Jazz Archives

When we are witness to a new kind of art, it should be noted. And though the first glimpses of an unproven form are sometimes raw, the impact is usually undeniable. This is the case with 'Emergency!'. Sometimes ugly but always real, this little record is very likely the first true and fully blended mix of modern jazz with electric rock in all its manic glory. There had been hints at it, experiments and false starts that often lacked total vision, like Cannonball Adderly's use of pop stylings in jazz. As well, Miles Davis is most often credited with being the 'father' of jazz-rock but on closer inspection, Davis is, at best, its grandfather whose 'In a Silent Way' (1969) was more a flirtation between styles than an infusion of musics. There were superior and better-realized fusion projects to come, such as John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu and the later symphonic aspirations of Chick Corea and Al Di Meola. But in hindsight, this rough, tainted and trance-induced set, deeply intuitive on a level not before heard, is the first recording of jazz artists doing what the heavy blues and psych scenes had been doing for years. And while there had been those who progressed jazz itself, such as Jimmy Giuffre, Dave Brubeck or Gunther Schuller, no one had brought together the hot bop of Coltrane with the howling rock spirit of Jimi Hendrix in the same room at the same time. Finally... Fusion with a capital 'F' had arrived, kicking and screaming but alive and well.
This session, not to be confused with Williams' first album as leader in 1964 titled 'Lifetime', had all the makings for explosive creativity and boundary-wrecking; John McLaughlin's guitar sounding more urgent and other-worldly than ever, Larry Young's irrepressible organ, and Williams' ridiculously confident charge on drums. If one didn't know better, the nine-minute title cut could just be the sound of another crazy jazz band bopping their way into the 1970's with drug-induced abandon. But the unmistakable sounds of riff rock can be heard fighting to break on through, Larry Young's insistent organ- grind, McLaughlin's lead, and the whole thing coming alive with Williams' crashes and acrobatic backbeat. Some acid mud follows, as well as passages of sheer spontaneity. 'Beyond Games' is hideous and nervous freeform featuring Williams' bizarre vocals and the 12-minute 'Where' is a troubled dervish of a jam, dizzying and sweaty with odd rhythms, sudden changes of mood and semi-classical lines running between guitar and organ. But it's the fourth, 'Vashkar', where we begin to hear the first clearly-cut form of jazz rock with all of its facets, finally gelling in the way we would become familiar with in later years showing intelligent melodics, tight dynamics, and plenty of fire. 'Via the Spectrum Road' is the requisite weird pop-psych tune, but luckily the firecracking jam 'Spectrum' wakes things up again with pure hot jazz and wild soloing from everyone. It would be the highlight of the set if not for the 13- minute 'Sangria For Three', a beautifully messy explosion of jazz rock at its most pure. 'Something Special' finishes with unsettled dissonance and closes out a musical statement so bold and irreverent that it was, in the truest sense, revolutionary. A mad experiment gone out of control and one of the most important records you will ever hear.

:::Review by Atavachron:::

Tony Williams - Emergency (1969)

1. Emergency - 9:35
2. Beyond Games - 8:17
3. Where - 12:10
4. Vashkar - 4:59
5. Via the Spectrum Road - 7:49
6. Spectrum - 8:50
7. Sangria For Three - 13:07
8. Something Special - 5:37

Credits
- Tony Williams/ drums
- John McLaughlin / guitar
- Larry Young / Organ

From the year 1964 till 1975 it was hard to predict what style Larry Young would play next. During that eleven year period he played almost every conceivable style of modern jazz and fusion, as well as psychedelic and progressive rock. After starting as a bluesy hard bop organist, Larry moved on to the dry cerebral post bop of 1965's Unity, and in 1966 decided to go avant-garde with this album, Of Love and Peace.
Although this album has many of the noisy moments you would expect from a mid 60s avant jazz record, overall I found the music on here to be a bit more relaxed and controlled than a lot of similar music from this time period. Young has a large ensemble (three horns, two drums, plus himself) assembled for this recording, but the musicians are often sensitive to each other and don't engage in competitive displays of sonic force. I especially enjoyed the two drummers (Wilson Moorman III and Jerry Thomas) who are careful to blend with each other while they create fascinating rhythmic combinations.
This album opens with Pavanne, which treads somewhat familiar ground as a Coltrane styled modal swing driven free-for-all. This is followed by Of Love and Peace, an improvisation that is abstract and somewhat quiet and relaxed compared to the opener. This tune almost sounds like a cross between 20th century concert hall music and some of Sun Ra's more unique approaches to group improvisation.
Miles' Seven Steps to Heaven opens side two and the band give it a fast chaotic and joyful reading that is somewhat reminiscent of Ornette Coleman. The album closes with Falaq, another freely improvised number that starts with a jazz pulse, but becomes more abstract as it goes. Larry turns in some trademark bizarre B3 solos on this one.
This is a great avant-garde jazz album, thoughtful and well executed, Larry and his crew avoid some of the more excessive clichés that were common in the mid 60s and create one more totally unique Larry Young album.

:::Review by Easy Money :::

Larry Young - Of Love And Peace (1966)

1. Pavanne 14:13
2. Of Love And Peace 6:34
3. Seven Steps To Heaven 10:19
4. Falaq 10:09

Credits
Drums - Jerry Thomas, Wilson Moorman III
Organ - Larry Young
Saxophone [Alto], Flute - James Spaulding
Saxophone [Tenor] - Herbert Morgan
Trumpet - Eddie Gale

The late Larry Young was an organist whose fairly brief career had lots of highs and very few middles or lows. Take this session from 1973 -- his first non-Blue Note date as a leader and post-Lifetime -- as a for instance. It is startling for its fresh look at how the organ is used in jazz and in improvisation, period. On Lawrence of Newark, Young enlisted a host of younger New York session cats who were hanging around the fringes of the funk and avant-garde scenes -- James Blood Ulmer, trumpeter Charles MacGee, Cedric Lawson, and about a dozen others all jumped into Young's dark and freaky musical stew. Made up of only five tracks, rhythm is the hallmark of the date as evidenced by the conga and contrabass intro to "Sunshine Fly Away." Deirdre Johnson's cello opens up a droning modal line for Young to slide his organ over in what passes for a melody but is more of an idea for a theme and a trio of variations. Armen Halburian's congas echo the accents at the end of the drum kit and Young's own tapering pronouncements moving back and forth between two and four chords with a host of improvisers inducing a transcendent harmonic hypnosis. The centerpiece of the album is "Khalid of Space Pt. 2: Welcome." Sun Ra's edict about all of his musicians being percussionists holds almost literally true in Young's case. The soprano saxophonist sounds as if it could be Sonny Fortune (billed as "mystery guest"), but he's way out on an Eastern modal limb. Young's right hand is punching home the counterpoint rhythm as Abdul Shadi runs all over his kit. Blood Ulmer is accenting the end of each line with overdriven power chords, and various bells, drums, congas, and djembes enter and depart the mix mysteriously. Young is digging deep into the minor and open drone chords, signaling -- à la Miles -- changes in intonation, tempo, and frequency of rhythmic attack. And the cut never loses its pocket funk for all that improvisation. It's steamy, dark, brooding, and saturated with groove. The CD reissue has fine sound and sells for a budget price; it should not be overlooked. The DJs just haven't discovered this one yet. Awesome.

:::Review by Thom Jurek:::

Larry Young - Lawrence Of Newmark (1973)

1. Sunshine Fly Away (8:37)
2. Khalid Of Space Part Two - Welcome (12:25)
3. Saudia (4:27)
4. Alive (1:50)
5. Hello Your Quietness (Islands) (10:05)

Credits
Bass - Don Pate , Juni Booth
Bongos - Abdoul Hakim
Cello - Diedre Johnson
Congas - Stacey Edwards , Umar Abdul Muizz
Drums - Abdul Shahid , Howard King , James Flores
Drums, Electric Piano - Art Gore
Electric Piano - Cedric Lawson
Guitar - James Blood Ulmer
Organ, Bongos, Vocals - Larry Young
Percussion - Armen Halburian , Jumma Santos , Poppy La Boy
Saxophone - Dennis Mourouse
Trumpet - Charles Magee

Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in June of 1970 on Columbia Records. Recording sessions took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio over the course of three days in August of 1969. The album continued Davis' experimentation of electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album. With the use of these instruments, such as the electric piano and guitar, Davis rejected traditional jazz rhythms in favor of a looser, rock-influenced improvisational style.

Often cited as one of Davis' best-selling albums and masterpieces, Bitches Brew marked a turning point in modern jazz. Upon release, it received mixed criticism from fans and critics, alike, due to the album's unconventional style and revolutionary sound. Later on, Bitches Brew gained recognition as one of jazz's greatest albums and a progenitor of the jazz rock genre, as well as a major influence on rock and funk musicians.

In February 1969, Davis recorded In a Silent Way, a bold step into ambient funk and electric futurism that inspired the trumpeter to go further out at the sessions for Bitches Brew that August. Davis wanted, he said, "the best damn rock & roll band in the world," to connect jazz with the forward motion of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. Davis' band was superbad (Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, etc.). But the word fusion was never big enough to describe the visceral thrill of these explosive studio explorations and the pioneering tape-edit wizardry of producer Teo Macero, arguably the original Chemical Brother.

No artist has ever reinvented themselves quite so much as Miles Davis. By 1969 he had already upended jazz by championing modal jazz (and in the process recording Kind of Blue which is almost universally acknowledged as the greatest jazz album of all time). By 1969 he was ready to upend it again, and his previous album In A Silent Way had already given hints of what was to come with its increasing shift from an acoustic to an electric sound.

Recording sessions:

As was Davis's practice, he called musicians to the recording studio on very short notice. A few pieces on Bitches Brew were rehearsed before the recording sessions, but other times the musicians had little or no idea what they were to record. Once in the recording studio, the players were typically given only a few instructions: a tempo count, a few chords or a hint of melody, and suggestions as to mood or tone. Davis liked to work this way; he thought it forced musicians to pay close attention to one another, to their own performances, or to Davis's cues, which could change at any moment. On the quieter moments of "Bitches Brew", for example, Davis's voice is audible, giving instructions to the musicians: snapping his fingers to indicate tempo, or, in his distinctive whisper, saying, "Keep it tight" or telling individuals when to solo.

Davis composed most of the music on the album. The two important exceptions were the complex "Pharaoh's Dance" (composed by Joe Zawinul) and the ballad "Sanctuary" (composed by Wayne Shorter). The latter had been recorded as a fairly straightforward ballad early in 1968, but was given a radically different interpretation on Bitches Brew. It begins with Davis and Chick Corea improvising on the standard "I Fall in Love too Easily" before Davis plays the "Sanctuary" theme. Then, not unlike Davis's recording of Shorter's "Nefertiti" two years earlier, the horns repeat the melody over and over while the rhythm section builds up the intensity. The issued "Sanctuary" is actually two consecutive takes of the piece.

Despite his reputation as a "cool", melodic improviser, much of Davis's playing on this album is aggressive and explosive, often playing fast runs and venturing into the upper register of the trumpet. His closing solo on "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is particularly noteworthy in this regard. Davis did not perform on the short piece "John McLaughlin".

I can't really explain what Bitches Brew is all about without a bit of historical context. This was 1969 when experimentation in music was at its height. In Britain Pink Floyd were popularising psychedelia and King Crimson were about to release In The Court of the Crimson King and invent progressive rock. In America Davis, ever the restless genius and unable to stand still musically was looking for something more radical and dramatic still. Supplementing his band up to no less than 3 keyboard players and a bass clarinet, and surrounding himself as ever with musicians of the highest caliber he went into the studio for 3 days to record a double album of 6 densely layered tracks.

So what came out? Well, easy listening this ain't and I certainly wouldn't recommend this as an introduction to Jazz or to Miles Davis (Kind of Blue does very nicely for both of those - you might as well start with the best!). The first disc consists of 2 side length tracks, "Pharoah's Dance" and "Bitches Brew", both over 20 minutes. They're both wild cocktails of smoky improvisational jazz. Pharoah's Dance is famous for having no less than 19 edits within it, some as short as 1 second long, and really marks the start of using the studio and the editing booth as an instrument in its own right. I actually can't describe either of these tracks well as each time you listen to them they sound different: there's little structure to hang on to and a mellow groove can quickly dissolve into shards of dissonance with Davis's distinctive trumpet shrieking over the top.

The second disc of the album is somewhat more relaxed. "Spanish Key" actually stays on the same groove for nearly 17 minutes (but certainly isn't boring for it). This is followed by "John McLaughlin" (yep, the track is named after the famous jazz guitarist) and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down", a menacing track that can almost sound like Led Zeppelin in parts. Finally comes "Sanctuary", a soft sad and superb close with Davis's trumpet at its most plaintive.

The effects of Bitches Brew were revolutionary. Davis had merged rock and jazz, inventing what we now call fusion (perhaps I should say remerged - after all Rock is a 50's ofshoot of Jazz). Extraordinarily for such an experimental album it was one of Davis's biggest sellers and also won him a Grammy. It's influence still permeates todays music. Thom Yorke from Radiohead admits that previous to recording their masterwork OK Computer, Bitches Brew had been lodged almost permanently in his CD player. After its release in 1970, jazz, rock, and the whole of music would never be the same.

1 - Pharaoh's Dance (19:57)

2 - Bitches Brew (26:59)

1 - Spanish Key (17:26)

2 - John Mclaughlin (4:43)

3 - Miles Runs The Voodoo Down (14:02)

4 - Sanctuary (10:53)

5 - Feio (11:49)

* Miles Davis - trumpet

* Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone

* Bennie Maupin - bass clarinet

* Chick Corea - electric piano (solo on "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down")

* John McLaughlin - guitar

* Dave Holland - bass

* Harvey Brooks - electric bass

* Lenny White - drum set

* Jack DeJohnette - drum set

* Billy Cobham - drum set

* Don Alias - congas, drum set

* Airto Moreira - percussion

* Juma Santos (credited as "Jim Riley") - shaker, congas

* Larry Young - electric piano on "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" "John McLaughlin" "Spanish Key" and "Pharaoh's Dance"

* Joe Zawinul - electric piano on "Bitches Brew" "Sanctuary" "Spanish Key" and "Pharaoh's Dance"