Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman & Oliver Lake together again for free-jazz masterclass
SOMETIMES YOU just crave a record. Very occasionally your dreams, as here, are answered from the first note. That sense of sharp reality, an ultimate abstraction, and the sheer destructive power of it all hovering into view are all rewarded. And yes art as art in all its extremity and necessity is never forgotten.
How austere is austere you might ask without being at all pejorative? Well listening here to alto saxophonist Oliver Lake (New York, Fall 1974, Are You Glad To Be In America?, a lifetime of work with the World Saxophone Quartet), bassist Reggie Workman (Ugetsu, Impressions, Capra Black), and drummer Andrew Cyrille (Conquistador, Unit Structures, Afternoon of a Georgia Faun) makes me ask another question: what do the blues and freedom mean to you? If the answer is a lot then listen above.
Released by Intakt their artist festival in April is the biggest avant juggernaut to hit London club the Vortex since the club’s acclaimed ICP festival. Link
