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02 Nov 2009 06:01
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19 Oct 2009 13:16
Sun Ra Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold
Cascading celestes. Psycho percussion pounding precariously.
Squealing saxes & speaking flutes; poignant piano and space
chanting. All of these sounds and many more besides you may find
on this new re-issue of Sun Ra - Featuring Pharaoh Sanders and
Black Harold.
Originally recorded in 1964, but not greeting the public until
1976, this record mainly serves as a historical document and
curiosity exhibition, for a number of reasons. First, and most
notably, is this is the only recorded evidence of Pharaoh
Sander's tenure with the Arkestra, on tenor saxophone, replacing
mainstay John Gilmore, just a year before Sanders' famous stint
with Coltrane, including the infamous japanese performances.
Secondly, this record was recorded live during a performance, at
a time when Sun Ra was mainly being recorded in studios and loft
spaces, giving a picture-window perspective of the monolithic
Arkestra performances of the time. Lastly, the next year would
see some of the more mythic mainstays of the Sun Ra canon
released, like The Magic City, so this serves as an interesting
transitional document. Featuring Pharaoh Sanders and Black
Harold also has the first recorded version of The Shadow World,
here called The World Shadow in typically Sonny word-play.
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24 Aug 2009 17:02
The Waitiki 7 - Adventures In Paradise
Adventures in Paradise utilizes most of the sonic signatures of
Exotica: bird calls, vibraphones, animal noises, latin
percussion, and ukulele, performed with jazz and oriental flair,
drawing from a richer pallette that paints a more compelling
picture than much of the blanched white-bread sonic excursions
around the world. Of the original Exotica, much of it was
recorded as background music for seductions or cocktail parties,
or to audition new Hi-Fi systems. In short, it was
easy-listening, and the emotional range could be rather bland. A
lot of interesting experiments and innovations arose from the
era, and Waitiki 7 embraces the strengths and weeds out a lot of
the chaff. Standards like "Totem Pole" by Lee Morgan, "Left Arm
of Buddha" by Martin Denny, and "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington,
are mixed in with eclectic originals like "Her Majesty's Pearl",
a beautiful conversation between piano and vibraphone, "Ned's
Redemption", a madcap xylophone ragtime improvisation with slide
whistle, and "L'ours Chinois", an oriental-sounding violin
concerto that is chilling, but resolves into an upbeat Eastern
adventure. They seem to have spent the time wallowing in far-off
sounds, getting to know them and how to play them proficiently,
rather than merely perfoming generic stereotyping to make
something sound weird.
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04 Aug 2009 08:37
Various Artists - Dutch Exotica
"This is a record played on arabian instruments, a cha-cha-cha
from Cuba played by a Dutch musician for an American tourist."
So says the voice of a square sounding radio announcer, while
introducing Languestra and his Orchestra's 'Jamila (Cha-Cha-Cha
Oriental). This cultural gumbo describes this collection of
Dutch exotica from 1937 - 1977 to a tee.
Exotica icon Martin Denny said this: "My music has always been
fiction, jut like a book. Everything comes from my imagination,
a mix of my ideas and those of the musicians who worked with me.
It wasn't about authenticity, but illusion." Exotica came to
prominence on American hi-fis and easy-chairs as a respite from
Cold War tension, as a result of an increase in disposable
income and leisure time and the rise of the social class known
as the Swinging Bachelors. It was a welcome respite to the
pervasive shadow of invisible enemies and paranoia, and the
looming prospect of imminent nuclear annihilation. It allowed
the listen to be swept away to sunny isles with swaying palm
fronds and swinging hammocks, frosty tropical drinks adorned
with gay colored umbrellas.
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29 Jul 2009 12:27
Cecil Leuter - Pop Electronique
Those of us in our middle years still like to have a good bop
now and again. Many of us cut a pleasant dash in our funky duds
and take to the mod dance floor with great aplomb.
Sadly, when you reach a certain age, your digestive system
starts to rebel against you: loudly and indeed publically. Knee
joints aside, your groovy quotient decreases rapidly when the
gurgles and pops of your inner workings are louder than the
go-go beats pounding from the speakers. The wonderfully named
Roger Roger, recording under the moniker of Cecil Leuter was
something of a Moog whizz. “Pop Electronique” celebrates the fly
in a washing machine organ with all its honks, beeps, whirrs and
blips.
