August 3–10, 1995

disc quicks|jazz

Roots, Chico Freeman, Don Pullen & the African Brazilian Connection

Focus (Contemporary Records)

Live...Again (Blue Note)

The evolution of the post-Coltrane generation of jazz innovators is documented on these three new recordings. Roots is an all-star ensemble dedicated to interpreting the jazz saxophone tradition. Supported by the late pianist Don Pullen, bassist Santi Debriano, and drummer Idris Muhammad, saxophonists Arthur Blythe, Nathan Davis, Chico Freeman, and Sam Rivers play tunes associated with or inspired by masters of the instrument, such as Eric Dolphy, Johnny Hodges, and Archie Shepp. Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" is performed in a lovely arrangement for four soprano saxes and "Ah, George, We Hardly Knew Ya", Pullen's elegy to his departed musical partner, George Adams, features moving statements by Blythe and Pullen. This German CD may be hard to find, but it will reward your search.

Where Roots is a saxophone summit, Chico Freeman's quintet is an intimate gathering of creative musicians. Blythe and Debriano are again on board, along with the marvelous George Cables on piano and Yoron Israel on drums. The combination of Freeman's tenor sax and Blythe's alto is remarkably smooth despite the differences in their individual sounds. Chico's robust honks complement Arthur's slinky cries in their interchanges and simultaneous improvisations, but they breathe together on the ensemble parts. They are especially interactive on the two Monk tunes (listen to the cat-and-mouse intro to "Rhythm-A-Ning") and especially poignant on two ballads, Freeman's "To Hear A Tear, Drop in the Rain" and Pullen's "Ah, George, We Hardly Knew Ya."

The live performance by Don Pullen's African Brazilian Connection was recorded at the 1993 Montreux Jazz Festival, long before the pianist was diagnosed with the lymphoma to which he succumbed this past April. On the five lengthy selections (none is shorter than ten minutes), Panamanian-born alto saxophonist Carlos Ward, Brazilian bassist Nilson Matta, Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam and the two Americans, J. T. Lewis on drums and Pullen on piano, explore the common roots of the music from their respective heritages with an amazingly unified sound. Pullen combines sensitivity and explosiveness in his playing, as he punctuates his chiming lines with literally arm-length sweeps. This band reveals the universal connection of music to all humanity; Pullen's death was a loss to all of us.

— Russell Woessner