Actions (album)

Last updated
Actions
Cherry Penderecki Actions.jpg
Live album by
Krzysztof Penderecki and Don Cherry
Released1971
RecordedOctober 17, 1971
Venue Donaueschingen Festival, Donaueschingen, Germany
Genre Free jazz
Label Philips
6305 153
Producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt

Actions is a live album featuring debut performances of works by composer Krzysztof Penderecki and trumpeter and composer Don Cherry. It was recorded on October 17, 1971, at the Donaueschingen Festival in Donaueschingen, Germany, and was released on LP later that year by Philips. The music was performed by an ensemble called The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra, composed of top European improvisors. In 1998, the album was reissued on CD by Transparency Records. It was remastered and reissued again in 2001 by Intuition Records. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

According to Cherry, the title of "Humus - The Life Exploring Force" refers to "the fundament of life, the earth which we are ravaging every day, the very substance of life." [4] The piece employs Balinese, African, and Indian material, and uses seven themes, none of which were notated for the performance. [4] "Sita Rama Encores" features Cherry interacting with the audience, as he teaches them the sixteen-beat Hindustani teental pattern. [4]

Penderecki composed "Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra" after hearing a performance by the Globe Unity Orchestra. [5] The performance heard on the album marked the composer's debut as a conductor. [6] In interviews following the performance of "Actions," some of the players commented that, because Penderecki had notated pitches and rhythms, they missed their usual freedom to improvise. The composer, however, noted that he attempted to maintain the flavor of jazz, and stated that if he had granted more freedom to the players, it would not have been his piece. [7] [8]

In 2018, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and his Fire! Orchestra were commissioned to revive "Actions" for the Sacrum Profanum Festival in Kraków, Poland. A recording of the group's performance of an expanded version of the composition was released on CD by Rune Grammofon in 2020. [9] [10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]

In a review for AllMusic, Brian Olewnick wrote: "The orchestra is truly an all-star cast of the cream of European improvisers, each and every one having gone on to significant achievements." He compared "Humus" to Cherry's Eternal Rhythm and Relativity Suite , and praised its "enthusiasm and joy," but noted that Penderecki's "Actions" "doesn't quite hold together as a solid work," although he notes that it is "of some degree of historical import." He concluded: "Fans of Cherry... will definitely want to own this disc as a significant addition to his stellar work of the late '60s and early '70s." [11]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings described the album as "a confrontation between free jazz and the new music," and stated that the collaboration "hasn't aged well." [12]

Writing for the BBC , Ian R. Watson commented: "the combustible influences that shaped both pieces are still relevant today and find echoes in the work of Butch Morris and myriad others... this is still damn fine music of any stripe that can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge of its participants whatsoever." [14]

Phil Freeman, writing for Burning Ambulance, called "Actions" one of the "essential documents of large scale avant-jazz," praising its "swinging ensemble passages interspersed with frequently raucous but sometimes quite beautiful solo and duo sections." [9]

Track listing

  1. "Humus - The Life Exploring Force" (Don Cherry) – 18:58
  2. "Sita Rama Encores" (Traditional, arranged by Don Cherry) – 6:36
  3. "Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra" (Krzysztof Penderecki) – 16:30

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big band</span> Music ensemble associated with jazz music

A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ornette Coleman</span> American jazz musician and composer (1930–2015)

Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. His pioneering works often abandoned the harmony-based composition, tonality, chord changes, and fixed rhythm found in earlier jazz idioms. Instead, Coleman emphasized an experimental approach to improvisation, rooted in ensemble playing and blues phrasing. AllMusic called him "one of the most beloved and polarizing figures in jazz history," noting that while "now celebrated as a fearless innovator and a genius, he was initially regarded by peers and critics as rebellious, disruptive, and even a fraud."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Cherry (trumpeter)</span> American jazz trumpeter (1936–1995)

Donald Eugene Cherry was an American jazz trumpeter. Beginning in the late 1950s, he had a long tenure performing in the bands of saxophonist Ornette Coleman, including on the pioneering free jazz albums The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) and Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1960). Cherry also collaborated separately with musicians such as John Coltrane, Charlie Haden, Sun Ra, Ed Blackwell, the New York Contemporary Five, and Albert Ayler.

<i>New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm</i> 1953 studio album by Stan Kenton

New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm is an album by Stan Kenton. "Invention for Guitar and Trumpet" features guitarist Sal Salvador. A New York Times writer commented in 2003 that composer Bill Russo's "Improvisation" piece was "among the highest achievements in orchestral jazz".

<i>The Jazz Composers Orchestra</i> (album) 1968 studio album by Jazz Composers Orchestra

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra is a 1968 album by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra recorded over a period of six months with Michael Mantler as composer, leader and producer. Many of the key figures in avant-garde jazz from the time contributed on the album including Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, Roswell Rudd, and Carla Bley. The album's finale features a two-part concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra.

<i>Symphony for Improvisers</i> 1967 album by Don Cherry

Symphony for Improvisers is an album by American jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, released by Blue Note Records in August 1967. It features Gato Barbieri, Henry Grimes, and Ed Blackwell, all of whom appeared on Cherry's previous album Complete Communion, along with Karl Berger, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, and Pharoah Sanders. Symphony for Improvisers was recorded in 1966. The front cover photograph was taken at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Upper West Side, New York City.

<i>Where Is Brooklyn?</i> 1969 studio album by Don Cherry

Where Is Brooklyn? is an album by Don Cherry featuring Henry Grimes, Ed Blackwell, and Pharoah Sanders recorded in 1966 and released on the Blue Note label.

