Word: avante
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Stanton Davis and Ghetto Mysticism. Expect for a short fill-in gig a while back, this marks the first engagement at Boston's best jazz club for this locally based avant garde group. It's been long awaited. Trumpetist Davis leads a six man contingent with a free-wheeling, fluid style that fits in somewhere between the wanderings of freer "black music" and the excesses of more melodic (read electronic) music. Davis and Ghetto Mysticism have been nearly alone as proponents of free music in Boston, and anyone whose ears have been plugged against the softer wares of so-called...
...least a temporary suspension of conventional musical expectations is also necessary for an appreciation of these four albums. Given such a suspension, the records present a superb example of both the successes and failures of the music that has been labelled avant-garde jazz. The four featured musicians represent a fair selection of the music's most important figures. Ornette Coleman (alto saxophone) and Cecil Taylor (piano) were among the first of avant-garde's proponents. Albert Ayler (tenor sax) was an influential force in the music throughout the '60s and Marion Brown (tenor sax) is a late-blossomer...
...Vibrations Ayler is backed up by a group remarkably sympathetic to his inclinations. All have strong connections with the avant-garde movement: Sonny Murray (drums) had worked extensively with Cecil Taylor, don Cherry (trumpet) with Ornette Coleman and Gary Peacock (bass) with Paul Bley. Each listens to the others to produce an intricately balanced counterpoint. On 'Mothers,' Cherry soars off in clear tones against the gruff, grinding bass of Peacock. When Ayler enters with huge, broad sweeps of melody line, Cherry switches to a jabbing attack of quick phrases...
Cecil Taylor's Silent Tongues stands out from the previous three records both because of its format (solo piano) and its recording date (it was recorded at last year's Montreux festival). The album provides a fair sample of what '60s avant-garde music is doing in the '70s as well as how a difference in format necessitates a difference in approach...
Perhaps what these four records bring out clearest is that avant-garde jazz, far from being a music apart, is one that stems directly out of the jazz tradition. The music makes more radical demands on the listener than earlier forms of jazz, but it also offers proportional rewards. While these records represent an important step towards American recognition of avant-garde jazz, they also ironically underline America's neglect of the music. All four alubms were recorded in Europe and three of the four have been widely available there for several years. Clearly the music deserves better...