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Phil Haynes- Herb Robertson 5tet: Brooklyn-Berlin
by Derek Taylor
Haynes and Robertson are erstwhile leaders on this outing, but a steadfast sense of group administration pervades the entire program. Clarinets play a pivotal role in he music and virtually every bud on the branch of that particular reed family is represented in instrument inventories of Rothenberg and Golia. Paired with the brittle corrugated brass of ...
Resonance Impeders: At All Costs Unknown
by Derek Taylor
Three in stature, but with a pan-directional sound that belies their number the Resonance Impeders are emblematic of the New York Downtown scene. As the Knitting Factory (one of their favorite haunts) proudly proclaims in it’s marketing literature- “Downtown is more than a zip code.” It’s a veritable improvisatory microcosm- a state of mind AND a ...
Ken Simon Quartet: Another Side
by Derek Taylor
Bob Rusch is a brutally honest man. As front man for Cadence magazine he calls things like he sees them staunchly leaving gloss and platitudes at the door. In like fashion his unflinching faith in the individual artistry of the musicians he documents on his CIMP label is directly manifest in the much-maligned minimalist recording techniques ...
Alan Silva & Oluyemi Thomas: Transmissions
by Derek Taylor
The practice of harping long and loud on the lack of public notoriety or understanding afforded creative improvising musicians has become an almost customary tack in reportage of the music. A “resignation to obscurity” mindset prevails among many producers, listeners and even musicians that this is orphic status is simply their lot in life. Still the ...
Clifton Chenier: Live! At Grant Street
by Derek Taylor
Clifton Chenier may not have invented Zydeco, but most aficionados will agree that he was the undisputed King of the music during his lifetime. Gargantuan chops on the accordion and an aptness for adroitly blending the ingredients of the genre (Creole, Cajun and Blues) into a wholly personal pastiche assured his ascendancy to the throne. Fortunately ...
Ray Draper: Tuba Sounds
by Derek Taylor
“A Promise Derailed.” Such of phrase could easily have been etched on Ray Draper’s tombstone to describe the tubaist’s trials in life and music. Killed in a botched robbery at the tragic age of 42 his troubles both personal and musical hounded him for much of his life. But reading the original liners to this reissue ...
Jim Black: Alasnoaxis
by Derek Taylor
Jim Black is best known as one of the three points of the Ellery Eskelin 3, a go-for-broke free jazz triangle that routinely incorporates any and all ideas improvisational ideas into an unpredictable and highly versatile amalgam. Three consistently excellent releases on Hatology have more than measured the group’s mettle, but as anyone who has appreciated ...
Bill Dixon Quartet: Berlin Abbozzi
by Derek Taylor
By all accounts, including his own, Bill Dixon is a very private and passionate man. On the record in an interview with Cadence's Bob Rusch several decades ago Dixon recounted a litany of misconceptions ascribed against him and in no uncertain terms stated his disdain for those unable or unwilling to accept his artistry on its ...
School Days: Crossing Division
by Derek Taylor
Music is a game of influences and Ken Vandermark is a musician who proudly wears his influences on his sleeve. Instead of refuting or avoiding them he routinely embraces and acknowledges them. It’s a lesson in character and rectitude that many of his detractors could learn from. His reverence for what has come before manifests in ...
Joe 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 ...
