DarkTreeRecords

For those who had found free jazz in the early 1960s, meaning Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor and associates, two galvanizing recordings appeared in the middle of the decade: Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity and John Coltrane’s Meditations. They’re among the few records of the period that I ever listen to, though I can almost do so without playing them, so strongly did they embed themselves in my consciousness. If I have such a thing, they belong in my permanent list of top ten recordings.

Based on Standards Combustion, a sometimes raw-edged, nine- track, LP-length (even the two-column track list looks like an LP) journey into the music of his youth, Daunik Lazro, born 1945 and sometimes playing partner to two other distinguished contemporaries and tenor players, Joe McPhee and Evan Parker, might feel the same way. Here he visits pieces by Ayler, Coltrane, Steve Lacy and Wayne Shorter along with his own homage to Lacy and a couple of collective improvisations, ideally accompanied by the spare, precise, structural yet empathetic, bass/drums team of the younger Benjamin Duboc and Mathieu Bec. Consider it revolutionary nostalgia, a sometimes soul-baring, galvanizing music that reaches through time for emotional renewal,

The CD opens with Ayler’s anthemic “Ghosts”, played with an Ayler-like exaggerated wail that shifts between laughter and tears, but which spurs a Lazro solo distinguished by his own upper-register cries and spears of sound. These are difficult times, but wondrous, too. With Rodrigo Amado’s version with The Bridge, this marks two great versions of “Ghosts” released just six weeks apart, the closest that’s happened to the original pressing of Spiritual Unity.

Lacy’s “Deadline” is next, a wonderfully oblique, linear and wandering treatment, before Ayler’s “Mother” inspires another rich exploration of the melody and Lazro’s distinctive solo voice. How economical is Lazro? Together the two Ayler tunes clock in under eight minutes: you could get them both on a seven-inch 45rpm, the perfect tribute to Ayler’s own temporal economy.

Shorter’s “Nefertiti” is a subtly dissonant, rich harmonic weave, while Lazro’s composition “Line-Up for Lacy” is an oddly sweet dirge that brings Duboc’s arco playing to the fore. There’s some lyrical interactive play amongst the trio and a definite mood shift with some powerful multiphonic blasts from Lazro before the concluding theme statement.

The CD continues, alternating collective improvisations and late Coltrane compositions. “R.Métégal” is hard-edged, focussed, three-way improvisation; “Tight Rope” is brief and rhythmically playful. The late period Coltrane pieces – “Vigil” and “Love”, both from 1965, the latter first turning up as an add-on on later CDs, the latter part of Meditations – are imbued with an emotional intensity and testamentary clarity comparable to Coltrane’s own, with Lazro’s own slightly darker tone, higher harmonics less apparent in his sound, and a less keening, yet even more restless, impulsive feel to his lines.

Revolutionary nostalgia? This works pays meaningful tribute to one of the greatest (however painfully brief) moments in jazz history, revitalizing memory and animating the present.

Une manière de saluer de grands thèmes (Ayler, Lacy, Shorter, Coltrane) dans un CD dont le recto et le verso font explicitement référence à l’esthétique des pochettes Blue Note des année 50-60 (photo, graphisme, mise en page, police des caractères). Le choix de ces standards (qui n’en sont pas tous vraiment : Deadline de Steve Lacy a été enregistré par lui 2 ou 3 fois dans les années 80 ; Love et Vigil de Coltrane n’ont pas inondé sa discographie, et me semblent peu repris). L’essentiel est ailleurs : dans l’évocation amoureuse de thèmes qui ont marqué le trio, qui les fait revivre à sa manière, et les emmène parfois ailleurs : ainsi Nefertiti de Wayne Shorter est très différent de la version historique avec Miles Davis en 1967. Il s’agit bien, comme le titre de l’album l’indique, d’enflammer ces standards d’une nouvel embrasement (voir les reprises de Ghosts de Mothers d’Albert Ayler). Une composition de Daunik Lazro en hommage à Lacy, et deux improvisations collectives, complètent ce bel objet musical, enregistré aux Instants Chavirés : un de sorte de cri d’amour vers le jazz qui nous a fait vibrer, et qui n’a pas cesser d’émouvoir les générations successives de jazz fan.

C’est bien le troisième album de Daunik Lazro avec le contrebassiste Benjamin Duboc pour le label Dark Tree. Les deux premiers étaient concentrés sur l’improvisation libre sonore interactive. Ici au sax ténor et avec Mathieu Bec à la batterie ! Et comme le titre Standards Combustion le laisserait supposer, il ne s’agit pas de Standards « jazz » habituels, mais des reprises originales et assez fidèles à l’esprit de morceaux intemporels d’Albert Ayler (Ghosts et Mothers), de Steve Lacy (Deadline), de Wayne Shorter (Nefertiti) et de John Coltrane (Vigil et Love Supreme). Ces morceaux sont parsemés d’une composition de Daunik Lazro , Line Up for Lacy et de deux pièces signées Bec – Duboc – Lazro : R.Métégal et Tight Rope.
Ma réaction à propos des hommages à X, Y, Z que ce soit John Cage, Bill Evans, Monk ou Miles Davis etc… : l’artiste a-t-il quelque chose à exprimer lui – même, sa musique ? Ou est-ce un argument de vente, une facilité ou une œuvre de commande ? Il y a tellement de musiciennes et musiciens fantastiques et originaux à écouter et découvrir que bon …. Dans le cas précis de Daunik Lazro, un pionnier incontournable du free en France, artificier du sax alto et cracheur de feu peu commun, passé au sax baryton, il y a quelques motifs très justifiables parce que cette musique, Ayler, Lacy et Coltrane ont balisé et catalysé sa passion de toute une vie d’artiste, se battant contre vents et marées, au cœur de la tempête de la free-music. Et ses deux acolytes sont des allumés notoires.
Ghosts est joué fidèlement à la mélodie du thème et très chaleureusement avec ces harmoniques déchirantes proches de celles d’Albert Ayler, comme d’ailleurs peu le feraient. Mathieu Bec, approché au sujet de ce nouvel album, m’a déclaré s’être mis à jouer sur le champ, sans avoir pu faire la moindre recherche sur le morceau d’Ayler, dont les premières versions figurent sur les albums Spiritual Unity (ESP 1002 – juillet 1964) et Prophecy (ESP 3030 enregistré un mois plus tôt au Cellar Café). Il aurait été intéressant de tenir compte mentalement de la partie de batterie toutes en vagues sonores jouée par Sunny Murray et du rôle de la contrebasse de Gary Peacock et ses doigtés en zig zag si particuliers. Mais curieusement, si Mathieu joue spontanément free dans ce morceau (un peu comme Rashied Ali mais avec un moins fort volume), le batteur a utilisé certaines frappes semblables à celles de Sunny ! Leur Ghosts met ici les pendules à l’heure et l’auditeur directement sur orbite. En fait, l’intérêt est de jouer sincèrement cette musique comme elle doit l’être tout en l’adaptant spontanément à l’état d’esprit actuel, à la situation émotionnelle et le parcours de vie du musicien, à son expérience et son vécu. La sincérité, la reconnaissance et l’amour pour ces aînés qui nous ont tout donné sans jamais rien calculer, sauf pour ajuster leurs possibilités sonores et musicales et la technique intimement personnelle de leur instrument à leur message esthétique et leur rage de vivre.
Et cette session est bien révélatrice à ce sujet. Il suffit d’entendre comment est rendu Nefertiti en mode free tout en énonçant le thème avec des accents et des suspensions proches de ceux du maître, suivi par une charmante envolée. Leur version de Deadline (composition jouée par Steve Lacy en solo, cfr le Live de 1975 publié par SAJ) décline bien des éléments et l’esprit de la musique de Lacy. Vigil : Mathieu démontre qu’il a un vif souvenir d’Elvin Jones jouant ce morceau au travers de détails dans ses frappes et roulements sur la caisse claire et le tom. De même, le chant de Lazro laisse s’échapper des volutes et imbrications de notes de ce morceau enregistré en duo par Coltrane et Elvin sur l’album Kulu Se Mama, que Daunik a écouté cent fois … La version de Love (Supreme) est jouée ici en rythmes libres et avec une sonorité et une intonation voisine (et imaginaire) de celles qu’adopterait un Jimmy Giuffre (« joue free »). Il s’agit de « relectures » vivantes, chargées d’émotion et sans esbrouffe : elles distillent des éléments essentiels de la musique de nos héros les plus chers, dans une autre réalité avec un autre vécu. Et dans les traces de ces morceaux de légende qui suintent de leurs réinterprétations émues, on découvre la moëlle, des intonations, des injonctions secrètes issues précisément d’ écoutes amoureuses, répétées, intensives et de très nombreuses tentatives passées d’avoir joué ces thèmes et improvisé en cherchant indéfiniment leur sens profond, la matière même de l’amour. Aussi une belle volonté de construction collective dans R.Métégal et le très court Tight Rope. Bref, un beau projet pour souligner les marques profondes que ces artistes disparus ont laissé dans notre âme et notre esprit.

