A meditative, contemplative debut album here, recorded in 1964 and released in 1965, by the New York Art Quartet, which consists of Roswell Rudd on trombone, John Tchicai on alto sax, Lewis Worrell on double bass and Milford Graves on percussion. Poet and writer Leroi Jones (now named Amiri Baraka) also recites his poem “Black Dada Nihilismus” which is some heavy stuff.
This album exemplifies the kind of avant-garde music that I can meditate to. You just sit there and take it all in. Every little detail. No toe-tapping, no flamboyant solos to marvel at, no boundaries, just freedom. It relaxes me. I really dig the drumming of Milford Graves. It’s sparse, delicate and also intricate and whirly. Always very tasteful. Lewis Worrell plays with a wonderful warm tone and his bowed bass playing is also lovely. John Tchicai’s alto is quite accessible and he plays lyrical even. Roswell Rudd on trombone is providing a solemn harshness which is never abrasive but instead a great compliment to Tchicai’s round, mellow tone. Amazing is the way he plays and he makes the trombone feel urgent and the clarity he produces on this usually quite muffled instrument is very nice.
You should check out this music if you haven’t heard it already.
It’s my first album on the ESP-Disk label and it’s in mono which is great. Hoping to explore the label a bit more than I already have.
Do you have a favorite ESP title? Please share.
Cheers!