Max Roach: The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note [6CD]

Soul Jazz / AACM / Avant Jazz
premiera polska: 07.03.2022
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Cardboardowe etui
opis:
Black Saint/Soul Note - kolekcjonerskie wznowienia nagrań z katalogu wytwórni, które przez 20 lat wyznaczały kierunki rozwoju muzyki free jazzowej i awangardowej!

multikulti.com:
Maxwell Lemuel „Max” Roach to amerykański perkusista i kompozytor jazzowy, laureat NEA Jazz Masters Award z roku 1984. Związany był najsilniej z jazzowymi nurtami bebopu i hard bopu. Podobno nigdy nie poznał swojej dokładnej daty urodzenia (sam mówił, że urodził się gdzie ś między rokiem 1924, a 1926) chociaż źródła najczęściej podają styczeń roku 1924. Mówi się o nim też jako o muzyku który odmienił grę na perkusji - dotąd bowiem rola perkusisty polegała głównie na odmierzaniu czasu i trzymaniu się go możliwie kurczowo. Nie odpowiadał on za melodię. Max Roach miał zupełnie inny punkt widzenia: „Trzeba robić to samo z rytmem, co Bach robił kiedyś melodią” – mawiał. I faktycznie, Roach grał barokowo, nasycając swoją muzykę wielorakością brzmień i sposobów ekspresji. To właśnie jego nagrania w składach Lee Konitza zupełnie rolę perkusisty w jazzie odmieniły - perkusja nadawała linię melodyczną na równi z saksofonem. Saksofon natomiast stał się równie rytmicznym narzędziem, co jego interlokutor. Tego dotąd nie przerabiano.

Max Roach, uważany obok Arthura Blakeya i Kenny'ego Clarke'a za jednego z najlepszych perkusistów gatunku, wywarł olbrzymi wpływ na kształtowanie metody i techniki gry na jazzowej perkusji. Znany jest dzięki nagraniom i koncertom z najsłynniejszymi amerykańskimi jazzmenami. Znaleźli się wśród nich m.in.: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins i Clifford Brown.

Ale sporo nagrywał także z własnymi zespołami - wspaniały album „We Insist! Freedom Now”, nagrany w kwintecie z dodatkiem ówczesnej żony perkusisty, wokalistki Abbey Lincoln, stał się wydarzeniem niemal politycznym. Kompozycja do słów autorstwa Oscara Browna Juniora była muzycznym manifestem frustracji i niepokojów społecznych. Podejmowała kwestie dyskryminacji rasowej, tożsamości Afro-Amerykańskiej i swobody społecznej. Abbey Lincoln wyrażała poczucie krzywdy i niesprawiedliwości, po prostu krzycząc do mikrofonu. „Nie byłam przekonana, wydawało mi się, że to nie może brzmieć jak muzyka” – wspominała po latach wokalistka. "Ale Max mnie przekonał, zrobiłam, jak chciał, i okazało się, że miał rację – jednak może”.

Po początkowym sprzeciwie wobec free jazzu, zaakceptował go i na dobrą sprawę stał się on częścią jego muzyki (zebrane tu nagrania w pewnej mierze dokumentują własnie ten okres jego twórczości). Aranżował duety nie tylko z takimi artystami, jak Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp czy Abdullah Ibrahim, ale również z Martinem Lutherem Kingiem i jego słynną przemową „I Have A Dream”. W poszukiwaniach innowacji i liryzmu Roach zabrnął do hip-hopu, przekonując niedowiarków o głębokim powinowactwie tej formy ekspresji z jazzem jego czasów. Udało mu się doprowadzić do sytuacji, w której perkusja w zupełności wystarczy do całkowitej, satysfakcjonującej uczty muzycznej. Max Roach był tak hojnie obdarzonym wyobraźnią muzykiem, że nie potrzebował akompaniamentu. Słuchając jego gry, nawet jeśli ma to być 20-minutowe solo wyłącznie na hi-hacie (historia zna takie przypadki), trudno jest sobie ziewnąć. Zbyt wiele się dzieje, żeby można było się nudzić.
Editor's info:
THE COMPLETE REMASTERED RECORDINGS ON BLACK SAINT & SOUL NOTE is a monographic box-set collection aimed at recounting the most beautiful chapters that revolutionised the history of jazz. This new series was launched in March 2010 with the simultaneous release of four box-sets, including albums by some of the artists who participated in the success of the outstanding labels. A philological work, beginning with the original recordings on multi-track master tapes, patiently integrally remastered paying strict attention to the sound quality.