Le label Dark Tree ayant été créé à sa mémoire, Bertrand Gastaut poursuit l’édition d’enregistrements inédits du pianiste-compositeur-arrangeur Horace Tapscott (1934-1999) avec l’accord et le soutien de sa famille. Il s’agit cette fois d’un concert capté à Hollywood en décembre 1995. Tapscott s’y présentait en quintette avec des musiciens familiers, un groupe soudé qui, grâce aux arrangements du chef, sonne admirablement, et dont on peut apprécier les interventions solistes particulièrement inspirées. Parmi six pièces variées, deux compositions originales du pianiste illustrent sa conception d’un spirit jazz profond très enraciné : une musique puissante, envoûtante, s’appuyant sur des rythmes quasi-hypnotiques (un peu comme chez Abdullah Ibrahim) dont la Ballad for Deadwwod Dick en offre le meilleur exemple. Le chanteur Dwight Trible intervient à trois reprises, notamment sur le spiritual Motherless Child et Little Africa en final, dans un style un peu déclamatoire (comme Leon Thomas ou Joe Lee Wilson) mais avec beaucoup de conviction. Un témoignage magnifique de cette Great Black Music qui peine parfois à se faire entendre dans le milieu du jazz. Un livret informatif détaillé accompagne le disque.

Na foniczną dokumentację spotkania amerykańskiego saksofonisty, bezdyskusyjnego weterana gatunku i jego nieco młodszych, ale też pozostających w sile wieku kolegów – francuskiego kontrabasisty i włoskiego perkusisty – czekaliśmy długie pięć lat. To kolejny w dzisiejszej zbiorówce pokaz swobodnego jazzu, otwartego na wszelkie sugestie stylistyczne. Jeśli nie wtłaczamy włoskiego wydarzenia w ramy free jazzu, to jedynie dlatego, iż artyści kreują w trakcie niemal całego koncertu plejady dźwiękowych subtelności i dowodzą, iż w otwartej kameralistyce także mają dużo do powiedzenia. Pierwsze cztery improwizacje, to zasadnicza część koncertu, podana w jednym strumieniu dźwiękowym. Na starcie wysoko zawieszony sopran, niskie pizzicato kontrabasu i aktywny drumming posadowiony gdzieś pomiędzy nimi. Śpiewna melodyka, żywy groove basu i sporo kreatywnego fermentu ukrytego wewnątrz narracji. Żywa, dynamiczna improwizacja, nieco filuterna, gdy wszystkie instrumenty zaczynają grać w wysokich rejestrach. Finał otwarcia kipi od emocji saksofonu, które gasić musi zwinny smyczek. Druga faza koncertu przenosi nas do przestrzeni bardziej kameralnej. Smutny saksofon i kontrabas, który decyduje tu niemal o wszystkim, wreszcie rezonujące talerze, które w końcowej fazie kradną show. W trzeci odcinek wchodzimy na barkach perkusisty, który buduje urokliwe expo dając sygnał, że i on może postawić nas do pionu jakością swojego frazowania. Narracja nabiera wigoru, gdy do gry wchodzą pozostałe instrumenty, oferując dobre emocje i kilka fajerwerków ze strony świetnie rozgrzanego drummera. W ostatniej części seta muzycy ponownie chyla się ku kameralistyce. Saksofon woli tu leniwie śpiewać, ale kontrabas i znów świetna perkusja macą flow i kreują świetne figury dramaturgiczne. Po oklaskach czas na encoreI Golia sięga po flet piccolo, Santacruz zaczyna na smyczku, potem sunie delikatnym pizzicato, a Calcagnile dodaje kilka perełek ze swojego coraz bogatszego zasobnika jakości. To być może nietypowe, ale zdaje się, że bis tego więcej niż dobrego koncertu jest jego najlepszą częścią.

Like many significant figures in improvised music, pianist-composer-bandleader Horace Tapscott recorded much more material than was released in his lifetime. The Dark Tree label has emerged as a significant curator of his work, and this latest session will be welcomed by converts and newcomers alike.

As was the case with so much of Tapscott’s work, the stage was where he really came alive and the energy levels of the band are high from the downbeat. With no sense of artifice the music shifts seamlessly from tight rhythmic structures to looser, freer passages all the while keeping a strong pulse and hard swing, as befits a bandleader who clearly understood the modernist substance of innovators such as Monk and Jaki Byard. The band is superb, but vocalist Dwight Trible absolutely steals the show with his eruptive interpretation of the gospel anthem ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child’

David Murray Brave New World Trio
Seriana Promethea
Intakt CD 381

One shibboleth negated by creative music’s global growth is that “jazz is a young man’s art”. Putting aside the sexism and the music’s imprecise definition, it’s agism that’s most obviously erroneous. With better health care and increased longevity musicians of all genders are producing notable work in their sixties and seventies, or in the case of Kidd Jordan into their eighties. Youngsters by that criteria, trio sessions by American multi-instrumentalists Vinny Golia, 76 and David Murray 67 confirm this truism.

Recorded when Golia, playing soprano saxophone and piccolo, was 71, To Live and Breathe demolishes the cliché of Jazz as an exclusively American music: his associates are French bassist Bernard Santacruz, who has worked with Michael Zerang and Italian drummer Christiano Calcagnile who often records with Alberto Braida. Seriana Promethea in contrast is as American as apple pie, but that’s mostly because the selections stick close to the backroom Blues, beats and ballads on which the music was built. The player are all Yanks as well: bassist Brad Jones who has worked with Max Nagl, plus drummer Hamid Drake and tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist David Murray, who between them have probably played with equivalent of a metropolitan city’s population of international improvisers.

Indefatigable in his expression, Golia’s saxophone playing packs the five selections with enough trills, arabesques, smears, peeps and squeaks to almost fill every space in the expositions. No matter how his lines twist and turn, or the highs and lows that his vibration expel, horizontal motion is still maintained. Contributing to this both vocally and rhythmically are the bassist and drummer. At points reaching the heights of intensity with overblowing and circular breathing, other times Golia downshifts to responsive treble tones. As on “Thoughts Within The Vineyard” this become a juncture for Santacruz to slide up and down the strings with woody echoes as Calcagnile scrapes strident textures from cymbal tops. The others playing isn’t just in response to Golia’s lead however. Press rolls, rat-tat-tats and resilient swizzle-stick like echoes are part of the drummer’s sound explorations, while arco slices are projected by the bassist almost as frequently as he walks. Alternating between varied pitches isn’t confined to the sax however. On the penultimate “Visit To The Mountains” Golia’s transverse strategies show that even at an adagio pace, piccolo breaths create profound flattement coupled with linear flow. All that’s left is for a fast-paced encore.

Murray only offers snorts and tongue stops from the bass clarinet on the introductory tile track on the other CD recorded last year. Yet even when he expands into altissimo squeaks and smears Jones’ bass pattern and Drake’s thumping accents keep the music consistent with the rest of this foot-tapping session. Considering that his solos encompass R&B-like blasts on the faster numbers and boudoir sleekness on the slower ones, it seems that Murray once an  avant-garde avatar, has evolved in his seventh decade towards Gene Ammons and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. That doesn’t mean he’s turned to gratuitous honking or soporific background sounds. It’s just another persona for someone who has played the music of the Grateful Dead as well as the World Saxophone Quartet.

Influences from the Blues (“Rainbows for Julia”), Latin (“Switchin’ in the Kitchen”) and mellow nightlife (“Anita et Annita”) informs the album, which also includes a Sly Stone cover and a final tune that could be played at a funky honky-tonk. There’s more to it though. Jones’ skills encompass sul tasto introductions and power pumps; while Drake’s cymbal crashes and backbeat can adapt to many situations. On the first example, his well-measured thumps mate Jones’ sympathetic strums, while Murray’s cries maintain the basic melody. A straightforward strolling pattern from the two keep the stop-time Latin tinge from exploding as Murray soars from spetrofluctuation and slaps tones to doits and smears while expressing speedy sheets of sound. As for “Anita et Annita”, at points the mellow saxophone narrative gives way to an allegro line that could be one of Sonny Rollins’ West Indian affiliations.

