.___________________________________________________________________________. |========================-==-..:.::. SOUNDz .::.:..-==-=====================| | ___________/_ _______ /\ |\/\/| _\___________ | : |_ /_ _( )_ \/ .---. _|____//> __ /\ _\ _| : . | __ / | |____ | |___\_ | /_____\ \ \/ \ __ | . ! | /___/_ | ___ | | | || \ | \/ |_ \ _\___\ | ! . | \ ! \ / | | | || \| \ | \ / | . <>!_______ \ / | | | || \ \ | |\ \ _______!<> ==\-----. \ \ \ | )_( || \ \ \| |_\ \ / .-----/zNr .==/\ /___\ |_ _| || \ \ \ /___\ /\dS! :=/ |'-------'/_________\! |\ \_________/ \= /____/\_________|===================='-\-'=\________|=====|_________/\____\ ___\/_______________________________/_\___________________________\/___ //// // // // // // // // // / \ \ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\\\ /// // // // // // // // // / /\\ \ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\\ /___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/_//\\\_\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \ \\_// / // // // // // // // // \\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \ \\/ / // // // // // // // /// \\\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\ \ /___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/// . ------------------------------------\ /-------------------------------- . : \ : | / \ | | | | | | R E L E A S E D E T A I L S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> | | ----------------------------- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< | | | | Charles_Brackeen_Quartet-Bannar_(1987)-WEB-2018-SOUNDz | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Artist______________ Charles Brackeen Quartet | | Title_______________ Bannar | | Label_______________ Silkheart Records | | Genre_______________ Jazz | | Year________________ 2018 | | Release Date________ 2021-03-15 | | Street Date_________ 2018-06-18 | | Source______________ WEB | | Encoder_____________ MP3 / LAME | | Quality_____________ CBR 320kbps 44.1kHz | | Size________________ 124.7MiB | | Playtime____________ 0:54:21 | | URL_________________ https://amazon.com/dp/B07DQB55VT/ | | | | | | 1. Three Monks Suite: Chaos / Sugar Doll / Waltz With Me / Snow 08:52 | | 2. Open 08:01 | | 3. Allah 08:30 | | 4. Stone Blue 09:42 | | 5. Story 09:35 | | 6. Open (Take 2) 09:41 | | | | | | R E L E A S E N O T E S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> | | ------------------------- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< | | | | | | "Gonzalez, Favors and Fielder play key roles on Bannar, the first | | recording in 15 years by Brackeen, a former Texan with something of | | Coleman's emotionally fortright delivery and rustic accent." | | Francis Davis, Philadelphia Enquirer, April 7, 1988 | | | | "There is nothing studied or academic about this music; if anything | | Brackeen's compositions have a beautiful folk quality to them which | | is all the more aided by an ensemble of players who convey a deep | | sense of regional and spiritual place." | | Ludwig Van Trikt, Cadence, September 1988 | | | | To better understand or pinpoint an artist's musical approach, most | | listeners are bound to make comparisons that will give them an easy | | starting point. Such is the case with saxophonist Charles Brackeen. | | Let listeners hear Charles' wide vibrato in the altissimo range, and | | he or she will say, "Well, he plays like Albert Ayler." Or, play | | Charles' Rhythm X LP with Charlie Haden, Don Cherry and Edward | | Blackwell, and the same listeners might say, "Charles sounds a lot | | like Ornette Coleman." Although Brackeen acknowledges both Ayler and | | Coleman as influences, there can be no such comparison. After | | listening to this album, it becomes apparent that Charles Beackeen | | carries his own Bannar. | | | | Charles Brackeen was born in Eufaula, Oklahoma on March 13, 1940, | | where he lived until he was 11. Charles began his musical studies at | | the age of 6 when he started taking piano lessons, and soon | | thereafter gravitated to the violin and finally to the saxophone at | | age 10. | | | | When he moved to Paris, Texas at age 11, Charles' stint in the | | Gibbons High School marching band gave him the confidence he needed | | to continue on saxophone. When Charles moved to New York City at age | | 12, he spent his weekends playing in dance bands, rock and roll | | bands, and whatever else he could get involved with. According to | | Charles, "Music always paid off for me." | | | | Charles' big move, however, came at age 16 when he first moved to Los | | Angeles. He soon married and met ambitious musicians such as Don | | Cherry, Charlie Hayden, Billy Higgins, Ornette Coleman, Paul Bley and | | Art Farmer, among many others. It was in California that Brackeen | | became immersed in the New Jazz scene, learning concepts that remain | | in his music until this very day. | | | | Moving back to New York, Charles kept experimenting with new styles, | | but at the same time continued to play all sorts of music. "I wanted | | to feel that I could call myself a musician; that I could play all | | types of music," says Charles, "I realized that I couldn't put any | | one type of music above any other." | | | | Because of his adventurous concepts and his friendships with Cherry | | and Haden, Charles recorded Rhythm X in 1969 and in due course this | | appeared on the Strata East label (SES-19736). Although the quartet | | sounds on the surface much like one of Ornette Coleman's mid-60's | | ensembles, Brackeen's own saxophone playing shines through with a | | fresh lyricism that was a unique parallel development, not merely a | | copy of the master. | | | | The quartet disbanded (to become 'Old and New Dreams' a good many | | years later, with Dewey Redman) and nothing further was heard of | | Brackeen until he joined forces with drummer Paul Motian. "It was | | wonderful!" exclaims Motian, "I thought he played my music really | | well." This association, which lasted for five