Sabir Mateen - Prophecies Come to Pass (577 Records, 2006)
Philadelphia native and Sam Rivers disciple Sabir Mateen is very active on the downtown jazz scene playing tenor saxophone, flute and clarinet in a number of bands. Here he is joined by Matt Lavelle on trumpets; Steve Swell on trombone; Matthew Heyner on bass and Michael Thompson on drums. Although the music is dedicated to the late trumpet master Raphe Malik, it is the spirit of Albert Ayler and the raggedly beautiful music made by the bands he led that permeates this live recording.
"Sekasso Blues" leads things off with bowed bass and drums before the horns kick in with a funky fanfare. Mateen then takes the lead with an inquisitive and probing solo. The trumpet chimes in urging a faster pace using bursts of energy before moving on to an extended solo backed by raw drumming.
There is an open, well paced drum solo before the group lurches back into a feisty reprise of the original theme, and then a raucous free improv tag ending.
"The Beauty Within" has a yearning theme featuring bowed bass and drums. Mateen's flute enters bashfully with a lilting solo before moving into "Everyone's Got Something To Say"which picks up the pace with some intense collective free improvisation.
Lavene breaks free to solo on trumpet and then Sabir re-emerges on clarinet to lead the group into the title track "Prophecies Come to Pass" the third and final part of this epic medley which opens with some spaceous interplay. A fast walking bass solo leads the group and everybody raises the cacophony to a Ayler-like spiritual ecstasy before trumpet and drums depart into a forceful private conversation. "Sentimentally" slows things down considerably as the title might indicate.
Sabir plays some lonesome and bluesy tenor with an occasional screech into the upper regions. Then "Children Of The Creator" ends the disc on a very high note. Beginning with a ragged theme reminiscent of the Ayler bands from their wonderfully exciting Greenwich Village recordings, the theme gives way to an intense speaking-in-tongues improvisation which provides the most direct link to the Ayler legacy.
This is a very good example of the type of raw creative jazz that is being played in downtown New York on a nightly basis. While it doesn't get the same amount of attention as the mainstream of jazz, it is a vital and vibrant part of the larger music scene.
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Thursday, July 20, 2006
It's Readers Poll time again, make sure to cast you ballot... here's mine:
Hall of Fame - Jimmy Smith
Musician of the Year - Andrew Hill
Album of the Year - Andrew Hill - Time Lines
Historical Album of the Year - Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sesions, 1970
Record Label - Blue Note
Jazz Combo - The Bad Plus
Jazz Big Band - Sam Rivers Riv-Bea Orchestra
Blues Musician - Joe Louis Walker
Blues Album - Otis Rush - All Your Love I Miss Loving
Composer - Dave Douglas
Trumpet - Ron Horton
Trombone - Robin Eubanks
Soprano Saxophone - Wayne Shorter
Alto Saxophone - Arthur Blythe
Tenor Saxophone - Chris Potter
Baritone Saaxophone - Alex Harding
Flute - Sam Rivers
Clarinet - Chris Speed
Electronic Keyboard - Uri Caine
Acoustic Piano - Chick Corea
Organ - Alice Coltrane
Guirtar - Ben Monder
Bass - Mario Pavone
Drums - Hamid Drake
Percussion - Susie Ibarra
Vibes - Steve Nelson
Misc. Instrument - David Murray, Bass Clarinet
Male Singer - Mose Allison
Female Singer - Luciana Souza
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A couple of more interesting have come down the pike recently, including a concert of trumpeter Roy Campbell at the hallowed rock 'n' roll venue CBGB's in New York on May 4, 2003.
Along for the ride are Joe Morris on bass, Sabir Mateen on saxophones, flute and clarinet and Luther Grey on drums. Roy is very relaxed, engaging in banter with the crowd for quite some time before launching into the set. The first song is rocket fueled with Sabir sticking to tenor and everybody wailing in a free groove.
After the first song completes, this audience tape picks up one of the patrons commenting that the band was smoking tonight, true enough as Sabir Mateen breaks out his whole arsenal of reeds and moves Sam Rivers like through saxophones and breathy flute before setting a cauldron of bubbling clarinet underneath Campbell's sputtering trumpet on the second piece. Sabir Mateen is truly the renaissance man of downtown jazz. The band goes back into a lengthy burner to take the concert to a close, powerful stuff indeed.
I've seen saxophonist Eric Person live twice and he never failed to disappoint. So it's something of a mystery why he's never gotten a major label shot. On this concert from DeKalb, IL on Nov.
16, 2005 he's supported by his band Meta Four made up of John Esposito on piano, Adam Armstrong on bass, Peter O'Brien on drums, and Fareed Haque questing on guitar on the final track. They practice a strong brand of Coltrane inspired acoustic jazz. Pianist Esposito is a dead ringer for McCoy Tyner with his heavy approach to comping and fast, fluid soloing.
Person switches deftly between tenor and soprano saxophones with aplomb. The band is tight and well rehearsed as only a long time touring group can be. Fans of mid-period Coltrane ('62-'64) would find a lot to enjoy in this band, as they are a good group that deserves more attention.
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Five Favorite John Coltrane Albums: I have been reading Ashley Kahn's "biography" of the Impulse record label and since Coltrane was certainly the loadstar of that label I've been thinking about my favorite Coltrane records, not necessarily from Impulse but over his whole career.
5.
Blue Train: Coltrane's sole effort for Blue Note Records (image for a minute an alternate universe where he recorded for BN instead of Impulse 'til '67...
what would the music have sounded like?) He fits in perfectly to Blue Note's hard-bop esthetic and "Moment's Notice" and the title track would become famous, but there's not a bad cut on the record. Great cover photo with a blue (naturally) tinted photo of a somber but yearning young Coltrane.
4. Meditations: This album captures the Coltrane band in mid-transition from the great quartet to a larger, freer band. Pharoah Sanders howls like a channeling mystic acting as a counterweight to Coltrane who's tenor is deep and true and always in control.
This is another suite of spiritual music, but unlike A Love Supreme which achieves a near state of grace, this album is infused with tension. It's tense and uncomfortable, yet the energy and sense of relentless exploration is palpable.
3.
Interstellar Space: A lot of people have trouble sticking with Coltrane's recordings after A Love Supreme with the material becoming caustic and ecstatic as the quartet broke up and fellow seekers like Pharoah Sanders emerged. But Coltrane always had a tremendous rapport with drummers whether it was Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones or in this case Rashied Ali. This is a suite of music written for the planets where Coltrane and Ali lock into a deep open groove that is free, yet very accessible.
This is serious and spiritual music but it's never somber. This is John Coltrane's most overlooked LP.
2.
A Love Supreme: The technical genius is still here of course, but this album is all about the passion of Coltrane's religious convictions. The apex of the so-called "classic quartet" was reached with this suite, where the band stopped functioning as individuals and became cohesive and organic whole. Coltrane's searing re-entry into "Resolution" may be the most transcendent, goosebump raising moment in jazz.
1. Giant Steps: Speed kills..
. this album floored me when I first discovered jazz and has been at the top of my list ever since. The speed and passion of "Giant Steps" and "Mr.
P.C." are stunning and the band makes it seem so fluid and easy.
The beautiful melodic interplay of "Naima," "Syeeda's Song Flute" and "Cousin Mary" are a joy to behold. This is the perfect melding of technical mastery and artistic majesty.
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