Jazz Archives

A fascinating reissue that comfortably straddles the lines of jazz, folk, and world music, working up a storm by way of a jazz protest album that points toward the Spanish Civil War in particular and the Vietnam War in passing. Haden leads the charge and contributes material, but the real star here may in fact be Carla Bley, who arranged numbers, wrote several, and contributed typically brilliant piano work. Also of particular note in a particularly talented crew is guitarist Sam Brown, the standout of "El Quinto Regimiento/Los Cuatro Generales/Viva la Quince Brigada," a 21-minute marathon. Reissue producer Michael Cuscuna has done his best with the mastering here, but listeners will note a roughness to the sound -- one that is in keeping with the album's tone and attitude.

:::Review by Steven McDonald:::

Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra (1969)

1 . The Introduction 1:15
2. Song Of The United Front 1:52
3a. El Quinto Regimento (The Fifth Regiment) 20:58
3b. Los Cuatro Generales (The Four Generals)
3c. Viva La Quince Brigada (Long Live The Fifteenth Brigade)
4. The Ending To The First Side 2:07
5. Song For Chè 9:29
6. War Orphans 6:42
7. The Interlude (Drinking Music) 1:24
8. Circus '68 '69 6:10
9. We Shall Overcome 1:19

Credits
Bass, Producer - Charlie Haden
Clarinet - Perry Robinson
Cornet, Flute [Indian Wood Flute, Bamboo Flute] - Don Cherry (tracks: 3, 5)
French Horn, Percussion [Hand Wood Blocks, Bells], Performer [Crow Call], Whistle [Military Whistle] - Bob Northern
Guitar, Percussion [Thumb Piano] - Sam Brown (tracks: 1, 3 to 7)
Percussion - Andrew Cyrille (tracks: 8) , Paul Motian
Percussion [Tambourine], Arranged By - Carla Bley
Saxophone [Tenor], Clarinet - Gato Barbieri
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Alto] - Dewey Redman
Trombone - Roswell Rudd
Trumpet - Michael Mantler
Tuba - Howard Johnson

This was the first real indication to the world that Keith Jarrett was an ambitious, multi-talented threat to be reckoned with, an explosion of polystylistic music that sprawled over two LPs (now squeezed onto a single CD). Using his classic quartet (Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian) as a base, Jarrett occasionally adds the biting rock-edged electric guitar of Sam Brown and always-intriguing percussionist Airto Moreira, and indulges in some pleasant string and brass arrangements of his own, along with some grinding organ smears and acceptable soprano sax. Jarrett again turns his early rampant eclecticism loose -- from earthy gospel-tinged soul-jazz to the freewheeling atonal avant-garde -- yet this time he does it with an exuberance and expansiveness that puts his previous solo work in the shade. "Common Mama," a spicy Latin workout with brass punctuations, "Take Me Back," driving soul jazz with streaks of electric jazz-rock, and the lengthy, nearly free "Nomads" are the most invigorating tracks.

:::Review by Richard S. Ginell:::

Keith Jarrett – Expectations (1971)

1. Common Mama (8:11)
2. The Magician In You (6:52)
3. Roussillion (5:22)
4. Expectations (4:26)
5. Take Me Back (9:30)
6. The Circular Letter (For J.K.) (5:04)
7. Nomads (17:21)
8. Sundance (4:27)
9. Bring Back The Time When (If) (9:51)
10. There Is A Road (God's River) (5:32)

Credits
Arranged By - Keith Jarrett
Bass - Charlie Haden
Composed By - Keith Jarrett
Drums - Paul Motian
Engineer - James Green , Tim Geelan
Guitar - Sam Brown
Mastered By [Remaster] - Mark Wilder
Other [Back Cover Photo] - Urve Kuusik
Other [Cover Art] - Robert Horvitz
Percussion - Airto Moreira
Piano - Keith Jarrett
Producer [Digital] - Nedra Neal
Producer [Original Recordings] - George Avakian
Saxophone [Soprano] - Keith Jarrett
Saxophone [Tenor] - Dewey Redman

This album, which in the imaginary world of jazz critics has been spirited off to many a desert island, represents one of the genre's supreme paradoxes. It is a music in which the way is led by certain individual figures, most of them bandleaders. Drummer Billy Hart rarely records on his own, but has been in many great bands. Somehow, in this rare outing as a bandleader for the extravagent A&M Horizon series, he manages not only to make his best album, but the best album of partipants such as Oliver Lake, Don Pullen, Dewey Redman and Hannibal Marvin Peterson, all known as bandleaders in their own right. Bassist Dave Holland also is present as a player and composer, and while this album doesn't better Holland's Conference of the Birds, it is certainly on par with that masterpiece. These comments are offered not as a sniveling jazz critic counting great moments on an abstract abacus, but as a lifelong fan and listener to the music who recognizes there are really very few of these sorts of special records.
There are a variety of factors enhancing Enchance. Obviously, the players present are all individual stylists who bring personality, strength and spirituality to all their performances. Lake has a composition at the beginning and the end of the record, while the others including Hart come up with one tune each. This gives the program a tremendous variety, along with the use of material coming from several different sessions with overlapping but not identical instrumental line-ups. At the same time it is a remarkably consistent album that never gives the sense of jumping around from session to session or from the psyche of one creative mind to another in terms of the compositions. Hart's taste looms large over the entire project, since it has been his taste in projects as a percussionist that led him to contact with the players that are featured to begin with. He drums brilliantly throughout, including plenty of solo spots.
"Diff Customs", the opening track, is one of Lake's best jazz heads and the type of performance that, in the pre-cellular days, made car listeners pull off the road to either seek psychiatric care or call the radio station to find out where the album could be bought. The great studio production, obviously sparing no expense, is a real treat for fans of this type of music since every instrument can be heard so clearly, and so dynamically. Sometimes it is amazing how much material, including solos, ensemble transitions and thematic statements, can be packed into less than three minutes, the length of Redman's "Corner Culture". The rest of the pieces range between four and nine minutes, and there really is not a dull moment. The album actually seems be something like the essence of so many enjoyable directions in improvised music during this period and is full of the excitement such activity is known for when the action on the bandstand is at its best.

:::Review by Eugene Chadbourne:::

Billy Hart - Enchance (1977)

1. Diff Customs 5:44
2. Shadow Dance 7:43
3. Layla-Joy 6:55
4. Corner Culture 2:47
5. Rahsaan Is Beautiful 4:31
6. Pharoah 9:31
7. Hymn for the Old Year 8:48

Credits
Billy Hart - drums
Oliver Lake - alto saxophone
Dewey Redman - tenor saxophone
Hannibal Marvin Peterson - trumpet
Eddie Henderson - trumpet, flugelhorn, koto
Don Pullen - acoustic piano