The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1

Last updated
The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1
The Milwaukee Tapes Vol 1 Cover.jpeg
Live album by
Released2000
RecordedJanuary or February, 1980
Milwaukee
Genre Jazz
Length70:16
Label Atavistic
Producer John Corbett
Fred Anderson chronology
Fred Anderson Quartet Volume One
(1999)
The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1
(2000)
2 Days in April
(2000)

The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson recorded live in 1980 but not issued until 2000 by Atavistic as part of their Unheard Music Series.

Contents

Background

Anderson took his working quartet with trumpeter Billy Brimfield, bassist Larry Hayrod and drummer Hamid Drake to play somewhere in Milwaukee in early 1980 and made arrangements to have a professional 8-track recording made of the concert. 20 years later, when Anderson started to garner attention issuing records more frequently, producer John Corbett released the tapes. [1]

Anderson and Brimfield collaborated since the beginning of the 1960s when they had a pre-AACM quartet. Hayrod was a newcomer to the quartet, replacing Steven Palmore. Anderson and Drake enjoyed a close relationship dating back to the early 1970s. [1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]

In his review for AllMusic, Stewart Mason states "Anderson and compatriots are at the top of their game singly and collectively." [2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that "there is a tendency to meander through solos in what sounds like a second-gear version of late Coltrane." [3]

In a multiple review for JazzTimes , Harvey Pekar notes that "This is not a free-jazz date; it features five varied and impressive compositions by Anderson and Drake and contains solos based on preset structures." [4]

The PopMatters review by Imre Szeman says that the album "not only allows us to get a glimpse of Anderson in the midst of one of the most exciting periods in his career, but also gives us a chance to hear this Olympian jazz man play live in all his glory." [5]

Track listing

All compositions by Fred Anderson except as indicated
  1. "A Ballad for Rita" - 17:01
  2. "The Bull" - 19:22
  3. "Black Woman" - 13:26
  4. "Bombay (Children of Cambodia)" (Hamid Drake) - 10:05
  5. "Planet E" - 10:22

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamid Drake</span> American jazz drummer and percussionist

Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.

<i>Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation</i> 1961 studio album by Ornette Coleman

Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is the sixth album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released on Atlantic Records in September 1961: the fourth of Coleman's six albums for the label. Its title named the then-nascent free jazz movement. The recording session took place on December 21, 1960, at A&R Studios in New York City. The sole outtake from the album session, "First Take," was later released on the 1971 compilation Twins and subsequent CD reissues of Free Jazz.

The Velvet Lounge was a nightclub in the South Loop of Chicago. It started as a jazz club and was called the "dusty epicenter of the Midwest's free form jazz scene." It was located at 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Avenue before moving to 67 E. Cermak when the original building was scheduled for demolition. It closed permanently in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Anderson (musician)</span> American jazz saxophonist

Fred Anderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but he also incorporated innovations from free jazz. Anderson was also noted for having mentored numerous young musicians. Critic Ben Ratliff called him "a father figure of experimental jazz in Chicago". Writer John Corbett referred to him as "scene caretaker, underground booster, indefatigable cultural worker, quiet force for good." In 2001, author John Litweiler called Anderson "the finest tenor saxophonist in free jazz/underground jazz/outside jazz today."

<i>Ornette on Tenor</i> 1962 studio album by Ornette Coleman

Ornette on Tenor is the eighth album by the American jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released in 1962 on Atlantic Records, his sixth and final one for the label. It features Coleman playing tenor saxophone rather than his usual alto, and bassist Jimmy Garrison before he joined the John Coltrane Quartet. This would be the last record by the Coleman Quartet started in the 1950s; he would disband this group and form the Coleman Trio later in the year. Recording sessions took place on March 22 and 27, 1961, at Atlantic Studios in New York City. One outtake from the March 27 session, "Harlem's Manhattan," would appear on the 1970 compilation The Art of the Improvisers.

<i>Birdhouse</i> (album) 1996 studio album by Fred Anderson

Birdhouse is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, released in 1996 on Okka Disk.

