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Joe McPhee

Since his emergence on the creative jazz and new music scene in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Joe McPhee has been a deeply emotional composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a thoughtful conceptualist and theoretician. Born on November 3, 1939, in Miami, FL, McPhee first began playing the trumpet at age eight. McPhee continued on that instrument through high school and then in a U.S. Army band stationed in Germany; during his Army stint, he was first introduced to traditional jazz. Clifford Thornton ’s Freedom and Unity , recorded in 1967 and released in 1969 on the Third World label, is the first recording on which McPhee appears. In 1968, he began playing the saxophone and since then has investigated a wide range of instruments (including pocket trumpet, clarinet, valve trombone, and piano), with active involvement in both acoustic and electronic music.

McPhee’s first recordings as leader appeared on the CjR label, founded in 1969 by painter Craig Johnson . These include Underground Railroad by the Joe McPhee Quartet in 1969, Nation Time by Joe McPhee in 1970, and Trinity by Joe McPhee, Harold E. Smith and Mike Kull in 1971. By 1974, Swiss entrepreneur Werner X. Uehlinger had become aware of McPhee’s recordings and unreleased tapes. Uehlinger was so impressed that he decided to form the Hat Hut label as a vehicle to release McPhee’s work. The label’s first LP was Black Magic Man , which had been recorded by McPhee in 1970. Black Magic Man was followed by The Willisau Concert and the landmark solo recording Tenor , released by Hat Hut in 1976. The earliest recordings by McPhee are often informed by the revolutionary movements of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s; for example, Nation Time is a tribute to poet Amiri Baraka and Joe McPhee & Survival Unit II at WBAI’s Free Music Store, 1971 (finally released as a Hat Art CD in 1996) is a sometimes anguished post- Coltrane cry for freedom and liberation.

As the 1980s began and with a number of Hat Art recordings under his belt, McPhee met composer, accordionist, performer, and educator Pauline Oliveros , whose theories of “deep listening” strengthened his interests in extended instrumental and electronic techniques. McPhee also read Edward de Bono ’s book Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity, which presents concepts for solving problems by “disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle.” de Bono ’s theories inspired McPhee to apply this “sideways thinking” to his own work in creative improvisation, resulting in the concept of “Po Music.” McPhee describes “Po Music” as a “process of provocation” that can be used to “move from one fixed set of ideas in an attempt to discover new ones.” He concludes “It is a Positive, Possible, Poetic Hypothesis.” The results of McPhee’s application of Po principles to creative improvisation can be heard on several Hat Art recordings, including Topology , Linear B , and Oleo & a Future Retrospective .

Rodrigo Amado: Wailers

by Mark Corroto
August 13, 2026

A decade ago, it would have been easy to assume that saxophonist Rodrigo Amado's This Is Our Language (Not Two, 2015) was a singular encounter rather than the beginning of an enduring ensemble. Amado had previously collaborated with bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love on Teatro (European Echoes, 2006), while drummer Chris Corsano would join him for a pair of exceptional duo recordings. The final piece was the legendary Joe McPhee, whose presence elevated the quartet's debut into something ...

Album Review

Rodrigo Amado / Joe McPhee / Kent Kessler / Chris Corsano: Wailers

by John Sharpe
July 25, 2026

Wailers captures Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado's This Is Our Language quartet at a fascinating juncture, revealing fresh dimensions within one of his most compelling working bands. An unchanged lineup features reedman Joe McPhee (restricting himself solely to tenor), bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Chris Corsano alongside the leader's tenor saxophone. Recorded in a Lisbon studio in 2019, the album now arrives with the feel of an archival issue. But it constitutes the first since Let The Three Be Men (Trost, ...

Album Review

Joe McPhee & Strings: We Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Read "We Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
March 16, 2026

Un camerismo scuro, a tratti persino torvo, arcigno, non privo di asperità, contrassegna questo album, inciso a Brooklyn nell'ottobre 2021. Il primo nome in ditta è quello dell'oggi ottantaseienne polistrumentista (in realtà qui impegnato unicamente al sax tenore, oltre che alla voce, detta) di Miami Joe McPhee, gloriosa figura di riferimento delle avanguardie post e para-free, pur da posizioni sempre piuttosto appartate. In realtà, appare subito evidente che si tratta di un lavoro corale, a cominciare dalle firme ...

Radio & Podcasts

Joe McPhee, Cannonball Adderley, and Jihye Lee

by Jerome Wilson
August 21, 2024

This show features solo saxophone from Joe McPhee, a live track by Cannonball Adderley, and recent releases by William Parker, Jihye Lee, and Jose Gobbo.Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Davy Graham “Beautiful City" from Large as Life and Twice as Natural (Fledg'ling) 00:49 Jose Gobbo Trio “Hope" from Current (Self-Produced) 3:12 Joe Pass Quartet “September Song" from Nuages ...

Album Review

Kirk Knuffke / Joe McPhee Quartet + 1: Keep The Dream Up

Read "Keep The Dream Up" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 19, 2023

Synergy might be the best way to describe the result of this assemblage of musicians. Cornetist Kirk Knuffke and saxophonist Joe McPhee combine their various ensembles to create an effect much greater than the sum of their separate parts. Knuffke has worked extensively with bassist Michael Bisio in duo and trio formats, plus in the bassist's quartet Accortet. Likewise Bisio and McPhee have a lengthy relationship, performing in settings from duos to quintets. Add to the mix drummer Jay Rosen, ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman: Reed Rapture in Brooklyn

Read "Reed Rapture in Brooklyn" reviewed by Jeff Schwartz

by Jeff Schwartz
June 13, 2023

Is this album fundamentally unreviewable? Are there jazz fans who do not immediately know if they need an 11-hour collection of 103 improvised duets between Ivo Perelman and a dozen saxophonists and clarinetists? It is at least describable. Perelman is faithful to his tenor, while his partners bring examples of nearly every type of saxophone, from soprillo to contrabass, as well as most of the clarinet family. Although all tracks are free improvisations, the default mode is ...

Album Review

Joe McPhee & Evan Parker: Sweet Nothings For Milford Graves

Read "Sweet Nothings For Milford Graves" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
February 9, 2023

Two soprano saxophones loosely harmonize. They finish each other's lines, languidly intertwine, pause for air at the same moment. And simultaneously end on a dime. Musical twins. In the wrong hands such empathy might become soporific; but with two of the planet's foremost improvisers on hand in the persons of Evan Parker and Joe McPhee, instead they unlock deep wells of emotionally charged feeling. Captured at Chicago's 7th Empty Bottle Festival in 2003, this archive recording amply ...

Event

Elysium Furnace Works' 2024 Season Begins With Joe McPhee With Strings On March 16, 8 PM In Poughkeepsie, NY

Source: James Keepnews
March 4, 2024

Elysium Furnace Works is BACK in 2024 with our most exciting season yet! Uncompromising, boundary-pushing artistry is what EFW is all about and that's exactly what we have in store for you, all year long. All concerts will take place at the lovely 19th c. VBI Theatre, part of the Hudson Valley's outstanding Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center — the theatre is located at 12 Vassar St. in Poughkeepsie, NY. Elysium Furnace Works is thrilled and honored to kick off its 2024 ...
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