Search - Milford Graves :: Milford Graves & John Zorn: 50th Birthday 2

A sublime noise, captured live

SPM | Eugene, Oregon | 05/01/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On this CD, Milford Graves plays percussion and John Zorn plays saxophone. All of the songs are live and improvised. The album was recorded at Tonic in New York City in September 2003, during a month-long celebration of Zorn's music. This album is fast, crazy, and fused together in a strange and beautiful way. There's no other album that sounds like this.Milford Graves is an intricate drummer with a spiritual sensibility. He begins a few tracks by singing a spontaneous hymn. His percussion is based on a wide range of world music styles, blended together into a free-form technique that seems to cover about three or four ethnic sources at once.Zorn, on the other hand, is a court jester with a noise-maker in his hands. He'll play with Graves sometimes, and against him at other times. He loves to play along with a deep, jazzy sound --- and then cut to squeals and shrieks to break the rhythm apart.It's a breathtaking performance. Of course, it's not for everyone. To many people, this kind of high-speed improvisation just sounds like a wall of useless noise. But to me, it's an energetic, warm, unique performance."

Fantastic duet from two masters.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 04/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record is an hour long improvised performance by John Zorn on alto sax and Milford Graves on drums and vocal. If you are familiar with either artist, you probably know what to expect-- remarkable density of performance, completely unique. Zorn plays in his idiom, the usual array of melodic lines, screeches, squeals, flutters, growls, and groans, Graves lays beneath him a strong polyrhythmic structure of consistent wit and inventiveness.



What's perhaps most remarkable is that for something that is (I believe) totally uncomposed, the two manage a strong level of interaction and organization-- the music is intense, fiery, and powerful, Graves seems to push and inspire Zorn to new heights, and remarkably, his debt to the '60s "New Thing" movement is pretty apparent. Given how personalized Zorn's playing is, this strikes me as highly unusual, but in many ways, the usual structures he defers to as an improviser are somewhat receeded for a sort Shepp/Sanders-esque fire music excursion. Conversely, Graves often comes up to meet Zorn's idioms, his rhythms becoming more in line with Zorn's concept. This level of interaction is most apparent on "Calling in Proceed", where Graves vocalizes in a high tenor and a yodel reminiscent of Leon Thomas in between Zorn providing a superb demonstration of the breadth of his technique in what proves to be one of the most passionate and exciting cuts on the record.



Overall, this is a really nice recording, with some superb playing and interaction from the two master musicians on it. If you're a fan of aggressive improvisation, this is a great record to check out."