<i>Eternal Rhythm</i> 1969 live album by Don Cherry

Eternal Rhythm is a jazz album composed by Don Cherry. It was recorded in conjunction with the Berlin Jazz Festival in November 1968.

<i>The Essence of George Russell</i> 1971 studio album by George Russell

The Essence of George Russell is an album by American jazz composer and pianist George Russell originally released on the Swedish Sonet label in 1971, and subsequently reissued on the Italian Black Saint label in 1983. The album featuring performances by Russell with a large ensemble, mostly Nordic musicians, including Stanton Davis, Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen and orchestra.

<i>Relativity Suite</i> 1973 studio album by Don Cherry and the Jazz Composers Orchestra

Relativity Suite is a free-jazz LP by Don Cherry on Jazz Composer's Orchestra Records which was released in 1973.

<i>Crisis</i> (Ornette Coleman album) 1972 live album by Ornette Coleman

Crisis is a live album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman recorded at New York University in 1969 and released on the Impulse! label.

<i>Anaklasis</i> 1960 composition composed by Krzysztof Penderecki

Anaklasis is a composition for 42 string instruments and percussion, composed in 1960 by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It was first performed at the Donaueschingen Festival in 1960. At this first performance, it was well received by the audience who demanded an encore.

<i>Bitter Funeral Beer</i> 1982 studio album by the Bengt Berger Bitter Funeral Beer Band with Don Cherry

Bitter Funeral Beer is an album by the Bengt Berger Bitter Funeral Beer Band with Don Cherry recorded in January 1981 and released on ECM the following year.

<i>The Art of the Improvisers</i> 1970 studio album by Ornette Coleman

The Art of the Improvisers is an album credited to jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released by Atlantic Records in 1970. The album was assembled without Coleman's input, comprising outtakes from recording sessions of 1959 to 1961 for The Shape of Jazz to Come, Change of the Century, This Is Our Music, Ornette!, and Ornette on Tenor. Recording sessions in 1959 took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California; those in 1960 and 1961 at Atlantic Studios in New York City.

<i>From Valley to Valley</i> 1999 live album by Peter Brötzmann, Roy Campbell Jr., William Parker, and Hamid Drake

From Valley to Valley is a live album by the Die Like a Dog Quartet: saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr., bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in July 1998 at the Fire in the Valley festival held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Bezanson recital hall in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was released in 1999 by Eremite Records.

<i>Live in Japan 96</i> 1997 live album by Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra

Live in Japan '96 is a live album by the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. One track was recorded in July 1996 at Nakano Public Hall in Tokyo, while the remaining tracks were recorded in August 1996 at Shin-Kobe Oriental Theatre in Kobe. The album was released in 1997 by DIW. The music was conducted by Alexander von Schlippenbach and Aki Takase.

<i>Ant Farm</i> (album) 1994 studio album by 8 Bold Souls

Ant Farm is the third album by the jazz group 8 Bold Souls. It was recorded in July and August 1994 in Chicago and was released later that year by Arabesque Records. The album features performances by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Edward Wilkerson, saxophonist Mwata Bowden, trumpeter Robert Griffin, Jr., trombonist Isaiah Jackson, tubist Aaron Dodd, cellist Naomi Millender, bassist Harrison Bankhead, and drummer Dushun Mosley.

<i>Live Ankara</i> 1978 live album by Don Cherry

Live Ankara is a live album by trumpeter Don Cherry. It was recorded in November 1969 at the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and was released on LP in 1978 by Sonet Records. On the album, Cherry is joined by three Turkish musicians: saxophonist and percussion Irfan Sümer, bassist Selçuk Sun, and drummer Okay Temiz. The album was reissued by Sonet on CD in 1996, paired with Eternal Now, with the title The Sonet Recordings.

<i>Harmos</i> 1989 studio album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra

Harmos is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra that features a recording of a large-scale, 44-minute composition by Guy. It was recorded in April 1989, just before the LJCO's 20th anniversary, in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released later that year by Intakt Records. Guy interpreted the Greek title in its original meaning of "coming together," and the work attempts to find solutions to the challenges surrounding the coexistence of improvisation and composition.

<i>Double Trouble</i> (Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra album) 1990 studio album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra

Double Trouble is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra. Documenting a large-scale, 46-minute composition by Guy, it was recorded in April 1989 in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released in 1990 by Intakt Records.

References

  1. ↑ "Don Cherry: Actions". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Philips 6305 153 Actions". EFI. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Intuition INT 3606-2 Actions". EFI. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Berendt, Joachim-Ernst (2001). Actions (liner notes). Don Cherry / Krzysztof Penderecki. Intuition Records. INT 3606 2.
  5. ↑ Collier, Graham (2009). The Jazz Composer: Moving Music Off the Paper. Northway Publications. p. 247.
  6. ↑ Bylander, Cindy (2004). Krzysztof Penderecki: A Bio-Bibliography. Praeger. p. 10.
  7. ↑ Kumpf, H. H. (August 1974). "Interview". Jazz Podium (23): 17, 29.
  8. ↑ Kumpf, H. H. (October 1977). "Jazz und Avantgarde". Musik und Bildung. 9 (10): 521–525.
  9. 1 2 Freeman, Phil (March 6, 2020). "Penderecki". Burning Ambulance. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  10. ↑ Schray, Martin (April 10, 2020). "Fire! Orchestra: Actions". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Olewnick, Brian. "Actions: Don Cherry / The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra / Krzysztof Penderecki". AllMusic. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  12. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 246.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2004). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz. Virgin. p. 376.
  14. ↑ Watson, Ian R. (2002). "Don Cherry/Kryzystof Penderecki Actions Review". BBC. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.