2015年3月17日火曜日

音楽 : ESP 1002 Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity

ESP 1002



ESP's first recording session was on July 10, 1964, in the tiny Variety Arts Recording Studio, just off Times Square. Just before 1 PM, SUNNY MURRAY arrived, a large, genial walrus, moving and speaking with an easy agility that belied his appearance. GARY PEACOCK was next, tall, thin, ascetic looking, and soft spoken, with an introspective and kindly demeanor. ALBERT AYLER was last, small, wary and laconic. The walls of the reception area were covered with Latin album jackets. The engineer quickly set up the mikes and began the session. B sat outside in the reception area with Annette Peacock, Gary's wife. As the music was heard through the open outer door of the control room, felt a sense of jubilation. At one point, the engineer fled the control room for a few minutes, but returned in time to change the tape for the next selection. When the session was over, B learned that it had been recorded in monaural, although he remembered requesting a stereo recording. Happily, the engineer Joe had properly miked and mixed the session, and the recording stands today as a classic of the genre. After the session, the participants sat in a coffee shop next door, while they were paid and signed recording agreements. A few days later, B saw them off on their flight to Europe from Idlewild International Airport for a European tour. DON CHERRY was with them.

For the Spiritual Unity 50th Anniversary Expanded Edition, we have added a bonus track: the performance briefly and accidentally substituted for "Spirits" on an early vinyl edition. It is the same tune known as "Vibrations" on the album of that title on Arista/Freedom (AKA Ghosts when issued on Debut) and as "[tune Q]2" on the Revenant box set Holy Ghost. It will be the first time both "Spirits" and "Vibrations" have been on a single ESP edition of Spiritual Unity. We have also just repressed the standard vinyl edition of Spiritual Unity (without the fifth track), but if you purchase it via espdisk.com, it comes with a free download including the bonus track.

Personnel

Albert Ayler (ts)
Gary Peacock (b)
Sunny Murray (d)


Track Listing

1. Ghosts (1st variation)
2. The Wizard
3. Spirits
4. Ghosts (2nd variation)

Press Quotes

"Spiritual Unity was the album that pushed Albert Ayler to the forefront of jazz's avant-garde, and the first jazz album ever released by Bernard Stollman's seminal ESP label. It was really the first available document of Ayler's music that matched him with a group of truly sympathetic musicians, and the results are a magnificently pure distillation of his aesthetic. Bassist Gary Peacock's full-toned, free-flowing ideas and drummer Sunny Murray's shifting, stream-of-consciousness rhythms (which rely heavily on shimmering cymbal work) are crucial in throwing the constraints off of Ayler's playing. Yet as liberated and ferociously primitive as Ayler sounds, the group isn't an unhinged mess -- all the members listen to the subtler nuances in one another's playing, pushing and responding where appropriate. Their collective improvisation is remarkably unified -- and as for the other half of the album's title, Ayler conjures otherworldly visions of the spiritual realm with a gospel-derived fervor." - Steve Huey

音楽 : ESP 1074  Burton Greene - The Burton Greene Trio On Tour

ESP 1074
Burton Greene - The Burton Greene Trio On Tour


First-ever American CD edition of this lost classic, recorded "live" during ESP's 1966 New York State College Tour. The "piano harp" credit is Greene's way of noting that he plays inside the piano, directly on the strings – the first jazz pianist to do so on record, taking a page from avant-gardist Henry Cowell's book. In his notes to the original LP, included complete in this reissue, Greene writes, "The tour found people largely unexposed to this music. They were often shaken up. Some were deeply moved. Those who came for a total body and soul experience were rewarded with the vibrations. The people who constantly needed the theoretical approach or 'road maps' were not.... Like the time a boat load of people left the hall at a lecture following a performance at Fredonia State Teacher's College. We had the audacity to tell people that not only was our approach to music valid but that often the results were as musically complex and often more so than, let's say Beethoven. Throughout the tour we continued to denigrate the idea of the 'sacred cow' and tried to encourage people to learn to do their own thing rather than to follow us blindly and mimic our techniques etc."

Personnel

Burton Greene (p, piano harp)
Steve Tintweiss (b)
Shelly Rusten (per)

Track Listing

1. Bloom In The Commune
2. Ascent
3. Tree Theme
4. Transcendence

"The New York State College Tour", NYC, April-May, 1966

Press Quotes

"Pianist Burton Greene ('37) is a major figure in the free jazz revolution of '60s New York." – Portland Monthly
"Pretty far out work from pianist Burton Greene...Steve Tintweiss on bass and Shelly Rusten on drums…give Burton plenty of space to stretch out in an open-ended, freely improvised sort of way. There's a very spacious, dynamic style to the music – with oblique segments interspersed with more wide open ones, and occasional crescendos with wide sheets of sound." – DustyGroove.com





音楽 : ESP 1013 Giuseppi Logan - More

ESP 1013
Giuseppi Logan - More


More, Giuseppi Logan's second album, has two tracks from the same legendary May 1st, 1965 Town Hall concert, produced by ESP-Disk' owner Bernard Stollman, that gave us Albert Ayler's Bells. This ESP-Disk' 50th Anniversary Remaster edition of More includes previously unissued music from Logan's set that reissue producer Michael D. Anderson discovered at the end of the Bells master tape. The astonishing thing about this 10-minute segment of audio tape is that it is the continuation of the second track, “Shebar,” extending its length to 19 minutes. On the original album, there is a fade, but with the inclusion of this newly discovered segment, the performance continues to the end of the song and of the group's performance. Note: The slight distortion heard momentarily on the added portion exists on the original master tape and could not be corrected, but the historical value in hearing the entire performance warrants its inclusion.