At 92 Rollins has slowed down from his nearly constant touring and high-quality recording of the preceding 70 plus years. Looks like Murray and Golia aren’t yet ready to do the same thing, at least on the evidence here.

Den amerikanske multiinstrumentalisten Vinny Golia ble født den 1. mars 1946, og er en musiker som har spesialisert seg på der forskjellige treblåseinstrumentene. Han høres i sjangrene samtidsmusikk, jazz, frijazz og fri improvisasjon. Som komponist smelter Golia sammen den rike arven fra jazz, samtidsmusikk og verdensmusikk, og han er bandleder som har spilt musikken sin for publikum i Europa, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand og USA i ensembler som varierer dramatisk i størrelse og instrumentering. I 1982 startet han det 50 musiker store Vinny Golia Large Ensemble for å fremføre komposisjonene hans for kammerorkester og jazzensembler.  Her på salt peanuts’ har vi tidligere anmeldt hans kvartettplate «Live At The Century City Playhouse», også på DarkTree, hvor han samarbeidet med klarinettisten John Carter, kornettisten Bobby Bradford og trombonisten Glen Ferris, og anmeldelsen kan du lese HER.

Bernard Santacruz er en fransk bassist født i Alger i 1956. Han har bodd i Beaucet siden 2007 og har utviklet et musikalsk prosjekt i utkanten av moter og strømninger. Han er også en av de sjeldne franske improvisatørene som regelmessig samarbeider med amerikanske musikere. «Etter å ha nærmet seg elbassen som autodidakt, deretter kontrabassen, gikk Bernard Santacruz inn på konservatoriet i Avignon, i kontrabassklassen og i André Jaume. Han studerte også med Charlie Haden, deretter Ron Carter (1990). I 1992 spilte han inn sammen med Rémi Charmasson og Denis Charles en hyllest til Charles Tyler. Han har spilt i kvartetter, trioer og duoer med Frank Lowe og har samtidig jobbet med Jaume, John Tchicai, Daunik Lazro, Philippe Deschepper, Christine Wrodrascka, Joël Allouche, Stephan Oliva, Antony Ortega, Eric Barret, Siegfried Kessler, Archie Shepp, Jean-Luc Cappozzo.

Trommeslageren, perkusjonisten, komponisten og arrangøren Cristiano Calcagnile har bygget seg et internasjonalt ry ved å samarbeide med store navn innenfor den nye jazzen, samtidsmusikken og popmusikken. Arbeidet hans er relativt godt kjent innenfor den europeiske eksperimentelle scenen, og hans estetikk er en velbalansert blanding som forblir knyttet til hans holdning til forskning og utvikling av grenselinjemusikk. Han har medvirket på en rekke plateinnspillinger på selskaper som EMI, Polygram El Gallo Rojo, Label Bleu og Black Saint, og han turnerer jevnlig over hele verden.

Denne innspillingen er gjort på konsert i Casa Spezia i Trevozzo, Piacenza i Italia søndag 5. februar i 2017, og vi får fem fritt improviserte «strekk» alle tre har vært med å skape. Og de starter med «An Introduction to Bonsai Basics», hvor Golia fører ab på sopransaksofon. På hans forrige innspilling sammenlignet jeg han litt med Anthony Braxton, og allerede fra han setter an første tone på denne innspillingen, kjenner jeg igjen mye av ideene vi kjenner fra Braxton. Og ut fra det vi får servert av sopransaksofonspill på denne løse og fine innspillingen, synes jeg det er merkelig at vi ikke har merket oss han bedre tidligere. For hans spill på sopransaksofonen er virilt så det rekker, det er kreativt som var han en av de to saksofonistene i Art Ensemble of Chicago eller en sentral skikkelse i jazzmiljøet i Chicago. Han har hele veien gode ideer, som blir understøttet av et heftig bass-spill av Santacruz, selv om han, etter min mening ligger litt for langt bak i lydmiksen, og Calcagniles energiske og lydhøre trommespill.

I andresporet, «Thoughts Within the Vineyard» spiller Golia piccolofløyte, og tar det kraftig ned. Og å ta det såpass rolig når man er på en vingård, er for meg utenkelig, for det er vel neppe så mange steder man blir mer oppglødd og glad som når man besøker en god vingård. Men her er det Santacruz som får lov til å briljere, noe han gjør med stor overbevisning i starten. Men også her er det det kollektive som er det viktige, og hele veien føler de tre hverandre på «tennene», selv om jeg kanskje synes Golias sopransaksofonspill er mer spennende enn hans fløytespill.

I «Drumstart» er det, naturligvis, trommeslageren Calcagnile som tar føringen med en fin trommesolo, og når Golia kommer inn på sopransaksofon er vi tilbake på plass. Dette blir adskillig mindre trommer enn det vi hadde forventet, for etter av Golia kommer inn, er det han som styrer «skuta». Men de andre følger han helt til døra med fint spill. Og i platas nest siste spor, «Visit to the Mountains», får vi også en ballade, men adskillig mer moderne og fri enn det vi kanskje forventer av en typisk ballade. Her spiller Golia vakkert over et nydelig bass-spill og lekne og lydhøre trommer, og det blir en viss sårhet i spillet som passer inn sammen med det mer energiske. Men også her er det energisk, det går bare ikke så fort.

Så avslutter de dette typiske livesettet med «Evanesce», som starter nesten klassisk med fløyte. Dette er blitt den frieste av låtene, men det er hele veien en idé og et fascinerende samspill mellom de tre. Her er det, på mange måter, Santacruz som styrer «skuta», og tar de andre med på en spennende «seilas» over relativt opprørt farvann.

Dette er blitt en spennende innspilling, og en typisk konsertplate. Og hvis det er slik musikk de må spille for å leve og puste jevnt og rolig, er det helt ok for meg, for jeg lar meg virkelig fascinere av det frie og fine samspillet mellom de tre.

Et quel grand orchestre que cet étrange Ensemble Icosikaihenagone conçu par le bassiste et compositeur Benjamin Duboc ! Réunir de jeunes musiciens quasi inconnus (Émilie Aridon-Kociolek, piano voix, Sébastien Beliah, contrebasse, Alexis Persigan, trombone), des improvisateurs expérimentés de tous bords esthétiques (Jean-Luc Capozzo, Franz Hautzinger, Sylvain Kasssap, Guylaine Cosseron, Gaël Mevel, Jean-Sébastien Mariage) dont certains ne travaillent jamais ensemble, le batteur très classieux Thierry Waziniak, la tromboniste Christiane Bopp apparue comme un miracle sur Fou Records, un souffleur de poids révélé sur le tard comme Jean-Luc Petit ou la violiniste Patricia Bosshard, l’altiste Cyprien Busolini et la chanteuse Claire Bergerault, etc… pour un projet scénique et musical / sonore collectif avec les « corps actants » de Valérie Blanchon, Valérie Fontaine et Giuseppe Molino, textes et interviews des musiciens me semble aller à contre-courant des habitudes et des projets téléphonés. L’accent de ces Volumes II est posé essentiellement sur une idée de création proposée et composée par Benjamin Duboc dans une évidente dimension collective. Masses sonores contractées ou en expansion, textures rares, séquences jazz contemporain éclaté, narratifs pluriels et imaginaires. L’enregistrement retrace une performance publique d’une œuvre qui transcende la pratique artistique de recherche en mettant en exergue exclusive le contenu social de la musique et le partage de l’espace sonore et du temps entre chacun. Ne cherchez pas à savoir qui joue quoi, d’essayer de « reconnaître » les « solistes », les individualités impliquées ou même les différents instruments, cette musique est une pâte sonore collective, plastique, bruissante et qui se définit par le déroulement et l’intrication de ses composantes. Intéressante par instants, fascinante par moments, remise en question du processus de création musicale sans prétention ni agenda. Une réussite originale qui a l’heur de réunir et faire travailler ensemble des musiciens militants, au-delà des cercles relationnels qui fragmentent la scène des improvisateurs, pour créer, on l’espère, une dynamique féconde. Félicitations à tous et aussi à Bertrand Gastaut pour inclure un tel OVNI dans le catalogue de son label Dark Tree.

