1990s

Finishing up....

1 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
2 William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
3 Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)
4 Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)
5 Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir, Angles of Entrance (Aarawak, 1990/1998)
6 Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny (OkkaDisk, 1994)
7 Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)
8 Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)
9 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)
10 Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge (OkkaDisk, 1999)

Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)

This is one of the records on my list that I expected might be popular amongst the D:O poll. It's most likely Gayle's most 'accessible' recording, but that's not why I necessarily put it on my list. I just haven't heard a record from Gayle that captured his sound the way this record does, even if its in a more conventional setting than he often plays. The only other record I have with him on sax is Kingdom Come, which I really don't care for.

Touchin' on Trane is the kind of 'tribute' record that I can get into, one that doesn't include interpretations of the tributee's tunes, instead giving tribute to the spirit of the music. It's definitely the best Coltrane tribute album I've heard, but thankfully I haven't heard many.

Gayle is in good company here, with William Parker on bass and Rashied Ali on drums. I find their interactions to be meaningful, and Ali frames the proceedings rhythmically in a way that I find pleasing to listen to.

I've only had the pleasure of seeing Charles Gayle twice live, and both were absolutely phenomenal. My only frustration with this recording is that it doesn't come close to capturing what I experienced in a live setting with Mr. Gayle, which was an unbridled intensity and passion that I'm not certain can be translated to the recorded medium. Based on recommendations I'd like to pick up Repent next.

William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)

In Order To Survive is the first William Parker Quartet, and this the lineup's finest recording in my opinion. The group features William Parker on bass, Cooper-Moore on piano, Rob Brown on alto sax and Susie Ibarra on drums and I find their musical repoire nothing short of enthralling.

Have I mentioned that I love Cooper-Moore's piano playing? Because I do. Sometimes I secretly wish he'd leave the diddley bo and other funky instruments behind and go back to just playing the piano, but I know his story and history well enough that I don't expect it to come true. The Triptych Myth record on Aum Fidelity that he made is still in regular rotation in my collection.

The drum and bass team of Parker and Ibarra is one of my favorites, both in this group and in the David S. Ware Quartet. Along with Cooper-Moore, it's a first class rhythm section that has an incredibly fluid, elastic sense of time that can go from a very loose feel to a very tight swing in seconds.

I'm an unabashed fan of William Parker's musical sense, both as an instrumentalist and composer. I like his balance of improvisation and composition, and I feel that at this mature stage of his career he was making excellent recordings as a leader after spending many years paying his dues as a sideman.

This record would have made my list even if it only contained one track, the haunting Posium Pendasem #3 that opens the second disc. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of recorded music I've ever heard.

Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)

Greg Osby! I must admit being a bit uninformed in regards to his greater catalog. He might have made even better recordings in the 1990s than this one, but I own this record, mysteriously might I add because I'm still not quite sure where it came from.

I do know that I always enjoy this record when I put it on, and that I love the sound of it. I'm told that it was recorded with a mini-disc at Sweet Basil, and you can definitely hear the room and the sometimes odd mix that you get when you sit in one spot in a club. featuring a great band made up of Mr. Osby, Jason Moran, Atsushi Osada, and Rodney Green.

I guess I'm a bit surprised that Osby didn't get a few more nods over at the D:O poll. There has been some discussion as to why this might be the case. The reason I was surprised was that I always thought of him as someone lots of other folks really dug, but for some reason I just didn't get into.

The band sounds so relaxed and comfortable on this record. The music sounds easy without lacking drive or immediacy. Mostly, I enjoy the music and the mood it evokes. If I had to pick a time of day for this album it would be twilight, and if I had to pick a season, Banned in New York would certainly be autumnal, the vernal equinox, if you will.

Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)

Horace, Horace, how did you slip through the cracks? You snuck through the back alley, you stayed at home when everyone else left, you fostered a local scene instead of fostering your career, and your music shines with an intense glow that you carefully cultivated. His story reminds me of Chicagoans like Fred Anderson and Von Freeman, musicians who decided to stay instead of go.

As D:O mentioned in their wrap up post, Horace Tapscott is a gem who will continue to shine for years to come. In sticking to the rules, I omitted perhaps his finest recording, the Dark Tree, Vol 1 and 2, which are really incredible. However, I didn't want to leave him off my list entirely, and this record certainly stands up as one of the best of the '90s in my opinion.

Accompanied by the killer rhythm section of Ray Drummond and Billy Hart, the album opens with his composition As A Child, which also opens his album Dissent or Descent. I really dig this song and I think it sets an interesting mood for the rest of the album, and it makes me think about why Tapscott would choose to open not one but two albums with it.

