Horace Tapscott

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....

There's an article in the Boston Globe about Vijay Iyer and his recent AAJ article talking about "maximum creative risk" - not much new added to the conversation that we've already had about the article, an example of traditional media being a day late and a dollar short when compared to the quick to respond blogosphere.

David has a nice post up that adds to the line of thought started by Mwanji about race and jazz. I thought it was interesting considering I had just read this article about Wynton Marsalis where he denounces all rap/hip-hop as "ghetto minstrelsy."

I found this quote from Marsalis particularly relevant:

"Every decade I try to do a record that has a kind of relationship to contemporary culture," he says. "In the 80s I did Black Codes (From the Underground); in the 90s I did Blood on the Fields; now, in this decade, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary. As I say on the rap track, Where Y'All At, 'You got to speak the language the people are speakin'/ 'Specially when you see the havoc it's wreakin'.' Sometimes it's important to speak in the vernacular, both lyrically and musically."

If it's important to speak in the "vernacular" some of the time, I wonder what language he's speaking the rest of the time.

There's a nice post up on Rifftides about the sheer number of discs being produced in and around the jazz/creative music scene and the dilemma of a reviewer in trying to listen to it all. The only publication I know that comes close is Signal to Noise.

My listening has brought another gem in front of my ears, Dissent or Descent by Horace Tapscott, featuring Fred Hopkins on bass and Ben Riley on drums. It's a killer piano trio album with great playing by all three musicians. Originally recorded in 1984, it would certainly be a good addition to that year of the Behearer project. There's a nod to Monk, fitting with Ben Riley on the drum chair, a moving rendition of "Ruby My Dear," which Tapscott chooses to perform solo. The opener "As A Child" is very moody and Tapscott really shines on "To The Great House," which has a really strong rhythmic drive and great interaction with Hopkins. There isn't anything particularly jaw dropping in any of the music, but I could listen to the record over and over. Great interplay and dynamics. There's also something about the mix - it's very even in one sense. You could probably complain that the piano is too low in the mix, but I like being able to hear Riley and Hopkins so clearly.

Here's a short clip of an interview with Ben Riley:

And here's the Monk Quartet doing Ruby My Dear in 1969: