John O’Gallagher: Ancestral

     “Who’s the drummer?” is often the first thing I want to know when I look at a new release. When I glanced at the cover of alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher’s Ancestral, and saw the names of two exceptional master percussionists, Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart, plus guitarist Ben Monder, I knew I was in for an exciting musical experience. And so it has proved. Cyrille and Hart have never recorded together before, but their collective spirit and breadth of experience makes the double drumming and the unusual quartet instrumentation sound totally natural. All the compositions are by O’Gallagher, and their open-ended nature gives the players plenty to work with. O’Gallagher’s powerful voice on alto, which sometimes reminds me of late Art Pepper, is never less than thrilling. His imaginative solo style draws on his own decades of playing in a wide variety of contexts and his immersion in late-period recordings of John Coltrane. The compelling Altar of the Ancestors is a clear homage to the glorious duets with Rashied Ali on Coltrane’s Interstellar Space. That’s just one standout among many. The stately and elegant Profess is another. Monder and O’Gallagher play the theme loosely together, then the saxophonist straps in for a passionate and urgent solo. All the while, Cyrille and Hart are churning and roiling underneath. Monder tosses out an exciting solo, spurring the drummers’ on and being stimulated in turn. Another highlight is Quixotica, a mournful ballad that puts O’Gallagher out front with the melody caressed by Monder’s quietly sympathetic lines and carefully restrained drumming. Everybody cuts loose on the improvised Postscript which closes the CD. Monder’s playing on the session ranges from clean chordal passages to electronically altered explosions of sound, and pretty much everything in between. From the photos from the session, it appears that everyone was playing together in the same space, and without headphones. It might be an old-fashioned way to record, but when the musicians are totally in sync with one another, it’s a method that often yields superior results to a more isolated studio situation. The deeply impressive Ancestral testifies to that approach. Warmly recommended. 

Whirlwind WR4840; John O’Gallagher (as) Ben Monder (g) Andrew Cyrille, Billy Hart (d); Montclair, NJ, no dates specified; Awakening/ Under the Wire/ Contact/ Tug/ Profess/ Altar of the Ancestors/ Quixotica/ Postscript; 44:39. whirlwindrecordings.com

Jim Snidero: For All We Know

  Alto saxophonist Jim Snidero has always had a beautiful tone and a bountiful musical imagination. With For All We Know, his latest offering for Savant Records, he has recorded in a trio format with just bass and drums for the first time. Bassist Peter Washington initially worked with the saxophonist in 1987 for a Snidero album on Criss Cross. Snidero must have really liked what he heard on that occasion, since Washington has played on a lot of his recording sessions since that first encounter. Drummer Joe Farnsworth was on Snidero’s last two outings alongside Washington. The two have established a intuitive link that gives Snidero a firm but flexible foundation for his improvisations. I was pretty much hooked by the time Naima came around. That’s the second track in a well-selected range of standards and jazz compositions. He mostly just caresses the exquisite melody of Coltrane’s famous ballad, and that’s enough for me. Other high points include a slowly drifting excursion through Alec Wilder’s Blackberry Winter, featuring a warm-hearted bass solo and lovely brushwork by Farnsworth, the deep blues of Parker’s Mood and the playful exuberance of Willow Weep For Me. For All We Know is a thoroughly bewitching session, and I’m looking forward to Snidero’s further explorations of the trio setting. Definitely recommended. 

Savant SCD 2215; Jim Snidero (as) Peter Washington (b) Joe Farnsworth (d); Saylorsburg, PA, October 24, 2023; For All We Know/ Naima/ Love For Sale/ Blackberry Winter/ Parker’s Mood/ Willow Weep For Me/ My Funny Valentine/ You Go to My Head; 53:27. www.jazzdepot.com

