MP3 Rashied Ali Quintet - Judgment Day Vol. 2

One of the most underrated drummers to emerge from the turbulently exploratory 1960s, for the past 20 years Rashied Ali has been operating like an Art Blakey figure in terms of discovering and nurturing new talent.

8 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Free Jazz, JAZZ: Bebop



Details:
OPENING CHORUS Overdue Ovation
- by Chris Kelsey
Rashied Ali
SOUND JUDGEMENT

John Coltrane knew a thing or two about drummers. During his apprenticeship with Miles Davis, he played with Philly Joe Jones, who surely whetted his appetite for the percussive petulance â so much so, that when it came time for Coltrane to form his own group, the saxophonist one-upped his former boss and hired Elvin Jones, maybe the only drummer of the era who could out-ass-kick Philly Joe. When Elvin couldnât make it, another fire-breather, Roy Haynes, took his place. But Elvin usually made it. He stayed with Trane until the saxophonist needed something else from a drummer. When that time came, Coltrane turned to his fellow Philadelphian-turned-New Yorker, Rashied Ali.
Ali gave him that âsomething else.â
From the time he joined Coltrane in late 1965 until the saxophonistâs death in July 1967, Ali helped enable Traneâs final, most radical break with convention. The drummerâs skittering, high-energy playing fractured the pulse into tiny shards, which he reassembled, mosaic like, into something quite different. Ali staked out new areas of rhythmic independence and sound exploration.
On late Coltrane recordings such as Live at the Village Vanguard Again! and Interstellar Space, Aliâs splintering of time paralleled the asymmetrical note groupings and convoluted phasing that the saxophonist explored in full late in his career. Aliâs primary role was not to provide a rhythmic context, but to freely interact, to shadow and challenge Coltraneâs every turn of phrase.
Rashied Ali is one of the fathers of free-jazz drumming. Every free-jazz drummer (and to an extent, every free-jazz musician) who followed owes him a debt.
After Coltraneâs passing, Ali became one of the leading figures on the New York avant-jazz scene, a position he holds to this day. In the â70âs, he founded his own record label, survival, for which heâs recorded a string of raw and risky albums featuring such prominent avant-gardists as the late saxophonist Frank Lowe, violinist Leroy Jenkins and guitarist James âBloodâ Ulmer. For several years he ran his own club in downtown Manhattan, Aliâs Alley, which was a major venue during the loft-jazz era of the â70s. Heâs led innumerable bands and played with everyone whoâs anyone in the free-jazz community.
Today Aliâs an elder statesman, yet heâs playing better than ever. And heâs still capable of surprising us, as proven by his latest releases on survival, Judgment Day Vol.1 & Vol. 2. This is not the formally open, structurally abstract free jazz for which heâs best known. Thereâs plenty of blowing room, to be sure, but the tunes themselves are meticulously composed and arranged. It swings in a way guaranteed to make the Lincoln Center cats swallow hard and take notice. At times itâs nearly straight ahead, yet unlikely latter-day hard bop, it is music of the here and now--with hints of jazz to come.
âIf you really listen to it, Iâm trying really hard not to just play time,â says Ali. Itâs true. Heâs playing âoutâ and âinâ simultaneously, generating enough energy to light the East Coast. âYou can hear that the drums are breaking it up a lot,â he says. âItâs not like Iâm playing really straight-head drums. It might sound like that on the surface, but underneath youâll hear a lot of stuff that says Iâm really an avant-garde player,â albeit one who studied with Art Blakey and Philly Joe and therefore knows modern jazz in all its manifestations.
With his quintet, the 71-year-old free-jazz vet puts to shame drummers half his age--incessantly driving and creating, sidestepping clichés at every turn. And Ali hasnât forsaken freedom, not by a long stretch. Even when playing straight-ahead, there are times in mid-performance when an abandonment of form and structure is the logical next step. Less intrepid musicians skid to a stop, jam into reverse and head home. Ali and his band make the leap without hesitation. Theirs is jazz without borders, an example of what a group can do if theyâve the will and discipline to embrace a full range of possibilities.
âIt does have that kind of catchy thing, where anybody can listen to the music and appreciate it-avant-garde people, straight-ahead people, whatever,â says Ali, âThey can all hear something in there. Iâm glad it works that way, because thatâs the kinda stuff I want to be doing right now.â
Ali talks about his band like a proud papa, and for good reason. âIâm playing with kids who are damn near young enough to be my grandkids!â he laughs. The group-trumpeter Jumaane Smith, tenor saxophonist Lawrence Clark, pianist Greg Murphy, bassist Joris Teepe-has been together for almost four years.
The Ali-Murphy alliance dates back almost two decades. âGregâs been in just about every band Iâve had since we met in the 80s,â Ali says. âJumaane I just met by chance. Iâve been knowing him since he was about 19. Heâs 25 now. He first saw me when I played a concert with the New Art Quartet in his hometown of Seattle. Then he came out here to attend the New School and Julliard. I met him when he was at the New School.â
Ali first heard Clark playing at Cleopatraâs Needle on upper Broadway. âWhen Frank Lowe passed, I was really looking for a saxophone player,â says Ali. âI invited Lawrence to come down and check us out. Heâs a dynamite young player, playing a lot more stuff now than he ever has. And Iâd met Joris through Frank Lowe.â Theyâre all as comfortable playing changes as they are playing free. âWhen you play with me, you better be able to do it all,â Ali says.
Repertoire is one of the bandâs strengths. All the sidemen write. âI do most of the arrangements and pick most of the tunes,â says Ali. âI havenât written for the band as of yet, but weâre playing a lot of stuff by the guys. Jumaaneâs written a lot of the stuff, and Lawrence is writing a lot, and so is Joris and so is Greg. Weâre playing a lot of original music.â All that might go for naught if no one heard it. Fortunately, the bandâs getting gigs. âWe just got back from London, a week ago or two ago. We got really good reviews over there,â says Ali. âPeople seem to dig it. Iâm having very good feedback from just about everybody.
The quintet is his main focus, but Ali keeps irons in other fires, as well. âIâm doing a duo record with Borah Bergman for Soul Note or Black Saint. I played this last Vision festival with Borah, William Parker and Louis Belogenis. That was pretty cool.â Another project is By Any Means, his trio with bassist Parker and saxophonist Charles Gayle. The band recorded the critically acclaimed Touchinâ on Trane in the early â90s, but until recently had not performed together in almost a decade. âWeâve just started getting back together. We played the Vision Festival,â Ali says. Weâre a heavy avant-garde band, because we donât play any melodies at all, itâs all improvised. We just start and stop. We havenât been into the studio yet, but we plan to this year.â
Between the quintet and his other projects, Aliâs working more than ever. While heâll always be known for this time with Coltrane, the worldâs getting hip to the nearly four-decades-worth of beautiful music heâs made since. âI think itâs the longevity. Iâve been here long enough for people to think, âHey man, maybe this cat really do have something!â he laughs. âItâs just all coming together. In a way, itâs a drag, that now that Iâve become a super-senior-citizen that I got to do all this traveling now, but itâs cool, because Iâm in shape and ready and-willing to play. I wish I couldâve been doing this when I was 35, but thatâs alright. Itâs just an awesome experience for me right now. Iâm really having fun with this stuff.
âI couldnât ask for anything more, except maybe more money and recognition,â he continues, âbut that doesnât really matter to me; what matters mostly is the music, and Iâm definitely in pursuance of the music. I feel really good about whatâs happened to me. I mean, Iâve been able to have a wife and a couple of kids and send my kids to college. I was able to own my own place. Iâm pretty stable and secure, like a senior citizen should be. The only thing I ever did in my whole life is play drums, man. I never had another job. I played drums my whole life, and thatâs, like, a miracle.â

