Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre Quartet, Musical Blessing

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre left this earth this past November, after a long career dotted with important milestones and after garnering great respect from those who follow and make the new jazz music sometimes called "free".

He is gone but his recorded legacy remains for us to appreciate. One of his last recordings came out last year and shows him in good form. It is a quartet in his name and the title of the disk is Musical Blessing (CIMP 395).

Kalaparusha on tenor is joined by the acoustic basses of Michael Logan and Radu Ben Judah (aka Richard Radu Williams) and the drumming of the the prolific and percussively beautific Warren Smith.

It's a game combination that Smith particularly brings some strong, timely fire to, as you can depend upon. He is hard hitting, propulsive and creatively stoked throughout. The two bassists work well together and give considerable bottom drive to the pieces.

Kalaparusha sounds strong. After a bit of reed trouble that he works around well, he comes through with the sort of performance that made his reputation over the years. One thing Kalaparusha is not here and never was is a "lick" player. He creates his improvisations afresh every time out from the raw melodic-harmonic materials available to him, his interactions with the players on hand and the implications of the compositional materials that are put into play.

The disk contains a few somewhat unexpected touches--an impromptu version of Trane's "Impressions" and a mostly unaccompanied solo version of "The Very Thought of You," which Warren suggested Kalaparusha play in the manner he did when working his horn for subsistence on the NY subway--a sad reality and part of the reason he found himself caught as a new improviser in what he called a "starvation box". He is free of all that now. But we will miss him. We will remember him.

This disk is a fine tribute in its own way to his legacy. Kalaparusha puts himself out there like he always did, with no pretensions and just the love of playing to bring us to a good place. RIP, Kalaparusha.

Kidd Jordan, On Fire

Kidd Jordan has it. He has had it for many years and perhaps the world is finally catching up with him. He brings his tenor to the trio date On Fire (Engine) and kindles a free-improvisational flame that burns brightly throughout the entire session.

With him are two world-class improvisors: Warren Smith on drums and vibes, and Harrison Bankhead, on cello so my information tells me, though Harrison often sticks with the lower register to get the bass tones more often than not.

This is free-flowing fare. Kidd burns, Warren gets a beautiful diversity of sounds and accents, freely tumbling, and Harrison whips together a veritable froth of double stops, fundamentals, and driving torque.

If you know these three players you can probably already imagine what this will sound like. It does not disappoint. Kidd is one of those big-eared tenorman that has the tone and imagination to move you off your seat. With the considerable savvy and drive of his trio-mates he does. If you don't have a representative example of the Jordan approach, this is a good one. But it is equally good to flesh out your collection. It's Mr. Jordan undiluted.

Bones & Tones: Hip Percussive Afro-Jazz

Bones & Tones (Freedom Art 52964) has something very good going on. Their first, self-titled album brings the effectively grooved percussion intricacies of M'boom with African elements and contemporary jazz. That is no doubt due to the talents and proclivities of the quartet: Abdou Mboup on percussion, vocals and kora; Lloyd Haber on marimba, bells, percussion; Jaribu Shahid on contrabass and percussion; and Warren Smith (a founder of M'boom among many other things) on vibes and percussion.

This is a formidable group on paper. They do not let down on disk.

Eight originals grace this program. The two-mallet team of Haber and Smith, the rich-toned, in the pocket bass anchorage of Mr. Shahid and the vibrantly convincing Afro-elements from Abdou Mboup make for very lively listening (and certainly dancing if you feel the urge).

Bones and Tones brings to your speakers music every bit worthy of the reputations of the members. Get an earful and you'll be coming back for more! Highly recommended.

And happy birthday to Mr. Warren Smith!

The Andrew Lamb Trio Performs "New Orleans Suite"

From Engine Records (019) comes New Orleans Suite by the Andrew Lamb Trio. We are talking about Warren Smith on drums and recitation, Tom Abbs, bass, and Andrew Lamb working the tenor, flute. clarinet and harmonica.

There is a long narrative in the first part of the recording where Warren Smith expresses sardonic outrage at the handling of the Katrina event. I still feel that sense of outrage myself and so I cannot say I did not respond to the words.

The rest of the program centers on some fine free oriented improvisation from the potent trio. There are times where the direction reminds a little of AACM/Art Ensemble excursions of the looser sort, with Warren Smith taking a major role in producing the little sounds, but all joining in from time to time. This is not music of a technical tour de force sort. It is an expression of heartfelt anguish at the Katrina disaster and ultimately love, affection and hope for NOLA and its rebirth.