FREE THE MIND OF ANALYSIS BECAUSE IT HAS NO MEANING
HARMOLODIC / FREE JAZZ / POST / HARD / AND BEBOP / FUSION / RAGTIME / AVANT GARDE / JASS / SHOUT / 3RD STREAM / STANDARDS / BIG BAND / BLACK MUSIC /FREE JAZZ / POST / HARD / AND BEBOP / FUSION / RAGTIME / AVANT GARDE / STANDARDS / BIG BAND / BLACK MUSIC
anthony braxton's arista albums are long out of print. they are, however, for the record collector, not all that hard to find; and more often than not, not too expensive. but over the years i have watched the prices of these albums go up. every time i come across one of these albums i buy it. i have quite a few of them. and there are a lot. and they are all really really good.
mosaic records put out the whole catalog. oh-m-g.
here's a link to a magical place where you can download the box set.
the first time i heard this album was the first time i heard charles gayle. i checked it out from the eugene public library when i was about 19. i actually kept it till it was way overdue. back in those days i didn't have access to cd burning so i dubbed it to tape. when the tape wore out, i tried to buy an actual copy for myself - only to find that it had gone out of print and was now selling for 30$ or 40$ online. i would totally pay that much for a vinyl copy...but for a cd? anyway, its since been reissued, in all of its amazing 5 part glory. this is truly an amazing, beautiful recording. high energy, soulful, and free.
here's a little snippet from the label that has reissued "touchin' on trane"
"This is Charles Gayle’s most accessible work. Gayle’s mastery of free jazz is blended with a more traditional compositional style of jazz on this disc. Touchin’ on Trane is composed of five original songs, and even includes ex-Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali. As the title insists, Coltrane is the influence for the music on this disc. The influence ranges from the upbeat tempo of “Giant Steps” in “Part A,” while “Part D” is reminiscent of Coltrane’s “Live in Japan” performances. Gayle, bassist William Parker, and Ali don’t copy Coltrane, but rather expand on his accomplishments. Without covering any songs, Touchin’ on Trane is the greatest John Coltrane tribute album."
i wouldn't really say that this is gayles most "accessible" work. in fact, i would say that this album definitely not gayles most accessible work. and one thing is for sure, if we are going to compare this album to other forms of jazz, or let alone, other forms of music, that are considered accessible, than i would definitely have to say that this album is definitely not accessible.
this album does however manage to touch on the sound of john coltrane's later recordings - hence the title - a sound that is rarely attempted and/or accomplished.
touchin' on trane charles gayle, tenor sax william parker, bass rashied ali, drums
i spent a whole summer learning this song. i never got it completely right, though i came close.
i first heard this song during one of my stays at the winberry timber sale in oregon, where i was part of a direct action campaign to stop the logging of the old growth trees there. one hot summer weekend i brought my room mate out to the sale. we climbed up into the tree sits, chatted with my friends that were living in the trees at the time, and ate dinner 150' off the ground on a platform that hung in a tree named life. after dinner he grabbed my guitar and played this song. i had no idea at the time he could even play guitar. he did pretty well, considering he was playing a childrens model guitar my dad bought in the 60's for 25$ at a hardware store in enterprise, oregon.
heitor villa-lobos was a composer from brazil. he wrote some of my favorite songs. and this one is at the top of the charts for me.
here is some old footage of ida presti playing Prelude No. 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Beautiful.
