Jazz Articles about Joe McPhee

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McPhee/ Giardullo/ Bisio/ Duval: No Greater Love

by Derek Taylor
August 1, 2000

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 ...

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Joe McPhee- Johnny McLellan: The Grand Marquis

by Derek Taylor
May 1, 2000

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 ...

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Joe McPhee: Tenor & Fallen Angels

by Robert Spencer
May 1, 2000

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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Joe McPhee: Tenor & Fallen Angels

by Glenn Astarita
May 1, 2000

Inspired by Anthony Braxton’s solo alto saxophone performance on the 1971 release, For Alto, Joe McPhee set his sights on a similar project which was recorded at a Swiss farmhouse on September 1st and 2nd, 1976 and was subsequently released on LP for Hat Hut records. Considered a mini-classic, “hatOLOGY” records has now reissued this sparkling gem on CD which includes a previously unreleased track titled, Fallen Angels culled from a 1977 Paris, France performance.

Here, McPhee’s performances parallel that, ...

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Joe McPhee: Nation Time

by Derek Taylor
May 1, 2000

Joe McPhee fans tend to be a loyal and devoted bunch. But one of the most frustrating things about digging McPhee’s music is the fact that much of it, especially the early stuff is out of print. His early albums have for far too long languished only in the hands of collectors and on the shelves of libraries and fortunate radio stations. John Corbett’s Unheard imprint is about to change all that with ambitious plans to return four of the ...

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McPhee/Whitecage/Smoker/Prentice/Kowald/Duval/Rosen: CIMPhonia, Parts 1 & 2

by Derek Taylor
April 1, 2000

These discs are the musical equivalent of a snowball effect, where a germinal idea gains momentum and breadth to blossom into an unanticipated climactic event. Originally planned as a trio date for Whitecage, Kowald and Duval, under the expert production hand of Bob Rusch the core group quickly gained girth both in terms of attendant players and creative inspiration. What happens over the course of the two plus hours of music contained here is the most sublime form of musical ...

like 119

Joe McPhee's Bluette: In the Spirit

by Derek Taylor
April 1, 2000

Jazz and Blues are recognized widely as uniquely American art forms. At the root of both genres resides the African American spiritual song-form. Spirituals predate both Blues and Jazz and continue to be a life-sustaining force for both musical traditions. McPhee and his partners in Bluette fathom the primacy of this bloodline and use this date as a celebratory tribute to these sources. In addition to the handful of spirituals in the program the quartet also touches upon the work ...