Free Jazz Music

Likely unknown by even the most dedicated of free jazz aficionados outside of Denmark, The Contemporary Jazz Quintet was a force to be reckoned with in the halcyon days of post-war Europe's then burgeoning free jazz movement. Espousing the obvious influence of Albert Ayler's mid-1960's recordings, TCJQ works a minor variation on this formula and comes up with an intriguing take on classic 1960's free jazz.

Adopting Ayler's penchant for mid-tempo rubato folk tune structures, TCJQ plays their impassioned free jazz with a twist, their secret weapon; the musical saw. The endless bowing and keening of this old-fashioned instrument invokes an earlier time linking the then contemporary sounds of the quintet with a decidedly old-world aesthetic bridging the gap between the orthodox and the experimental.

While the band's reliance on thematic variation can grow repetitive, their novel approach to instrumental coloration proceeds Ayler's own experiments on bagpipes and Alice Coltrane's early harp and organ workouts. Raspy alto sax and stuttering trumpet weave a dissonant bed of sound with sporadic bass and volatile trap set work contributing a loose, unhurried pulse. But it is the musical saws' endless ghostly keening that separates this recording from of its contemporaries.

"Actions" is a fascinating document of the heyday of European free jazz. Fortunately we have John Corbett's "Unheard Music Series" to provide a window into the inner workings of a scene previously unknown to many outside the European sub-continent.

Mostly recorded in a church in Portland, Oregon, this session ranks among Lacy's finest achievements as a soprano saxophone soloist. As we've come to expect from Lacy, some of the material is being revisited for the umpteenth time in his career. But that's one of the fine points of Lacy's musical character: his ability to (usually) find something new and fresh in tunes he has gone over innumerable times. Whether it's his own compositions or Thelonious Monk's, Lacy always manages to reveal a little more glint beneath the surface. "Revolutionary Suicide", dedicated to Huey Newton, and "The Door" are special highlights of this well-recorded, captivating session.

i have a jim walker's private flight. it a used CD... But sound is good.. this album's producer is famous bassist stanley clarke. but not good....