#4251, More Spiritual Jazz
For this New Sounds, hear “spiritual jazz” from bassist William Parker, sax player Pharoah Sanders, harpist-turned koto player Dorothy Ashby, drummer/composer Makaya McCraven, and the German group Web Web.
Hear work from New York bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator William Parker, who has also been known to play guembri, percussion and reed instruments. He’s played with “everyone from Fred Anderson to John Zorn”, (Bass Player Magazine), and created music with comedians, dancers, folk singers as well. From his group In Order To Survive, which features pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Rob Brown and (since 2012) drummer Hamid Drake, listen to music recorded live at the ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn.
There’s music by the Detroit-born harpist Dorothy Ashby, who brought the harp from the background into a prominent place in 1950’s jazz and later worked with Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick. Listen to music from her record, The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby (1970), where she plays the Japanese koto (a horizontal harp-zither) and sings as well.
Then listen to music from Pharoah Sanders, one of the original movers of the “spiritual jazz” world, and a sax player who was part of John Coltrane’s post- A Love Supreme band. From his 1977 record, Pharaoh, listen to a work that spanned the entire side, and involves hand percussion along with Indian harmonium. Also, listen to work from Munich-based German group Web Web, who work in Moroccan trance overtones to their spiritual jazz.
Plus, hear music by Chicago-based drummer, composer, producer and ‘organic beat scientist’ Makaya McCraven, who takes spontaneous composition and shapes them with studio techniques to make natural-sounding songs that he then performs with a band. Listen to “Holy Lands” from McCraven’s excellent 2018 record, Universal Beings, which features harpist Brandee Younger, cellist Tomeka Reid, vibes player Joel Ross, and bass player Dezron Douglas. -Caryn Havlik
Program #4251, More Spiritual Jazz (First aired 7/2/2019)
ARTIST: John Coltrane
WORK: Part 1 - Acknowledgement
RECORDING: A Love Supreme [1:00]
SOURCE: Impulse/Verve
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify
ARTIST: William Parker / In Order To Survive
WORK: Eternity [4:22]
RECORDING: Live/Shapeshifter
SOURCE: williamparker.bandcamp.com
INFO: Due out July 5
ARTIST: Dorothy Ashby
WORK: For Some We Loved [4:05]
RECORDING: The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby
SOURCE: Cadet
INFO: forcedexposure.com
ARTIST: Makaya McCraven
WORK: Holy Lands [5:15]
RECORDING: Universal Beings
SOURCE: International Anthem
INFO: intlanthem.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Pharoah Sanders
WORK: Harvest Time [20:19]
RECORDING: Pharoah (1977)
SOURCE: India Navigation
INFO: Out of print. Try auction sites.
ARTIST: Web Web
WORK: Balini [7:43]
RECORDING: Dance of the Demons
SOURCE/INFO: webweb.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: William Parker / In Order To Survive
WORK: Eternal Is The Voice of Love part 5 [5:42]
RECORDING: Live/Shapeshifter
SOURCE: williamparker.bandcamp.com
INFO: Due out July 5