Since its founding in 2011, the French record label Dark Tree has been issuing a “Roots Series” documenting previously unreleased performances of the Los Angeles jazz avant-garde from the 1970s through the ’90s. Among the best of those releases have been several from Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra led by pianist/composer/conductor Horace Tapscott. Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995 is one of only two quintet albums led by the pianist. A community activist in South Central LA, Tapscott often worked with a rotation of musicians; some well-established, others local talent. In his larger ensemble recordings, there are frequently unknown players who have gone uncredited. Legacies… includes reed player Michael Session from the larger ensemble, bassist Roberto Miranda of Tapscott’s sextet, and trombonist Thurman Green, who worked extensively with Gerald Wilson‘s Orchestra.

The tighter, more focused quintet format is a setting in which Tapscott and his band can be more individually appreciated. But the theatrical feel of his live work with the Arkestra comes through in “Motherless Child” with a dramatic vocal contribution from Dwight Trible. Tapscott’s original “Breakfast at Bongo’s” is seventeen-plus minutes of blistering swing with tenor saxophonist Session tearing up the stage. Impressive solos from the leader and drummer Fritz Wise direct the piece back to a full unit closing. Trible returns on “Close to Freedom,” a piece saved from gaudiness by Tapscott’s intervention. “The Theme” is an enthusiastically free improvisation dominated by a piano and drums duo. The album closes with “Little Africa,” penned by occasional Arkestra pianist Linda Hill and previously recorded by that group, and by Trible.

Tapscott began amassing what would become a large collective in 1961, and from that community, he assembled distinct groups for projects. Because he elected to play within confined geography, he never achieved his deserved level of fame. Tapscott experimented and though it did not always work, it was fire when it did. “Ballad for Deadwood Dick” and “Breakfast at Bongo’s” account for more than a half-hour of explosively good jazz. Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995 was culled from several performances at Catalina Bar & Grill on Sunset Boulevard. Kudos to Dark Tree for giving Tapscott a second life.

Als würde da an Horace Tapscotts Vermächtnis weitergesponnen, knüpft To Live and Breathe… (DT17 / Nine Wind Records, NWCD0345) mit VINNY GOLIAs Sopranosax bluts­brüderlich an Michael Sessions ‘Little Africa’-Tirili an. Und als weitere Konstante besorgte Wayne Peet, der 1995 „Legacies For Our Grandchildren“ mitgeschnitten hatte, auch Mix und Mastering für Golias Gig mit dem französischen Kontrabassisten BERNARD SAN­TACRUZ und dem Mailänder Drummer CRISTIANO CALCAGNILE am 5.2.2017 in Trevozzo, 35 km südwestlich von Piancenza. Santacruz, 1956 in Algier geboren, ist transatlantisch versiert im Spiel mit Denis Charles, Frank Lowe oder Charles Tyler ebenso wie mit Jeff Parker und Michael Zerang. Der in letzter Zeit öfters auf We Insist! Records begegnete Calcagnile hat von Berserk, Blastula oder Calipso bis zu Mrafi, Multikulti und Rubini eine allumfassende Spannweite. So dass es ihm auch nicht den Vogel raushaut, wenn Golia in seiner schimmelschwänzigen Altmeisterlichkeit ihn zuletzt per Piccolo an einen Saguaro spießt, dessen Stacheln Santacruz pizzicato zupft. Zuvor gab Golia ‘An Introduction to Bonsai Basics’ und feierte dabei übersprudelnd den unerschöpflichen Reiz kleiner, heller, schneller Intervalle. Zusammen lassen sie bei ‘Thoughts Within the Vineyard’ mit kaliforni­schen Agua-Dulce-Erinnerungen die guten Tröpfchen aus voller Eifer in singender Vor­freude gepflückten Trauben der Colli Piacentini träumerisch auf der Zunge zergehen. Zu Golias dionysischer, sägend und plonkend angespornter Übersprudelei bei ‘Drumstart’ ist Calcagnile nicht zu stoppen, wenn er die Beats nur so über Blech und Felle fliegen lässt. Erst ein weichfingriges Pizzicatosolo und besinnliche, von leiser Wehmut durchhauchte Töne von Golia gleiten nahtlos hinein in ‘Visit to the Mountains’, mit rascheligen, klirren­den, aufrauschenden Schlägen, feinem Klingklang und wachsender Elegie. Mit ‘Evanesce’ setzt Golia zuletzt zu geschrummten Saiten und hageliger Erregung die vogeligen, stacheligen Piccolo-Tüpfelchen auf den überquellenden Flow seiner iiiis. Die drei leben für ihre Musik mit jedem Atemzug.

Dwudziestoosobowy zespół o nazwie własnej nieprzetłumaczalnej na jakikolwiek język świata, dyrygent i kompozytor w jednej osobie, troje aktorów i duża scena teatralna. A na niej tom drugi opowieści pod tytułem Fikcja muzyczna i choreograficzna – Kreacja na Wielką Orkiestrę i Korpus Aktorski.

Francuski kontrabasista Benjamin Duboc, to muzyk wyjątkowy, o czym świadczą jego rozliczne dokonania na niwie swobodnej improwizacji, free jazzu, a także, jak się właśnie okazuje, na polu kreatywnej, po części improwizowanej muzyki współczesnej. Muzyk, który w ostatnich latach niezbyt często ujawniał światu swoje nowe dokonania, powraca z płytą niezwykłą i wartą tysiąckrotnego eksplorowania. A dla tych, którzy nie znają lub nie pamiętają muzycznych aktywności 51-letniego artysty, szczególnie sprzed mniej więcej dekady (wtedy był bodaj najaktywniejszy na scenie free impro), na zakończenie dzisiejszej opowieści krótki zestaw linków do tekstów opisujących czerstwymi metaforami Pana Redaktora muzyczne dokonania Duboca.

A teraz, bez zbędnej zwłoki, przenosimy się na deski Teatru Miejskiego we francuskim Montreuil!

Bez trudu odnajdujemy się na widowni. Słyszymy szmer rozmów, odgłosy otoczenia, nerwową ciszę oczekiwania. Zaczynają głosy kobiece – najpierw jeden, potem drugi recytują tekst, a w tle pierwsze oddechy wydają instrumenty dęte. Po upływie trzeciej minuty rusza muzyka – orkiestra wypuszcza z siebie ledwie jeden duży strzęp dźwięku i słucha, jak długofalowo potrafi on wybrzmiewać, rozpływać się w przestrzeni obiektu teatralnego. Pojawia się kontrabasowy dron, któremu towarzyszą dęte ornamenty. Orkiestra buduje suspens na wdechu, pełna niepokoju, wręcz trwogi. Jeszcze tylko kilka bardziej intensywnych uderzeń w klawiaturę fortepianu i pierwszy akt spektaklu tonie w gęstej ciszy. Tym razem słyszymy odgłosy przyrody, zatopione w instrumentalnym bezruchu, dającym odpowiednią przestrzeń dla budowania nowego wątku. Ósma minuta, to moment, w którym rozbudowane instrumentarium zaczyna prowadzić ze sobą leniwe small talks. Po kolejnych dwóch minutach uderzenie w wielki kocioł zdaje się oznajmiać otwarcie kolejnego rytuału dźwiękowego. Szmery, nieme gesty, oddechy, minimalistyczne piano, akordeon, szeleszczące struny, błyszczące talerze – wszystko to buduje akustyczny przednówek niemal dark ambientowej ekspozycji. Tymczasem krótką, bardzo oszczędną w słowa opowieść proponuje nam piano. Kilka silniejszych uderzeń w czarne klawisze zdaje się tu wybudzać z snu całą orkiestrę, która zaczyna lepić kolektywnie dźwiękowe crescendo. W okolicach 14 minuty owa żmudna droga na szczyt przybiera dalece uroczą i jakże intensywną postać. Obfity strumień dźwięków rozlewa się tu bardzo szerokim korytem i jeszcze nabiera mocy, w połowie 18 minuty przypominając niemalże krzyk dzikiego zwierzęcia!

