Spirits Aloft
| Spirits Aloft | ||||
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| Live album by Henry Grimes & Rashied Ali | ||||
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| Label (s) | Porter Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
7th |
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Studio (s) |
Center for the Arts at Rutgers University, The Gordon Theater, Caden, New Jersey |
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Spirits Aloft is a jazz album by Henry Grimes and Rashied Ali . The recordings, which were made on February 7, 2009 at the Center for the Arts at Rutgers University in the Gordon Theater in Camden, New Jersey , were released in 2010 on Porter Records .
background
Spirits Aloft , a live recording, documents the second and final collaboration between bassist Henry Grimes, who was absent from the music scene for decades before his return in 2002, and drummer Rashied Ali, who died six months after this concert. On this recording, Grimes alternates back and forth between the bass and the violin, as well as between somewhat conventional free jazz playing and atmospheric pieces in which neither he nor Ali offer any kind of melodic or rhythmic structure, but rather improvise in a quiet, intense way , which forces the listener to wonder who is making which sound, Phil Freeman described the musical happening.
Track list
- Henry Grimes / Rashied Ali: Spirits Aloft (Porter Records - PRCD-4049)
- Moments (Poem) 0:34
- Rapid Transit 14:50
- Oceans of the Clouds 7:32
- Larger Astronomical Time 4:49
- Arcopanorama 10:21
- Priordained 14:10
- The Arch Stairwells (Poem) 2:00
reception
Phil Freeman gave the album four stars in Allmusic and said that the drummer's powerful solo in "Larger Astronomical Time" was a highlight of his performance, and Grimes' performance was best shown in the grueling "Arcopanorama". With this release and a couple of previous ones, upon his return, Grimes proved that his skills have returned and he is in every way the player he was in the 1960s.
The author of the Free Jazz Blog said, oddly enough, they give each other a lot of space, which sometimes gives the bizarre feeling of playing either drums solo or bass solo one after the other, with limited moments of actual playing together but either way, the quality of the Energy is high. You could feel the joy they had in the performance. And that is exactly what makes this album an unforgettable work, the author sums up. "Two musicians give themselves completely, believe in their art and manage to convey this to the audience: great material."
According to Michael Kabran, who reviewed the album in Pop Matters, the recording feels more like a glimpse into the “pre-game” rituals - “the thought processes and approach behind the music - by two avant-garde jazz gods in their later years. That may sound like criticism, but it's actually just the opposite. In fact, in music, and especially jazz, there is no better way to get to the essence of a musician than by hearing him or her. During the rehearsal you get a real insight into where a musician is going, what challenges him and where his limits are. ”To be fair, Kabran continued, Spirits Aloft is more than just a rehearsal. However, it is almost entirely improvised music and therefore feels very rough around the edges. Grimes and Ali interact with each other in real time, constantly exploring new ideas. Sometimes the result is a series of scratches, squeaks, and pops, as in Rapid Transit. In other cases, Grimes and Ali create a tap in the environment that is almost techno or dub-like, like in "Oceans of the Clouds". Still, in other moments, like on “Preordained”, beautiful harmonies and blissfully swinging rhythms break out of a seemingly endless, nervous blanket of chaos without warning.
The Italian edition of All About Jazz rated the album 3½ (out of five stars) and stated: "A record of considerable value, not just documentary."
Web links
- Listing of the album on Allmusic (English). Accessed January 1, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ↑ Henry Grimes / Rashied Ali - Spirits Aloft at Discogs
- ^ Henry Grimes / Rashied Ali - Spirits Aloft. Free Jazz Blog, October 21, 2010, accessed April 18, 2020 .
- ↑ Michael Kabran: Henry Grimes / Rashied Ali - Spirits Aloft. Pop Matters, October 25, 2010, accessed April 18, 2020 .
- ^ Henry Grimes / Rashied Ali - Spirits Aloft. All About Jazz, February 7, 2011, accessed April 18, 2020 (Italian).