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14 Jul 2009 12:20
Ethiopiques, Vol. 1: Golden Years Of Modern Ethiopian Music
The Ethiopiques series, chronicling the Golden Age of Ethiopian
Jazz from 1969 - 1978, was brought to mass consciousness due to
Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film Broken Flowers. In this film, Don
Johnston (Bill Murray) receives a letter informing him he has a
19 year old son, but the mother does not reveal herself. He
embarks upon a cross-country quest, seeking to solve the
mystery. The spirit of travel, of mystery, of romance and
heart-break is captured eloquently with the tight and fierce
souljazzfunk of Ethiopian Jazz.
Drawing mainly from the archives of Amha Records, these
recordings were captured after the end of the reign of Halle
Salaisse, where an unexpected freedom brought forth a flowering
of creativity, that found traditional ethiopian sounds blending
with James Brown funk, Otis Redding style R&B, and various
rhythms from around the world. The marriage of
smooth-as-oriental-silk brass sections, with late night Hammond
B-3 lines, and propelled with driving African poly-rhythms, is a
powerful animal. It will sink its fangs into your marrow and
shake rattle and roll…
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29 Jun 2009 01:51
Timothy Leary - Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out
There I was thinking that I was more than qualified to write a
snappy little review of turn on generation guru Tim Leary’s 1967
acid drop.
“If you're over the age of 40, I'm not sure that you should
listen to this record,” he intones. “What I'm going to say might
make you mad... I particularly don't like to get people over the
age of 40 mad because these are the people with guns and
handcuffs and prisons…”
This was the generation who didn’t trust anyone over 35 which
makes you wonder why they trusted 47 year old Timbo, but I
digress. As a hip young 40-something that grew up watching my
parents and their friends sway and grow with the psychedelic
times I’m a tad perplexed by this platter. The album I’m not
supposed to be listening to…
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17 Jun 2009 12:17
Various Artists - BBC Radiophonic MusicThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop existed between 1958 and 1998, originally springing to life to create soundscapes for some of Samuel Beckett's radio plays. Running the gamut between soundscapes, catchy jingles, call tunes, and eventually sci-fi programming led to many innovative sound designs, utilizing avant-garde musique concrete and tape manipulation techniques to create the auditory worlds the programmers desired. The unconventional and experimental techniques attracted a number of eccentric and brilliant engineers during their existence, most notably the wonderful Delia Derbyshire, John Baker (who was actually a jazz pianist), and David Cain.
This collection, originally released in 1968, intended as library music, then re-released in 1970 on the BBC's own label, finally coming to light yet again in 2008 on Mute Records, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this hallowed institution. Apparently, 'not representative of the Workshop's whole musical output' (as per the press release), its intent was to entertain rather than enlighten, spotlighting the many different functions of the workshop, from radio jingles to eerie sci-fi soundscapes.
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26 May 2009 08:09
Gato Barbieri - In Search Of The MysteryGato Barbieri, born Leandro Barbieri, is an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist, who started off playing clarinet and alto saxophone, after hearing Charlie Parker's 'Now's the Time'. He began to absorb sounds from the blossoming free-jazz Avant-Garde by the likes of Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Pharaoh Sander, and began to adapt their screeching primal scream through his tenor. He came to prominence playing with notable trumpeter Don Cherry, on the acclaimed Complete Communion and Symphony for Improvisors, before spawning off to become his own leader.
In Search of the Mystery was his first date as a bandleader, recorded on Mar. 15, 1967 for ESP disk in New York City. It featured the distinctive line-up of himself on Tenor Sax, Calo Scott on cello, Norris 'Sirone' Jones on bass, and Bobby Kapp on drums. The 4 tracks, 'In Search of the Mystery/Michelle' (A Side) and 'Obsession No. 2/Cinemateque (B side), were all recorded in one day, and completely captures the blitzkrieg spirit of free jazz.
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18 May 2009 01:16
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