ANTHONY BRAXTON | MILFORD GRAVES | WILLIAM PARKER - Beyond Quantum (2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 If ever a recording needed to be trumpeted from the rooftops, it's this one, and perhaps we all owe a debt of gratitude to John Zorn for making it happen. This initial trio meeting of saxophonist Anthony Braxton, drummer Milford Graves, and ubiquitous bassist William Parker is a vanguard jazz fan's dream come true. Beyond Quantum places these three modern legends in a completely improvised setting in producer Bill Laswell's studio for 63 minutes of pure inspirational, communicative fire. First is the fact that Graves performs seldom and records even less. Secondly, he's never appeared with either of these men before.

The five selections on Beyond Quantum are all "meetings," ordered one through five, showcasing the three individuals as part of one dynamic, dramatic, and profoundly inventive unit that moves inside and outside the constraints of modal, melodic, and harmonic improvisation with a seemingly effortless groove. So much so in fact, that even fans of straighter, more structured jazz composition and improvisation will almost willingly accept this as proof that not only is free jazz not "dead," but this entry into its historical annals may offer some proof of it entering a new phase of creativity. Braxton plays alto, sopranino, bass, and concert bass saxophones, one at a time -- though he often employs more than a single horn in a selection. His playing is far from the more sparse theoretical articulations, and moves effortlessly between his more aggressive tonal investigations and spiritually (even cosmically) inspired expression. Check his wild bass clusters on "Second Meeting," his snake charming sopranino on "Third Meeting," and the nearly boppish blues sopranino streams on "Fourth Meeting." Parker uses all of his tricks here. Whether it's creating riff-like phrases or single high note pulses on his contrabass as he does on "First Meeting," the Eastern scalar repetitions as he does in the middle of "Second Meeting," the beautiful high chord repetitions near the end of "Third Meeting," or his amazing arco work in dialogue with Braxton on "Fourth Meeting," he is always the pinnacle of energy and focus, always supporting, always insisting on "further." Graves is just something else to behold here. He is a drummer who never pauses, each idea comes fluidly either from the one immediately preceding, or the one being articulated in the moment. He uses his sticks to be sure, but also brushes, his hands, and on "Second Meeting" in particular -- though in other places as well -- his voice as both a lyric(less) and percussive device. (Think of Leon Thomas with Pharoah Sanders, or better yet, Sanders and John Coltrane on Live in Seattle and you get the idea.) Graves is never overwhelming in his stream of "motion" ideas; he is a layered drummer, working cymbals and snares or toms with an instinctive -- by this point inspired -- lyricism inside one another in open-ended loops.

An added treat on this set is in the final or "Fifth Meeting," when Parker joins Braxton (on sopranino) on a double reed instrument. Both men begin speaking streams of lyric and chant-like ideas, accenting the spiritual fire between them. Graves moves into them both on his deep-toned tom toms as the horn phrases become a call and response dialogue. Though it's over an hour, Beyond Quantum is over all too quickly. It never once feels like an endurance test, and the flood of creativity, passion, and direct communication between participants leaves the listener not breathless, but astonished. This is a serious contender for vanguard jazz recording of 2008.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    First Meeting    14:49
2    Second Meeting    10:48
3    Third Meeting    16:34
4    Fourth Meeting    16:08
5    Fifth Meeting    5:11
Credits :
Bass – William Parker
Percussion – Milford Graves
Producer – Bill Laswell, John Zorn
Saxophone – Anthony Braxton

ALBERT AYLER - Holy Ghost : Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70) (2004) 10CD BOX | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After listening to Revenant's massive Albert Ayler box set, Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70), a pair of questions assert themselves in the uneasily settling silence that follows: who was Albert Ayler, and how did he come to be? At the time of this box set's release 26 years after the Cleveland native's mysterious death -- his lifeless body was found floating in New York's East River, without a suicide note -- those questions loom larger than ever. Revenant's amazing package certainly adds weight and heft to the argument for Ayler's true place in the jazz pantheon, not only as a practitioner of free jazz but as one of the music's true innovators. Ayler may have been deeply affected by the music of Ornette Coleman, but in turn he also profoundly influenced John Coltrane's late period.