Art Pepper: The Complete Maiden Voyage Recordings

  Back when I was the tape archivist for Fantasy Inc., I looked after a vault with thousands of tapes from labels including Prestige, Fantasy, Riverside, Pablo, Contemporary, Stax, Specialty, and more. When I would talk to people about the job, nearly everyone would wonder how much of that I got to hear during the work day. Sadly, although this was the coolest possible job for a jazz fan, I really didn’t get to listen to much of it. Much of what I did was to pull reels of tape off the shelves and bring them downstairs to the studio, then bring them back when the engineers were done with them, and make sure the tape boxes ended up where they started. One of the smaller labels under the Fantasy umbrella was Galaxy Records. Originally an R’n’B imprint, it was revived in 1977 as a jazz label. Among their notable artists were Roy Haynes, Hank Jones, and alto saxophonist Art Pepper. When the time came for Fantasy to be sold and the tapes moved away, one of my concerns was to get important tapes that were in the vault, but not owned by the label, to the rightful owners. In this case, Pepper’s widow Laurie Pepper, for whom I was storing a couple of shelves worth of tape. But I still didn’t get to hear it! That’s where the fantastic 7-CD boxed set The Complete Maiden Voyage Recordings comes in. Pepper recorded extensively for Galaxy between 1978 and 1982, with enough material to fill 16 compact discs in the boxed set of his complete recordings for the label. That not quite complete package included the originally issued tracks from a trio of album releases (Roadgame. Art Lives, and APQ) and added more selections for a total of 21 tracks. Now we get every note from the three nights of recording at this Los Angeles nightclub, for a total of 42 pieces, plus Pepper’s introductions to the songs and the musicians. Pepper’s hard-working quartet for these shows had George Cables on piano, David Williams on bass, and his favorite drummer Carl Burnett. Omnivore has put it all into a handsome (if delicate) bound book, with extensive reminiscences by the always enjoyable Laurie Pepper, plenty of photographs of the band from that time, some images of my old friends the tape boxes, and some of Pepper’s own notes on the tunes from hearing rough mixes on cassette. It’s like having a fascinating concert at home from one of the finest alto saxophonists of the era, and the set provides a rare opportunity for the dedicated listener to make his own choices of quality and compare them to the original albums sequenced by Ed Michel and Laurie Pepper, who co-produced all of Pepper’s Galaxy recordings. Definitely worth waiting for, and totally recommended. 

Omnivore OVCD-521; Art Pepper (as, cl on +) George Cables (p) David Williams (b) Carl Burnett (d); Los Angeles, CA, August 13-15, 1981; Disc 1 (77:04): Road Waltz/ Mambo Koyama/ Everything Happens to Me/ For Freddie/ Donna Lee*/ Begin the Beguine#/ Without a Song. Disc 2 (72:25): Samba Mom Mom/ What’s New?*/ “Landscape” Introduction/ Landscape*/ “Valse Triste” Introduction/ Valse Triste*/ Allen’s Alley/ Thank You Blues*/ Band Introductions. Disc 3 (75:54): “Straight Life” Introduction/ Straight Life/ Whims of Chambers/ “Allen’s Alley” Introduction/ Allen’s Alley/ Begin the Beguine#/ “Don’t Play the Clarinet Ever Again…”/ Everything Happens to Me/ “How the Sets Are Going to Go…”/ Landscape. Disc 4 (73:50): “Road Waltz” Introduction/ Road Waltz*/ Band Introductions/ “For Freddie” Introduction/ For Freddie*/ “Yours Is My Heart Alone” Introduction/ Yours Is My Heart Alone/ “Mambo Koyama” Introduction/ Mambo Koyama*/ “We’ll Be Back in Five Minutes…”/ Samba Mom Mom/ Valse Triste. Disc 5 (71:45): But Beautiful*/ “Donna Lee” Introduction/ Donna Lee/ “We’ll Be Back Tomorrow Night…”/ Roadgame/ Band Introductions/ Without a Song/ Everything Happens to Me*/ “For Freddie” Introduction/ For Freddie*. Disc 6 (63:21): “Allen’s Alley” Introduction/ Allen’s Alley/ Road Waltz*/ “We’ll Be Back to Finish the Night…”/ “Samba Mom Mom” Introduction/ Samba Mom Mom/ “Mambo Koyama” Introduction/ Mambo Koyama*/ “When You’re Smiling” Introduction/ When You’re Smiling*. Disc 7 (67:26): But Beautiful* (duet for alto saxophone & piano)/ Roadgame*/ “For Freddie” Introduction/ For Freddie*/ Road Waltz/ Donna Lee/ Arthur’s Blues*/ “The Record Will Be out Soon…”. Tracks with * have been previously issued on the Galaxy label. omnivorerecordings.com