© JazzTimes November 2006

Rashied Ali Quintet
Pizza on the Park, London
From the October 2006 issue of Jazzwise Magazine

Billed as âRashied Aliâ Coltraneâs last drummerâ, the saxophonist is inevitably the ghost at this banquet. You have to remind yourself that music such as this is as old as 12-minute guitar solos and liquid light shows. How do you avoid turning it into a Lincoln Center Museum piece? Rashied Aliâs answer is simple, play it like itâs now, like life depends on it and thatâs just what his band did for a good-size audience on the last night of a three date run at this excellent, up-market club. It was hard to decide what was most impressive about this group. Tenorist Lawrence Clark has listened well to Trane but unlike his peers has gone deep into the giantâs late period as well and trumpeter Jumaane Smith plays as if heâs absorbed it all from Louis and Henry âRedâ Allen to Don Cherry.
On James âBloodâ Ulmerâs Theme For Captain Blackâ, the two horns soloed simultaneously, weaving around each other like two prize-fighters, while pianist Greg Murphy threw these fantastic tone clusters in to his solo on âUlmerâs Thing For Joeâ that were totally âoutâ yet rhythmically and dynamically in keeping with the piece. Bassist Joris Teepe is less obviously outstanding but his solo on Dolphyâs â245â was rhythmically adventurous and he anchors this craft magnificently, while his mid-paced composition âFlight 643â swung beautifully. But time and again, you were drawn back to the man behind the kit that was where it all seemed to begin. Loose-limbed, constantly shifting patterns, kaleidoscopes of sound, distant thunder, strange accents but perfect time. Always maintaining momentum but never resorting to the obvious, Rashied Ali was inspired and inspiring.

- by Duncan Heining

Seattle Times October 27. 2006 (Earshot Jazz Festival)

The hometown team gave a hearty welcome to Roosevelt grad Jumaane Smith, back from New York to play at The Triple Door Tuesday with drummer Rashied Ali. His set of originals, some written by guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer, bristled with brash urgency, puncturing the skin of post-bop decorum with fierce rhythms and warbling cries. Tenor saxophonist Lawrence Clark was the highlight, especially when he and Ali chewed tenaciously on a phrase, recalling Ali's historic duets with John Coltrane. Smith, though exciting, was stuck in high gear.