The item itself is a deeply detailed 10" by 10" black faux-onyx "spirit box," cast from a hand-carved original. Inside are ten CDs in beautifully designed, individually colored rice paper sleeves. Seven are full-length music CDs, two contain interviews, and one is packaged as a replica of a recording tape box, containing two tracks from an Army band session Ayler participated in. Loose items include a Slug's Saloon handbill, an abridged facsimile of Amiri Baraka's journal Cricket from the mid-'60s containing a piece by Ayler, a replica of the booklet Paul Haines wrote for Ayler's Spiritual Unity album, a note Ayler scrawled on hotel stationery in Europe, a rumpled photograph of the saxophonist as a boy, and a dogwood flower. Finally, there is a hardbound 209-page book. It contains a truncated version of Val Wilmer's historic chapter on Ayler from As Serious As Your Life, a new essay by Baraka, and biographical and musicological essays by Ben Young, Marc Chaloin, and Daniel Caux. In addition, there are testimonies by many collaborators, full biographical essays of all sidemen, detailed track information on the contents, and dozens of photographs.

Almost all this material has been, until now, commercially unavailable. Qualitatively, the music here varies, both artistically and mechanically. Some was taken from broadcast and tape sources that have deteriorated or were dubious to begin with, but their massive historical significance far outweighs minor fidelity problems. Chronologically organized, the adventure begins with Ayler's earliest performances in Europe fronting a thoroughly confounded rhythm section that was tied to conventional time signatures and chord changes. Ayler, seemingly oblivious, was trying out his new thing in earnest -- to the consternation of audiences and bandmates alike. How did a guy who played like this even get a gig in such a conservative jazz environment? Fumbling as this music is, it proves beyond any doubt Ayler's knowledge and mastery of the saxophone tradition from Lester Young to Sonny Rollins. Ayler's huge tone and his amazing, masterfully controlled use of both vibrato and the tenor's high register are already in evidence here. Following these, there is finally recorded evidence to support Ayler playing with Cecil Taylor in Copenhagen in 1962. This is where he met drummer Sunny Murray who, along with bassist Gary Peacock, formed the original Ayler trio. Their 1964 performances at New York's Cellar Café are documented here to stunning effect. Following these are phenomenal broadcast performances from later that year that include Don Cherry on trumpet in France.

Other discs here document Ayler's sideman duties: with pianist Burton Greene's quintet in 1966 (with Rashied Ali), a Pharoah Sanders band with Sirone and Dave Burrell, a Town Hall concert with his brother Donald's sextet that also included Sam Rivers, and a quartet with Donald, drummer Milford Graves, and bassist Richard Davis playing at John Coltrane's funeral. These live sessions have much value historically as well as musically, but are, after all, blowing sessions -- though they still display Ayler as a willing and fiery collaborator who upped the ante with his presence. Though he arrived fully formed as a soloist, his manner of trying to adapt to other players and bring them into his sphere is fascinating, frustrating, and revealing.

Ayler's own music is showcased best when leading his own quartets and quintets, and there are almost four discs' worth of performances here. Much of this music is with the classical violinist Michel Sampson and trumpeter Donald Ayler with alternating rhythm sections. Indeed, the quintet gigs here with Sampson and Donald in the front line that used marching rhythms and traditional hymns as their root may not be as compelling sonically as the Village Vanguard stuff issued by Impulse!, but they are as satisfying musically. The various rhythm sections included drummers Ronald Shannon Jackson, Allen Blairman, Muhammad Ali, Beaver Harris, and Bernard Purdie, and bassists Bill Folwell, Steve Tintweiss, Clyde Shy (Mutawef Shaheed), pianist Call Cobbs, and tenor saxophonist Frank Wright. What is clearly evident is that the only drummer with whom Ayler truly connected with, the only one who could match his manner of playing out of time and stretching it immeasurably, was Murray, who literally played around the beat while moving the music through its dislocated center.

The late music remains controversial. Recorded live in 1968 and 1970 in New York and France, it illuminates the troublesome period on Ayler's Impulse! recordings, New Grass and Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe. In performance, struggling and ill-conceived rhythm sections try to comprehend and articulate the complex patchwork of colors, motivations, and adventurous attempts at musical integration with the blues, rock, poetry, and soul Ayler was engaging instrumentally and -- with companion Mary Parks -- vocally. Ayler's own playing remains unshakable and revelatory, stunning for its ability to bring to the surface hidden melodies, timbres, and overtones and, to a degree, make them accessible. His solos, full of passion, pathos, and the otherworldly, pull everything from his musical sound world into his being and send it out again, transformed, through the horn.

