1961

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Free Music Notes for 1961

Free Music Review: Visionary jazz
Hit: 5 Stars

One characteristic that defines almost all the experimentation in forward-looking jazz of circa 1960 is the desire to replace the conventional idea of the "soloist" with a much greater & more democratic role for "accompanists". Think, in particular, of emphasis on three-way dialogue in Bill Evans' trio; or the development in Coltrane's music of the drummer's role, so that rather than conventional solo-and-accompaniment, Jones & Coltrane engage in furious, combative dialogue; or the nascent "harmolodics" of Coleman's quartet. Giuffre's trio music is very much part of this line of inquiry: both the pianist Paul Bley & the bass player Steve Swallow are forceful personalities, & the music is strikingly nonhierarchical: the divisions between "solo" and "accompaniment" are often blurred.

Of the two albums, I think the second is considerably the more engaging. (As with Bill Evans' trio with La Faro, the music was developing so quickly that each album sounds very different from the last: neither of these albums sound much like _Free Fall_, the 3rd and last disc they recorded [for Columbia].) The first is a touch dry & too unvaryingly slow, mostly developing through a series of carefully paced, almost static harmonies. It's nonetheless worth a close listen. The 2nd album, _Thesis_, is truly a marvel: it opens with Carla Bley's "Ictus", which issues with a clatter from the instruments & then breaks free, into completely open space. One thing I like about this album in particular is the pacing & dynamics: sometimes, for instance, the trio introduces a brief meditative pause before the restatement of the head after the solos. Throughout the album, Bley & Giuffre draw unconventional sounds out of their instruments: Bley works with the interior of the piano, while Giuffre sometimes produces unpitched breath-noises from his clarinet. Swallow (only 20 years old at the time!) is commanding throughout both albums, & he's sometimes the "lead" voice--for instance, he's given the statement of the melody on "Goodbye" (the one standard performed here: listeners should check out Bley's recent disc _Not Two, Not One_, which has a themeless improvisation which sounds to me like it's based on this tune). Swallow often gives the music a strong push & an air of tension exactly when one expects it to become reflective: check out, for instance, his work on "Afternoon".

This is music that still sounds sui generis. It's not music that grabs the listener forcefully: it's altogether more subtle & insidious. The one album of the period it does seem related to, oddly enough, is _Kind of Blue_--there are a few points where Bley's playing suggests "Blue in Green" or "Flamenco Sketches". Like that album, _1961_ is notable as a turn away from the high volume & brash pyrotechnics of contemporary hard bop, to something much more oblique & atmospheric. _1961_ is a much more "difficult" album than Davis's masterpiece, of course, and many jazz fans will find it too unswinging, too mysterious or too far from bop & postbop tenets (though they would be missing the fact that swing & the blues are very much present here, just much more obliquely expressed). But I'd still claim this as one of the essential postwar jazz albums. Essential listening. Fans of this album will also want to listen to the trio's 1962 album _Free Fall_ (which is considerably more difficult music than these two dates, stepping out into complete atonality & freedom). The group also reformed in 1989 & has recorded several new albums. I would also recommend _Time Will Tell_, a disc on ECM featuring Evan Parker, Paul Bley & Barre Phillips performing music that is overtly influenced by Giuffre's work (Phillips was Swallow's replacement in the trio); & Lee Konitz's _Rhapsody_, which has one track, nearly 20 minutes long, which is a themeless improvisation on "All the Things You Are" by Konitz, Giuffre, Bley & Gary Peacock.

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