Category Archives: Drums

Max Roach / Abdullah Ibrahim – Streams of Consciousness (1977)

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This duo is the title track on the album Streams of Consciousness by Abdullah Ibrahim and Max Roach.

Abdullah Ibrahim, then known as Dollar Brand, went into the studio with Max Roach on September 20, 1977. In his brief but all-encompassing notes, Roach says that there were no rehearsals and no plans as to what they were going to record. Sure, it is said that they were friends, and shared social and cultural backgrounds. Those are good points of reference but there has to be something more: a perspicacity, a feel, anticipation and vision that have to course through the blood and in the mind. Roach and Ibrahim are in the swell of the tide. Now that this recording is available once more, listen to two articulate imaginaries as they take you on their completely improvised journey, savor the experience and acknowledge, as well, the good sense that activated the re-release of the music.

The sum of the four tunes, witness the names given them, make up the breathtaking whole. The title tune runs just over 21 minutes, every one of which is a dynamic of exploration. Ibrahim sets up the mood in a virtuosic panoply of rich euphonic piano chording that Roach reinvents with a shifting timbral pulse. [source]

Tracks: Streams of Consciousness / Inception / Acclamation / Consanguinity

Personnel: Max Roach – Drums / Abdullah Ibrahim – Piano

 

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[Dedicated to Ronnie Rocket, as thanks for the confidence]

Steve Reid Ensemble – Lugano (2005)

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From the album Spirits Walk by Steve Reid Ensemble, recorded in London 2005.

An uber-visceral, trance-centric celebration of Great Black Music ancient-to-modern—mixing up free improv, Afrobeat, the astral jazz of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, North African Sufi music, early ’70s electric Miles, chicken shack B3 grooves, Gil Scott Heron and the Last Poets, and more, all of it laced with real time electronica—Spirit Walk is serious mindbending business, as in free your ass and your mind will follow. [source]

Track Listing: Lugano / Drum Story / Bridget / For Coltrane / Blind Tom / Which One? / Lions Of Juda / It Cannot Be True; Unity.

Personnel: Steve Reid – Drums, Voice / Kieran Hebden – Electronics / Boris Netsvetaev – Keyboards / John Edwards – Bass / Chuck Henderson – Soprano Saxophone / Neil Kleiner – Tenor Saxophone, Percussion / Nathaniel Catchpole – Tenor Saxophone / Tony Bevan – Bass Saxophone.

 

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Page One – 1986 (1988)

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Henrik Bolberg – Trumpet
Thomas Hass – Saxophone
Erik Ørum – Piano
Lennart V. Ginman – Bass
Thomas Blachman – Drums

Recorded 1988, in Study 3 in Danmarks Radio, two weeks after Page One were number 1 in a jazz competition in Leverkusen.

 

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Art Blakey &The Jazz Messengers – A Night in Tunisia (1959)

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Live from  Paris , 1959.

Art Bakley – Drums
Wayne Shorter – Tenor Saxophone
Lee Morgan – Trumpet
Walter Davis Jnr – Piano
Jymie Merritt – Bass

 

blakeyThe band led by drummer Art Blakey (center), including saxophonist Wayne Shorter and trumpeter Lee Morgan.

Charles Mingus & Max Roach – Percussion Discussion (1955)

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From the album Mingus At The Bohemia by Charles Mingus, recorded at Cafe Bohemia, New York City, December 23, 1955.

The songs from “Cafe Bohemia” contain the typical Mingus “Jazz Workshop” characteristics. A concert as work shop meant first of all a live experiment; this is mainly true for his “guest” musician Max Roach in “Percussion Discussion”. Mingus at the Bohemia fixed a moment in time where Mingus found his musical identity.

The above mentioned “Percussion Discussion” is a duet of Mingus and Roach, which was later also used in the Epitaph suite.  Just two men playing two instruments that are very rarely found on the stand alone. Two men producing and assortment of rich and exciting sounds. Here is a chance to really enjoy the artistry of Max and Mingus. Notice the clean, true snare sound that Max gets on his highest pitched drum. As he moves from snare drum to tom-tom, there is no doubt that he’s changed intentionally. No muddled indistinct sound here but a real fresh, swinging sound for Max. And he has his earthly qualities too: strong, vigorous, earthy qualities. Mingus is tremendous, matching Max mood for mood. His pizzicato becomes so strong at times that it sounds very close to Max’s percussive effort. Also, for a new concept in jazz sounds, listen to the high, scraping sound Mingus gets on his bass immediately after Max’s cymbal entrance. [source]

Charles Mingus – Bass / Max Roach – Drums

 

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