live show is excellent and the more I hear it the more I want to hear it. Get it now!!!

Why did I wait 3 years before getting around to buying this? This is the best cd I bought in 2006.

There's really not much to say. This cd is incredible. Marshall Allen - alto sax, Kidd Jordan - tenor sax, Alan Silva - bass, William Parker - bass, Hamid Drake - drums. Recorded 12/1/00, Boston, Ica Theater.

Forget titles and genres... "what sort of music do they play?". Words are pointless. These guys are painting the sounds of a collective hallucination. This disc is broken up into a handful of individual tracks but it really isn't. You press "play" when this is in the cd player and you're sucked into another dimension for 70-something minutes.

This is so far beyond jamming or riffing. These artists aren't decorating a vamp for 20 minutes at a time. They're telling stories, painting hallucinations and writing sonic poetry. Spontaneous Composition. This is worlds beyond the 5/28/99 Fred Anderson Trio show I've praised in past reviews.

I've never before heard a "super group" type of get-together that achieves anywhere near what this achieves. This is one of the most naked, honest, mind-altering cds I've ever heard.

This is a band of Kings. This is why I listen to music. I deeply thank each of them (and everyone behind-the-scenes who made this possible) for giving this to us.

ELEVENTH HOUR is a very stylish package from the German Winter & Winter label, with cover art by Ursula Eichinger and eight more of her paintings in the booklet, all the same design but in different colors. Unfortunately, the music inside is of mixed quality. There are five pieces in all. Two of them are quite good ("Tense Serenity" and "Allegory"), one is good ("Lelekovice"), and two are not good ("Fell" and "Stick Figures"). Amazingly, the main musicians are the Arditti Quartet, you can't get any better than that!, but this is not among the best music they have ever performed.

Fred Frith, originally of Yorkshire, who began a long multifarious musical career with the British progressive rock group Henry the Cow in the late 1960s, has lately turned toward contemporary classical. Now a professor of composition at Mills College in the Bay Area, he spent the '80s in NYC's "downtown" scene with John Zorn and others, and the '90s in Germany where he connected with the W&W label, the AQ, composer Heiner Goebbels, and others.

The first piece "Lelekovice" (1990), in nine short movements, was written to accompany a dance. It's quite lively, in an Eastern European folk music mode -- Bartok of course springs to mind, though there is nothing in it nearly as thorny as his most complex quartets. "Tense Serenity" (1997), in five movements, is for string trio and trombone -- Uwe Dierksen plays trombone, and Graeme Jennings of Arditti sits out. The central movement features AMM/Keith Rowe-style radio fragments of songs and speakers, as well as what sounds like a flute, apparently produced by the strings. "Allegory" (2001), in three movements, is for string quartet and electric guitar. Frith's guitar is very subtly employed, and for much of the piece he is either silent or nearly so. Fair warning for those looking for flashy guitar pyrotechnics! These two pieces show what Frith can do, and though neither reveals a strong voice or unique style, they are fine examples of the European postserialist sonic landscape.

The two pieces that fill the rest of the second disc I consider outright failures. "Stick Figures" (1990) is for "6 guitars and 2 players," but all I can hear is two guitars -- one scrapes on the strings in what might be a simplistic parody of the experimental explorations of Hans Reichel, AMM's Keith Rowe and Frith, while another guitar regularly chimes a loud chord that sounds like a fragment of a Morricone soundtrack to a Sergio Leone western. "Fell" (2001), for string quartet and electric guitar, is also very simplistic, a descending series of chords for the strings, with periodic anguished squawks from the guitar. It seems to symbolize a soul's fall into Hell, or any number of more concrete and specific cases of flesh-and-blood humans falling into pain, death and despair.

ELEVENTH HOUR could have been a solid 4-star disc if "Allegory" had been included with "Lelekovice" and "Tense Serenity" on one disc, which would only be slightly over 70' long. I am certainly glad that Frith perseveres in creating adventurous music that is difficult to categorize, but I wonder if there might not be too much concept and too little music in more than just this one Frith project.

I know from interviews that Fred Frith shares my worldview (more or less), but I still have to guess at what the title means -- it seems clear to me that humans on Earth are in "the Eleventh Hour" in that we face an environmental crisis, and we may well still destroy ourselves if we don't develop more advanced and cooperative social institutions. (See my OVERSHOOT AND COLLAPSE? list.) In the meantime, I'm glad that Frith and I have both entered the world of contemporary classical music.

Cecil Taylor's "Alms/Tiergarten (Spree)" is one of the most marvelous examples of creative orchestra music that has ever been released. These 2 CDs document Taylor's performance in Germany on July 2, 1988 during the improvised music festival that featured Taylor. This orchestra concert is particularly fascinating, since legends such as Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, and William Parker also are featured in the group. This meeting between the Americans and the Europeans is a triumph. The composite creativity that is represented on this recording is absolutely stellar. The music swirls, jags, and darts like the structure of a hurricane, and you, the listener, are placed at its calm center, with everything occurring around you. This is a very profound effort, filled with surprises and mysteries. Each CD (both of which last approximately an hour) consists of one long track: the first CD features "Involution/Evolution," while the second CD features "Weight-Breath-Sounding Trees." The music sounds like its titles; with this album Taylor invites you to experience the forces of nature in music. This album should not be rated by stars-it should be rated by earth, air, fire and water.

Cecil Taylor's "Alms/Tiergarten (Spree)" is one of the most marvelous examples of creative orchestra music that has ever been released. These 2 CDs document Taylor's performance in Germany on July 2, 1988 during the improvised music festival that featured Taylor. This orchestra concert is particularly fascinating, since legends such as Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, and William Parker also are featured in the group. This meeting between the Americans and the Europeans is a triumph. The composite creativity that is represented on this recording is absolutely stellar. The music swirls, jags, and darts like the structure of a hurricane, and you, the listener, are placed at its calm center, with everything occurring around you. This is a very profound effort, filled with surprises and mysteries. Each CD (both of which last approximately an hour) consists of one long track: the first CD features "Involution/Evolution," while the second CD features "Weight-Breath-Sounding Trees." The music sounds like its titles; with this album Taylor invites you to experience the forces of nature in music. This album should not be rated by stars-it should be rated by earth, air, fire and water.

Cecil Taylor always claimed Duke Ellington as his #1 influence. On this record, I can hear the influence clearly. Taylor adds a whole palette of orchestral colors to his music, and it not only makes the structure of the compositions clearer, it keeps these pieces surprising and involving over hour-long performances. So this album isn't for you if you flat-out can't stand free/intense jazz. But if you're willing to listen with open ears (if you heard "Ascension" or "Tomorrow is the Question" without hating them!), you'll find a lot of beautiful music here.