Forces such as saxophonists John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders explore the Spiritual Jazz side about the mid 60s. How to depict Spiritual Jazz?
Evangelics influence for certain. In the case of Sanders, extensive repetition, chants, variations, not unlike a Gospel; African roots manifest; heavy cymbals and crashes on occasion; otherwise an appropriately subdued tapestry. A calming spiritual journey.
Quiet different with Coltrane, not to even speak of the greater overall contribution as an innovator. The mid 60s see a mixture of Free Jazz with a spiritual twist. I don’t know if the striking 1966 Meditations is an irony or a particularly expressive gamut of emotions exploring the Holy Trinity, in contrast to the more ‘down to earth’ Expression and Stellar Regions.
Avant Garde, Kulu Sé Mama and the explosive Ascention focus extensively on what I’ve conflated as Free Jazz with a heavy, dense delivery. The latter, akin to Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz, layers a sequence of improvisations by each musician across the big-band ensemble; opened and closed to a monolithic big bang.
Archie Shepp brings politics, activism, African traditions and even ritualistic, tribal motives - take The Magic of Ju-Ju (1967) - into the motley.
Now the poetry recitations, alluring in their own right and added to the unconventional panorama, render me powerless like oarsmen in the prospect of sirens.
Both the innovative studio work (ie Mama Too Light, Ju-Ju, Blasé, Attica Blues), and the cathartic live material (New Thing at Newport, the explosive Steam I’m hearing this instant, and the hypnotizing 1982 Mama Rose) are some of the best I’ve heard.
I might consider Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz contributions, arguably the whole lot, more methodical than Coltrane’s. The earlier acoustic band, the 70s electric, the Harmolodics, all make for historical contributions deserving gentle handling in the National Registry, however ungentle to the ear.
Of all I’d heard from the late fifties and over a thirty year span, I’d identified maybe a tenth not worth continued exploration and further discovery.
I’ve come to associate Charlie Haden’s bass harmonies almost exclusively with Coleman’s sound, notwithstanding Haden’s diverse career.
The epic Science Fiction (1971) bridges the preceding acoustic and the subsequent electric with a heavy ensemble, superbly superimposed vocals and alluring Charlie Haden bass lines.
I always thought of the (1985) Song X with Pat Methany as another of those fusions of periods. That guitar synthesizer took a while to appreciate though. Heavy emotional interplay. Occasional violence. Blazing bass riffs (again, Haden).
The 1977 chef d'oeuvre Dancing in your Head, along with Body Meta, Of Human Feelings are the quintessential Harmolodics albums. Each mingles with Funk to an increasing extent. For a while, I couldn’t evict the number Jump Street out of my head.
One has to learn to appreciate the Harmolodics philosophy, that interplay of the multiple guitars with the saxophone and bass, those endless variations of the same seemingly base ostinato, no strict rhythm-melody divide, simultaneous improvisation: you could say melody, rhythm, but lacking the traditional harmony.
There are sounds which form their independent niche: the Harpsichord, for instance, with the flare for the Hellenic antiquity. I’ve particularly enjoyed Alice Coltrane’s contributions both on the Harpsichord and Piano in those ultimate John Coltrane albums, though also the independent work.
The vibraphone and the marimba, used traditionally … in what, precisely? Dixieland and New Orleans? Elevators and cocktail lounges? Convention defyingly, Bobby Hutcherson established as the 1960s vibraphone figure par excellence, both as a leader and sideman: recordings with Archie Shepp and Eric Dolphy spring to mind in particular. The vibes inspire all sorts of lucid imagery and classic B&W cinema.
Plenty of other names charter the Jazz avantgarde. I’ve already addressed the enigmatic Sun Ra. Among others: Marion Brown, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill. For these latter I’ve not yet developed as strong of an attachment nor as wide of an exposure, or in the case of Dolphy, for the little available during the short lifetime.
Questions, comments? Connect.