HurdAudio Rotation: Connecting Tissues

Curlew: 1st Album + Live at CBGB 1980. 2008. Downtown Music Gallery: DMG/ARC-0704.

George Cartwright: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Tom Cora: cello, indingiti
Nicky Skopelitis: guitar
Bill Laswell: fender bass
Bill Bacon: drums, percussion, gamelan
Denardo Coleman: drum kit

This double-CD re-issue from the Downtown Music Gallery is an incredibly valuable documentation of one of the key ensembles of the "downtown" New York scene of the early eighties. At a time when so many New York based ensembles were only timidly blurring musical boundaries, Curlew was forming a sound that aggressively confounded stylistic conventions. One of the few bands that could haunt CBGB's punk venue and the old Knitting Factory stage on Houston Street without altering their set. The surprising thing about this 1st Album is how fully formed the Curlew sound was right from this early incarnation of the band. The Bill Laswell and Nicky Skopelitis connection are a surprise to me. Though I can hear how Laswell's electric bass sound and influence would continue to reverberate with the band in the years and bassists that followed. Skopelitis clearly paves the way for the Davey Williams guitar freak outs a few years down the road. The Denardo Coleman connection on the Live at CBGB 1980 set is another surprise and another name to add to the list of jazz drummers who passed through Curlew. The melodic materials bear George Cartwright's stamp and would prove to be an enduring part of the Curlew DNA. Also, any chance to fill these ears with the late Tom Cora's cello playing is a welcome part of my collection. The electric bass sits a little too far into the foreground on the live sets. But that's a small imperfection on an otherwise outstanding documentation of this significant downtown staple.
Sun Ra: Strange Celestial Road. 1987. Rounder Records: CD 3035.

Sun Ra: keyboards
Michael Ray, Curt Pulliam, Walter Miller: trumpets
Craig Harris, Tony Bethel: trombones
Harry Wilson, Damon Choice: vibes
Richard Williams, Steve Clarke: bass
Vincent Chancey: french horn
John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Elo Omoe, James Jacson, Danny Thompson, Kenny Williams, Hutch Jones, Sylvester Baton, Noel Scott: reeds
Luqman Ali, Reg McDonald: drums
Artaukatune: percussion
Skeeter McFarland, Taylor Richardson: guitars
June Tyson, Rhoda Blount: vocals

Evidence that the celestial being of Sun Ra was subjected to the gravitational forces and the energies of given time periods as the Arkestra emerged from the decade of the 1970s with something funky in their sound. And yet this is still the Arkestra as Sun Ra paints his sonic canvas with considerable skill with an ear toward the cosmos. Utilizing the size of the ensemble to constantly pull different instruments into and out of the focal point within a bed of luscious, funky sound. Sun Ra traveled a long road, he traveled the space ways and every vibration does reverberate with a heady mix that never loses its physical attachment to rhythm and melody. The groove cuts especially deep on this one as the familiar phrases and chants wash over and beyond. A fascinating, albeit brief glimpse into a specific moment of the Arkestra's evolution.

David Lang: Child. 2003. Cantaloupe Music: CA21013.

Child for chamber ensemble
Sentieri Selvaggi
Carlo Boccadoro: conductor
Paola Fre: flute, piccolo
Mirco Ghirardini: clarinet, bass clarinet
Andrea Rebaudengo: piano
Thomas Schrott: violin, brake drum
Antonello Leofreddi: viola
Marco Decimo: cello, brake drum
Andrea Dulbecco: vibraphone, percussion
Filippo Del Corno: brake drum

A minimalist meditation upon the biological formation of the human child in utero. At times delicate, and composed with a sweetness that suggests innocence. David Lang manages to tread just within the bounds of a sugarless sweetness. One without a sticky residue that wears thin with prolonged exposure. Sentieri Selvaggi gives this music a uniquely disciplined and human interpretation that flows with the gentle insistence of a babbling brook. Much of the counter-sweetness draws upon the compositional courage to allow repeated systems to remain static and untouched by Romantic inclinations. This is tender and beautiful music.