Tapscott comes across as such a complete musician, with such a strong rhythmic and dynamic sense. I have no problem putting him in my pantheon of piano players that ring true with a sense of individualism and singularity that mimics none. Comparisons to Randy Weston, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols and others are all apt in their own way, but all fall short of capturing the reasons why Mr. Tapscott is such an incredible pianist.

Maybe it's because there are no early recordings of Horace Tapscott that he seems so amazing (not really the case - see comments. Thx, Jason). He arrived in my collection fully formed and developed, utterly mature and sure of himself in his musical conviction. I can pay his music and musicianship my highest compliment when I say that it speaks to me in a very clear and inspired voice.

That's all folks, nothing left to see here....

As we continue our sojourn through the '90s....

1 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
2 William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
3 Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)
4 Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)
5 Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir, Angles of Entrance (Aarawak, 1990/1998)
6 Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny (OkkaDisk, 1994)
7 Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)
8 Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)
9 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)
10 Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge (OkkaDisk, 1999)

Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)

Jon Jang (Jang Jian Liang), piano
James Newton, flute
David Murray, tenor sax, bass clarinet
Chen Jiebing, erhu
Santi Debriano, bass and daluo
Jabali Billy Hart, drums

I've been a fan of Jon Jang since I was introduced to his music by Tatsu Aoki, both of them integral members of the national Asian American improv scene. This recording finds Jang leading a fantastic sextet of musicians, and he takes them through an eclectic program of music. 

The album opens with the decidedly asian influenced and meditative Two Flowers on a Stem, which in my listening experience acts as almost an extended introduction leading into a take on Charles Mingus' Meditations on Integration. The band gives this Mingus standard an 18 minute workout, but it's one of those extended cuts that always ends too soon. One important aspect of the instrumentation on this album is the erhu, a two stringed bowed instrument of Chinese origin. It creates an otherworldly sound that has an incredibly vocal quality to it, and to my ears its timbre adds an element of lament to the proceedings.

This disc puts into focus what I perceive as Jang's goal in his musical career: explore his cultural heritage while utilizing the techniques and musical language of jazz. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jon Jang and Francis Wong when they were in Chicago a while back - I think I still have the audio from that somewhere, I'll have to take a look and post it if I do. Jon Jang is the type of improviser who seems to have an allergic reaction to the word jazz. He sees how he is participating in the continuum of improvisatory music that includes what is conventionally referred to as jazz, but he doesn't have any use for the genre since he oftentimes operates along its border territories as it is.

This was one of two discs, the other one being Dougas Ewart's Angles of Entrance, that I thought might not show up on any other lists in the D:O poll. I was pleased to see Vijay Iyer included this disc in his picks, and I could see how Jang might have offered an interesting paradigm for Vijay in his own pianistic explorations of asian cultural heritage and modern improvisation.

Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)

Myra Melford, piano
Dave Douglas, trumpet
Marty Ehrlich, alto sax, clarinet
Lindsey Horner, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums

This quintet recording from Myra Melford was actually my introduction to her music. I find this disc to present an absolutely mesmerizing program that has the balance of composition and improvisation that I find myself gravitating to in the recorded format. It's interesting, because in a live context, I tend to go to performances that tend to be heavy on the improvisatory end, but when I listen to recordings I find the structure of composition useful in framing the listening experience.

The highlight of this disc for me is the 25 minute La Mezquita Suite. That's not to diminish the other great music on the recording, but when I put this disc on I've found myself getting to the end of La Mezquita Suite and skipping back to hear it again. It's just a sublime, beautiful piece of music with great playing by the ensemble and all the individuals within.

It's interesting to note that this is the only recording on my list featuring the prolific Dave Douglas, who appeared on so many other lists in the poll. He's definitely a blind spot in my listening and record collection, and his playing in this disc definitely piques my curiosity to delve into his own catalog. Maybe I'll take a cue from the '90s list and pick up a couple of discs.

Myra Melford is a fascinating pianist. Her playing as an accompanist is as an active participant rather than a background wallflower, and I find her soloing to be inventive and playful. I'm looking forward to seeing her this summer as part of Nicole Mitchell's tribute to Alice Coltrane in Millennium Park.

More on the '90s soon....

1 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
2 William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
3 Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)
4 Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)
5 Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir, Angles of Entrance (Aarawak, 1990/1998)
6 Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny (OkkaDisk, 1994)
7 Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)
8 Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)
9 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)
10 Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge (OkkaDisk, 1999)

Continuing on through my '90s list, I'm going to talk about the other two albums that hail from Chicago, 8 Bold Souls - Sideshow, and Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir - Angles of Entrance.