Drum Beat from the May 2006 issue of JazzTimes

RASHIED ALI
Judgement Day, Vol. 1 & 2 (Survival)

For the past 20 years Rashied Ali has been operating like an06 issue Art Blakey figure in terms of discovering and nurturing new talent. His current working quintet is another cross-generational affair featuring veterans Greg Murphy (piano) and Joris Teepe (bass) and two new firebrands in Lawrence Clark on tenor sax and Jumaane Smith on trumpet. Together this tightly knit group swings in fairly conventional postbop fashion on rarely covered tunes like Frank Loweâs âSidewalks in Motion,â Jaco Pastoriusâ uptempo blazer âDania,â Wayne Shorterâs âThe Big Pushâ and James Blood Ulmerâs âM.O.â
Teepe, a powerful, deep-toned bassist in the Paul Chambers tradition, contributes the moving ballad âYouâre Reading My Mind,â while saxophonist Clark, who blows heroically throughout these two discs, offers the exhilarating title track, a modal workout with distinctly Middle Eastern touches that has pianist Murphy dipping deeply into his McCoy Tyner bag. Other highlights in these two energized sets include Murphyâs burning âSkaneâs Refrainâ and Smithâs frantically swinging âYesterday (J-Man) Tomorrow,â along with dynamic readings of Billy Strayhornâs âLush Life,â Thelonious Monkâs ââRound Midnightâ and Don Cherryâs âMulti-Culti.â Though this band rarely plays outside of New York City, this is one of the more potent working quintets in jazz today.
-Bill Milkowski

©1999-2006 JazzTimes, Inc. All rights reserved

Dusted Reviews
Artist: Rashied Ali
Album: Judgment Day, Vols. I & II
Label: Survival
Review date: Feb. 26, 2006
These two new quintet dates confirm what I have long believed, that Rashied Ali is one of the most underrated drummers to emerge from the turbulently exploratory 1960s. Only one aspect of his multicolored playing has gotten anything even close to the examination and discussion it deserves, and anyone reading this knows of the fire, brimstone and thunder he brought to Coltraneâs final period. Yet, listen to the subtlety, introspection and sublimated magic of his brushwork on a track like âOgundeâ from Expression, or to Marion Brownâs second ESP date, and you will have some idea of what else to expect in these more recent ventures.
All of the tunes on Judgment Day are either acknowledged classics or homageâs to established masters. Steve Dalachinskyâs unerringly perceptive liners quote Ali as saying âIf they can play Beethoven, why not Coltrane?â While Coltrane is not represented here â Aliâs Prima Materia project paid him beautiful respect â the quotation is apt in that the music of such undeniably influential figures as Monk, Shorter and Strayhorn are rendered with faithfulness and fluent unpredictability. âRound Midnight,â from Vol. II, is a stunning case in point. The familiar introduction is treated here with just a hint of the âfreeâ playing associated with Aliâs early recordings, bassist Joris Teepeâs tasty interjections being particularly noteworthy. Trumpet and sax use vibrato to great effect, a signifier that, in tandem with Greg Murphyâs slyly intuitive incorporation of Monkâs pianisms, invokes the âswingâ at the heart of Monkâs rhetoric and rhythm. Lawrence Clarkâs tenor tone is lush and full, enhancing the allusion. Just as the tune is about to end, Ali breaks into a funky Latin-tinged groove, the quintet sound turning lush and sumptuous all at once. Itâs a gesture of which Monk would certainly have approved, given his ear for all manner of shifts in arrangement.
Both volumes abound with small but revelatory surprises of that nature. Trumpeter Jumaane Smithâs âShied Indeedâ â one for the leader â sports one of the hippest stop-time unison breaks Iâve heard in quite a while. It jumps right out of the middle of a simple but effectively modal head, broadsiding the unsuspecting listener with a brick-textured chunk of hard-edged compositional prowess. As with the Monk treatment, Dalachinsky is right to point out the temporally multifarious aesthetic of the playing; roots and branches of the creative music tree are often apparent in one sweeping gesture.
Nowhere is the fluidity of temporal perception more evident than in Aliâs drumming. Ali has expressed repeatedly his preoccupation with the expansion of time, of his constant development of time elasticity. The Jaco Pastorias tune âDania,â from the first volume, has one of the briefest but most powerful solos Iâve ever heard from him, and much of its interest is generated by its architecture. Ali breezes effortlessly through some of the most intense circumlocutions and syncopations imaginable, only to return to a steady four, as if heâd never left. Throughout these temporal juxtapositions, his ear is constantly on timbre, key rhythmic moments warranting bullets and bombs from his multivalent arsenal of snare attacks.
The quintet, diverse in age and background, manages to sound unified without any player losing individuality, and part of this is due to the skill with which the albums were recorded and mixed in Aliâs Survival Studios. The sound is direct without being overbearing, just as the playing is referential without being idiosyncratic or maudlin. These are fantastic discs that exist inside the tradition while offering repeated opportunities for its fresh appraisal.
By Marc Medwin
©2002-2005 Dusted Magazine. All Rights Reserved.