years, produced two | | fine Paul Motian LPs for ECM, Dance (1977) and Le Voyage (1979). | | | | Aside from the association with Motian, Charles stayed active on the | | New York jazz loft scene and recorded an unreleased album with the Ed | | Blackwell Quartet in 1982, which proved to be Brackeen's last record | | date until the 1987 sessions in Dallas. | | | | Brackeen recorded Bannar after receiving a call from Dennis Gonzalez. | | "When Dennis called, the idea felt good to me," says Brackeen, "I | | listened to his voice and the things that he said. He seemed to be | | warm and friendly, the type of person I like to deal with." Upon | | hearing Dennis' music, Charles became increasingly excited about | | working with Dennis and the other musicians on the session. | | | | Not that it was easy. When the group first began rehearsing, there | | was some uneasiness in the air as the quartet began dealing with | | Brackeen's more complex compositions. Although drummer Alvin Fielder | | had played with both Gonzalez and bassist Malachi Favors on different | | occasions in the past, the four had never worked together as a group. | | After the initial discomfort, however, the musicians quickly became a | | distinctly identifiable unit. There is something folkish about | | Charles' compositions, a kind of logical transparency. The material | | on Bannar is challenging and melodic. | | | | "Three Monks Suite" is a study in structure; a completely scored tune | | with no improvisation. Almost nine minutes in length, this piece is | | made up of seven different segments, each of varying content, which | | maintain musical continuity throughout. | | | | "Chaos" begins the suite, sounding very much like classical chamber | | music filtered through a shufflet Brackeen's soprano, sounding very | | clarinet-like, is bright, fresh, and piercing, much like the first | | ray of sunlight through a window at dawn. "Sugar Doll" is a delicious | | tango, featuring Favor's arco responses to Brackeen's melodic call. | | | | Ushering a time change from 4/4 to 3/4, "Waltz With Me" is | | irresistible, an eminently danceable section. "Snowshoes" is also | | stunning; a playful, vibrant segment that swings softly but | | fervently. "Hush and Stop" also swings; featuring an exchange of | | fours between the group and Fielder. "Cas-Ba" acts as a bridge to | | "Cheers," a happy-go-lucky ending with a lyricism that's almost | | child-like. | | | | Although fellow musicians could probably point to a strict use of | | form for the tune's inspiration, Charles sees the street people with | | whom became in contact in the last several years in New York and Los | | Angeles as his motivation for writing "Three Monks Suite". "It's folk | | music; people music," says Charles. "Understanding all races and | | nationalities of people taught me a lot of mysterious things about my | | musical approach. People like music that can talk to them; it's more | | universal." | | | | "Open" not only talks - it screams with delight. With its ascending | | head chart and fast, intense pace, the track gives the musicians a | | chance to stretch their knowledge and musical conceptions to the | | fullest. Brackeen's solo here is free and urgent but is somehow also | | well mapped-out when Charles explores many of his tenor's sounds. | | Dennis Gonzalez solos with equal vigor, splicing triple-tonguing | | techniques and slurs with deep melodic concepts. Alvin Fielder also | | solos on "Open". Here, Alvin's playing reconciles the thrashing, | | sensitive abandon reminiscent of Sonny Murray with the precise | | polyrhythmic approach first associated with Elvin Jones. | | | | Echoing his faith in the Creator, "Allah" is Brackeen's model of a | | jazz spiritual. Although it's the simplest tune on this release, | | "Allah" has much going for it. Over a gospelish bass vamp, Brackeen | | and Gonzalez stretch long, impassioned notes using both horns and | | voices. Solo-wise, Gonzalez especially impresses; his "gotta testify" | | approach on muted trumpet consists of high, staccato blasts which | | warm the soul. | | | | "Stone Blue" is a blues soaked track with an element of American | | Indian tribal music in the head melody, perhaps reflecting some of | | Albert Ayler's endeavors. Brackeen's solo on this tune has a dark | | sonority about it, as Charles explores the middle registers of his | | tenor. Bassist Malachi Favors offers a rhythmically buoyant solo, | | echoing the essence of the beautiful melody. As with the Art Ensemble | | of Chicago, Favors remains true to a tune's intent and purpose. | | | | Brackeen and Gonzalez create a wonderful harmonic frame for "Story", | | which possesses a marvelous out-of-unison melody line. During his | | solo, Charles makes use of the tenor's entire range, displaying his | | subtle altissimo and occasionally dipping into the lower reaches of | | the instrument. Gonzalez's solo is equally bold. Using the tune's | | spirit (as opposed to its structure), Dennis contributes gutteral | | growls and sublime snippets of gospelish melody. | | All in all, Charles Beackeen's banner waves high. With its organic, | | natural, and spiritual approach, this recording is sure to move all | | who listen, while melting away any musical preconceptions of a true | | individual. | | | | | | Charles Brackeen - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, vocals | | Dennis Gonzalez - trumpet, vocals | | Malachi Favors - bass | | Alvin Fielder - drums | | | | Produced by Charles Brackeen. | | Recorded on February 13, 1987, at Omega Audio, Dallas, Texas. | | Recorded and mixed by Paul Christensen. | | | | | | YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS SHIT IF YOU LIKE IT RIGHT?! | | | | | | . . | | |\/\/| | | |____| | |------------------------------=---=-======-=---=-------------------------| |===/\===============================SOUNDz==========================/\===| '--/__\--------------------------=-2013-2021-=----------------------/__\--'