As a followup to last year’s phenomenal Don Cherry archival releases and book via Blank Forms, check out Det Är Inte Min Music (It Is Not My Music), a remarkable 1978 doc on the musician made by Swedish filmmaker Urban Lasson. Over the course of about an hour, we follow Don, his partner Moki and their kids from the pastoral Swedish countryside to the decidedly un-pastoral urban landscape of late-seventies NYC.
Category: Jazz
Robin Kenyatta :: Girl From Martinique
Funky: the last descriptor one would ever reach for while describing an ECM record…but that’s exactly what this is! Released in 1970, Robin Kenyatta’s lone ECM effort finds the reedman employing the clavinet vamp of Wolfgang Dauner, swathes of reverb, electronics, and the rhythm section of bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Fred Braceful. Come for “Blues For Your Mama”, stick around for the rest.
Nikolaj Hess :: Spacelab & Strings
Danish pianist/composer Nikolaj Hess returns, melding two ensembles on Spacelab & Strings. Interweaving a classical string quartet with a piano trio, the recombinant septet finds Hess delving into new abstractions, exploring color, tonality and time.
Kohsuke Mine: First | J Jazz Volume 3: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan
As previously noted, BBE’s ongoing Japanese archival jazz series continues to impress. Unearthing rare finds from an incredibly verdant period roughly spanning 1962-1984, the label’s curators (Tony Higgins and Mike Peden) have thus far released three compilations and reissued 8 lps. Two recent entries from the series to hook our ears are the post-bop Kohsuke Mine lp, First, and the compilation J Jazz Volume 3: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan.
Don & Moki Cherry :: Organic Music Societies
Organic Music Societies, a new book (and its accompanying exhibit, currently on display at the Blank Forms gallery space in Brooklyn) is a fantastic and thorough documentation of Don and Moki Cherry’s time together, packed with dazzling art and photography, insightful essays, and illuminating interviews.
Sun Ra :: Extensions Out, Plus: Four Poetry Books (1959/1972)
Sun Ra was almost as prolific a writer as he was a composer. A new set of books and pamplets out on the Corbett vs. Dempsey showcase his literary side with visionary poetry, esoteric essays, heady manifestos, and occult philosophy.
On the Lasting Allure of Thought Forms
The mystical notions of theosophy have inspired long artists like Sun Ra, Van Morrison, and Elvis Presley. With the publication of the 1905 text Thought Forms, Sacred Bones Records continues a long tradition of music and the occult intertwining in the pursuit of making the unknown knowable.
John Surman :: Upon Reflection (ECM)
Here’s something to get lost in, the hypnotic world of British reedman John Surman, courtesy of his 1979 ECM effort, Upon Reflection. Recorded in Oslo, with production helmed by Manfred Eicher, the recording finds Surman in widescreen form experimenting with sequencers and synthesizers in addition to his duties working bass clarinet and baritone/soprano saxophone.
Shintaro Quintet :: Evolution
Out later this month, BBE Music’s seventh installment in their archival Japanese jazz series highlights the Shintaro Quintet’s lp, Evolution–an album originally released in 1984 via the independent label Streetnoise Records.
A modal affair led by bassist Shintaro Nakamura, the session was cut in New York City and comprised of a Japanese-American band featuring pianist Jeff Jenkins, trumpet player Shunzo Ohno, saxophonist Bob Kenmotsu, and drummer Fukushi Tainaka.
Sun Ra Arkestra :: Swirling
“Music is not material. Music is spiritual.” Swirling, the first studio effort from the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1999, is about more than just music. It’s part of a vast cosmic legacy of Sun Ra. Guest reviewer Brad Farberman joins us for a listen.
Tune In, Zone Out :: Silent Ways
Silent Ways offers an immersive submersion into the depths of “In A Silent Way.” Composed by Joe Zawinul and made famous as the title track of Miles Davis’ first all-electric LP, it’s a song that doesn’t attempt to stop time as much as it attempts control time. Speed it up, slow it down, stretch it out, turn it upside down
Wolfgang Muthspiel :: Angular Blues
There’s a particular clarity made possible by the trio format, something guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Brian Blade make clear on Angular Blues, Muthspiel’s fourth album as bandleader for the storied ECM label. This spacious arrangement makes for magnificent listening.
Journeys In Satchidananda ~~ Versions
In recent years, the smoky, mystical groove of Alice Coltrane’s “Journey In Satchidananda” has emerged as a go-to vehicle for musical travelers of varying stripes. This two-hour mix pulls together a selection of these journeys (along with some offerings from Alice herself). Hey, if you’re going to listen to a single bass line for 120 minutes, I can think of no better candidate than the god-like lope that Cecil McBee originally laid down back in 1970. No matter where these musicians go on their respective journeys, there’s a unifying questing vibe, a desire to tap into the cosmic imagination. Spend some time with them on a higher plane.
Sorcery in the Kingdom | A Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Mixtape
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool—now available on Netflix after a brief theatrical run and as an American Masters feature on PBS—is a beautifully directed film by Stanley Nelson, which guides us through the different changes of Miles’ life, smoothly handling the tale of an artist who refused any complacency throughout a long and undeniably brilliant career.
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium – Vol 7 / Japanese Jazz
…the golden period from the 1970s into the early 80s when jazz in Japan came into its own identity and sound.
100 minutes of library groovers – dance floor bangers – funky fusion – modal swingers – big band stompers – jazz rock psychedelia and the impeccable sound of TBM are all represented.