HurdAudio Rotation: The Strange Celestial Road to Endless Heaven

Curlew: 1st Album + Live at CBGB 1980. 1981, 1984, 2008. Landslide Records: DMG/ARC-0704.

George Cartwright: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Tom Cora: cello, indingiti
Nicky Skopelitis: guitar
Bill Laswell: fender bass
Bill Bacon: drums, percussion, gamelan
-
George Cartwright: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Tom Cora: cello, indingiti
Nicky Skopelitis: guitar
Bill Laswell: fender bass
Denardo Coleman: drum kit

It's hard to stop smiling when hearing all these early Curlew creations. I was fortunate to catch this band live a couple of times in a slightly later incarnation, one that included the riveting Tom Cora on cello. This music grooves along with plenty of odd contours and free improvisation sitting in the pockets formed along the seams of these arrangements. One can practically hear the birth of the "downtown" movement as it forcefully careened over to where the gentrified and packaged world of "fusion" utterly failed. A lot of great music followed in the wake of Curlew, but these early pieces have an ageless charm.

Sun Ra: Strange Celestial Road. 1987. Rounder Records: CD 3035.

Sun Ra: keyboards
Michael Ray, Curt Pulliam, Walter Miller: trumpet
Craig Harris, Tony Bethel: trombone
Harry Wilson, Damon Choice: vibraphone
Richard Williams, Steve Clarke: bass
Vincent Chancey: french horn
John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Elo Omoe, James Jacson, Danny Thompson, Kenny Williams, Hutch Jones, Sylvester Baton, Noel Scott: reeds
Luqman Ali, Reg McDonald: drums
Artaukatune: percussion
Skeeter McFarland, Taylor Richardson: guitar
June Tyson, Rhoda Blount: vocals

"Traveling. Strange celestial road. A strange celestial road. To endless heaven." The road is not so hard. Buoyed by the sonic signposts thoughtfully placed by Sun Ra as he made the advance journey ahead of us all. Here we have a document of a time when these musicians assembled and played with feeling before so many of them were to embark upon their own journey down that road. Hinting only at the length and transcendence of that road through a brief burst of joyous sound. One suspects that the road itself continues long after the double bar lines at the end of the score.

David Lang: Child. 2003. Cantaloupe Music: CA21013.

performed by Sentieri Selvaggi
Carlo Boccadoro: conductor, piano, brake drum
Paola Fre: flute, piccolo
Mirco Ghirardini: clarinet, bass clarinet
Andrea Rebaudengo: piano
Thomas Schrott: violin, brake drum
Antonello Leofreddi: viola
Marco Decimo: cello, brake drum
Andrea Dulbecco: vibraphone, percussion
Filippo Del Corno: brake drum

A work of minimalist simplicity that drifts along in wisps like the breeze from my open window. The steady growth, and formation of motif-based ideas building upon layers as understated sonic expression of biological growth that unfolds with equal softness all around us.

HurdAudio Rotation: Child, Ghost and Atomic Clock

David Lang: Child. 2003. Cantaloupe Music: CA21013.

David Lang: composer
Carlo Boccadoro: conductor, piano, brake drum
Paola Fre: flute, piccolo
Mirco Ghirardini: clarinet, bass clarinet
Andrea Rebaudengo: piano
Thomas Schrott: violin, brake drum
Antonello Leofreddi: viola
Marco Decimo: cello, brake drum
Andrea Dulbecco: vibraphone, percussion
Filippo Del Corno: brake drum

Child has a clear ancestral lineage to the music of Louis Andriessen - the Dutch composer the second movement is dedicated to - with many of the same shimmering, rhythmically propulsive qualities and crystalline arrangements that one associates with the European minimalist. With each movement composed for different ensembles in Paris, Milan, Stockholm and Rome the final continuity of this large-scale composition becomes apparent when assembled sequentially on disc. The tranquil yet restless wonderment of human growth from embryo to infant becomes the narrative form of this music as David Lang applies a light, Satie-esque touch to the layers of sound that make up the whole.

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost [box set] - disc 7. 2004. Revenant Records: RVNT 213.

