| Grand Unification | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Recorded | October 11, 1997 | |||
| Studio | Avatar Studio, New York City | |||
| Genre | jazz, percussion music | |||
| Length | 1:04:04 | |||
| Label | Tzadik Records TZ 7030 | |||
| Producer | Milford Graves | |||
| Milford Graves chronology | ||||
| ||||
Grand Unification is an album by American percussionist Milford Graves, recorded in October 1997 and released in 1998 by Tzadik Records. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [2] |
In a review for AllMusic, Stacia Proefrock wrote: "the record is a tight, technical masterpiece played with passion. Combining a variety of African, Asian, and Western drums with rhythmic chanting, Graves provides all of the instrumentation on the album and creates something rare: unaccompanied jazz percussion that shows variety and consistent energy throughout a nearly hour-long album." [1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz noted that, since being taken up by Tzadik Records, "for almost the first time in a long career, the drummer can be heard clearly and with definition." [2]
Writing for the Chicago Reader , Peter Margasak called the album "a dense, enthralling work that demands repeated immersion," praised Graves's "mind-boggling multilinearity," and stated that "the barrage of grooves and ideas distracts a listener from the sheer mechanics of execution." [3]
In an article for The Wire , Alan Licht commented that, while listening to "Intuitive Transformations," he noted "a certain correspondence between Graves's drumming and his conversational style. In the piece he establishes a rolling rhythm and then for the next 12 minutes constantly sets up instantaneous variations, fills and accents around it. During our interview, he makes many associative digressions, pulling examples from his various activities to illustrate a point he's trying to make, not rambling but letting his thoughts flow, never losing sight of the underlying question to be answered." [4] Licht stated that Grand Unification finds Graves "in magisterial command, left to his own devices. Hearing him solo is like witnessing a shamanic ceremony, mysterious and packed with surprises yet totally coherent and rigorously crafted. Vocal incantation often accompanies the pulsating, swirling, scintillating flow as his limbs channel mature artistry, but also scientifically informed insights through the skin, wood and metal. Graves tunes in to the essential vibrations – within, between, beyond." [5]
All compositions by Milford Graves.
Milford Graves was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music, researcher/inventor, visual artist/sculptor, gardener/herbalist, and martial artist. Graves was noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the 1960s with Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, and the New York Art Quartet, and is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating percussion from its timekeeping role. The composer and saxophonist John Zorn referred to Graves as "basically a 20th-century shaman."
Adam's Apple is the tenth album by post-bop jazz artist Wayne Shorter. Recorded in 1966 and released in 1967, it included the first recording of his composition "Footprints", later recorded by the Miles Davis Quintet for the album Miles Smiles (1967). Shorter is featured with pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Joe Chambers. The CD release includes the Hancock composition "The Collector" as a bonus track.
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.
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.
Filmworks IV: S/M + More features film scores by John Zorn. The album was released in Japan on Eva Records in 1996 and on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 1997. It features the music that Zorn wrote and recorded for Maria Beatty's The Elegant Spanking, Beatty and M.M. Serra's A Lot of Fun for the Evil One, "Credits Included" written for the film of the same name directed by Jalal Toufic and "Maogai," written for a piano scene in a film by Hiroki Ryuichi.
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 2 is a live album of improvised music by Milford Graves and John Zorn documenting their performance at Tonic in September 2003 as part of Zorn's month-long 50th Birthday Celebration concert series.
First Recordings 1973 is a compilation album by John Zorn featuring recordings that he made while still a student between 1973 and 1974 which was released on the Tzadik label in 1995.
The Survivors' Suite is an album by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in April 1976 and released on ECM the following year. The quartet—Jarrett's "American Quartet"—features saxophonist Dewey Redman and rhythm section Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.
Live in Vienna is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded in Vienna on November 7, 1987 and released on the Leo label. The album features a concert performance by Taylor with Thurman Barker, William Parker, Carlos Ward and Leroy Jenkins.
Quartet West is an album by the American jazz bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 1986 and released on the Verve label.
Short for Something is the third album by the New Klezmer Trio, Ben Goldberg - clarinet, Dan Seamans - bass, and Kenny Wollesen - drums, which was released on the Tzadik label in 2000.
Theater of Mineral NADEs is an album by the violinist/multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang, released in 1998 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Composer Series.
7 NADEs is the debut album by violinist/multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang which was released in 1996 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Composer Series.
Freedom Jazz Dance is an album by Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, a jazz band formed by percussionist Kahil El'Zabar, who is joined by trombonist Joseph Bowie, saxophonist Ernest Dawkins and special guest guitarist Fareed Haque. It was recorded in 1999 and released on Delmark.
Stories is an album by American percussionist Milford Graves, recorded in June 2000 and released later that year by Tzadik Records.
Dialogue of the Drums is a live album by American percussionists Andrew Cyrille and Milford Graves, recorded in January 1974 and released later that year by Cyrille's and Graves's Institute of Percussive Studies.
Bäbi is a live album by American percussionist Milford Graves, recorded in March 1976 and released in 1977 by the Institute of Percussive Studies, a label owned and run by Graves and Andrew Cyrille. The album features Graves on drums and percussion, along with reed players Arthur Doyle and Hugh Glover.
Meditation Among Us is an album by American percussionist Milford Graves, recorded in July 1977 and released later that year by Kitty Records. The album features Graves on drums, percussion, and piano, along with Kaoru Abe on alto and sopranino saxophones, Mototeru Takagi on tenor saxophone, Toshinori Kondo on trumpet and alto horn, and Toshiyuki Tsuchitori on drums and percussion. It was recorded while Graves was visiting Japan with dancer Min Tanaka.
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.
Myths and Morals is a solo album by drummer Chad Taylor. It was recorded on March 20, 2017, at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, and was released on vinyl in 2018 by Ears & Eyes Records. The album is also available as a digital download, with a bonus track featuring Elliot Bergman on electric kalimba.
