Blues for Falasha | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1999 | |||
Recorded | June 8, 1997 | |||
Studio | Bay Recording, Berkeley, California | |||
Genre | Free jazz | |||
Length | 45:54 | |||
Label | Tzadik TZ 7130 | |||
Producer | Glenn Spearman | |||
Glenn Spearman chronology | ||||
|
Blues for Falasha is a posthumously released album by saxophonist Glenn Spearman. It was recorded on June 8, 1997, at Bay Recording in Berkeley, California, and was released in 1999 by Tzadik Records as part of their Radical Jewish Culture series. On the album, Spearman is joined by saxophonist Larry Ochs, pianist Chris Brown, bassist Lisle Ellis, and percussionists Donald Robinson and William Winant. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Spearman was the son of a black Christian father and a white Jewish mother. The album is the product of musical and spiritual exploration of his Jewish roots, and pays tribute to the Falasha, an Ethiopian tribe who claim to be descended from biblical Jews. [1] [5]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [6] |
In a review for AllMusic, Stacia Proefrock wrote: "there are only fragments of Blues for Falasha that can be pinpointed as specifically Jewish... Instead, a poem... sets the philosophical tone for the album... What follows are three beautiful, inspired compositions that explore themes of pain and loneliness, beauty and delicacy, and heritage... if Glenn Spearman had to leave this world too soon, he certainly knew what to leave behind." [1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings called the track titled "Rituals" "Spearman's attempt to think his way back into a forgotten ancestry for the blues," and stated: "Few artists better represented the cultural collisions of John Zorn's 'Radical Jewish Culture' imprint than Spearman." [6]
Glenn Astarita of All About Jazz commented: "Blues for Falasha hits you from many different angles and reverently displays the tranquillity and inner character of Spearman's music... Blues for Falasha mapped new territory for Spearman yet the essence of his intensity and determination prevails." [7]
Writing for JazzTimes , Duck Baker remarked: "the darkness of Blues for Falasha makes it impossible not to think of composers like Berg whose last works were unintended auto-requiems... the music builds by such imperceptible degrees that the feeling of uneasy restraint pervades even at the most intense moments... The instrumentation and some of the writing evoke Jones-Ali-period Trane, but the rhythm team here actually works better." [8]
In an article for The New York City Jazz Record , Clifford Allen wrote: "Spearman... was a force of nature on the tenor saxophone and his peals of sound came from air and earth in reflection of forebears like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler and Frank Wright.... Blues for Falasha is a deep late offering from one of this music's most intriguing figures." [9]
Composed by Glenn Spearman.
William Winant is an American percussionist.
Chris Brown is an American composer, pianist and electronic musician, who creates music for acoustic instruments with interactive electronics, for computer networks, and for improvising ensembles. He was active early in his career as an inventor and builder of electroacoustic instruments; he has also performed widely as an improviser and pianist with groups as "Room" and the "Glenn Spearman Double Trio." In 1986 he co-founded the pioneering computer network music ensemble "The Hub". He is also known for his recorded performances of music by Henry Cowell, Luc Ferrari, and John Zorn. He has received commissions from the Berkeley Symphony, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio, the Gerbode Foundation, the Phonos Foundation and the Creative Work Fund. His recent music includes the poly-rhythm installation "Talking Drum", the "Inventions" series for computers and interactive performers, and the radio performance "Transmissions" series, with composer Guillermo Galindo.
JuJu is the fifth album by American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter. It was released in July 1965 by Blue Note Records. It features a rhythm section of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones, all of whom had worked extensively with Shorter's fellow tenor saxophonist John Coltrane.
Soul Station is an album by American jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded on February 7, 1960 and released on Blue Note later that year. Mobley's quartet features rhythm section Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Art Blakey.
Roll Call is an album by jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. It features trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey.
Lisle Ellis, is a Canadian jazz bassist and composer who is known for his improvisational style and use of electronics.
The Classic Guide to Strategy is a compilation album by John Zorn featuring his two early solo records The Classic Guide to Strategy Volume One (1983), (tracks 1-2) and the Classic Guide to Strategy Volume Two (1986), (tracks 3-8). The albums were first released on vinyl on Lumina Records in and later re-released on Tzadik Records in 1996 as a single CD. The second track is inspired by the work of Carl Stalling and tracks 3-8 are named after avant-garde Japanese artists. The Classic Guide to Strategy Volume Two also contained the track "Yano Akiko" (5:20) which does not appear on the CD re-release.
Glenn Spearman was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was associated with free jazz and experimental music.
Larry Ochs is an American jazz saxophonist, co-founder of the Rova Saxophone Quartet and Metalanguage Records.
The Soothsayer is the seventh album by Wayne Shorter, recorded in 1965, but not released on Blue Note until 1979. The album features five originals by Shorter and an arrangement of Jean Sibelius' "Valse Triste". The featured musicians are trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, alto saxophonist James Spaulding, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams.
Requiem for Julius is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released by the Justin Time label. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, John Purcell, Oliver Lake and David Murray and is dedicated to the band's founding member Julius Hemphill.
The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in Perugia, Italy as part of the Umbria Jazz Festival and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1996.
Black Saint is an album by American jazz saxophonist Billy Harper recorded in 1975 for the Italian Black Saint label. The album was the first release for the record label.
Utterance is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman with drummer John Heward. It was recorded on October 28, 1990, at Silent Sound Studio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was initially released on cassette by the Canadian label Dictions in 1990. In 1999, the album was reissued on CD by Cadence Jazz.
Mystery Project is the first album by American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman Double Trio, which was recorded in 1992 and released on the Italian Black Saint label.
Smokehouse is the second album by American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman Double Trio, which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Italian Black Saint label.
The Fields is the third album by the American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman Double Trio, recorded in 1994 and released on the Italian Black Saint label.
Th is an album by the Glenn Spearman–John Heward Group, led by saxophonist Spearman and drummer Heward, and featuring saxophonist Christopher Cauley, violinist David Prentice, and bassist Dominic Duval. It was recorded on May 21 and 22, 1997, at the Spirit Room in Rossie, New York, and was released later that year by the CIMP label.
Free Worlds is a posthumously released album by saxophonist Glenn Spearman. It was recorded during 1994 and 1995 in San Francisco and Oakland, California, and was released in 2000 by the Black Saint label. The album features Spearman in four different ensemble settings, with musicians including saxophonist Marco Eneidi, trumpeter Raphe Malik, guitarists J.R. Routhier and Dhyani Dharma Mas, pianist Paul Plimley, keyboardist John Baker, bassist Lisle Ellis, drummer Donald Robinson, percussionist Tim Witter, and vocalists Shafqat Ali Khan, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, and Don Paul.
No One in Particular is an album by the Rashied Ali Quintet, led by drummer Ali, and featuring saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, guitarist Gene Ess, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist Matthew Garrison. It was recorded on June 25, 1992, at The Studio, located at 102 Greene Street, New York City, and was released in 2001 by Ali's Survival Records.