This ambitious 3 cd set brings together long lost recordings from 1977-1980 by the likes of free/avant garde jazz giants Ed Blackwell, Leroy Jenkins, Oliver Lake and Roscoe Mitchell. Long lost sessions, these pieces are going to get your blood warmed up again! The discs are divided into “Small Groups,” “Orchestral” and “World Music.” Hang on tight!
Disc one has a mano a mano set of duets between Charles Brackeen/ts-ss and Charles Blackwell from 1980 which is hard hitting and conversational. Bassist David Izenson mixes it up with Karl Berger/p and nasally vocalist Ingrid Sertso for a trio of glowingly mood pieces. Modern classical sounds are emitted by the two pianists Frederic Rzewski and Ursula Oppens, and violinist Leroy Jenkins along with guitarist James Emery deliver some music that veers between stark chamber and itchy edginess.
Disc two has trumpeter/harmonica player Olu Dara fronting the lumbering and volcanic CMS Orchestra through three untitled and poorly recorded tracks. Oliver Lake and the same orchestra fare better as they ponder on a couple tracks before adding some exciting percussion for the closing remarks. Lake’s tone is in wonderful form here, while Roscoe Mitchell and Garrett list from 1977 deliver a SWINGING untitled piece that includes some feisty exchanges between the two. Whew!
On the third disc, Ismet Siral and Friends mix woodwinds like there’s no tomorrow with tribal percussion that is adventurous and exotic. Nana Vasconcelos’s voice and berimbau also teams up with various CMS participants for vocal chants that get a bit on the folk side. Foday Suso and the Mandingo Griot Society close out the disc with Suso’s kora, Adam Rudolph’s percussion, Hamid Drake’s drum and John Marsh’s e-bass mixing joyful African sounds with a hip groove that includes a jam the sparkling kora that has to be heard to be believed. The end of a fun filled 3 ringed circus!
Innova Records
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