The Unpredictability of Predictability | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1979 | |||
Recorded | July 6, 1979 | |||
Venue | Soundscape, New York City | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Label | About Time Records AT-1002 | |||
Producer | Jerome Cooper, Verna Gillis | |||
Jerome Cooper chronology | ||||
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The Unpredictability of Predictability is a live solo percussion album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in July 1979 at Soundscape in New York City, and was released on LP by About Time Records later that year. [1] [2]
On the album, Cooper plays a variety of instruments, including flute, whistle, balaphone, chirimia, bass drum, cymbal, drums, and tom tom. Writer John Szwed commented: "Cooper added a balafon and horns to his kit... so that he could play like an old-time one-man band (though the results sounded more African than African American)". [3]
In the album liner notes, Cooper wrote: "This is not just an album for drummers... anyone into music can dig this music. Classical music people can dig it because it's structured. People into rock, because of the beat, people into jazz because of the improvisational aspect, and those into ethnic music because of the instruments involved". [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
MusicHound Jazz | [5] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
In a review for AllMusic, Brian Olewnick wrote: "This superb musician... treats his solo performances as free-standing compositions scored for only certain instruments from which he extracts huge volumes of sounds and rhythms... Cooper has no interest in wowing the listener by playing fast or loud, but simply desires to develop lovely rhythms and melodic patterns and allow them to flower. A fine recording and wonderful antidote for those who claim to be bored by drum solos." [1]
Author W. C. Bamberger stated that, in "Movement A, B", a listener "coming to an album billed as solo percussion with expectations of a certain busy-ness" must "let Cooper set his own terms", while in "Movement C", one can "most clearly hear the effects of Cooper's conception of the drum kit as a confederation of separate instruments" as he plays "a kind of lively Q&A session between drums, and between drum and hi-hat". Bamberger described "Bert The Cat" as "skittering, tail-in-the-air fun". [7]
John Corbett called the album a "must-have LP". [8] Drummer Tyshawn Sorey included the recording in a list of "albums featuring live drums that have inspired me over the years". [9]
All compositions by Jerome Cooper.
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The drummer typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks, and uses their feet to operate hi-hat and bass drum pedals.
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Jerome Douglas Cooper was an American free jazz musician. In addition to trap drums, Cooper played balafon, chirimia and various electronic instruments, and referred to himself as a "multi-dimensional drummer," meaning that his playing involved "layers of sounds and rhythms". AllMusic reviewer Ron Wynn called him "A sparkling drummer and percussionist... An excellent accompanist". Another Allmusic reviewer stated that "in the truest sense this drummer is a magician, adept at transformation and the creation of sacred space".
Tyshawn Sorey is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music.
L-R-G / The Maze / S II Examples is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, recorded in 1978 and released as a double LP on Nessa Records. It was reissued in 1989 as a single CD.
Kris Davis is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
Heavy metal drumming is a style of rock music drum kit playing that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United States and the United Kingdom. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic/acid rock drum playing, heavy metal drummers play with emphatic beats, and overall loudness using an aggressive performing style. Heavy metal drumming is traditionally characterized by emphatic rhythms and dense bass guitar-and-drum sound.
Door is the third album by Fieldwork, a collective trio consisting of Vijay Iyer on piano, Steve Lehman on alto saxophone and Tyshawn Sorey on drums replacing former drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, which was recorded in 2007 and released on Pi Recordings.
Revolutionary Ensemble is an eponymous live album by the free jazz group consisting of violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper, which was recorded in Austria in 1977 and released on the German Enja label and in the U.S. on Inner City Records the following year.
The People's Republic is an album by the Revolutionary Ensemble, violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper, which was recorded in late 1975 and released on the A&M/Horizon label the following year.
Beyond the Boundary of Time is a live album by the Revolutionary Ensemble, violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in May 2005 in Warsaw, Poland, and was released in 2008 by Mutable Music. The album contains one composition by each group member, along with two collective improvisations. It captures one of the group's last performances, and is dedicated to Jenkins, who died in 2007.
Root Assumptions is a solo percussion album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in April 1978 in New York City, and was released by Anima Productions in 1982. On the album, Cooper performs on a variety of percussion instruments, including African balaphone, bass drum, and sock cymbal.
Configuration is a live album by bassist Sirone and violinist Billy Bang, recorded in November, 2004, at CBGB's Gallery in New York City, and released in 2005 by Silkheart Records. On the album, the musicians are joined by the members of the Sirone Bang Ensemble: saxophonist Charles Gayle and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.
The Adornment of Time is a live album by percussionist Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at The Kitchen in New York City in October 2018, and was released in 2019 by Pi Recordings. The album features an hour-long piece that was freely improvised; nothing was determined or discussed beforehand.
For the People is a live album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in May 1979 at The Kitchen in New York City, and was released on LP by Hat Hut Records in 1980. On the album, Cooper, who plays a variety of instruments, including drums, chirimia, African balaphone, and whistle, is joined by Oliver Lake, who performs on alto saxophone, flute, bells, and vocals.
Outer and Interactions is an album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in February 1987 at Acoustilog in New York City, and was released on LP by About Time Records in 1988. On the album, Cooper is joined by saxophonist Joseph Jarman, violinist Jason Hwang, bassist William Parker, and drummer Thurman Barker.
In Concert: From There to Hear is a live solo percussion album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded during 1995–1998 at concerts presented at Roulette and The Knitting Factory in New York City, and was released by Mutable Music in 2001.
A Magical Approach is a live solo percussion album by Jerome Cooper. The first track was recorded in April 1978 at Environ in New York City, while the remaining tracks were recorded in September 2007 at an AACM concert in New York City. The album was released by Mutable Music in 2010.
As of Not is a double-LP album by American percussionist Jerome Cooper and Danish percussionist and pianist Kresten Osgood. It was recorded in 2011 while Cooper was visiting Copenhagen for symposia, masterclasses, and concerts, and was released by the Danish artist-run label and collective ILK Music in 2020. The album features a seven-part percussion-oriented suite composed by Cooper.
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.