Free Jazz Classic
jazzrage | Port Washington, New York United States | 12/31/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Out of the two albums combined on this cd, New Africa is clearly the more inspired of the two. Grachan Moncur III is an underrated jazz artist who was recently rediscovered in a New York Times article. He was primarily known as a jazz sideman to artists such as Jackie McLean and Archie Shepp but his solo recordings remain as powerful as ever. New Africa is an especially strong piece as he is joined by jazz giants Roscoe Mitchell on all tracks and Archie Shepp on one track. If you are into more traditional jazz you may not get into this but for those with adventurous tastes musically, this is the one to get."
An essential record combined with a good one.
greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 12/27/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a CD reissue of two seperate LPs that were released under Grachan Moncur III's leadership. One of the LPs, New Africa, originally released on the Actuel label is as good as any of Moncur's releases on Blue Note(and that is very good indeed). The compositions were inspired by a visit to the Pan-African Festival of Culture in Algiers in 1969. Upon his return he entered the studio with Dave Burrell on the piano, Roscoe Mitchell on the alto sax and flute, Alan Silva on the bass and Andrew Cyrille on the drums. On the last tune of that date, 'when', they are all joined by Archie Shepp on the tenor.
In recent years, I have grown tired of the head-soli-head structure of most traditional jazz playing. But when faced with dates led by certain composers, I am reminded of just how powerful and beautiful a format that can still be.
Moncur writes in such a way as to seemingly inspire everybody involved. The tunes themselves are brooding, slightly askew and quite memorable. But it is the ensemble sound of the musicians he selects and their soli that always stay in my ears.
His own soli are always melodic even in his most free jazz moments and are highlighted by a burnished tone free of growling or effects.
Roscoe Mitchell on this CD sounds simply great. He plays on 'New Africa' in a hard-bop almost Marion Brown manner. This is about as straight as I have ever heard him play. His solo on 'exploration' is more typical of what I remember about his playing at the time- passionate, harsh and with a unique sense of how to space his playing. Mitchell never crowded a solo that I have heard.
Shepp's tone on his contribution is a highlight. His playing is one of the undersung highlights in the history of sixties jazz. He took the thick-toned tenor tradtion of Hawkins, Webster and Rollins and brought it to the free jazz of that period. The sound of Shepp emerging from an ensemble is as unique as the sound of Johnny Hodges emerging from the reed section of Duke Ellington's recordings.
The second LP on this CD, (Aco dei de madrugada) is Brazilian inspired. The first two songs on this portion of the CD are traditional, the last two are written by Moncur. He is joined by Fernando Martins on the piano, Beb Guerin on the bass and Nelson Serra de Castro on the drums. This is an accomplished group although much more bop oriented in their approach than the group on the New Africa sessions. By comparison, these musicians seem less inspired. However, when considering the rarity of Moncur led sessions, I appreciate the reissue. I have found that listening to it on its own is the best way to appreciate the qualities of this session.
Moncur's discography is one of the treasures of the history of improvised music of the last fifty years. Recently Mosaic issued a limited edition compilation of his work for Blue Note. Those sessions and New Africa belong in the collection of every fan of modern jazz."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1