Sonny Simmons, Delphine Latil, Thomas Bellier: Beyond the Planets [2CD]

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2014-05-15
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Jewelcaseowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com:
Już od najmłodszych lat ten amerykański saksofonista miał okazję współpracować z prawdziwymi legendami jazzu. Jego debiut fonograficzny nastąpił w 1963 "The Cry !" z the Prince Lasha Quintet. Później przyszły koncerty w NYC z Sonny Rollinsem i Erikiem Dolphy'm, dla którego skomponował utwór "Music Matador", który stał się standardem jazzowym.
Był zapraszany do współpracy przez gigantów jazzu jak John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Elvin Jones, Sun Ra czy Albert Ayler. W latach 70-tych aktywność Simmonsa znacznie osłabła, małżeństwo z Donald się rozpadło. Na blisko 20 lat popadł w zapomnienie, sięgał po narkotyki i alkohol, grywał na ulicach San Francisco.

W roku 1994 Sonny Simmons wrócił do szczytowej formy i został ponownie odkryty. Nagrał w trio wyśmienity album "Ancient Ritual". Był to początek jego drugiej kariery.
"To był wspaniały powrót w połowie lat 90-tych dla Sonny Simmonsa, awangardowego alcisty z Zachodniego Wybrzeża, który nagrał kilka świetnych płyt dla wytwórni ESP w latach 60-tych. Sonny Simmons był zawsze postrzegany jako jeden z "post Colemanowskich" saksofonistów altowych, jednak jego rzeczywistą inspiracją była muzyka Charlie Parkera, którego słuchał jako młody chłopak.

W 2013 roku skończył 80 lat i uczcił tę rocznicę nagraniem dwupłytowego, duetowego albumu "Beyond the Planets". Płytę wydała szanowana francuska awangardowa wytwórnia improvising beings.
Pierwsza płyta zawiera duet z klasyczną harfistką Delphine Latil, która często bywa porównywana do Alice Coltrane. Drugi dysk to duet z elektrycznym gitarzystą - Thomasem Bellierem, znanym z zespołu Blaak Heat Shujaa (bliskim estetyce Hawkwind).

Nie przez przypadek płyta była częścią 80-lecia Simmonsa, dwie odmienne koncepcje, jeśli chodzi o emocje eksponowane w muzyce, dwa muzyczne światy, spójne i kompletne, stworzone przez erudytów i ponadgatunkowych improwizatorów przynoszą muzykę, którą nie da się zamknąć w żadnych nazwach, określeniach.
Editor's info:
His duet with Delphine Latil on classical harp received wide acclaim in 2011. As described by Robert Gapplegate: "Latil's harp and the kind of quasi-eastern sound of the whole at first brings to mind classic Alice Coltrane. And such comparisons are not out of place. But ultimately there is a LOT of pure Sonny here, and Delphine Latil has her own, somewhat more linear melodic approach on harp. Symphony of the Peacocks occupies a singular place, so far as I know, in Sonny Simmons' output. It is quite beautiful and there is much to explore here. Go to a new world with this one and stay for a while. You'll come back refreshed and rejuvenated, I will be willing to bet."

First CD features Latil and Simmons in "Sacred Moments", a massive 47 minutes tour-de-force, which expands upon the singular language they created on Peacocks. Chamber Free Jazz?

Second CD now sees Simmons with stoner psyche maverick Thomas Bellier on electric guitar (Blaak Heat Shujaa), a first in his career: yes, it took the godfather of free jazz 50 years to finally plug the electricity! But then, Hendrix would drop by at the studio sometimes, back in the days... Here today, electric guitar has developped a long story of its own. And Bellier's guitars, at times crystalline, at times heavy, are here to remind us that doom is also blues, blues of the XXIst Century.

Sonny Simmons insisted that both CDs featured solos from Delphine Latil and Thomas Bellier, mirroring the duets. This makes for a savant construction, a unique trip from silence to mayhem.

freejazzblog - * * * *
In 2011, the French label "Improvsing Beings" released "Symphony Of The Peacocks" by Sonny Simmons and Delphine Latil, an amazing album with the most rare of duets on English horn and classical harp.

You could call this "Beyond The Planets" as a continuation of the earlier release, with Latil playing the first four tracks solo harp, in a very minimalist way, without genre, yet full of musical influences from across the globe, yet with an unmistakeable zen quality in its quiet pacing. Simmons joins on his "cor anglais" and later on alto, on the 45-minute long "Sacred Moments", joining the vast sonic expanse that Latil creates with sustained notes and phrases full of solemn spiritualism.

Jazz is usually a very nervous genre, in which things have to move and interact at high speed, yet here you have the exact opposite, and hence it's also hard to call this jazz, but that's all semantics. This is the music of tranquility, not the one of lazyness or lack of thoughts, but the tranquility of wonder, admiration and in a way self-sufficiency. The duo plays as if the only things they need and want are here, in this calm development of sonic beauty.

On the second CD, Simmons plays duets with guitarist Thomas Bellier, a French rock musician residing in the US, and whose band "Blaak Heat Shujaa" sounds a little like Hawkwind (as a reference for the old guys reading this), call it space psychedelic rock if you want. The combination of Bellier's rock guitar works well with Simmons long and moaning howls, although as we make progress, it becomes gradually less clear how the tracks differ. They are all built around a few chords and the improvisations circle around the same tonal center, and even if both musicians change the sound of their instruments, Simmons switching to alto, or Bellier using his pedals, the core of the music does not change. That of course offers great coherence to the music, yet limits variation.

That being said, Simmons' sound is unique, and that is a great achievement.
by Stef

muzycy:
Sonny Simmons: cor anglais, alto saxophone
Delphine Latil: harp (only on CD 1)
Thomas Bellier: guitar (only on CD 2)

utwory:
CD 1:
Many Unseen Mysteries I~IV
Sacred Moments

CD 2:
We Know The Distance Between The Planets
The Awesomeness Of The Universe
The Four Corners Of The Earth
The Vast Parameters
Then That

total time - 02:05:51
wydano: June 15, 2013
nagrano: Recorded and mixed by Michel Kristof and Julien Palomo - Produced by Sonny Simmons, Michel Kristof and Julien Palomo.
Additional recordings and mixers by Ofer Tiberin and Andrew Jude Riotto.

more info: www.improvising-beings.com
more info2: www.sonnysimmons.org