Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Grachan Moncur III Octet: Exploration

133

Grachan Moncur III Octet: Exploration

By

View read count
Grachan Moncur III Octet: Exploration
It is a crying shame that some of the best jazz musicians have to languish in obscurity. There are many reasons, but a review is not necessarily the place to go into them. Suffice to say that it is a moment worth cherishing when a stalwart comes in from out of the beyond to make his presence felt.

Grachan Moncur III was a forward thinker who made some of the most powerful music of the sixties with compatriots like Jackie McLean, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Roscoe Mitchell and Dave Burrell. That trend continued into the next decade with Perry Robinson and Leroy Jenkins. Now, thirty years later, he is back leading an octet, thanks to Mark Masters, who contacted Moncur, conceived the project, and then went on to arrange and conduct the music.

Masters' vision does not eclipse the sinew and the grace Moncur invests in his music. Credit the musicians as the affirming force which gives the written and the free a new vision. The selections are well balanced and offer a comprehensive look into the skill of Moncur as composer. "Monk in Wonderland" exhilarates, the rich harmonic pulse probed first by Gary Smulyan on baritone sax and then by Gary Bartz on the alto, both digging in and luxuriating in a cornucopia of invention. The four-part suite "New Africa" offers an interesting study in contrast. The music passes through diverse moods and tempos that nevertheless flow seamlessly.

The horns glisten and shimmer for "Queen Tamam," the sheen edged by the tenor of Billy Harper. From there it opens up to usher in a percussive beat, a hard bopping tenor, a lick of the blues, some free propulsion, all the segments cleaving into a tantalizing whole. The tumble and spin of a free spirited "Excursion" is an unmitigated delight—no holds barred, no definitions set, just a vision at the end of the rambunctiousness.

This is a welcome return for Moncur. Hopefully, he will be making more music. We have waited all too long.

Track Listing

Exploration; Monk in Wonderland; Love and Hate; New Africa: Queen Tamam, New Africa, Black Call, Ethiopian Market; When? Frankenstein; Excursion; Sonny's Back!

Personnel

Tim Hagans (trumpet), John Clark (French horn), Dave Woodley (trombone), Gary Bartz (alto saxophone), Billy Harper (tenor saxophone), Gary Smulyan (baritone saxophone), Ray Drummond (bass), Andrew Cyrille (drums), Grachan Moncur III (trombone)

Album information

Title: Exploration | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Unknown label

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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.