There is plenty of variety to the third album by the unique World Saxophone Quartet. The music ranges from nearly free improvisations to the four-part "Suite Music," which was almost completely written out. Rather than being a screamfest for the four innovative saxophonists (baritonist Hamiet Bluiett, altoists Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake and tenor saxophonist David Murray, all of whom double on other reeds), this is a well constructed and sometimes surprisingly accessible (although always explorative) program.
Genre - Jazz
Styles - Avant Garde Jazz
Time - 39:49
Format - mp3@320 Kbps
Size - 90 mb
Tracks
01. Sundance
02. Plainsong
03. Connections
04. W.S.Q.
05. Pillars Latino
06. Suite Music: The Key/Ballad For Eddie Jefferson/Pam-Maw/Hattie Wall
07. Sound Light
08. Fast Life
Credits
Julius Hemphill (alto sax, soprano sax, flute)
Oliver Lake (soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet)
Hamiet Bluiett (baritone sax, alto clarinet)
Label
Black Saint, 1980
2 comentarios:
Just great!!!
This World Saxophone Quartet album was their second, and it has the classic lineup of David Murray, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, and Hamiett Bluiett. "Sundance" seems like a statement of purpose. It's under three minutes long, and has a catchy groove. You immediately hear how the limitations of having four saxophones shapes the sound. Since there isn't a rhythm section to keep the song propelled, the saxes have to keep on playing. Grooves and ostinatos become more obvious because the saxophone is a lead instrument. If you're not hypnotised by it, you might dislike it. "Plainsong" is another catchy one, but more complicated. It has lines that weave in and out of each other. "Plainsong" is like plainsong in that it's unaccompanied voices, where these are saxophones, but this song is very jazzy. I would almost switch the titles of the first two songs, they'd be a little more descriptive. "Connections" starts with a long unaccompanied alto solo, then a Hamiett Bluiett baritone solo. It stays free and improvised throughout. The title track, "W. S. Q." has a repetitive figure on top, then a sinuous part underneath. "Pillars Latino" has something of a clarion call figure in the beginning, then gets to a mixture of written out and improvised sections. "Suite Music" packs a lot of good ideas into a short time. "Sound Light" is another free song. "Fast Life" has a good mixture of groove and improvised sections. At one point it sounds like all four of the band are improvising along, and it sounds great. This is highly recommended.