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Gato Barbieri: In Search of the Mystery
by Warren Allen
This is not dinner music, nor is it Last Tango in Paris, though there are actually hints of tango flitting around the mix. This is Gato Barbieri with a little extra scream in his step, moving out in the free vein of the '60s avant-garde--loud, brash, unpolished and unapologetic. Showing the influence of his work with ...
Talibam!: Boogie in the Breeze Blocks
by Raul d'Gama Rose
At first, Talibam!'s Boogie in the Breeze Blocks appears to be regurgitated Doors-meets-Frank Zappa-meets-Ornette Coleman-meets razor-sharp punk. But then, why waste time trying to do what many would, which is put anything new in a category? This is wildly new music, fresh in its approach to the collision of melody, harmony and rhythm that ...
Cromagnon: Cave Rock
by Raul d'Gama Rose
It would be a travesty of justice to suggest--as some critics have--that there is only one stand-out track on this historic reissue of Cromagnon's only full-length release, Cave Rock. That track is “Caledonia," which is no doubt a magnificent song. For almost four-and-a-half minutes, the inner ear is treated to a priceless amalgam of Celtic music: ...
Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues
by Raul d'Gama Rose
A record by Warren Smith--any record really--is cause for great celebration and Old News Borrowed Blues is no exception. Smith is not only one of the most stylish master percussionists and a truly accomplished musician. Why a musician of his caliber and standing, with over 300 compositions to his name, should have--after four decades in music--only ...
Gato Barbieri: In Search of the Mystery
by Jerry D'Souza
Leandro “Gato" Barbieri has traversed a wide range of musical styles over his career. His earliest recordings counted Don Cherry, Abdullah Ibrahim and Roswell Rudd as collaborators. He was quick to settle into the avant-garde before exploring South American music. He later went on to play pop fanned tunes and disco music. Fortunately these commercialized transgressions ...
Paul Bley: Barrage
by Stuart Broomer
At times circumstance conspires to hide a masterpiece: it may be the artist's lack of reputation; perhaps it doesn't resemble his more typical works or it's just overshadowed by more prominent or better promoted music. Paul Bley's Barrage is such a work. Produced in 1964 when most of the band was unknown, it's a singularly non-lyrical ...
Gato Barbieri: In Search of the Mystery
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Gato Barbieri winds up and uncorks a meandering apocalyptic shout that begins with a growling, sinewy tenor and often returns there via a continuous spiral of bell-like primal screeches. He is probing, poking the tones of the tenor and searching madly for a timbral key to unlock a hidden route to harmonic peace. On this seminal ...
Timothy Leary: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out
by Raul d'Gama Rose
The historic Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out is not to be confused with the synonymously titled musical recording that infamous '60s “tune in, drop out" spokesperson Timothy Leary also did for ESP Disk. That disc consisted of narrated meditation by Leary mixed in with psychedelic rock music played on the veena, an Indian drone instrument, ...
Sun Ra: Sun Ra (featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold)
by Jerry D'Souza
The event was billed as Four Days in December, and on the last four days of 1964, Judson Hall in New York City was witness to a torrent of free jazz. The series of concerts featured Cecil Taylor,Bill Dixon, Archie Shepp, Paul Bley, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd and, perhaps fittingly enough on New Year's Eve, the ...
Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now
by Lyn Horton
Ronnie Boykins, who died in 1980, was the bassist of the original Sun Ra Arkestra. According to author/photographer Valerie Wilmer, he was a key player and inspired the formation of much of the Arkestra's music. Trained by Sun Ra to think in terms of tones instead of notes (according to Ra's biographer, John Swzed), Boykins' music ...
