Live In Europe

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About Live In Europe

Product Description Live In Europe by Rashied Ali Quintet Review Many Roads Out: Rashied Ali Quintet Live in Europe (Survival Records) Wednesday, 08 April 2009 Rashied Ali (1935- ) was born into music. With a mother and aunts who all played piano and a jazz enthusiast father whose first cousins, Charlie and Bernard Rice, were both drummers on the Philadelphia jazz scene, it seemed inevitable that Rashied, too, would feel the pull of music. After some piano lessons and ambitions towards playing trombone and trumpet, Rashied finally settled upon drums, starting out initially with hand percussion instruments, congas, etc. He cut his teeth playing in the U.S Army and, after his discharge, with various R&B groups including Dick Hart & The Heartaches, Lin Holt and saxophonist Muhammad Abibala, whom John Coltrane (1926-1967) had also played with years earlier. Studying at The Granoff School of Music (Philadelphia) and standing on his porch listening to his then neighbor John Coltrane play (1958) provided further foundation, and in 1963 he was asked to tour Japan with Sonny Rollins. After the tour he naturally gravitated towards New York with its burgeoning Free Jazz scene. Here he played with chief architects of the avant-garde (Albert Ayler, 1936-1970; Don Cherry, 1936-1995; and Archie Shepp, 1937- ). Rashied is perhaps best known to casual jazz fans as sharing, then taking over the drum chair in the post classic quartet incarnations of John Coltrane s ensembles (1965-1967). This point in Rashied s career would serve not merely as a linchpin moment but for all that would come after, inspired by his time with John Coltrane. When John Coltrane passed away, Rashied gigged through Europe, studying briefly with Philly Joe Jones in England before returning stateside for a series of dates with hard-hitting luminaries including Jackie McLean (1931-2006), Alice Coltrane (1937-2007) and Dewey Redman (1931-2006). In 1973, when there seemed to be a marginalization of jazz in favor of rock flavored fusion, Rashied opened a club Ali s Alley (1973-1979) as a way to nourish the free jazz scene and stand as a sort of active lab for those who had not emigrated to Europe or headed off into more commercial waters. Some of the downtown loft scene can trace its roots from this haven. While involved with the operations of his club, Rashied also helped to coordinate The New York Musicians Festival and formed his own label, Survival Records. The label is aptly titled as there was such a wide diversity of style and intent under what was labeled Free Jazz by this time that it needed what ever protection and nourishment it could get to sustain it. Aside from artistic evolution, survival is also an apt motif for Rashied himself, an artist who has always followed his own muse, never worrying about the bottom line or trends, remaining a vital and questing artist regardless of trends. Live in Europe The latest release from Rashied is a live recording featuring his group, The Rashied Ali Quintet, which he formed in 2003. Upon listening you can tell it is a live performance, not due to any sonic deficiency but to the energy brought forth relentlessly by the entire group. As far as the album s actual sonics, they are pristine throughout. The album is a little over an hour long, made up of three extended pieces. --Maxwell Chandler - Jazz Police The first track, Theme for Captain Black, is by James Blood Ulmer (1942- ) who was Rashied s bandmate in their Phalanx ensemble, which also included George Adam (1942-1995) and Sirone (nee Norris Jones 1940- ). The start of the piece finds the front line of Lawrence Clark on tenor saxophone and Josh Evans on trumpet entering in unison amidst staggered explosions by Rashied s drums. It is within this initial frenzy that you realize how good the sound and production is, especially for a live recording. The bass enters with all rumbling low ends and the piano offers up dream like cascades. The song picks up a little in temp