Shifa: Live at Cafe Oto
| Shifa: Live at Cafe Ot | ||||
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| Live album by Rachel Musson , Pat Thomas and Mark Sanders | ||||
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| Label (s) | 577 records | |||
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LP, CD, download |
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Title (number) |
3 (4) |
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running time |
38:00 (LP) |
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Shifa: Live at Cafe Oto is an album by the trio of Rachel Musson , Pat Thomas and Mark Sanders . The recording, which was made on July 3, 2018 in Cafe Oto in London , was released on July 12, 2019 on the 577 Records label .
background
Musson had previously worked in a trio with drummer Mark Sanders, including keyboardist Liam Noble ( Tatterdemalion , 2013) and bassist John Edwards ( Bibimbap , 2016). The pianist Pat Thomas had previously worked with Mark Sanders, heard in recordings with Paul Dunmall and Wadada Leo Smith .
The recording, which was made in Café Oto in London, initially consists of a 20-minute “Improvisation 1 (Part 1)”, followed by an 11-minute second part and a seven-minute “Improvisation 2”. In the digital version, the album also offers a bonus track (with a detailed version under the title “Improvisation 1 (Unedited)”), which includes full documentation of what was played that night. The bonus title "Improvisation 1" contains about 12 additional minutes of musical interaction in full.
Music of the album
In "Improvisation 1 (Part 1)", Pat Thomas' piano improvises in a little more than 20 minutes, with the saxophone first blowing violently percussive over the piano chords, Sammy Stein ( Something Else! ) Described the musical event. "This provides a rhythmic background against which Rachel Musson's saxophone swirls, floats, dives and falls, sometimes with raw, unrestricted force." During the second half of the track, Thomas creates arched, deeper sound waves on the keyboard that provide a backdrop for the drums and saxophone to take appropriate posture. A little later the piano raises an octave and creates streams of "clanking, busy sound lines around which the saxophone and drums crouch and weave."
"Improvisation 1 (Part 2)" is introduced again by the piano, this time with a chord and then individual notes in lower octaves, through which the drums enter. The saxophone follows, with truncated notes and short phrases. The rest of the track is a back and forth between the three musicians, mostly short, simplistic riffs with phrases developed from the saxophone. In some places, the contrast between the deep, even tones of the piano striking the saxophone's altissimo, creates a sense of the stretching of the music. In the second third, the piano forms a basis for chords, while the saxophone and drums form a few lines of their own. "Improvisation 2" is introduced at high speed by the piano, which runs in short riffs of three and four bars over the entire length of the keyboard, over which the saxophone calls and falls into short gaps, a moment reminiscent of traditional jazz performances - and yet is improvised.
Track list
- Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders: Shifa - Live at Cafe Oto (577 Records 5823)
- LP edition
A Improvisation 1 (Part 1)
B1 Improvisation 1 (Part 2)
B2 Improvisation 2
- Digital edition
- Improvisation 1, Pt. 1 - 20:29
- Improvisation 1, Pt. 2-11:11
- Improvisation 2 - 6:59
- Improvisation 1 [Unedited Bonus Track] - 32:53
reception
Josef Woodard gave the album in Down Beat four stars and said that in the world of free improvisation , chemistry among the musicians is an essential aspect of engagement. In Shifa: Live at Café Oto , “the music is an uncompromising and unexplored leap, since these players came together as a trio for the first time.” Despite the democratic agenda and the tendency of Pat Thomas piano to create pieces and sections, the saxophonist has Rachel Musson plays the role of a leader who "has a bold, granite timbre ". At its core, this music manages to break away and pursue a collective purpose.
Eyal Hareuveni ( Free Jazz Blog ) also gave the album four stars and praised Shifa (the title was inspired by شفاء - the Arabic word for “ healing ”) “captures the uplifting, spiritual energy of this freely improvised music”. According to the author, this trio is determined to use all of its energy reserves; the playing style of this trio is of course based on a deep knowledge of the art of the moment and the legacy of free jazz and modern music.
The first, extended improvisation offers “a series of raw, powerful and intense collisions between Musson and Thomas. Every phrase , gesture, idea of Musson or even noises generated by her advanced breathing techniques are immediately abstracted by Thomas, whose uncompromising percussive attacks and electronic sounds ultimately force a pulse-free texture , and vice versa by the headstrong Musson, who plays the tenor saxophone here . ”Sanders, in turn, acts in this improvisation as the guardian of this turbulent equilibrium, who uses subtle, wise interventions to keep the close interplay on course. During this piece, the trio sounds like a much larger unit filling the Cafe Oto space with so much pulsating energy. The second, shorter improvisation is developed in classic free jazz parameters. It is a fiery, restless piece that moves quickly between fleeting rhythmic patterns and ecstatic and touching themes , as everyone takes the lead, but Musson ultimately has the say. She plays the soprano saxophone here and shines "as a charismatic leader with her own sound universe."
According to Sammy Stein ( Something Else! ), The recording gives "a feeling of collective synergy "; each player listens and respects the others, but occasionally chooses to “impose their own musical message and interpretation of the rhythms and tempos outlined above. This reflects the time-honored tradition of jazz music of listening, interpreting, playing and sharing. ”This is done happily, informally, but there is control and a depth of musical interpretation. In the opinion of the author, the recording would do justice to the atmosphere and surroundings. Shifa: Live at Cafe Oto is breathtaking and beautiful.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information about the album on the label's website at Bandcamp
- ↑ a b c Eyal Hareuveni: Rachel Musson / Pat Thomas / Mark Sanders: Shifa: Live At Café Oto. Free Jazz Blog, July 1, 2019, accessed October 17, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Josef Woodard: Rachel Musson / Pat Thomas / Mark Sanders: Shiva: Live at Cafe Oto. Down Beat, October 1, 2019, accessed October 17, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e Shifa - 'Live at Cafe Oto' (2019). Something Else !, May 6, 2019, accessed October 7, 2019 .
- ↑ Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders: Shifa - Live at Café Oto