Opowieść opada teraz na samo dno i przeobraża się w suche, męsko-damskie dialogi. To postrzępione fragmenty rozmów z muzykami, tu lepione w strumień niemal surrealistycznej narracji. Po kilkudziesięciu sekundach spektakl płynnie wchodzi w nowe stadium. Muzycy serwują nam kilka wątków jednocześnie. Małe frazy strunowe, wokal, jazzująca trąbka, pomruki klarnetu basowego, garść dźwięków preparowanych z kilku źródeł – wszystko to tworzy plejadę zmysłowych incydentów fonicznych, które choć separatystycznie generowane, tworzą zwartą, nerwową strukturę. Narracja stabilizuje się serią powtórzeń i przechodzi do kolejnego etapu. W 25 minucie tym, który proponuje nowy kierunek jest kontrabasowy smyczek, ryjący głęboką bruzdę w ziemi. Na jego lepkiej powierzchni osiadają dęte, krótkie frazy i wokalne inkrustacje. Emocje znów rosną, a swoje trzy grosze dokładają tu, rozstawione na przeciwległych flankach, perkusjonalia, które niespodziewanie wygaszają basowy dron. Duetowa ekspozycja nie szczędzi nam dźwięków preparowanych. Tuż po niej dostajemy strzępi fonii ze strony elektroniki, być może także gitarowych przetworników, które przypominają fale radiowe, raz za razem wyłapujące tajemnicze dźwięki z kosmosu. I to właśnie ten moment otwiera zaskakujący melanż krótkich, ciętych fraz, które wydają się być dźwiękami granymi przez orkiestrę, ale także matowymi samplami wyszukanymi w przestrzeni radiowej – wątek jazzowego, kontrabasowego drive’u, śpiewanej piosenki, kameralnego smyczka do pary z fortepianem, jazzowej orkiestry dętej, wreszcie ciekawie wyeksponowanej trąbki i głosów recytujących półsłowa. Tanecznym krokiem skaczemy po radiowej skali, mieszamy wątki i systematycznie tracimy kontakt z rzeczywistością.

Na początku 34 minuty wrzask ludzkiego głosu (brzmiący jak tuba!) przenosi nas w inny wymiar spektaklu. Jakbyśmy umęczeni daleką podrożą wrócili na teatralną scenę. A tu orkiestra żyje i gra nam dynamiczny jazz na wiele głosów! W tle moszczą się post-elektroniczne zgrzyty, które tłamszą opowieść i odbierają jej życie tuż nad podłogą. Nowa plejada dźwięków tym razem płynie wprost z wielkiej tuby i watahy nerwowych strunowców. Wszystko lepi się tu w mgławy, leniwy dron, głównie basowy. Orkiestra znów zaczyna budować crescendo! Do gry wchodzi rozhuśtany saksofon i perkusjonalia, a potem inne narzędzia drewniane, blaszane i strunowe. Narracja wydaje się być w tym momencie wyjątkowa swobodna, wypuszczona z ryzów dyrygenckiej dyscypliny. Przez moment flow prowadzą samotne perkusjonalia. Tuż przed upływem 40 minuty opowieść znów startuje z samego dna ciszy. Bas mruczy, dęte oddychają, głosy szepczą i szemrają, klawisze piana złowrogo stukają po wystudzonych młoteczkach. Nagle na scenie pojawia się rozochocona gitara, która buduje meta psychodeliczną narrację, sieje spustoszenie prądem zmiennym i wzbudza odgłosy całej orkiestry. Tak, to definitywnie ostatnia już prosta tej niebywałej historii. Tutti Grande! Finał, falujący niczym wzburzony ocean, grany jest na dużym wydechu! Urywa się nagle, za pociągnięciem producenckiego skalpela, wprost w ciszę … oczekiwania, dokładnie taką samą, jaką znamy z pierwszych sekund tego nagrania. Piękny nawias dramaturgiczny po kilkudziesięciu sekundach ostatecznie topi nas w bezwzględnej ciszy.

Volumes II—Fiction Musicale et Chorégraphique is an ambitious, large-scale composition by the French double bassist/composer Benjamin Duboc for orchestra, voice, and physical movement. Recorded in October, 2021, the nearly forty-five minute-long piece was realized by a mixed-voice, twenty-one piece ensemble—hence its name—and three actors, including one speaker.

The composition unfolds in a long sequence of highly disparate parts, beginning with ambient noises and a spoken prelude before moving into more overtly musical passages. The orchestra commences with a sustained, droning chord marked by a slowly developing, internally unstable drift of pitches in and out of dissonances and consonances, building to a crescendo followed by a sonic void from which barely audible electronics emerge. A tolling section for bass drum and piano follows, after which the ensemble returns with a siren-like drone that devolves into all-out, free-blowing chaos. Duboc draws a wry contrast to this allusion to avant jazz by following it up with parodistic fragments of traditional-sounding muted trumpet and old dance styles. These conventionally cyclical, even old-fashioned sounding passages provide a kind of paradigmatically postmodern coda to the sound masses and abstract forms that went before.

Trumpet/cornet master Bobby Bradford, who turns 87 this month, is an American treasure. This has been true since the early ‘60s, when he first entered the public consciousness because of his association with Ornette Coleman. It was Bradford who initially won the trumpet seat in Coleman’s early L.A. quartet, but a lack of work forced him into other means of support and he was subsequently replaced by Don Cherry.

Bradford’s group with clarinetist John Carter yielded several albums of the most potent West Coast avant garde jazz ever released and his duos with multi- instrumentalist Vinny Golia are never short of thrilling. Two recent releases illustrate just how important a figure he represents in the wide arc of creative music.

Live at Bing Theatre is a 1985 session by the wonderful bassist Roberto Miranda (he used a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund the concert, which also served as his Masters Recital Performance.) The personnel reads like a Who’s Who of the West Coast avant garde jazz scene, including Bradford, Carter, James Newton (flute) and Horace Tapscott (piano). Also on board are his father Louis Miranda, Sr. (percussion), brother Louis Miranda, Jr. (drums), Buddy Toscano (drums, timbales), Cliff Brooks (timbales, congas, bongos), David Bottenbley (guitar, electric bass, percussion, vocal) and Thom David Mason (alto/tenor saxophones, clarinet).

With players like that, the bar is set to the highest rung and these cats do not disappoint. Bradford has a beautiful sound and presence and he sounds stronger than an oak on these seven selections, all composed by the leader. Buoyed by Miranda’s furious walking and an ebullient Tapscott, Bradford stakes out a territory between the smearing style of Cherry and the high- note alacrity of Freddie Hubbard. Three decades later, one is particularly struck by the contribution of Newton, never less than heroic.

Fast forward 34 years and Bradford’s mastery has evolved exponentially. The incendiary trio Purple Gums with William Roper (tuba, gemsbok clarinet, bovine femur trumpet, water buffalo horn, khaen, pungi, lip-reed, spoken word, vocals) and tenor saxophonist Francis Wong yields Back Where We Came From, combining spoken word with vocals and all of it freely improvised.

Listening to the album, it all seems impossible to contemplate that this could be spontaneously created, especially the text/poetry/lyrics. The album was recorded live in 2019, a full year before the death of George Floyd, yet the lyrics to “From Sea to Shining Sea” could have been written yesterday—“I can’t breathe / I can’t breathe / I felt threatened / I had to take him out”. All the while, Bradford sputters and swaggers and delineates the substance of the blues like a true oracle.

Despite his age, Bradford does not appear to have lost a step as an improvisor and conversationalist. Both of these documents serve as proof-positive to a legacy still in the making. The time to celebrate Bradford is long overdue.

Bassist Roberto Miranda has been active in the Los Angeles jazz scene since the 1960s, playing with musicians like Charles Lloyd, Bobby Bradford, John Carter, Vinny Golia, Horace Tapscott, and Tim Berne. In the mid-1980s, Miranda was earning his master’s degree at University of Southern California’s Jazz Studies Department and had received a jazz fellowship grant from the NEA. With that money, the bassist funded his master’s recital concert, inviting Bradford, Carter, Tapscott, and James Newton along with the USC jazz studies chair Thom David Mason on reeds, guitarist David Bottenbley, and a full percussion ensemble including his father, brother, and cousin. Miranda’s father was a percussionist in Latin jazz bands and the bassist got his start playing percussion in his teens. The bassist was also a mainstay as part of Tapscott’s Pan African People’s Arkestra and that communal sense of unbridled freedom and community-based inclusivity imbues this expertly recorded set of seven of Miranda’s pieces.

Things kick off with “Platform for Freedom,” with Tapscott’s blazing piano and Miranda’s double-time bass surging along across the twinned drums of Louis Miranda, Jr. and Elias “Buddy” Toscano. Midway through, the horns come in, buoying the welling density before dropping out for a stabbing, angular interlude by the pianist, opening up to a darting, give-and-take duo by the drummers bringing things to a close. “Faith” follows, with solemn horn voicings flowing along with an almost Strayhorn-like lushness. The relaxed swing of Newton’s flute solo is a particular standout. Miranda’s Latin roots come to the fore on “Agony in the Garden” as drums, claves, timbales, and drums start out at a slow simmer with Mason’s bass clarinet and Bradford’s clarion trumpet trading licks as the groove builds and Newton’s flute soars off over the gamboling polyrhythms.

