Jazz Articles about Horace Tapscott
A World of Piano
by Jerome Wilson
This is two hours of piano played by icons including Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor, overlooked figures Hasaan Ibn Ali and Horace Tapscott, and current stars Brad Mehldau and Fred Hersch. 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 Juliet Kurtzman/Pete Malinverni “Davenport Blues" from Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera (Saranac) 1:05 The Thelonious Monk Orchestra “Crepuscule With Nellie" ...
read moreHorace Tapscott Quintet: Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995
by Karl Ackermann
Since its founding in 2011, the French record label Dark Tree has been issuing a “Roots Series" documenting previously unreleased performances of the Los Angeles jazz avant-garde from the 1970s through the '90s. Among the best of those releases have been several from Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra led by pianist/composer/conductor Horace Tapscott. Legacies for Our Grandchildren: Live in Hollywood 1995 is one of only two quintet albums led by the pianist. A community activist in South Central LA, Tapscott often ...
read moreRoots Magic, Audio Cave Artists & Alan Braufman
by Maurice Hogue
A new release by the Italian Quartet Roots Magic is always welcome. Their contemporary and improvisatory approach to old blues tunes and the way they always put their own touch on the music of avant-garde jazz composers is kind of unique on the European scene. Take Root Among the Stars, out on Clean Feed, should be right up there with the best of 2020 releases. Also from Italy comes music by the The Auanders, a larger ensemble formed initially for ...
read moreHorace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra: Ancestral Echoes – The Covina Sessions, 1976
by Karl Ackermann
When pianist/composer/conductor Horace Tapscott founded the Pan Afrikan People's Arkestra (PAPA) in 1961, it was by design a support collective for all arts, bringing pride to the black community, specifically that of South-Central Los Angeles. PAPA signified social activism, teaching empowerment, and advocating Tapscott's belief that channeling African ancestral roots was a key to succeeding. Tapscott, who died in 1999, had forsaken wider recognition to bring music and teaching to his community, but his catalog has seen a revived interest ...
read moreHorace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and the Great Voice of UGMAA: Why Don't You Listen? - Live at LACMA, 1998
by Mark Corroto
In every decade since the 1960s, dedicated listeners have called for the world to get hip to the music of Horace Tapscott. In 1963 he formed the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in Los Angeles. Like Chicago's Association For The Advancement Of Creative Musicians (AACM) and St. Louis' Black Artists Group (BAG), Tapscott's collective was formed to serve his local scene. Also, and this is probably more significant, his efforts were focused on community organizing and the empowerment of his people. His ...
read moreHorace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: Live at I.C.U.U.
by Karl Ackermann
Twenty years after his death, pianist-composer Horace Tapscott is receiving the accolades that largely passed him by at the peak of his career. Firmly ensconced in the Los Angeles jazz scene, his recording career as a leader began in 1969 when his quintet released The Giant Is Awakened (Flying Dutchman). Aiee! The Phantom (Arabesque, 1996) was the last album issued in his lifetime, and there have been very few posthumous releases. 2019 has seen a resurgence of interest in Tapscott's ...
read moreHorace Tapscott: The Dark Tree
by Chris May
The year of writing this review, 2019, is the thirtieth anniversary of the recording of The Dark Tree. It is also the twentieth anniversary of the passing of Horace Tapscott, a forgotten master of politically engaged African American spiritual jazz. The album, which is among Tapscott's finest, is crying out for a 2019 anniversary reissue. STOP PRESS! 7/25/19: The album has been reissued. Of course, to describe Tapscott as “forgotten" is only true of mainstream jazz history. His ...
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