Really wonderful work from drummer Max Roach – a set of classic albums for the Black Saint/Soul Note labels – most of which mark an especially creative stretch in his career! The set's got some great avant moments – the brilliant Birth & Rebirth, which pairs the drums of Roach with the reeds of Anthony Braxton – at a level that's quite free, but quite spiritual too! Max also steps outside on Historic Concerts – a 2CD set of performances with pianist Cecil Taylor – a meeting that's got to be heard to be believed, as Roach almost outdoes Cecil for non-stop creative energy! Collage features the M'Boom percussion ensemble – a great group that Max was fronting at the time, and which also features percussionists and drummers Freddie Waits, Ray Mantilla, Roy Brooks, Joe Chambers, Warren Smith, and Eddie Allen – a hell of a lineup who creatively mix rhythm and melody. Survivors is a bit more subtle, but quite soulful too – a set that has Max Roach handling a fair bit of percussion, and working with a hip string quartet too! Last up is Bright Moments – one of a few 80s efforts to feature Roach's Double Quartet – a group that takes his regular four-piece jazz group and augments it with a string quartet – all in a sound that's almost an extension of modes first begun by Roland Kirk in the 60s! The Kirk reference isn't accidental – as the title track here is a great version of Kirk's "Bright Moments" – one that uses the strings to offset the core jazz work of Roach on drums, Odeon Pope on tenor, Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet, and Tyrone Brown on electric bass – all in ways that are as creative as they are playful, definitely in a Kirk-styled spirit. Other tunes follow suit – and use the strings to echo Kirk's dream of a black classical music, but also one that's always firmly jazz-based at all times. Titles include "Double Delight", "Hi Fly", "Bright Moments", "Elixir Suite", and "A Tribute To Duke & Mingus".

"Birth And Rebirth"
"...this recording was the first to document their collaboration. All of the tracks are improvisations and it appears that the younger Braxton was the one taking the lead. If he keeps himself a bit restrained, steering clear of the extremes he's capable of, he also offers no easy footholds for Roach; there are no overt bop references to be found here. Instead, there are loose stabs at traditional African music as well as simply free-floating and lyrical improvised lines. Roach sounds most comfortable when his partner ratchets up the ferocity level as on "Birth" and "Spirit Possession." The elder master then accompanies beautifully, offering up shifting and roiling patterns very reminiscent of West African, particularly Ghanaian, drumming. On the more pointillistic and quieter pieces, he sounds somewhat tentative, content to gamely follow along instead of prodding, but much credit is due Roach for being one of the few from his generation willing to meet his descendants on common ground. Overall, about half the record cooks superbly and is worth hearing if only as a good example of how supposed inter-generational conflicts in jazz can be resolved." (source: iTunes)

"Collage"
"...We can vouch for the sheer vitality and exuberance, and for the sheer thoughtfulness, of M'Boom's live output..." (source: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD - Eighth Edition)

In 1970, Max Roach first organized M'Boom, a unique unit comprised entirely of percussionists. By utilizing such instruments as marimba, xylophone, tympani, vibes, bells, gongs, drum sets, and even a musical saw, Roach leads a very colorful and self-sufficient group. Originally a septet comprised of Roach, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Omar Clay, Joe Chambers, Roy Brooks, and Ray Mantilla, the group grew to ten pieces in later years. A part-time project, M'Boom has recorded for Baystate (1973), Columbia (1979), Soul Note (1984), and Blue Moon (1992) and appeared at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival. (source: Dodobiz.com)

"While listening to the mix of different instruments from track to track is fun, this CD is better savored a track or two at a time than trying to absorb the whole thing in one sitting." (source: AllMusic.com, K.Dryden)

