Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival Of America

Sorry for the lack of real, frequent writing around here, but I've been busy submerging myself in various pursuits, both professional and personal, that have been eating up most of my spare time.

As I mentioned recently, I've been listening to the Charles Brackeen Quartet Worshippers Come Nigh over and over again lately. It's a joyous, bountiful recording with fantastic playing by all parties involved (Charles Brackeen, Fred Hopkins, Olu Dara, Andrew Cyrille and Dennis Gonzalez on one track). 

Recently I was listening to it and I could have sworn I heard someone referencing Row Row Row Your Boat. I live above a coffee shop and it turns out that they were having a kids music session down there and someone was actually playing Row Row Row Your Boat. It was a strange musical moment to say the least, and made me wonder if Charles Brackeen was bleeding through the floor and into the unsuspecting minds of the youth that lingered below.

I first became aware of Charles Brackeen through the rerelease of William Parker's Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace on Eremite, and now after listening to his own music I think I can go back to that recording and pick out his voice on the tenor more easily.

Following the presence of the venerable Andrew Cyrille, I recently picked up a recording by the late great Leroy Jenkins, his 1978 Tomato Records release, Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival Of America. Featuring Leroy Jenkins, Andrew Cyrille, Anthony Davis, George Lewis, and Richard Teitelbaum. I haven't dug in deep yet, but my first two listens have revealed a recording that mixes improvisation and composition without very many overt references to jazz in a rhythmic sense. Of course, with Jenkins, there's always some bluesy undertones, and there's some beautiful playing and mixtures of timbres and textures from the ensemble throughout.

I'm sorry to hear that Andrew Hill's suffering health seems to have taken a turn for the worse - he got a nice albeit brief review in the Times for his recent Trinity Church performance. You can watch a streaming video of his performance here.  As long as his health allows, Hill will be performing here in his home town of Chicago at this year's festival. I have the pleasure of knowing someone who taught Andrew Hill in his very early years here, and I'm going to be doing some interviews with him to document his incredible stories in the near future. I'll be sure to talk to him about his early impressions of Hill.

Here's two clips from YouTube of a recent performance by Anthony Braxton, William Parker, and Hamid Drake (!) in Italy: