First and Last | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1999 | |||
Recorded | July 25, 1998 | |||
Venue | Fire in the Valley Festival, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts | |||
Genre | Free jazz | |||
Length | 43:08 | |||
Label | Eremite MTE015 | |||
Producer | Michael Ehlers | |||
Glenn Spearman chronology | ||||
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First and Last is a live album by saxophonist Glenn Spearman. It was recorded on July 25, 1998, at the Fire in the Valley Festival in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was released in 1999 by Eremite Records. On the album, Spearman is joined by pianist Matthew Goodheart and drummer Rashid Bakr. It was Spearman's last recording before his death less than three months later. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
In a review for AllMusic, Steve Loewy wrote: "This is energetic music of the highest order, a fitting memorial to one the unsung jazz legends who could sing on his horn with the best of them, but who never entirely received his due during his lifetime. This recording should help to place his forceful and very spiritual spirit in proper perspective." [1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings called the album "an unhappy affair... at moments barely coherent," and stated: "it weaves awkwardly between intense insight... and a prosy banality." [5]
A reviewer for All About Jazz commented: "Playing melodic or howling freely, Spearman spans the emotional spectrum from quiet contemplation to uneasy tension to all-out screaming release. Plenty of post-Ayler playing... Fans of Frank Wright, Albert Ayler, or Jimmy Lyons should grab this record to hear one of the greatest exponents of this tradition." [6]
Author Phil Freeman remarked: "Spearman is in full voice throughout, bellowing when he wants to, murmuring at other times, but never aiming for a note he's unable to reach. His disease never took away his voice until it stifled him for good... the sheer historic importance of the session makes it a must... It's Glenn Spearman's last gift to the world, and it's definitely worth keeping around." [7]
William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist. Beginning in the 1980s, Parker played with Cecil Taylor for over a decade, and he has led the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since 1981. The Village Voice named him "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time" and DownBeat has called him "one of the most adventurous and prolific bandleaders in jazz".
Rashid Bakr is an American free jazz drummer.
Jemeel Moondoc was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style.
Raphe Malik, born Laurence Mazel was an American jazz trumpeter.
Glenn Spearman was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was associated with free jazz and experimental music.
Love Cry is a 1968 album by jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, released on Impulse! Records in 1968. It was originally reissued on CD by GRP with two previously unreleased alternate takes and one previously unreleased outtake. The cover claimed that "Universal Indians" is presented as a longer extended edit, but it is actually identical to the original LP. The later twofer CD edition discards the bonus tracks.
2 Days in April is a double album by a free jazz quartet consisting of saxophonists Fred Anderson and Kidd Jordan, bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, documenting two 1999 concerts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge. It was released on Eremite, a label founded by producer Michael Ehlers. Anderson and Jordan first meeting was at a mid-80s AACM concert in Chicago, but this is their first recording together.
Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded live at the 2000 Vision Festival and released on the Eremite label. It was a reunion with vibraphonist Khan Jamal, who recorded with Moondoc before on the album Konstanze's Delight. The quintet also features Nathan Breedlove on trumpet, John Voigt on bass and Codaryl Moffett on drums.
Live at Glenn Miller Café Vol 1 is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded in Stockholm and released on Ayler Records, a Swedish label founded by Jan Ström and Åke Bjurhamn. Moondoc leads a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake. The rhythm section had recorded the studio album ...and William Danced a few hours earlier with local saxophonist Anders Gahnold.
The Short Form is an album by American jazz trumpeter Raphe Malik, which was recorded live at the Fire in the Valley Festival in 1996 and released on the Eremite label. He leads a quartet with tenor saxophonist Glenn Spearman, bassist George Langford and drummer Dennis Warren.
Companions is an album by American jazz trumpeter Raphe Malik, which was recorded live at the 1998 Vision Festival during a Jimmy Lyons tribute and released on the Eremite label. Malik leads a quartet with the members of the Trio Hurricane: tenor saxophonist Glenn Spearman, bassist William Parker and drummer Paul Murphy.
Captain of the Deep is an album by the American jazz drummer Denis Charles, which was recorded live in 1991 at the Zuid-Nederlands Jazz Festival and released in 1998 on the Eremite 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.
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.
Live at Fire in the Valley is a live album by Trio Hurricane: saxophonist Glenn Spearman, bassist William Parker, and drummer Paul Murphy. It was recorded in July 1997 at the Fire in the Valley festival in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was released by Eremite Records later that year.
Live at Glenn Miller Café is a live album by saxophonist Arthur Doyle and drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in March 2000 at the Glenn Miller Café in Stockholm, Sweden, and was released in 2001 by Ayler Records. Although the album is credited to Doyle and Murray, the first three tracks are a duet between Murray and saxophonist Bengt Frippe Nordström, who died several months after the concert.
Never Too Late But Always Too Early is a two-CD live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in April 2001 at Casa del Popolo in Montréal, and was released in 2003 by Eremite Records. The album is dedicated to Peter Kowald.
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.
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.
Working with the Elements is an album by saxophonist Glenn Spearman and bassist Dominic Duval. It was recorded on July 20 and 21, 1998, at the Spirit Room in Rossie, New York, and was released in 1999 by the CIMP label. It was one of Spearman's last recordings before his death in October 1998.