"Survivors"
"Drummer Max Roach was fond of playing with string quartets in the latter part of his career, and in this case he is with one sans his regular working foursome. The cerebral nature of this music cannot be discounted, nor can the interplay and counterpoint between the drummer and string players. The lengthy title track best exemplifies this concept, which is carried throughout the project. But the majority of this recording consists of drum solos, all earmarked by the signature drum sound and complex polyrhythmic drive that only Roach can claim. While not as successful as other like-minded recordings, this serves as a powerful reminder of why Roach's drumming was so strong and visceral even in his older years, and how fertile his imagination continued to be." (Ron Wynn, AllMusic)

"Survivors continues the strings experiment and takes it a step further by dispensing with a jazz group altogether." (The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD - Eighth Edition)

"Historic Concerts" (2 CDs)
"The summit with Taylor, recorded at the McMillin Theatre at Columbia University, is still exhilarating. Both men warm up in their respective corners, before launching into a huge, 40-minute fantasy that sees neither surrendering a whit of individuality. As was noted at the time, it was the prefect occasion to test the cliché about Roach the melodic percussionist and Taylor the percussive pianist." (The Penguin Guide to Jazz)

"Bright Moments"
“The combination of drummer Max Roach's regular group (which includes trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, tenor saxophonist Odean Pope and electric bassist Tyrone Brown) with the Uptown String Quartet to form his Double Quartet works extremely well. Because the strings get to improvise and are not restricted to the background, the interplay between the two groups is a special highlight of this particularly strong outing. In addition to works by Pope and Brown (the latter contributed "Tribute to Duke and Mingus"), The Double Quartet interprets Steve Turre's "Double Delight," Randy Weston's "Hi Fly" and Roland Kirk's happy "Bright Moments." A frequently exquisite yet adventurous album, highly recommended.” (source: AllMusic.com, S.Yanow)

"A fine record". (source: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD - Eighth Edition)

utwory:
CD 1: Max Roach featuring Anthony Braxton "Birth And Rebirth"
1. Birth 9:41
2. Magic And Music... 6:35
3. Tropical Forest... 5:5
4. Dance Griot 5:6
5. Spirit Possession... 6:40
6. Soft Shoe 2:58
7. Rebirth 7:12

Anthony Braxton: saxophone
Max Roach: drums

CD 2: M'Boom "Collage"
1. Circles 7:32
2. It's Time 5:36
3. Jamaican Sun 6:29
4. Street Dance 5:34
5. Mr. Seven 11:2
6. A Quiet Place 6:42

Eddie Allen: clave, assorted percussion
Eli Fountain: Percussion
Fred King: Tympani, Vibraphone, Concert Bells
Freddie Waits: Percussion
Kenyatte Abdur-Rahman: Claves, Xylophone
Roy Brooks: Steel Drums, Musical Saw
Warren Smith: Vibraphone, Multiple Percussion, Drums
Max Roach: Drums, Percussion
Ray Mantilla: Bongos, Congas, Xylophone
Joe Chambers: Marimba, Vibraphone, Xylophone

CD 3: Max Roach "Survivors"
1 Survivors 21:30
2 The Third Eye 2:12
3 Billy The Kid 3:2
4 JasMe 3:40
5 The Drum Also Waltzes... 3:20
6 Sassy Max (Self... 3:23
7 The Smoke That... 5:51

Donald Bauch: 2nd Violin
Louise Schulman: Viola
Max Roach: Drums, Percussion
Guillermo Figueroa: 1st Violin
Christopher Finckel: Cello

CD 4 & 5: Max Roach with Cecil Taylor "Historic Concerts "

1. Presentation 1:6
2. Drums Solo 5:3
3. Piano Solo 5:4
4. Duets - Part I 40:4

1. Duets - Part II 38:32
2. Interviews - Part... 9:36
3. Interviews - Part... 7:14

Cecil Taylor: Piano
Max Roach: Drums, Percussion

CD 6: Max Roach Double Quartet "Bright Moments"
1. Bright Moments 9:14
2. Elixir Suite 9:47
3. Hi Fly 7:51
4. Tribute To Duke... 5:24
5. Double Delight 8:52

Lesa Terry: 2nd Violin
Maxine Roach: Viola
Odean Pope: Tenor Sax
Tyrone Brown: Electric Bass
Zela Terry: Cello
Cecil Bridgewater: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Max Roach: Drums, Percussion
Diane Monroe: 1st Violin

total time - 4h 4min 54s
wydano: 2015
more info: www.CamJazz.com