Don Cherry is mainly known as one of the pioneers of free jazz from the trail blazing Ornette Coleman Quartet. Images of him playing some variation of the trumpet (pocket trumpet, cornet, etc...) come to mind. However, much of his musical career involved him traveling the four corners of the earth and participating in musical forms that sometimes had no resemblence to jazz. In time he became a seasoned multi-instrumentalist of a wide variety. He was a true student and explorer. Initially, this seems to have been a personal journey into his African heritage, but it clearly struck an inspired nerve in him that never went away. His experimentation with world music can be heard as early as 1968 on Eternal Rhythm, a live recording from the Berlin jazz festival. Other stellar examples of this progression would include his Mu sessions recorded for BYG Actuel in 69 as well as Actions (co-led by Kryzstof Penderecki) and Blue Lake from 71. Over the remainder of his career he covered a lot of territory. As I researched this, 1978 seems to have been an especially rich year for him in this regard. If you were to listen to the following recordings in their entirety, you might find some things you don't like, or at least I did. Some tunes border too closely to a new age sound that I'm not entirely comfortable with. However, there is a great deal to glean here as evidenced (i hope) by the following selections. Please dig in. I hope this inspires new pathes of interest and research. Cheers!
Another sideman session also done in 1978, but less suited toward this post can be found here.
Below is a short documentary filmed in Sweden the same year and broadcast on Swedish television.
It was the thing that originally inspired this post. Enjoy.
I'm going to resist the tempation to make a Gene Simmons joke here. If you're still with me, I'm actually going to preface this entry with some discussion concerning John Coltrane. I've been listening to a bunch of fantastic audio interviews that he graciously gave on various occasions in the early and mid sixties. This was a very pivotal time for jazz on several levels and the discussions are long, unpolished and very culturally revealing. They portray what I perceive to be a humble, searching man. Anyhow, they deepened my appreciation for his music and personhood and brought me back to what I would consider my desert island song as far as jazz goes. I'm not going to go too deep here, because this is a whole nother post that I most definately intend to write at some point. All the same, John Coltrane's "Ole" recorded in 1961 is a song worthy of your full attention. At some point, carve twenty minutes out of your life, seek out seclusion, sit between the speakers, turn up the volume, and drop the needle on this monster of a tune. Eric Dolphy, Reggie Workman, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, Art Davis. It's a game changer.
It should be stated that Coltrane's composition is based upon another, but I'll hold back on those details as well. As I've researched this song, I have come across a few covers (Pharoah Sanders, Noah Howard, etc...). Recently I stumbled upon the following rendition by pioneering Krautrockers Xhol Caravan and have been really taken with it. The others that I've heard have been great, but they've been done too much in the vein of the original and therefore fall terribly short. Mere shadows. The original is foreboding and visceral with a climax that peels the paint. In a very different way, this version grooves. It is at times funky, psychedelic, and slightly vague while staying true to the spirit of the song. Though it isn't close to being in the same galaxy as Coltranes, it is easily my favorite cover. That a couple of freaked out German kids laid this down in 1969 is down right fantastic. Dig the additional videos and note the blonde haired boy playing the guitar against the organ.
Part one of the videos that I had hoped to put up (including the above mentioned blonde haired boy) can be found here. Unfortunately, the person who put them up disabled the embedding capability.
This is an album that I've been listening to pretty consistently for the past month or so. Apparently, in 1964, in order to cater to the folk crowd, Muddy was asked to lay down his electric guitar and play some stripped-down delta blues. The result was this album. What really blows my mind is its recording quality. It's amazing to me how much raw emotion can be conducted through such restrained songs -especially on the first few tracks. Give the first cut on the album a try below. This was put out on Chess Records and featured Willie Dixon on bass, Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar, and Clifton James on Drums.
Here's a mix that I've been planning to post for quite some time, but until now, haven't had a chance to. This group of songs reflects a few of the artists that I had in pretty heavy rotation back in the fall. Even though it's spring now, I think that the songs still work. I put this mix together 5 or 6 months ago to share these artists with my wife and children. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Mediafire link in the comments.