“Prayer #1” is next up, with Bradford’s dusky brass playing leading the horn players along the stately sway of the piece. Then five minutes in, Tapscott starts to stoke the momentum as the tightly orchestrated horns buck along the goading percussion undercurrent. Here, in particular, the leader’s charts maximize the ensemble colors, making the band sound much bigger than it is. Each of the horn players get a bit of space to stretch out including a striking solo by Carter. Mason introduces “Deborah Tasmin” on tenor which builds to an unhurried shuffle as the horns come in. The leader’s bass is prominent throughout, guiding the alternating horns across his euphonious theme. Guitarist Bottenbley also gets to step out on this one, with a scrabbling solo over the churning percussion as the horns dive in and out. Miranda’s 6-minute unaccompanied piece highlights what a powerful soloist he is which leads into the introductory incantatory vocals and percussion of the closing “Dance of Blessing, Happiness & Peace,” melding ceremony and freedom with aplomb. The leader’s slinky line enters, building momentum as the horn players come in for a celebratory finale. Amazingly, this was the first (and possibly only) time that Bradford, Carter, Tapscott, and Newton appeared together and Miranda movingly points out that this was the first time he got to perform together with his father, brother, and cousin all in tow.

The bassist has continued to play a critical role in the LA jazz scene as a performer and an educator at USC, the LA school district, and currently UCLA. Dark Tree Records has been doing a fantastic job of unearthing important archival recordings from the LA scene. Add this one to that worthy list.

Dark Tree (Page Bandcamp) sort peu d’albums, mais ces derniers sont chaque fois salués. Ce label s’est spécialisé dans les musiques improvisées. Depuis 2015 cependant, sont publiés des enregistrements inédits du passé, dans la collection Roots Serie : voir en particulier le premier de la série : « No U Turn » de Bobby Bradford et John Carter 5tet, enregistré en 1975, avec déjà un certain Roberto Miranda à la basse.

Le concert eu lieu en 1985. Dolphy, Coltrane, Ayler étaient déjà partis. Demeuraient comme grandes figures initiales Ornette et Cecil (pardon pour les autres). On pouvait alors craindre la disparition du Free mais de nouvelles initiatives, dont celle de Sam Rivers avec les cinq « Wildflowers » enregistrés à New York en 1976, révélaient un lot de de nouveaux talents qui prouvaient le contraire et relançaient la dynamique.

Pour autant, les flamboyances du hard bop demeuraient vives. Il était donc fréquent que le Free se mâtine de Bop et que le curseur fluctue. De plus ici, la musique latino s’invite, probablement en raison de l’héritage culturel du leader, Roberto Miranda.

Dans ce nouveau Dark Tree, nous retrouvons trois des leaders de cette «Roots Serie», Bobby Bradford, John Carter et Horace Tapscott, ainsi qu’une autre figure de cette scène bouillonnante de Los Angeles, James Newton.

Et le résultat est débordant de sève.

Dans la première piste, « Platform for Freedom », Roberto Miranda (b) impulse un tempo d’enfer que chevauche hardiment Horace Tapscott (p). Ici pas de demie mesure. Le clavier ouvre d’une manière impérieuse, incisive, semant à foison des dissonances. Et c’est le boss. Un duo avec la batterie (Luis R Miranda Jr ?)  lui donne l’occasion de virevoltes, de nouvelles gambades amusées avant de laisser son compagnon face à lui-même et à sa panoplie de roulements.

Une voix non entendue depuis longtemps s’élève du pupitre des quatre vents, celle de la flûte de James Newton (fl), qui piaffait déjà dans les unissons et qui là se libère enfin. Une section rythmique en retrait mais terriblement efficace accompagnent cet envol souple, mélodieux, avec de subtiles nuances de timbres. Roberto Miranda, en hôte omniprésent, lui offre contrechants et assises rythmiques avant le retour du mini big band. C’était « Faith ».

Si cette formation compte quatre vents, elle dispose aussi de quatre (voire six) percussions. Ces dernières ouvrent la pièce suivante, « Agony in the Garden », sur un leitmotiv de quatre notes au piano et à la basse. Dans cette orgie de frappes à l’assise rythmique bien charpentée, les vents propulsent des geysers indépendants, libres, des efflorescences mingusiennes, desquelles surgit à nouveau James Newton avec ses circonvolutions, ses pépiements, ses amples survols des cimes. Les autres miaulent parfois, griffent, lacèrent l’espace mais l’oiseau est bien haut.

Les quatre vents se succèdent sur « Deborah Tasmin », un blues aux accents vaguement churchy, de la Great Black Music diraient certains. Un solo lyrique de Thom David Mason (as), un autre fouillant davantage les timbres de Bobby Bradford (cornet), un échange entre un David Bottenbley (eb) aux quasi riff crépitants et les percussions, puis un magnifique duo entre John Carter (cl) et James Newton (fl) sur une rythmique effervescente. Cela prend les allures d’une suite, d’une composition faisant penser à Mingus, à certaines de ses couleurs.

Roberto Miranda nous offre ensuite une longue improvisation de basse dont il aime faire résonner les cordes, le bois. Les cinq minutes de la pièce passent bien vite tant il varie les sollicitations de son instrument, tant il déploie son agilité et son talent mélodiste.

Après une introduction longue et trés travaillée, aux équilibres subtils, mettant en avant la trompette de Bobby Bradford, Horace Tapscott commence d’attiser les braises de ce feu d’artifice qu’est « Prayer », la pièce la plus longue et que Dark Tree propose en libre écoute, peut-être la pièce maîtresse de l’album. Plutôt que d’en parler, autant l’écouter

Bertrand Gastaut, le créateur du label Dark Tree, est un collectionneur. Il publie sur FaceBook des photos de cette époque héroïque où le langage actuel s’est forgé, des affiches et des affichettes qu’on n’appelait pas encore des flyers. De même, il nous fait profiter de ces musiques qui n’avaient pas encore été publiées, on se demande bien pourquoi. On s’aperçoit qu’au-delà de l’urgence de découvrir et de soutenir les créations d’aujourd’hui, il faut aussi se replonger dans ces cavernes aux trésors insensés, dans des archives qui risquent d’être oubliées. Et cet album est de ceux là. Il est flamboyant. Il rappelle que le jazz n’est pas limité à quelques figures clé et que nombre de créateurs d’alors étaient mû par le désir irrépressible d’ouvrir de nouvelles voies, de nouvelles brèches, sans renier leurs attaches. Il rappelle aussi que le jazz est une fête.

Horace Tapscott (1934-1999) es uno de los pianistas más infravalorados de la historia del jazz. Activo en la zona de Los Angeles e involucrado con la escena de vanguardia y en el activismo en su comunidad local, fue calificado como problemático por el establishment musical. Debido a esto, no tuvo la oportunidad de hacerse el hueco en la escena internacional que merecía por su calidad artística. Cuando parecía que comenzaba a tener su parte del reconocimiento internacional que se había ganado a lo largo de las cuatro décadas anteriores, falleció de un cáncer de pulmón. Esto se tradujo en una discografía como pianista que comenzó muy tarde (su primera grabación como líder es The Giant Is Awakened de 1969), pero en la que hay verdaderas joyas como la grabación mencionada, o el inmenso doble CD The Dark Tree (1991).

En la década de los años 60 Horace Tapscott puso en pie la formación The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. Si bien este grupo estuvo activo a lo largo de las siguientes décadas, no fueron demasiadas las veces que pasó por el estudio de grabación hasta que el pianista comenzó a publicar sus obras en el sello Nimbus a partir de finales de la década de los años 70. Es por este motivo que resulta especialmente destacable Ancestral Echoes, con temas grabados en estudio en 1976 y que ha sido publicado por el sello francés Dark Tree con permiso de la Horace Tapscott Family.

En la grabación aparecen cuatro temas que duran entre 10 y 28 minutos. “Ancestral Echoes” fue un encargo, y “Sketches of Drunken Mary” (que aparecería posteriormente en The Dark Tree), son composiciones de Tapscott. “Jo Annette” es obra de Guido Sinclair, y la extensa “Eternal Egypt Suite” es una composición de Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq. La música se mueve por terrenos libres con aromas que remiten hacia Africa. En definitiva, pura música de Horace Tapscott, hecha realidad por una formación de más de 20 músicos, y otra muestra más de la grandeza de ese gran músico que fue Horace Tapscott.

