Raw Materials And Residuals

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Total Tracks: 5   Total Length: 36:21

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Kevin Whitehead

eMusic Contributor

11.17.08
The avant-garde gets the blues: raucous music rooted in country soil
1978 | Label: Black Saint / CAM

Before guiding the original World Saxophone Quartet, saxophonist Julius Hemphill had forged another classic partnership, with pioneering cello improviser Abdul Wadud, who'd make his axe gallop like a baby bass, sing like a horn, or skronk like Muddy Waters' guitar. On 1977's stripped-down trio blowout Raw Materials and Residuals, Wadud's gritty pluck-and-saw perfectly matches Julius's sand-dry/blues-drenched alto, and the airy and punchy percussion of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Famoudou Don Moye. Hemphill's tunes catch the flavor of the carnival ("C"), the West African savannah ("G Song") and vast spaces between: wild, raucous music rooted in country soil.

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Trio Not Big Band

RBK1949

Truly one of the classics from the late 1970s. Hemphill, always his own person,, teamed with the great cellist Wadud and master drummer Moye. Approach with open ears!

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One of the great titles in the modern jazz chronology, Hemphill utilizes raw materials of iron-wrought bop, hard-edged but swinging rough-cut diamonds, and the red clay of improvisation, which produce a residual effect going well beyond the mainstream of jazz, but stay this side of chaotic inflammations. Hemphill calls it “vigor to reflection to vigor,” an apt description for the deep well of unfiltered ore mined by the alto saxophonist, cellist Abdul Wadud and multiple percussionist Famoudou Don Moye on this set. These five tracks, all composed by Hemphill, breathe with the vitality of a raging bull, yet are smart and centered in traditional jazz language. The supercharged free bop opener “C” roars with delight, as Hemphill adopts a stance quite reminiscent of Charlie Parker in its fluidity, originality and unabashed viscosity, never breaking down. Washes of cymbals, louder than the other two musicians, take “Mirrors” into a different realm altogether, cello and sax fighting for their space, and succeeding especially as it initiates a free excursion. A unison line during “Long Rhythm” leads to an easy swinging theme, and showcases Hemphill’s tart, sweet sound while a forward-moving idea is pushed by Moye. More serene and spatial is “Plateau,” with many themes ebbing and flowing in and out, accented by some overblown harmonics from Hemphill. The leader switches to soprano for “G Song,” which features a bluesy cello groove by Wadud, flavored by Oriental modalities and a sweeter sound from Hemphill. Moye’s arsenal of “little” percussion instruments — bike horns, duck calls, woodblock, bells, whistles, etc. — is displayed in a free section that has to be heard; there’s no apt way to describe the pure, unadulterated improvisation that is also eminently listenable and in a way, quite humorous. This could be the best Hemphill recording, save perhaps Blue Boye. The economy of the trio, and their utter brilliance, brings out the best in Hemphill, and stands as a landmark recording in the second wave avant-garde movement of the ’70s. – Michael G. Nastos

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