01 Generifus- In My Cave 02 Vollmar- Beside the Sea From You and Me 03 Seth Olinsky- It's So Hard 04 Homecomings- By Faith 05 Little Wings- Hey Baby 06 Bronze Float- Walking To The Store 07 Thanksgiving- Track 3 08 Iji- Funny How Love Can Be 09 Bronze Float- This American Negative Pulse 10 Homecomings- Ask 11 Normanoak- Even The Golden Child 12 A John Henry Memorial- So You May See 13 German Error Message- Reaching Out 14 Generifus- Waiting 15 Vollmar- The Soft Hills 16 The Microphones- Heart Lake Rd. 17 Porches.-Peach Pit 18 Wind-Up Bird- Driving Around 19 Normanoak- Princess Unicornus 20 Little Wings- Little Bird 21 The Microphones- Antlers 22 A John Henry Memorial- A Family Album 23 Wind-Up Bird- Parasite 24 Ben and Bruno- Take Hold Upon 25 Porches.- Tall Boys
thought it would be criminal not to raise a flag of praise for damien jurado's latest lp. josh & i have had maraqopa spinning on our players & in our heads since its release & it's really ringing our bells. we are both in agreement that this is his best material to date. it has genuinely stimulated great, sprawling discussion between us. you know you have something good when all aspects of the content generate conversations of length & real worth. if you haven't already, grab a copy & listen close! d
So, I'm pretty excited to be able to share this post with you. If you've been checking out this blog for a little while, you might remember a "BlackForrestry featured worker of craft" post that I put up a year ago showcasing the work of my buddy Tim Condon, who makes music under the moniker of Herizon. Well, after making great music for many years, Tim has decided to record an album. So, this May, you can expect the release of Herizon's very first 10". It will be available through Harding Street Assembly Lab(where you can pick up the Herizon/Virgineola split 7", as well as other great records) and it will be sportin' a magical, translucent, orange color...boy oh boy, that sure is gonna make my turntable look purdy!!! So, save your pennies and plan to pick one up in a month and a half. Check out two of the songs from the record- below the cover art...and take a peek at my original postto enjoy some of the excellent collage work that Tim puts together.
I came across this song, "No Goal Can Be Too High", by Hand In Hand, a few months ago over at Microphone In The Trees. I snagged it because I noticed that David Nuss from No Neck Blues Band is a contributor to the group. I've enjoyed NNCK's recordings over the years, so I thought that I'd give it a shot. While somewhat similar in style to a NNCK track, this song differentiates itself with a very prominant vocal recitation of a passage from the biblical Book of Isaiah...pretty "out there" sort of stuff. Apparently the song appeared on one side of a, now out of print, 7" 45 hand cut lathe. Only 32 of the records were produced viaMedusa Records. It's definitely not something I could listen to daily, but I find it interesting nonetheless. Check it out, even if for oddities sake. "Hand In Hand: No Goal Can Be Too High"
This song is the B side from a record entitled "Peaceful Messages" by the band Neokarma Jooklo Experience. It was put out on Qbico records. It's a pretty cosmic tune, so I hope you can get your head around it.
Ever since Doug posted his Outside Beat: A Mixtape, I've been on a little bit of a jazz kick. Among other things, I've been giving Live At The Sunset by Other Dimensions In Music quite a bit of ear. This album came out in 2007 and features Roy Campbell on trumpet; Daniel Carter on sax/flute/trumpet; William Parker on Bass; and Hamid Drake on percussion/drums. I have enjoyed the collaborations of Parker, Carter, and Drake in the past, and respect them as some of the best free jazz musicians recording/performing today. This album only reinforces my sentiment. Check out the two tracks below and don't snooze on what's going down in free jazz today.
..A month ago, Shanna and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. We took a couple of photos to commemorate the day. Vashti and Ephraim just turned 2 years old and are changing constantly...
Then another tomorrow They never told me of Came with the abruptness of a fiery dawn And spoke of Cosmic Equations: The equations of sight-similarity The equations of sound-similarity Subtle Living Equations Clear only to those Who wish to be attuned To the vibrations of the Outer Cosmic Worlds. Subtle living equations of the outer-realms Dear only to those Who fervently wish the greater life
Happy Leap Year, everyone!!! I guess it's a good day for me, since I came across this new post by my friends over at LYNAY-S blog:
..."Roy Buchanan: Not well known. One of the best guitar players out there. Interpretation of words to notes was his specialty and makes his music speak more clearly than most orators. This song makes me cry for some reason. [Much] of his music does. He died mysteriously in a Virginia jail. Two days before my birth. Watch the whole thing. Serious."...
Until this morning, Roy Buchanan had never made it onto my radar. Don't ask me how, since Rolling Stone magazine rated him as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and people as infamous as John Lennon and Les Paul sought to hear him play. Legend has it, that Mick and the gang offered him the opportunity to play in the Rolling Stones when Brian Jones left the band back in '69. In spite of his extraordinary talent, things just didn't seem to go Roy's way. Buchanan never received the notoriety that a person, as gifted as he was, deserved....maybe it was due to his alcohol and drug abuse that seemed to continually get him in trouble... or maybe it was because many perceived his vocal stylings as inferior. Either way, it truly is a shame. In 1988, after being jailed for public drunkeness, reports state that Buchanan was found in his cell hung by his own shirt- an apparent suicide. There have, also, been other reports revealing aspects of his deceased state which would indicate that Buch's death was not self inflicted. Some have even gone as far as accusing the police of beating him to death and then staging his suicide. Whatever the case may be, it sure does add an element of mystery to Roy Buchanan's story. I'm intrigued.
Check this out and experience his guitar gently weeping...
...and since leapyears only happen once every four years, I'll throw another one in for free...
...and finally, here's a slow burnin' take on a Neil Young tune...take it on the road with ya and enjoy.
crack the roof, empty the sky, and cultivate the eminence of it's rippling expanse
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