Since the Ornette Coleman Quartet's The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic, 1959), the trumpet's historical bar in creative music has been set in great part by Don Cherry. Not that Cherry's way was the only way and, in fact, the work of Bill Dixon, Donald Ayler, Lester Bowie, and a few others certainly paved significant directions for the instrument's place and growth in the ensuing decades. But Cherry, even as his language was a condensed, rambunctious and decidedly expansive nod to Central Avenue bebop, inspired a reassessment of phrase and space, especially in the piano-less groups which flourished in the "free" Sixties.
Though Cherry and percussionist/frequent collaborator Ed Blackwell each made statements in their oeuvres more powerful than the BYG Actuel double-LP set Mu (recorded at Studio Saravah in Paris in 1969), these two records began to show a side of Cherry's work that many had not yet heard—specifically his embrace of non-Western music. Seventeen years later, Blackwell and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith—another artist whose work has expanded the instrument's reach—waxed a series of ten duets for Brandeis University Radio in Boston, finally seeing release now as The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer, on Smith's revitalized Kabell Records imprint.
Smith's sense of orchestration has always seemed entirely different from Cherry's, whether in a solo or group context. The phrasing of both sound and silence, ever natural, has always appeared utterly poised, pinched and cutting front-porch paeans to downriver ancestry wrapped into a massive, fluffed whole. But it would be difficult to look at this set of duos without thinking of Mu, even when conscious of the contrast between the pairings. Blackwell obviously plays quite differently with Smith, in a fashion that's certainly pared down from the lickety-split continual reorganization of rhythms encountered on Mu. That said, subtle gradations of circular rhythms and breathy imperfect stutters on "Seven Arrows in the Garden of Light" are a perfect example of how incredibly delicate and masterful his forms are. While Smith's approach to rhythm deals with an entirely different type of patterning—contrasts in short succession implying movement and building towards a curious sense of mass and structure—Blackwell's skeletal support provides an alternative, cyclical interpretation of rhythm units.
Of course, Blackwell's playing is full and nearly explosive at times, swaggering through "Buffalo People: A Blues Ritual Dance," on which Smith's unwavering, steely tone is both call and soliloquy, slicing across an easy, rolling swing. Slash and chatter become "Albert Ayler in a Spiritual Light," the most Mu-esque improvisation here, though the trumpet blasts are thicker and perhaps hotter. Comparison doesn't—or shouldn't—serve the Smith/Blackwell duets too much; they're clearly setting their own series of vibrations, what with the interspersed soul-poems and kalimba-rimshot fragments offering curious interludes among a singular, albeit subtly shifting brass and percussion dialogue. Whatever the reason for its nearly quarter-century absence from the available discography, it's fantastic to have The BlueMountain's Sun Drummer present today. - Clifford Allen
The most magnificent moment of this year's Vision Festival was the duet between Wadada Leo Smith and Günter "Baby" Sommers, not only because of the fabulous playing and interaction of both musicians, but also because the trumpeter has made this format one of his own, delving into the possibilities and expanding them over the years. Lately his stellar "America" with Jack DeJohnette, his equally excellent "Wisdom In Time" with Günter Sommers, or his more meditative "Compassion" with Adam Rudolph.
Here we find him again in excellent company, with Ed Blackwell no less, the fabulous free jazz drummer who laid the foundations for his instrument's new role with the Ornette Coleman bands and Old & New Dreams. Like with Don Cherry on the historic "Mu", he is possibly the best partner for this kind of endeavor and also for Smith's concept of music : it is freedom while being based in African rhythms, blues and jazz. Blackwell is incredibly creative and expressive, adding little touches, shifting meters, reorganising the beats constantly, actively shaping the overall sound and melody. Just listen closely to the album's title track if you want to be convinced.
The title track also figured on the album with Jack DeJohnette as "Ed Blackwell, The Blue Mountain Sun Drummer". It's interesting to compare both performances: not only the difference in approach by both drummers - equally stunning, with DeJohnette having a lighter touch, more cymbal work, steadier in the rhythm, and Blackwell using his polyrhythmics on his toms without losing the beat, more African, but Smith's tone has also changed, become deeper, richer over the years, but interestingly his improvisational skills and his capacity of positioning the composition - of putting it right there in front of your ears as if there was no other choice for it to sound that way, despite the endless possibilities, are still there.
He plays some of the tunes from his "Kulture Jazz" album which was released on ECM in 1995: the bluesy song "Don't You Remember", "Uprising" and "Albert Ayler In A Spiritual Light". This also demonstrates how Smith nurtured his own ideas and compositions over the years and decades even.
Smith's trumpet playing is incredibly good as can be expected: he can be intimate and sensitive and bluesy, but he can be expansive, jubilant and soaring.
The performance was recorded live on October 23, 1986 at Brandeis University, Massachusetts. That's 24 years ago. The sound quality is excellent. How fantastic that we get to hear this. I hope there are still more gems in a drawer somewhere.
As usual, I can only recommend it. Highly. - freejazzblog.org
Tracks
01. Uprising
02. Love
03. Seeds Of A Forgotten Flower
04. The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer
05. Mto: The Celestial River
06. Don't You Remember
07. Sellassie-I
08. Seven Arrows In The Garden Of Light
09. Buffalo People: A Blues Ritual Dance
10. Albert Ayler In A Spiritual Light
ED BLACKWELL drums, percussion
WADADA LEO SMITH trumpet, flugelhorn, flute, mbira, voice
All compositions by Wadada Leo Smith
Recorded live on October 23, 1986 at Brandeis University
Kabell Records – 111