Auspicious and affirmational, Live at Bing Theatre – Los Angeles, 1985 documents a particularly momentous occasion in bassist/conguero Roberto Miranda’s life. The concert constituted the culmination of his academic studies at the University of Southern California and served as the public performance of his Master’s Recital. Miranda financed the ambitious venture with a precedent-setting grant from the National Endowment of Arts. He was committed to populating his ensemble with a dream assemblage of faculty peers, jazz icons and perhaps most importantly, family. The results were professionally recorded and stand out now thirty-six-years later as something of a perfect convergence of musicians, material and marshalled inspiration.

Miranda’s program presents a series of dynamic originals that unfold in suite-like succession. “Platform for Freedom” immediately favors the rhythm section, specifically the racing give and take between leader and Horace Tapscott. The pianist puts the recital hall instrument through a dizzying set of paces with Miranda’s accelerated pizzicato meeting him blow for blow. Tapscott was the bassist’s employer and mentor and the rapport shaped from copious gigs together is on detailed display prior to a drum kit finale by Miranda’s older brother Louis. “Faith” takes shape around colorful charts advanced by the collective air power of the horns, which include Bobby Bradford, John Carter, James Newton and the chair of the USC Jazz Studies program, Thom David Mason.

“Agony in the Garden” spotlights the percussion section featuring Miranda, his brother, and his father, Louis Sr. along with Elias “Buddy” Toscano and Cliff Brooks augmenting drum kit with a phalanx of congas, bongos and timbales. The percussionists carry over into the opening strains of “Prayer #1,” which sprawls with purpose across a quarter of an hour. Bobby Bradford’s bold brass guides the horns through the oceanic ensemble patterns and the piece takes on the grandeur of an ancient processional with the extra aerial heft of James Newton’s acrobatic flute. Powerful swells and rests alternate, beautifully framed by soloists, advancing and receding currents of percussion and Tapscott’s solemnly sonant keys.

The extended ballad “Deborah Tasmin” is nearly as enterprising in scope and implementation. Hefting tenor sax, Mason alternates with Newton and Carter in the tempered exploration of the leader’s sensuous motifs. Miranda adds commentary on resonant strings and the performance is overflowing with soulful and voluptuous interplay that eventually adds the craggy electric guitar and bass of David Bottenbley. An amplified bass solo and a final call and response percussion piece “Dance of Blessing, Happiness & Peace” complete the set with ardent audience applause peppered between. Miranda’s still active as an educator and performer, but this memorable milestone remains an earlier career peak. overflowing with soulful and voluptuous interplay that eventually adds the craggy electric guitar and bass of David Bottenbley. An amplified bass solo and a final call and response percussion piece “Dance of Blessing, Happiness & Peace” complete the set with ardent audience applause peppered between. Miranda’s still active as an educator and performer, but this memorable milestone remains an earlier career peak.

Bassisten Roberto Miranda ble født i New York med foreldre fra Puerto Rico. Faren hans, Louis, var sanger, perkusjonist, elektriker og var ogsåunge Robertos første musikklærer. Moren, Mary, var hjemmeværende, sekretær og senere sykepleier. En av Robertos beste minner fra oppveksten var å se foreldrene danse, og  de var et ganske attraktivt par, ifølge historien. Familien flyttet til Los Angeles på midten av 50-tallet. Louis senior lærte Louis junior (Robertos eldre bror) og Roberto tradisjonell puertorikansk perkusjon. Louis jr. spiller fremdeles trommer og congas. Selv om Robertos hovedinstrument er akustisk bass, var hans første instrument congas, som han fremdeles spiller og lærer bort. Roberto fikk etter hvert en mastergrad i musikk fra USC med hovedvekt på jazz. Han gjorde også private studier på akustisk bass med Ray Brown, Red Mitchell, Bob Stone, Peter Mercurio, Bill Rene, Dennis Trembly, Fred Tinsley og Diana Gannett, og hans viktigste komposisjonslærer var George Heussenstamm.

Han har spilt på nærmere 100 plater, men kun fem i eget navn. Gjennom årene har han ledet mange forskjellige grupper bestående av forskjellige instrumentelle sammensetninger. Hans profesjonelle mentorer, som han også spilte med, var trompeteren Bobby Bradford, klarinettisten John Carter, pianisten Horace Tapscott og gitaristen Kenny Burrell. Han har turnert i Europa, Midtøsten, Australia, Canada, Mexico og USA med sine mentorer, medmusikere og egne grupper, og han har undervist ved Compton Community College (fem år), USC (fem år) og underviser fortsatt ved UCLA (noe han har gjort i 23 år). Han har også undervist privat i mer enn 35 år. Han har vært med i PAPA (Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, ledet av Horace Tapscott og UGMAA, Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension), i over 50 år.

På den utgivelsen vi nå har mottatt møter vi han sammen med mentorene, Bobby Bradford på kornett og trompet, John Carter på klarinett og Horace Tapscott på piano. I tillegg har han med fløytisten James Newton, alt- og tenorsaksofonisten og bassklarinettisten Thom David Mason, sin far, Louis R. Miranda sr. på vokal og perkusjon, storebroren Louis R. Miranda jr. på trommer, David Bottenbley på gitar, el.bass, perkusjon og vokal, Elias «Buddy» Toscano på trommer og timbales og Cliff Brooks på timbales, congas og bongos.  Innspillingen er gjort den 25. mai 1985 i Bing Theatre i Los Angeles, og konserten startet klokken 20:00, presis.

Vi får sju komposisjoner, alle gjort av Miranda, og det føles som en relativt stor opplevelse og oppgave for Miranda å sette opp denne konserten, hvor både faren og storebroren er med i bandet, i tillegg til mentorene Bradford, Carter og Tapscott, pluss en av de fremste jazzfløytistene i USA på den tiden, James Newton.

Det hele starter med «Plattform for Freedom», hvor Miranda og storebroren virkelig får «kjørt seg» sammen med Tapscotts uhyre kreative pianospill. Det er nesten som om Tapscott vil teste ut sin elev, og se hvor langt han kan bevege seg ut av det «streite» før bassisten faller av. Men det er ingen problemer for Miranda å følge med. Tapscotts pianospill kan nesten sammenlignes med noe av det Cecil Taylor gjorde før han gikk helt «fritt», og da blåserne kommer inn, bare i bakgrunnen, er Tapscott godt i gang med å utforske det fritt improviserende. Strålende spill og det koker virkelig i bandet. Etter hvert tas det litt ned i noe som kanskje kan kalles en B-del, uten at det affiserer Tapscott nevneverdig. Han fortsetter med sitt frie spill, før han overlater scenen til Miranda jr. som avleverer en fin trommesolo, hvor man nesten kan høre at han har gått sine «barnepumps» i den musikken fra Puerto Rico.

Andresporet, «Faith» er med balladepreget, og det er også her Tapscott som innleder. Dette er en ballade som høres overraskende strukturert ut, og hvor James Newton har en viktig rolle. Han var på den tiden en av USAs ledende jazzmusikere på fløyte, og var mye å høre med Arthur Blythe, John Carter, Chico Freeman, Leroy Jenkins og David Murray, og hans utgivelser i eget navn, særlig «Luella» på Gramavision og «Axum» på ECM er blant mine fløytefavoritter. Dette er en komposisjon som mangler litt «sting» for å fungere perfekt på plate, men som en del av en konsert tror jeg nok den fungerte godt. Men dette endrer seg i «Agony in the Garden», hvor musikken på grunn av bruken av congas fører tankene til Mirandas opprinnelsesland, før vi får en stille åpning i «Prayer #1», med John Carter og Newton som førende musikere, før Miranda kommer inn og avleverer en fin bass-solo under Bobby Bradfords særegne og fine kornettspill, før vi får et fint rytmisk driv fra bass, piano og perkusjon. Men også her føler jeg at det er noe uforløst, før blåserne kommer inn og det blir mer struktur, og Abdullah Ibrahim, fra den tiden han kalte seg Dollar Brand dukker opp i bakhodet, på grunn av Tapscotts repeterende pianospill. Men den fine «vampen» brytes når Newton kommer inn på fløyte før det hele brytes igjen, og de beveger seg ut i det fritt improviserende landskapet.

«Deborah Tasmin» starter som en ballade, men endrer snart struktur og temperatur, og vi får en (nesten) New Orleans-inspirert låt som swinger upåklagelig. Her slipper også Thom David Mason til med en solo, som er klagende og sår, før han pushes av de andre i en friere retning. Men hele veien har de det litt seige, New Orleans-aktige i fronten som er med på å gjøre innspillingen variert og spennende. Og Bradford hiver seg på med kornetten, som passer perfekt inn i denne låten.