Ayler is credited with the set's title, in that he once said in an interview: "Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the Holy Ghost." While it can be dismissed as hyperbole, it should also be evaluated to underscore the aforementioned questions. Unlike Coltrane and Sanders whose musical developments followed a recorded trajectory, Ayler, who apparently had very conventional beginnings as a musician, somehow arrived on the New York and European scenes already on the outside, pushing ever harder at boundaries that other people hadn't yet even perceived let alone transgressed. Who he was in relation to all those who came after him is only answered partially, and how he came to find his margin and live there remains a complete cipher. What Revenant has accomplished is to shine light into the darkened corners of myth and apocrypha; the label has added flesh-and-bone documented history to the ghost of a giant. Ayler struggled musically and personally to find and hold onto the elusive musical/spiritual balance that grace kissed him with only a few times during his lifetime -- on tape anyway. But the quest for that prize, presented here, adds immeasurably to both the legend and the achievement.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
All Tracks & Credits

ALBERT AYLER - Love Cry (1968-1991) RM | GRP Presents The Legendary Masters Of Jazz | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

From the time he was signed to Impulse in 1966, it was assumed that Albert Ayler's releases on that label would be motivated by an attempt at commercialism. While the music was toned down from his earlier ESP recordings, by no means did Ayler ever make commercial records. Much in the same way John Coltrane's later-period Impulse releases weren't commercial, Ayler simply took advantage of a larger record company's distribution, trying to expose the music to more people. Ayler's uncompromising musical freedom mixed with his catchy combination of nursery rhythms and brass band marches remained prominent on Love Cry. The interplay between the Ayler brothers also remained fiery as younger sibling Donald is heard playing trumpet for the last time on a recording with his brother. Donald was fired from the band (at the suggestion of Impulse) and, unfortunately, was committed to a mental institution for a short stay after these sessions were made. The rhythm section of Alan Silva on bass and Milford Graves on drums continually instigates and propels this music into furious militaristic march territory. Unhappily, the four tracks in which Call Cobbs is featured on harpsichord tend to drag the music down; it's unfortunate his gospel-inspired piano or organ playing couldn't have been utilized instead. Al Campbell  
Tracklist :
1     Love Cry 3'55
Albert Ayler
2     Ghosts 2'49
Albert Ayler
3     Omega 3'19
Albert Ayler
4     Dancing Flowers 2'24
Albert Ayler
5     Bells 3'09
Albert Ayler
6     Love Flower 3'32
Albert Ayler
7     Love Cry II (Previously Unissued) 7'15
Albert Ayler
8     Zion Hill (Alternate Take) 4'14
Albert Ayler
9     Universal Indians (Alternate Take) 7'36
Albert Ayler
10     Zion Hill 6'08
Albert Ayler
11     Universal Indians (Previously Unissued Full Length Version) 9'50
Albert Ayler
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Albert Ayler (pistas: 1, 10)
Bass – Alan Silva
Drums – Milford Graves
Harpsichord – Call Cobbs (pistas: 3, 4, 6, 8, 10)
Tenor Saxophone – Albert Ayler
Trumpet – Donald Ayler (pistas: 1 to 3, 5, 7, 9, 11)
Vocals – Albert Ayler (pistas: 1, 9, 11)

MILFORD GRAVES | JOHN ZORN - 50², John Zorn 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Two (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Another one of the most talked about sets of the month was this historic meeting between two of music's most powerful and controversial iconoclasts. Playing together yearly since 1999 for very special occasions, their musical connection and spiritual bond has gotten stronger and stronger. This set, played before a packed house of screaming enthusiasts, was without doubt their best and most outrageous performance to date. Intensity, fireworks and incredible mutual respect made this one of the highlights of the month. TZADIK
Tracklist :
1    Inserted Space    8:03
2    Looping Journeys    6:55
3    Calling In Proceed    11:15
4    Deep Within    10:46
5    Smooth Interaction    6:47
6    Talk    2:52
7    Synchronicity    7:39
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Producer – John Zorn
Percussion – Milford Graves