The 8 Bold Souls is:

Ed Wilkerson Jr - tenor, alto and bass saxophones,  clarinet and alto clarinet
Mwata Bowden - clarinet, baritone, and tenor
Robert Griffin - trumpet and flugelhorn
Isaiah Jackson - trombone
Aaron Dodd - tuba
Naomi Millender - Cello
Harrison Bankhead - bass
Dushun Mosley - drums and percussion

Let's talk about timbre for a second. Baritone and bass saxophone, trombone, tuba, cello, bass....yep, this is definitely a low-end heavy lineup. Mingus had a penchant for the lower end of the register. When I think of groups that dealt with the deep sounds, the rock band Morphine always comes to mind, with the slide bass, baritone sax, and rumbling vocals. I've heard it described as low rock. This is low jazz.

This is my favorite recording from this group. It opens with the 17 minute Black Herman, named after the most prominent early African American magician in the United States. It starts off quiet and meditative, with a steady pulse and fascinating writing, highlighting Mr. Wilkerson's impeccable taste in orchestration and composition. Like other tracks on the album, in turns into a deep swinging piece with great solos and fantastic backgrounds that really frame the whole affair in a meaningful manner. The songs that Ed Wilkerson writes have topography, taking advantage of the full range of tones, dynamics and sound combinations.

This album also has my favorite cover of Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman, arranged for the octet, and turning into a 17 minute jam session. It opens with a statement of the main theme on the cello, solo, a beautiful interpretation that is soon joined by the bass, leading to some fantastic arco interplay. The arrangement of the melody for the whole band is absolutely stunning, and spirals upwards both density and dynamics before leading seamlessly into the solos.

As a whole, Sideshow features some absolutely fantastic writing from Mr. Wilkerson and equally as inspired playing from the band. I love the possibilities with the octet and the 8 Bold Souls take advantage of the full range.

The second album hailing from the windy city I'm going to discuss is Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir - Angles of Entrance. I always thought of the title as conceptually akin to Point of Departure. We all have to start somewhere. I must admit, this was one of two albums I suspected might not show up on any other lists, because it was released on Mr. Ewart's own small label Arawak and didn't enjoy wide distribution. I was pleasantly surprised to see Peter Breslin included it on his list.

Lester Bowie had his Brass Fantasy. Anthony Braxton had his tuba orchestra. Douglas Ewart has his clarinet choir. Maybe it's something in the water here in Chicago.

The incredible lineup is:

Douglas Ewart, Mwata Bowden, Anthony Braxton, J.D. Parran, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Ed Wilkerson Jr., and Don Byron (only on the last track) on every clarinet under the sun, joined by Malachi Favors on bass.

When I say every clarinet under the sun, that includes: Bb bass, Bb contra bass, Eb contra alto, Bb soprano, Eb alto, and also the B natural Ewartophone.

The first 4 tracks were recorded live in Atlanta. The final two tracks feature a solo clarinet piece from Mr. Ewart and a track from Merkin Hall in New York.

I wonder if there is a fascination with both the character of instruments and with timbre that leads to creating a band of clarinets. It certainly creates an otherworldly sound. The album features some great compositions and improvisations, the former of which are all attributed to Mr. Ewart, and the latter of which is to be expected with a lineup like this.

Track four, Red Hills, has become somewhat of an AACM anthem, often played when the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble convenes. The title of track three, One Love, is most likely a reference to Mr. Ewart's land of birth, Jamaica, which he still carries with him in both his accent and persona. He also has a nyabinghi drum choir that performs on occasion in Chicago.

I don't have much to say about this album, since there aren't many words that come to mind. It's absolutely singular listening experience and I enjoy it thoroughly every time I put it on. Maybe Mr. Breslin can chime in with his thoughts on the album at some point.

I haven't decided which albums to tackle next. I'm going to try and determine another thread of commonality so I can write about a few at once, but if not, I'll just lump them together.

More later....

My list has been posted over at D:O, but to reiterate:

1 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
2 William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
3 Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)
4 Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)
5 Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir, Angles of Entrance (Aarawak, 1990/1998)
6 Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny (OkkaDisk, 1994)
7 Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)
8 Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)
9 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)
10 Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge (OkkaDisk, 1999)

FYI, these were not listed in any kind of order relating to quality. It was just how I happened to write them down.

Today I'm planning to write about two of the four of these discs that hail from the great windy city of Chicago. Namely the two Fred Anderson discs,  Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge, and Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny.

Yes, I gave 4 out of my top 10 albums to discs made in Chicago. I told you I was biased. However, it really does reflect my listening from the decade, because when I delved into the wealth of music coming out of this great city, I did so in depth, and as such my collection has a decidedly Midwestern slant.