<i>Destiny</i> (Marilyn Crispell album) 1995 live album by Marilyn Crispell, Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake

Destiny is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell with saxophonist Fred Anderson and drummer Hamid Drake recorded in the 1994 "Women of the New Jazz" festival at Chicago’s HotHouse and released on Okka Disk.

<i>Fred Anderson / DKV Trio</i> 1997 studio album by Fred Anderson

Fred Anderson / DKV Trio is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with the DKV Trio, composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler and reedist Ken Vandermark. The album was recorded in 1996 and released on Okka Disk. The DKV Trio formed in the summer of 1994 and started performing at Anderson's Velvet Lounge very early in their career. Those meetings led to the idea of doing a record with Fred. "Black Woman", a classic Anderson composition that appears on several of his other recordings, is a tenor sax duet.

<i>Live at the Velvet Lounge</i> 1999 live album by Fred Anderson

Live at the Velvet Lounge is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with German free jazz bassist Peter Kowald and long-time collaborator drummer Hamid Drake. The record documents a June 1998 performance at the Chicago club owned by Anderson, the Velvet Lounge, and was released on the Okka Disk label.

<i>Song For</i> 1967 studio album by Joseph Jarman

Song For is the debut album by American jazz saxophonist Joseph Jarman, recorded in 1966 and released on the Delmark label.

<i>Dark Day</i> (Fred Anderson album) 1979 live album by Fred Anderson

Dark Day is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson recorded live in 1979 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and released in a small batch on the tiny Austrian Message label. The performance was part of a series of AACM concerts presented by the museum. Anderson's Quartet features long-time partner trumpeter Billy Brimfield, bassist Steven Palmore and young drummer Hamid Drake, who contributes the piece "The Prayer", later retitled "Bombay ".

<i>The Missing Link</i> (Fred Anderson album) 1984 studio album by Fred Anderson

The Missing Link is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, recorded in 1979 but not issued until 1984 by Nessa Records.

<i>Fred Anderson Quartet Volume One</i> 1999 live album by Fred Anderson

Fred Anderson Quartet Volume One is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson which was recorded live during the 1998 season at the Chicago club owned by Anderson, the Velvet Lounge, and released on the Asian Improv label. The Anderson's Quartet features longtime partner trumpeter Bill Brimfield, drummer Chad Taylor and Asian American bassist Tatsu Aoki.

<i>Back Together Again</i> 2004 studio album by Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake

Back Together Again is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with drummer Hamid Drake, which was recorded in 2003 and released on the Thrill Jockey label. They played together for more than 30 years, but this was their first duo recording. A bonus CD-ROM includes footage of three of the tunes along with interviews in which Anderson and Drake dissect the process of how the songs evolve and the different styles and approaches the two use.

<i>From the River to the Ocean</i> 2007 studio album by Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake

From the River to the Ocean is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with drummer Hamid Drake, which was released in 2007 on the Thrill Jockey label.

<i>Blue Winter</i> 2005 live album by Fred Anderson

Blue Winter is a double album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, which was recorded live at Vermont's Johnson State College in 2004 and released on Eremite, a label founded by producer Michael Ehlers. The set features four long improvisations by a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake. While the three have worked together before, in quartet with Kidd Jordan on the album 2 Days in April, this is their first trio recording.

<i>2 Days in April</i> 2000 live album by Fred Anderson

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.

<i>Nation Time</i> 1971 live album by Joe McPhee

Nation Time is a live album by saxophonist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in late 1970 and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2000.

<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>Revelation</i> (Hugh Ragin album) 2004 studio album by Hugh Ragin

Revelation is an album by trumpeter Hugh Ragin. It was recorded on September 2, 2003, at G Spot Studios in Brooklyn, New York, and was released in 2004 by Justin Time Records. On the album, Ragin is joined by saxophonist Assif Tsahar, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake.

References

  1. 1 2 The Milwaukee Tapes vol. 1 original liner notes by John Corbett
  2. 1 2 Mason, Stewart. Fred Anderson – The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1: Review at AllMusic . Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2002). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (6th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 43. ISBN   0-14-051521-6.
  4. The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 review by Harvey Pekar at JazzTimes
  5. The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 review by Imre Szeman at PopMatters