50th Anniversary Remaster - 2013

Personnel

Giuseppi Logan (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute -1,2,4; piano -3)
Don Pullen (piano -1,2,4)
Reggie Johnson (bass -1,2)
Eddie Gomez (bass -4)
Milford Graves (drums, percussion -1,2,4)


Track Listing

1. Mantu

2. Shebar

3. Curve Eleven

4. Wretched Sunday

2015年3月15日日曜日

音楽 : ESP-5006 John D. Thomas - Serious Business

ESP 5006
John D. Thomas - Serious Business


At age 19, guitarist John D. Thomas was enlisted as a sideman by both Jimmy McGriff and Joe Henderson for recordings and concerts. In the following years he worked with some of the greatest names in jazz, including the AACM Big Band, Stanton Davis, Carter Jefferson, Andrew Cyrille, Kenny Drew, John Lewis, Harold Ousley, and Chet Baker. After his 1977 move to Europe, he toured the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East, performing extensively with Charles Tolliver (1980-90), Joe Henderson, Art Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, Malachi Thompson, Sonny Stitt, Tony Scott, and many others. He joined the Art Taylor Quartet in 1978 and performed with it until 1984. Birth of the Cool trombonist Mike Zwerin enlisted John for two tours in Africa in 1980 and 81.

Mr. Thomas has also toured and performed at festivals, concerts, and clubs throughout Europe and Africa with his own bands: John Thomas and Lifeforce, Serious Business, John Thomas Quartet, and Extremely Serious Business. In 1980 he received the endorsement of the National Endowments' "Arts America" program, on whose active list he remained for ten years. In 1986 his group Extremely Serious Business traveled to sub-Saharan Africa under the auspices of this U.S. State Department program. Since his return to the United States in 1991, he has appeared with his own quartet, trio, and an updated version of Extremely Serious Business that performs his own compositions. It was also at this time that he began a two-year relationship with organist Charles Earland. He moved to Boston in 1994, where he performed regularly with different formations, including Kenwood Dennard’s Real
Thing. Mr. Thomas has also enjoyed a 40-year career in higher education, both in Europe and at a famous New England music school.

This is the first time that this 1985 album has been released in digital formats. It is a significant album in Mr. Thomas's discography as the first use on record of a prototype pickup system invented by Professor Dr. Ernst Nourney of the Fachhochschule, Nord-Rhein West-Falen in Düsseldorf, Germany. Dr. Nourney's innovative device was comprised of a "hexcentric pickup" – one pickup for each individual string – converting pitch to voltage, and an exciter pickup used to create a magnetic field to induce vibration of each string independently. This means the player could not only hold any note without further electronic manipulation, but even play the instrument with one hand, if desired.

Personnel
John D. Thomas: all guitars

Gerd Breuer: drums

Claude Gouiffé: bass (#1-3)

Bert Thompson: bass (#4-5)

Markus Becker: keyboards

Christoph Erbstösser: DX7 (#4-5)


Track Listing

1. Boulder Brothers
2.Born To Love
3. Hard Boys (Kiss ass)
4. For Me
5. Hess-Strasse

Press Quotes
"[John Thomas has] a unique solo style. John's latest offering gives a superb example of why, in my opinion, he is one of the all-time great jazz guitarists." – saxophonist Charles Tolliver, December 2014

音楽 : ESP-5005 Extremely Serious Business - Headwall

ESP 5005
Extremely Serious Business - Headwall


Mr. Thomas's band of the 1980s, Serious Business (heard on ESP5006), focused on his fusion and 'free funk' compositions played with an electric sound. Extremely Serious Business marked a turning point, a return to a more acoustic setting while remaining true to the pioneering spirit of "improvisation along the edges." Extremely Serious Business showcases his unique compositional skills and style while carrying on the long lineage of cutting-edge soloing "outside the changes."

Headwall combines freedom in composition and conceptualization with a kickass groove to set a new standard in jazz-guitar. This previously unreleased album features mostly a traditional acoustic jazz-guitar sound, but also includes two tracks with guitar synthesizer out front. All tracks were recorded with 'live' musicians with the exception "Song for My Father," done in duo with drummer Tom Garner, with overdubbing. Mr. Thomas says, "Equally noteworthy is the incredible mix present throughout. Unlike previous recordings where the guitar sometimes appears either too far back or the sound too tinny and less full, this album exceeds previous mix attempts in achieving both balance and clarity."

Drummer Thomas Garner is originally from North Carolina. Mr. Thomas met Mr. Garner while he lived in the Boston area and was a regular in different bands Thomas put together. Mr. Thomas calls him a "really mellow dude who loves world rhythms." Pianist/keyboardist Greg Burk is a former instructor at New England Conservatory and an accomplished soloist and accompanist with Bob Moses and Dave Liebman. Mr. Burke now lives in Italy and plays solo concerts regularly. Bassist Paul Beaudry is a San Diego native who was very active on the Boston scene before his New York
move, where he is now a regular. Mr. Thomas says, "Paul brings that big warm sound and incredible chops to every gig." Guitarist Avi Rothbart is a former student of Mr. Thomas's who is now well established on the New York scene.


Personnel

John D. Thomas, guitar, guitar synthesizer, keyboards, electric bass

Greg Burke, piano, synthesizer

Paul Beaudry, contrabass

Tom Garner, drums

Avi Rothbard, guitar (#7 only)


Track Listing

1. Codex

2. Song For Max

3. Playground

4. 3000 Worlds

5. Song For My Father

6. Headwall

7. Yesterdays

Press Quotes
"[John Thomas has] a unique solo style. John's latest offering gives a superb example of why, in my opinion, he is one of the all-time great jazz guitarists." – saxophonist Charles Tolliver, December 2014