The Bennie Maupin Quartet - Early Reflections



Bennie Maupin es bien conocido por su participación en Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970) y Head Hunters (Columbia, 1973), entre otros discos de Miles Davis y Herbie Hancock, respectivamente, de comienzos de los setentas.
Como solista, su álbum más destacado es The Jewel in The Lotus (ECM, 1974).
Early Reflections es su segundo trabajo para el sello Cryptogramophone, en el cual es acompañado por una sección rímica toda polaca, al estilo de Tomasz Stanko, integrada por: Michal Tokaj en piano, Michal Baranski en contrabajo y Lukasz Zyta en batería.
Escondido, con Maupin en clarinete bajo, debe ser la más bonita composición que he escuchado en mucho tiempo.****

1.Within Reach 2:36
2.Escondido 7:44
3.Inside the Shadows 2:21
4.ATMA 8:59
5.Ours Again 3:49
6.The Jewel in the Lotus 10:15
7.Black Ice 3:04
8.Tears 7:52
9.Not Later Than Now 2:38
10.Early Reflections 5:52
11.Inner Sky 7:19
12.Prophet's Motifs 4:23
13.Spirits of the Tatras 9:00

Bennie Maupin - bass clarinet, tenor & soprano saxophones, alto flute
Michal Tokaj - piano
Michal Baranski - bass
Lukasz Zyta - drums, percussion
Hania Chowaniec-Rybka - voice (on tracks 4 and 13)

All music by Bennie Maupin except tracks # 1, 3, 7, & 9 by Bennie Maupin, Michal Tokaj, Michal Baranski, and Lukasz Zyta, and track #8 by Michal Tokaj

Recorded by Sebastian Witkowski, September 20-22, at Sound and More Studios - Warsaw, Poland

Cryptogramophone CG1137 [2008]

Comentarios

wightdj ha dicho que…
Excellent post, thanks.
selim ha dicho que…
i am wordless, speechless
appreciated for this jewel.
seliM
soyo ha dicho que…
thanks to both for visiting and to comment.
Ulysses Gramophone ha dicho que…
Impresionante...Gracias.
Anónimo ha dicho que…
Hola Soyo, vengo a devolverte visita y me encuentro con un espacio enormemente interesante, tendré sin duda que dedicar n poco de tiempo a ver todas las sorpresas que me depara, así que con tu permiso me voy a dar una vuelta por él.

No cabe duda de que me pasaré con frecuencia. Un saludo.
jazzzter ha dicho que…
Nice bass clarinet!
Thank you
soyo ha dicho que…
gracias ernesto51 y jazzzter por vuestros mensajes.
il angelo ha dicho que…
Estupendo Soyo, estupendo
soyo ha dicho que…
gracias por visitar Jazz en la Web y por tu comentario. Un saludo il angelo.
Simon666 ha dicho que…
Big thanks for this, lovely stuff, thanks!
soyo ha dicho que…
thank you for comment, Simon.
Arcturus ha dicho que…
the 1st Cryptogram (Penumbra)is a gem - this'll no doubt be excellent - I had the pleasure of hearing him last year w/ James Newton, Billy Hart, Darek Oleskiewicz & Jay Hoggard performing mostly Dolphy material (incl. some previously unheard ED compositions!); hopefully a recording's in the works . . .
soyo ha dicho que…
I envy you've heard to Maupin live. And playing Eric Dolphy material! The music must listen to live. Thank you for your message, Arcturus.
Arcturus ha dicho que…
These Early Reflections are quite lovely!

here's a bit on the Dolphy compositions:

Sunday, June 8, 2008
Hale Smith Entrusts Manuscripts of His Late Friend Eric Dolphy To Flutist James Newton

“The flutist James Newton came into possession of Dolphy’s handwritten manuscripts through his teacher Hale Smith, a close friend of Dolphy’s with whom the great saxophonist/bass clarinetist/flutist deposited his trove of original sheet music days before he left for Europe with Charles Mingus in 1964, never to return. Now in fading health, Smith recently phoned Newton to entrust him with the collection. His instructions to Newton were simple: “You gotta take care of this.” [Hale Smith (b. 1925), is an African American composer, pianist and professor who is profiled at AfriClassical.com]


I had the feeling they were about to embark on the summer festival circuit. It would be criminal if they weren't recorded. iirc, we heard two of the new Dolphy compositions, but I had the impression they had arranged more for this band.
Arcturus ha dicho que…
y mas:

Friday, June 6, 2008

The Music of Eric Dolphy

Featuring Bennie Maupin, James Newton, Jay Hoggard, Billy Hart, and Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz
Location: Raven Theater, 115 North Street, Healdsburg

Eric Dolphy, the visionary composer, altoist, flutist, and bass clarinetist, has now been gone longer than he stayed with us here on Earth, but his music remains a beacon for artists everywhere dedicated to the search for beauty. Dolphy's ecstatic sound, full of joyful peals, cascading squeals and exuberant cries, made him the ideal foil for John Coltrane, with whom he forged his deepest musical connection. As if leaving clues behind to help those following in his footsteps, he deposited a treasure trove of sheet music with his close friends Hale and Juanita Smith days before departing for Europe, where he passed away in 1964 at the age of 36. In marking the 80th anniversary of Dolphy's birth on June 28th, James Newton and Bennie Maupin are the first musicians to perform music from this remarkable archive. In addition to these newly discovered works, their Dolphyana ensemble has prepared a program of Dolphy's music ranging from his breakthrough post-bop work for Prestige to his masterpiece on Blue Note, Out To Lunch. Newton, jazz's most adventurous flutist, and Maupin, equally expressive on tenor and soprano saxophone, alto flute and bass clarinet, are joined in Dolphyana by a superlative cast, including vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, drummer Billy Hart, and bassist Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz. This is the band's debut performance.

"The concept of this ensemble is to respectfully perform Dolphy's music in a contemporary style that reflects the innovations that have occurred in the music since his passing," Newton says, "and to showcase the profundity of Eric Dolphy's contribution to the language of modern jazz. We're seeking to shed light on the composer who created a timeless language that has great relevance for the future of contemporary music."

A Los Angeles native, Dolphy first gained national attention in the band of Chico Hamilton in the late 50s, though he was already well established on the Southland's thriving jazz scene through his work with Gerald Wilson and Roy Porter. Moving to New York in 1959, Dolphy reunited with LA compatriot Charles Mingus, who featured him in his small combo and big band. Work with intellectual heavyweights such as Max Roach and George Russell followed. Dolphy recorded his first album as a leader in 1960 for Prestige, Outward Bound. It's a revelatory session featuring Freddie Hubbard, Jaki Byard, George Tucker, and Roy Haynes where you can hear Dolphy discovering a language beyond bebop, particularly when he trades his alto for the bass clarinet, an instrument that he single handedly transformed into an important jazz vehicle. By the end of the year, he had contributed to 18 records, including Ornette Coleman's seminal album Free Jazz. His most promising musical relationship was cut short by the devastating death of trumpeter Booker Little in 1961 at the age of 23, just months after their epochal Five Spot stand that led to three searing live albums with Mal Waldron, Richard Davis, and Eddie Blackwell.

Dolphy's ecstatic sound, full of joyful peals, cascading squeals and exuberant cries, made him the ideal foil for John Coltrane, with whom he forged his deepest musical connection. He wrote most of the arrangements for Trane's Africa/Brass album and joined Trane's band for about a year, including the long Village Vanguard stand that led to the classic live album (though most of Dolphy's contributions didn't surface until decades later in the box set The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings). Despite the exposure with Coltrane, Dolphy struggled to find work as a leader in the U.S., though he toured extensively in Europe. While he barely recorded under his own name from 1962-63, the two studio recordings from this period, Conversations and Iron Man, are essential, varied sessions that capture Dolphy surrounded by the emerging generation who had absorbed the new sound, including Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw, Prince Lasha, and Sonny Simmons. Rejoining Mingus in 1964, Dolphy reached new heights of excitement and eloquence, as Mingus encouraged his ecstatic outpourings throughout the European tour documented on numerous posthumously released concert recordings.

No artist has done more to extend Dolphy's legacy on the bass clarinet than Bennie Maupin. He was already a rising tenor saxophone force who had broken in with Roy Haynes and Horace Silver when he added the rarely played reed to his performance arsenal. He made his recording debut on bass clarinet on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, adding an essential element to the trumpeter's lean, sinuous fusion sound. And when Davis's concept embraced thicker textures and more intricate rhythmic patterns on Jack Johnson, Big Fun, and On the Corner, Maupin's reed work contributed greatly to the kinetic sonic matrix. He joined another brilliant aural adventurer as a member of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band, and stayed on board when Hancock changed directions with the Headhunters.

