Brown Rice | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1975 (Italy) 1977 (North America, Japan) | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 39:17 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | Corrado Bacchelli | |||
Don Cherry chronology | ||||
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1977 self-titled issue | ||||
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Brown Rice, reissued as Don Cherry, is a studio album recorded in 1975 by trumpeter Don Cherry. The album presents a fusion of jazz with rock, African, Indian, and Arabic music. [1] [2]
The album was recorded across two New York studios: the Basement Recording Studio and Grog Kill Studio. [3] The 1975 issue's artwork features tapestries sewn by Cherry's wife, Moki Cherry. [4]
The album was first titled Brown Rice for its 1975 release. [1] [2] [5] EMI Records originally released the album in Italy under this title. [2] Horizon Records reissued the album in 1977, re-titling it Don Cherry. [2] [6]
John Snyder and Rudy Van Gelder prepared a digital master at Van Gelder Studio in 1988, and in 1989 A&M Records released Brown Rice on compact disc. [7] The album was reissued on vinyl in 2019. [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B+ [8] |
Penguin Guide to Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 9.2/10 [4] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Tom Hull – on the Web | B+ [11] |
The Allmusic review by Steve Huey called Brown Rice "the most accessible entry point into Cherry's borderless ideal, jelling into a personal, unique, and seamless vision that's at once primitive and futuristic in the best possible senses of both words," concluding that "he would never quite reach this level of wild invention again". [1] Pitchfork called the album "the most focused version" of Cherry's vision, concluding that "in its balance of noise and bliss, beauty and chaos, Brown Rice is true world music". [4] Brian Morton and Richard Cook, writing for The Penguin Guide to Jazz , called Brown Rice "a lost classic of the era and probably the best place to sample the trumpeter as both soloist – he blows some stunningly beautiful solos here – and as the shamanic creator of a unique, unearthly sound that makes dull nonsense of most 'fusion' work of the period.… Exceptional and recommended". [5]
Carl Braurer, writing for Cadence , called the album "Cherry at his finest", but suggested that the title track and "Degi-Degi" were the least successful tracks and would have benefited from shorter running times. [2] The All Music Guide to Jazz , which reprinted Braurer's review, marked the album as a landmark recording. [2] The 1985 Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide negatively described the album as an unsuccessful crossover attempt ruined by "electronic indulgence and poor playing". [10]
All compositions by Don Cherry except where noted
Carl Brauer noted apparent errors in the album's credits: "Don Cherry does not play trumpet on 'Brown Rice,' but he does play it on 'Degi-Degi,' and for the life of me I can't hear Frank Lowe's tenor on that track." [2]
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