Free Jazz Music

One of the elements that make the music of the AACM in Chicago unique is that so many of the composer/performers in the group resist stylistic boundaries. Roscoe Mitchell is a definate leader in this, along with Anthony Braxton and George Lewis. This album is dedicated to music by Mitchell that combines notated sections and approaches to improvisation to create marvelous chamber compositions which rival anything coming out of more traditional new music composers. The album consists of music for a small ensemble of Mitchell on winds, piano violin, and on most of the pieces, Thomas Buckner, the formidable contemporary baritone. Mitchell has chosen to set a wide variety of challenging poems to music, including poems by E. E. Cummings, Lord Byron, and Joseph Jarman. Also included is one of Henry Threadgill's compositions based on a poem by Thulani Davis. These are interspersed with Mitchell's instrumental ompositions. All in all this is an impressive CD.

What impresses most about this disc is Mitchell's deft way with a vocal melody. He knows the voice intimately, despite a lack of documented vocal music on his resume. The word setting is careful and exquisite...the poems are always audible, and yet the vocal line increases the meaning of the poem rather than being a distraction, the mark of a great writer of art song. What also impresses is the near impossibility of telling the difference between notated and improvised sections in the music. The relationship between material is so seamless that the improvisations seem to flow directly out of the basic material.

Perhaps this is why Mitchell's music gets short shrift by the new music establishment. It is threatening to those who believe in total organization to hear results that are so similar, based on skillful improvisation. Of course, a subtle racism also plays into this. Mitchell and Braxton have both reported recieving patronizing responses by many in the new music community when they've tried to interest them in these works. (Braxton reports getting dissed by the man himself, Pierre Boulez, during the early 70s in Paris.) And also, despite nearly 40 years of experiments in improvisation in classical music, most non-jazz musicians still just don't get it. (Morton Feldman gave up his graphic scores after a while, when too many performers kept playing triads instead of the complex harmony that Feldman was interested in.) It's too bad, because musicians like Mitchell show us all a way out of the various stylistic traps that have hemmed in composers in the late 20th century. The merging of composition and improvisation is perhaps the most exciting development of the last 40 years, and one that could have enourmous repercussions for music in the next century.

great muscianship and experimental avant garde jazz----I personally enjoyed disc one more, but again both are worthy of a listen.
Anthony hanley

If you like these (CH, BP, JM) trade friendly artists you better don't miss this fantastic double CD. You'll enjoy the great 7 strings (electric & acoustic) guitars played by Charlie, John's keys & the drum MASTER in a not often heard jazz trio. Dive below sea level or ride your player above sea level and good journey! My favorite song is 'Seoul Tower', but you'll find MANY jewels above or below. Three MASTERS performing in a wonderful collection.
Ahhhh! Long live The Fred!

As with the first two installments of Groundtruther, volume three features Charlie Hunter and Bobby Previte with a guest. In this case, it is the great John Medeski. Entitled "Above Sea Level," the first disc features the album's rockin' electric set. This disc is high on the pyrotechnics and psychedelics. Indeed, 'Everest' sounds like a nod to the second set Space that the Grateful Dead played during their concerts in the 1990's. Highlights include 'Pyramid of Giza' and 'Seoul Tower.' While the first disc is loose, "Below Sea Level" goes for broke and plays acoustic free jazz. At times, the self-indulgent wandering seems to exclude Charlie Hunter. If the potential listener is going to invest in this product, the first disc is where it's at. Writing from my experience, the Groundtruther series plays music that will not come to the listerner; rather the listener must come to the music. Some may need transcendents to appreciate the series. In the very least, these recordings require the effort of repeated listens and an open mind. All of the Groundtruthers sound like the groups are jamming together for the first time. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. In this setting, Hunter, Medeski and Previte have serious chemistry. On "Latitude" (the project with Greg Osby on sax), the effort has more of an electronica feel. "Longitude" (the project with DJ Logic) can be dismissed as just being wacked. On the other hand, this band plays with more of a straight rock feel, giving nods to fusion and funk. All in all, this is probably the strongest in terms of the musicians, chemistry and results. The potential consumer should go into this with eyes open: "Altitude" is too far out to appeal to most listeners. In weighing the strengths and weaknesses, "Altitude" is worthwhile for those with adventurous ears.