Så følger Mirands solobidrag i form av «Improvised Bass Solo 5/25/85», hvor han også vil ha litt oppmerksomhet, og i løpet av disse nesten seks minuttene beviser han at han er en mer enn holdbar bassist. Det eneste jeg har å bemerke er at bassen her har en veldig typisk «80-talls-lyd», som gjør instrumentet «syngende» og litt «plastisk», men ikke nok til å ødelegge den fine soloen. Her får vi også høre Miranda spille arco (med bue) i et sært parti, før de avrunder denne konserten med «Dance of Blessing, Happiness & Peace», hvor Miranda senior og Bottenbley er med som vokalister, i en låt som garantert er basert på noe fra hjemlandet lenger sør. Etter hvert tar Miranda over på bass, og låten utvikler seg til akkurat det tittelen antyder, Blessing, Happiness & Peace, ikke langt fra noe av det man kan høre på bassisten Johnny Dyanis utmerkede plate «Witchdoctor’s Son», utgitt på SteepleChese og utgitt i 1978, en av mine «all time favorites».

Dette konsertopptaket fra Bing Theatre har god lyd og alle instrumentene kommer godt fram. Musikalsk er den litt svingende, men i de beste partiene, særlig starten med Tapscott og avslutningslåten, låter strålende. Jeg føler at dette har vært en stor oppgave for Miranda, og han løser det hele på en fin måte. Og noen av medmusikantene er strålende, nesten uansett i hvilken sammenheng man hører dem, også her.

D’un contrebassiste à l’autre avec ce document inédit et passionnant. En 1985, Roberto Miranda a 38 ans et déjà une solide réputation sur la scène de LA où il a frayé avec Charles Lloyd mais surtout le pianiste Horace Tapscott au sein de son Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra ainsi que les petites formations de John Carter et Bobby Bradford. Après deux albums sous son nom pour le label Nimbus, Miranda obtient une bourse pour la réalisation d’un projet en moyenne formation qui se concrétise sur la scène du Bing Theatre.
Le contrebassiste réunit amis et famille pour une création bouillonnante. Tapscott, Bradford, Carter sont là. Le flutiste James Newton (disciple de Buddy Colette), le saxophoniste Thom David Mason (descendant spirituel d’Eric Dolphy) aussi. Le set, entre partition et importations, pulsations latines enivrantes (ceinture et bretelles avec batterie et congas) et effluves free grisantes, est enthousiasmant par sa fraîcheur et son ambition transformée. Roberto Miranda devra-t-il obtenir une nouvelle considération à l’aune de ce disque ? On ne peut que le souhaiter.

Talvez o nome de Roberto Miranda não diga muito aos ouvintes portugueses. Trata-se, no entanto, de uma figura histórica da cena do free jazz que se desenvolveu nas décadas de 1970 e 80 na parte Sul de Los Angeles, uma cena em que a música era um acto comunitário e emancipatório em íntima comunhão com as populações afro-americana e latina daquela cidade, a mesma das revoltas de 1992, e que se exponenciou em redor de projectos como a Pan African Peoples Arkestra ou a Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension. Mas quem nos está a ler conhecerá, com certeza, alguns dos intervenientes deste Home Music Ensemble: Horace Tapscott, figura chave dessa mesma cena musical e do activismo que a acompanhou, e os grandes Bobby Bradford, John Carter e James Newton.

Gravada ao vivo em 1985, a música que vem nesta edição inédita é bem o exemplo de um jazz de dimensão social e política que tem tanto de pan-africanismo, numa abordagem distinta (mas paralela à da) da da AACM de Chicago, quanto se torna bastante elucidativa relativamente à absorção da influência africana na cultura sul-americana que floresceu nos Estados Unidos. A presença da percussão afro-latina nos temas é esmagadora, com timbales, congas, bongos e outros recursos rítmicos a darem chama a tudo o que acontece, mas o que mais nos entusiasma na audição deste disco é o modo como os solos dos instrumentos de sopro (aos referidos acima acrescente-se o nome do saxofonista, e clarinetista baixo, Thom David Mason) se entrecruzam, ora convergindo, ora divergindo, sem cerimónias, livremente, mantendo-nos de bicos dos pés enquanto os vamos ouvindo. Para quem quiser saber mais sobre o que neste CD está inscrito para a posteridade foi simultaneamente publicado o livro “The Music Finds a Way”, com o subtítulo “A PAPA/UGMA Oral History of Growing Up in Postwar South Central Los Angeles”, da autoria de Steven L. Isoardi. Imprescindível para conhecer uma cativante corrente do free jazz que, inexplicavelmente, teve menos projecção internacional do que a da Cidade do Vento.

Roberto Miranda has appeared on almost one-hundred albums but has been lightly recorded as a leader, and inexplicably struggled to generate interest among labels. Dark Tree Records has released some great Horace Tapscott performances from the ’70s and ’80s. The label resurrected a Miranda-led session on Live at the Bing Theater; Los Angeles, 1985. Recorded at the USC campus auditorium, the sound is pristine, and the ambiance, eclectic and dynamic.

Miranda studied bass with Ray Brown and Red Mitchell, and classical music with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Early in his career, he had the unexpected opportunity to play with Cecil Taylor—a mind-opening experience for the young bassist. He has recorded with Kenny Burrell, Bobby Bradford, and John Carter. Miranda has had a memorable impact with his contributions to the music of Bobby Hutcherson, David Murray, Arthur Blythe and others. Most notably, the bassist had been a member of Tapscott’s Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. Miranda shared more than music with Tapscott; both were exceedingly faithful to the South-Central Los Angeles arts scene, and that commitment narrowed Miranda’s visibility outside the community.

Live at the Bing Theater; Los Angeles, 1985 consists of seven Miranda originals. The complex pieces are often driven by Tapscott or flautist James Newton, but saxophonist Thom David Mason and trumpeter Bradford regularly take center stage. “Platform for Freedom” begins the performance and is true to its name. Tapscott lets loose with a torrential improvisation with Miranda’s breakneck accompaniment. The sprawling, sixteen-minute “Prayer #1″ veers from idyllic calm to unrestrained free playing and back again. Opening and closing with Bradford’s elegiac trumpet solo, it is the essence of the South-Central creative mindset. The noirish opening to “Deborah Tasmin” features Mason’s tenor saxophone and Tapscott. Newton lightens the piece, but the flute quickly gives way to the growling sax and a redirection. Miranda contributes a solo number with “Improvised Bass Solo 5/25/85.”

Miranda has toured Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.A. and has been teaching at USC’s Department of Jazz Studies for more than two decades. Live at the Bing Theater; Los Angeles, 1985 demonstrates his skills as a composer and player in some challenging settings. His music is worth seeking out, and fans of Tapscott’s Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra will find this release very satisfying.

Commençons par le pianiste-compositeur-arrangeur et chef d’orchestre Horace Tapscott(1934-1999) dont un nouveau disque inédit publié à nouveau par le label français Dark Tree, fait suite à un précédent paru l’an passé, un concert de 1998, et dont nous avions fait grand cas. Cette fois-ci nous remontons plus de vingt ans en arrière, en janvier 1976 avec une rare séance de studio californienne où Tapscott enregistrait, en compagnie d’un Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, quatre pièces dont les titres Ancestral Echoes ou Eternal Egypt Suite, tout comme l’effectif de l’orchestre (sept saxophones sur une vingtaine de membres), peuvent faire penser à Sun Ra. Il est vrai que la démarche possède des points communs. La musique est toutefois différente : pas d’explosions orchestrales ni de solos free, pas de recherches électroniques, mais un enracinement dans l’héritage africain-américain. Des musiques envoûtantes, insistantes, fortement rythmées mais sur des figures complexes qui se répètent dans la durée, happent et transportent l’auditeur dans un univers véhiculant une forte charge spirituelle. Parmi les solistes, citons Steven Smith (trompette), Jesse Sharps (saxo soprano), Charles Chandler et Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq (saxo ténors), Aubrey Hart et Adele Sebastian (flûtes), Wendell C. Williams (cor) et Michael Session (saxo alto) encore présent en 1998 ; tous quasiment inconnus en France.comme l’a longtemps été Horace Tapscott qui résidait et travaillait sur la lointaine côte Ouest. Grâce à Bertrand Gastaut qui, en accord avec la famille, exhume de tels trésors, il est toujours temps de se mettre à l’écoute d’une si belle musique.

 Rara Avis (Reissues/Historical)

• #7: Horace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra Ancestral Echoes – The Covina Sessions, 1977 (Dark Tree)