If Maupin was Dolphy's standard-bearer on the bass clarinet, James Newton has been his spiritual heir on flute. While his preeminence in jazz has led to an almost three-decade reign atop the Down Beat critics poll, the Los Angeles native transcends any singular music genre, composing for ballet and modern dance, chamber ensembles and symphonies, as well as jazz, electronic, and world music settings. UCLA recently hired him as a professor in the innovative ethnomusicology department. Over the years Newton has collaborated with a diverse array of organizations, from Mingus Dynasty and the New York New Music Ensemble to the New York Philharmonic, Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It was during his five-year run as Musical Director/Conductor of the Luckman Jazz Orchestra at Cal State University, Los Angeles, that Newton first had the opportunity to work with Maupin. "We were doing a concert of Eric Dolphy's music, and Bennie was playing some stuff on the bass clarinet that was so profound I had to go grab a reed player's flute and we did a duet. A couple of days we started talking about this Dolphy project."

Dolphyana is the vehicle for a group of interconnected musicians ideally situated to explore Eric Dolphy's vast musical world. Maupin and drummer Billy Hart first played together in Mwandishi. Hart ranks among jazz's most respected accompanists, a player who unfailingly lifts and inspires his fellow improvisers. Hart's commitment to jazz as a perpetual search is a quality that he shares with Newton, who traces his musical relationship with Hart and vibraphonist Jay Hoggard back to 1979. Polish-born, L.A.-based bassist Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz is a regular member of Maupin's Penumbra. With each player reflecting part of Dolphy's far-reaching legacy, the project is a celebration of the man and the ways his boundless musical spirit continues to reverberate today.

http://www.healdsburgjazzfestival.org/weblog/musicians/
soyo ha dicho que…
I want to thank you, Arcturus, for such good information. Nothing knew about the manuscripts of Eric Dolphy. It is really very valuable to hear new material from one of the most exquisite and risky artists of the twentieth century. I am wait to listen to this project that rescues these works and I am glad that Bennie Maupin is associated with it because his last two recent albums show that is in very good form for such a job.
On the other hand you anticipate only a little. Soon, Dolphy comes to Jazz en la Web. As one of my favorite musicians will take place on this blog.
Messages like yours collaborate to give this space a sense pursued.
Arcturus ha dicho que…
my pleasure - you've dropped a few gems here - we just listened to Rob Brown's Orbit the other night - very nice! & somehow different from other things from him I've heard - maybe it's just the lack of percussion - can't quite put my finger on it now

just in case you didn't see this, there's a great BM concert @:

http://ubu-space.blogspot.com/2007/07/bennie-maupin-lugano-2007-mp2-lossless.html

(links still good)

I have a poem dedicated to Dolphy, "Tender Warrior," that used to be up on the web but I see the site's now gone - might have to do something about that someday . . . a major figure for me
soyo ha dicho que…
I am always looking for some gems for Jazz en la Web. But he is dificult to accede to them. They are few places available in Buenos Aires. In any case, soon I am going to upload some very interesting new things that are not frequent to find like Early Reflections.
Thank you for the concert of Maupin. This tink is recomdeble also, if you have not listened to it:
http://livejazzallowed.blogspot.com/2009/02/bennie-maupin-quartet-quasimodo.html
A greeting, Arcturus.
Jazzfan_nj ha dicho que…
Could you please post the link for part4 of the rar file. Thanks
soyo ha dicho que…
thanks, Jazzfan! Of so much checking the links, one was lost on the way.
Russtafarian ha dicho que…
Thank you for this album, especially in such a high quality rip and with the very nice scans too - the complete package. I'm a Maupin fan from way back. I first heard him on Headhunters and have since travelled through jazz backwards and forwards from then getting everything I could with him playing, always regretting that he recorded so few dates as a leader. It looks as though he is set to rectify this, hopefully.
soyo ha dicho que…
This is the kind of comment that I would always receive at this site. I hope your back followed. Thank you, Russtafarian.