Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Raphe Malik: ConSequences

160

Raphe Malik: ConSequences

By

View read count
Raphe Malik: ConSequences
From the first notes from William Parker’s gut churning bass you know you are in for a treat. Raphe Malik assembled an all star band for the 1997 Fire In The Valley Festival and we are fortunate it was well-recorded for posterity. The whole disc constitutes a superb manifesto of state of the art jazz at the end of the Millennium. Malik’s deceptively simple themes, supported on a loose and limber rhythmic cushion by Parker and the greatly missed Denis Charles, provide a launch pad for the stratospheric improvisations of Malik’s trumpet and the fiery alto of Sabir Mateen. Several of the themes have a loping gait and feel reminiscent of the Art Ensemble of Chicago classic ‘Odwalla’ and make my scalp tingle. As good as Malik’s last recording was (The Short Form, also on Eremite and featuring the sadly departed Glenn Spearman) I find this disc even better. The individual components are marvellous but it is the group interplay which elevates this music into the top drawer.

Malik is a powerful trumpeter full of heraldic fanfares, excoriating runs and broad smears, in addition to his artful composition. Mateen first came to my notice as a voice deserving further recognition on Marc Edwards excellent ‘Red Sprites and Blue Jets’ on CIMP. He is now appearing on a gratifying number of recordings and his performance here gives ample testimony as to why this should be so. His bluesy cries, sinuous runs and electrifying forays into the higher registers played with iron control are all effortlessly integrated into the ebb and flow of the music. Denis Charles lays down a buoyant rhythm stoking the fires under the soloists. In his features he purposefully dissects the rhythm and examines each component motif before reassembling them into a coherent whole. Parker is never less than excellent whether underpinning the improvisations with his rock solid walking or calling down the stars with his multiphonic arco solos.

There are telling touches throughout with themes gently restated behind soloists to ground their extemporisations, eventually leading to the horns spiralling heavenwards as on ‘Ditchweed’. Or on ‘GG’ where Mateen plays a lick in his solo which is instantly picked up by Malik who runs it down with glee. Or ‘3X Twice’ where Mateen’s stratospheric whistling brings a keening high register run from Malik in return. The only longeur is during the lengthy bass solo on ‘The Gift’ where Parker is pursuing different ideas in different registers, which doesn’t translate well to disc for me. That is a minor blemish on one of the year’s best recordings. Listen for yourself.

Tracks: Dominate Predicate; The Gift; Ditchweed; 3X Twice; Ghost Dance; GG. Total time: 65.51

Personnel

Raphe Malik
trumpet

Raphe Malik

Album information

Title: ConSequences | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Eremite Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.