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Joe McPhee: Trinity
by AAJ Staff
Even for Joe McPhee, Trinity is a far-ranging record. He writes in the liner notes (genuinely, I'm sure) that in this spare trio setting, “the area I wanted to work became more defined." In fact, that area is about as broad as you can possibly imagine. McPhee delivers animalistic howls, plaintive melodies, and bluesy ramble, each in turn. Meanwhile, the group sound spans from free-range “space" music with vocals to high-intensity Tayloresque energy over punchy drums. Each duo combination is ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee & Hamid Drake: Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom
by Micah Holmquist
A couple of photos in the packaging of Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom feature Joe McPhee and Hamid Drake dressed up in brightly colored shirts and appearing to be two Parrot Heads about to hear Jimmy. However, with all due respect to the fine music of Margaritaville, Mr. Buffett has nothing McPhee and Drake.
For over 30 years McPhee has walked the line between Ayleresque screeching and more lyrical playing. He goes primarily for the latter ... Continue ReadingJoe McPhee: Nation Time
by Robert Spencer
If you have enjoyed some of Joe McPhee's recent releases, such as Undersound or Novio Iolu, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. Even if you're well aware that Joe doesn't always work with the delicacy and subtlety he employs on those two discs, but with the bluster and grandeur of Grand Marquis, you'll find that this one is different. A long-awaited rerelease of a 1970 recording, Nation Time is the exuberance of the master in his ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee & Hamid Drake: Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom
by Derek Taylor
Expanding from the declaration of it's title the first duo recording by the redoubtable Joe McPhee and the pan-percussionary citizen Hamid Drake is music steeped in an emancipatory feel. Here are two men in a celebratory mood communing with and expounding on the African American traditions still reflective of larger global histories. Adding to the artistic imperative of the music is the photo that adorns the disc's tray card of Drake and McPhee in colorful print shirts and shades, the ...
Continue ReadingMcPhee/ Giardullo/ Bisio/ Duval: No Greater Love
by Derek Taylor
Recording sessions can sometimes be unruly beasts and the girth and breadth of music created does not always fit comfortably into the pre-planned parameters of studio time. Extra material in the way of alternate takes and additional tunes are the common outcome of a session that eclipses its originally hatched upon boundaries. Very often this grist is deemed of lesser quality or importance than the principal material gleaned from the date, but sometimes the additional music is every bit as ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee- Johnny McLellan: The Grand Marquis
by Derek Taylor
The Grand Marquis is a mythical hipster character of McPhee’s design who “wears the blues like a custom fitted suit.” Whether McPhee and the Marquis are one in the same is open to interpretation, but one thing is for certain. The two men are rife with common ground as McPhee covets the Blues and his passion for its varied forms constantly informs his music. McLellan organized this date to further illuminate McPhee’s affinity and share with him a host of ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee: Tenor & Fallen Angels
by Robert Spencer
Joe McPhee is one of the pioneers of solo reed playing. While Coleman Hawkins and Eric Dolphy played occasional solo pieces, Anthony Braxton was the first musician to dedicate an entire album, For Alto, to solo reed explorations. Perhaps even more importantly, he was the first to develop a sonic vocabulary specifically dedicated to solo reed performance. After him came Steve Lacy and Evan Parker on soprano, both with highly original and ground-breaking perspectives on the straight horn. And on ...
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