The first record I want to touch on is the Fred Anderson, Marylin Crispell, Hamid Drake disc Destiny. This recording was initiated by Ms. Crispell, as she was scheduled to play a Women In Jazz festival here in Chicago and was asked who she might like to play with. She chose Fred Anderson, and Hamid Drake was the other logical co-conspirator given his long association with Mr. Anderson.

Fred Anderson is one of my favorite artists. To my ears, he is singular in the so-called avant-garde for his lack of extended technique. If you ask him about it, he'll tell you it's because he's actually a bit older than a lot of the other players associated with the genre, and he was really deep into Charlie Parker. So that's where he's coming from: he plays lines, melodies, wrapping them around and around, but never getting into the realm of squonks and squeals.

Fred has a huge sound. Enormous even. He's said that's due to his early practice regimen of playing outside in the parks, and learning to really project. It's a wonder he projects as well as he does, given his hunched over posture that would seem to constrict his diaphragm. Anyone who's felt the physicality of his sound in person can tell you that it doesn't seem to hamper him one bit.

I've listened to Fred mostly in settings without a guitar or piano to frame his improvisations harmonically, allowing for my imagination to fill in the blanks. Fred paints pictures with his lines and I would fill in some of the colors. I remember the first time I heard this recording, it was revelatory to hear a piano framing his improvisations. I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I liked it. Crispell obviously had enormous ears, figuratively of course, and was an empathetic improvisational partner to Fred. I've seen Fred perform with people for the first time before, and when he stops playing and allows Crispell and Drake to do their thing, I can see him standing off to the side of the stage, pensive, reflective, and with a grin on his face listening to her go.

This isn't the only recording of Fred Anderson with a harmonic instrument: Birdhouse features Jim Baker on piano, Chicago Chamber Music features Bradley Parker-Sparrow on a few tracks on piano, several recordings, including the recent From the River to the Ocean feature Jeff Parker on guitar, and with Irene Shweizer on one track on Portrait, as well as this year's trio recording, which I have yet to hear.

This CD has it all for my ears: energetic swirling improvisations, sensitive avant balladry, great solo, duo, and trio interactions, and a vitality that translates from the live performance to the disc.

The second of the two Fred Anderson discs that made their way onto my list is the 1998 Live At The Velvet Lounge, showcasing Fred in my favorite setting for his music: the trio. Here he's joined by Peter Kowald and Hamid Drake; elsewhere, he's had Tatsu Aoki, Harrison Bankhead, and William Parker as the link between him and Drake in the trio setting.

Fred, in a trio, at the Velvet Lounge is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him. The two nights of music that became his recent Delmark disc Timeless were both incredible, and I count several of his performances in this format, at that venue, as my top listening concert experiences of my life.

This one consists of two long, 30 minute-ish improvisations that bookend a more restrained second track. Fred Anderson always manages to make music that captures my imagination, first and foremost. When I listen, I am transported, and he always brings me back down for a safe landing. His musical relationship with Hamid Drake can't be emphasized enough: they have an incredible level of comfort, while retaining the ability to challenge each other through their interplay.

I think both Destiny and the Live at the Velvet Lounge disc are out of print unfortunately. If you come across a used copy, grab it up.

More on the other two Chicago discs soon....

As I'm sure you're already aware, Destination: Out is posting a 5 part series of best of lists from the 1990s. By process of elimination, my list should be posted in the next couple of days, after which I am going to dedicate a several posts to reviewing and talking about the albums on my list and what makes them distinct and part of my musical pantheon from that decade.

But before I get into the nitty gritty, I wanted to explain my own methodology and background so you can better contextualize my list.

First, the disclaimers: I am not a critic. I do not have an unlimited budget CDs, and I do not receive promo copies of CDs to review. I do not claim to be evaluating the music of the 1990s on any kind of objective level relating to quality or value. My list is wrought with favoritism, bias, and even some nostalgia.

With that said, I think my list offers a unique perspective on the music of the 1990s. I'm going to venture a guess that I'm probably around the lower end of the age bracket of people submitting lists, so my musical awareness wasn't as broad as it might have been otherwise in the 90s. As such, I spent more time during that decade digging through the past than I did paying attention to the present. Only as I started following the threads back to the current time did I wind my way through that decade.

As such, I had nowhere near a comprehensive collection of seminal recordings from the decade. I've already pinpointed some future purchases perusing the lists of others, and I'm sure more will come to light in the next few days. Needless to say, there are some major blind spots in my perspective on the 90s.

It's a fantastic resource put together by the D:O guys and they deserve a lot of credit for organizing and executing the project. Highlighting the continued vitality of the music can only be a good thing.

More soon...