Don Ayler Sextet - January 11, 1969 @ Town Hall, NYC
Don Ayler: trumpet
Albert Ayler: alto saxophone
Sam Rivers: tenor saxophone
Richard Johnson: piano
Richard Davis: bass
Ibrahim Wahen: bass
Muhammad Ali: drums

Albert Ayler Quartet - speculated to be July 28, 1970 @ La Colle sur Loup, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Albert Ayler: tenor saxophone
Call Cobbs: piano
Steve Tintweiss: bass
Allen Blairman: drums
and probably Mary Parks: tambourine, hand clapping

Disc 7 is the roughest, most challenging material in this box set with audio fidelity and sonic material at its most uneven. The difference between Don Ayler and Albert Ayler as band leader is immediately striking. The ragged edges and fierce energy takes on a tangible cohesion under the direction of Albert while the Don Ayler Sextet shows several flashes of potential it is quickly buried under the rough acoustics and less-than-ideal recording conditions. The Albert Ayler session from France shows rare flashes of the quartet feeding off of the appreciative energy of the audience and reveals musically intense material that is well worth wading through the low quality recording.

Mark Helias' Open Loose: Atomic Clock. 2006. Radio Legs Music: RL 012.

Mark Helias: bass
Tom Rainey: drums, percussion
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone
with guest Ellery Eskelin: tenor saxophone on one track

These ears are again transfixed by the drumming of Tom Rainey. I don't think I've ever heard him in any context that was less than outstanding. Here he is one third of a tight trio playing Helias' excellent charts. This music has incredible depth and I look forward to catching more details with repeated listening. There's a wonderful balance of energy and deep jazz roots at play in this sound. Tony Malaby is a revelation to these ears with his sustained creative fire.

HurdAudio Rotation: My Very Empty Ears

James Blood Ulmer: Birthright. 2005. Hyena Records: TMF 9335.

James Blood Ulmer: vocals, guitar, flute

The blues often conjures up adjectives like "authentic" and "true." But the fact with James Blood Ulmer is that he just gets under my skin. Right from the first chord from his guitar and his gravelly voice I'm swept up into his wise, life-hardened perspective. The relentless forward motion combined with the harmonic framework gives this music a sharp edge while Ulmer's voice sprinkles bitter salt into freshly opened wounds. By the time he breaks into his evil cackles of "Devil's Got To Burn" I realize I've been on a journey through some intensely emotional territory that never flinches in the face of truth and authenticity.

David Lang: Child. 2003. Cantaloupe Music: CA21013.

Child for chamber ensemble. Performed by Sentieri Selvaggi (Milan). Conducted by Carlo Boccadoro.
i. my very empty mouth
ii. sweet air
iii. short fall
iv. stick figure
v. little eye

One can hear all the can banging influences at work in this music. There's a healthy dose of a Louis Andriessen sensibility at work - even the second movement is dedicated to him. The surface texture of this music ripples with a surprising post-minimalist sheen that embraces dissonance without necessarily becoming dominated by dissonance. Even with generous repeated passages this music doesn't come off as "minimalist," "post-minimalist," or whatever -ist the academic establishments will reject today and embrace tomorrow. Much of this music is a self-contained paradox. It's aggressively tranquil, intricately simple and bitter sweet. It's also a sonic wonder well worth hearing.

Thomas Chapin Trio: Third Force. 1990, 1991. Re-released as disc 1 of Thomas Chapin: Alive box set. Knitting Factory Records: 35828 02482.

Thomas Chapin: saxophones, flute
Mario Pavone: bass
Steve Johns: drums

It always startles me how vibrant the music on this CD is. The musicianship and the energy behind this wonderful din practically leaps out from the speakers with equal parts fun, fury and devastating intelligence. Thomas Chapin recorded some amazing music in his short time, but it was the trio that was a vehicle for some enduring and incredible creative work. And this is some of the earliest recorded evidence of a music that would play such an important role in defining the Knitting Factory sound back when that venue - and record label - was far more relevant than it is today. It's a sound that still infects much of my own sensibility and taste.