JAZZ BAND DE FREE - EGO

320 CD Rip.
Review nicked from cdbaby

Buenos Aires, May 7th, 1972. A group of eight musicians (six Argentineans and two Uruguayans) gather at Estudios Ion, where so much good music has been put onto tape. What they create may be described as somewhat in between Ornette Coleman's and Miles Davis' ways of dealing with musical 'freedom'. Argentina was then going through hard times and a lot more hardships lay ahead.
To jazz musicians, though, time was also ripe for dreams of success: after all Lalo Schifrin and Gato Barbieri were making it on the international jazz scene. Not that they took themselves for geniuses, they simply thought local jazz needed some shock treatment and trying their hand at some avant-garde music would hurt no one. Furthermore, they ranked among the best jazz players in Argentina.
The two bassists in the group, Jorge López Ruiz and Jorge González, for instance, had both played with Gato Barbieri. López Ruiz had been the bassist of a legendary quintet led by Lalo Schifrin in 1956, whose saxophone player was Gato. González had been the bassist of Gato's regular rhythm section of the 1960s. Pocho Lapouble, the drummer, besides playing with the cream of Argentina's jazzmen, had been the percussionist of an (unrecorded) Astor Piazzolla sextet from 1968-1969 - the pianist and the guitarist in that group were jazz musicians too. Norberto Minichillo, percussionist in this record, but also an all-round drummer, was also playing avant-garde tango with a quintet that had Dino Saluzzi on bandonéon. Keyboardist Santiago Giacobbe had played many times with Gato Barbieri and was later to be the organist in Astor Piazzolla's 'Electric Group' of the mid-1970s. Fernando Gelbard, a well known jazzman, who had played with Gato and Chivo Borraro ('El Nuevo Sonido de Chivo Borraro', WMLP/CD-0027), appears here on Fender piano and flute. A bit younger than Giacobbe, Gelbard was at the time of this record asserting himself as a very capable musician and also a pioneer in the field of synthesizers, which were really newcomers to jazz in the early 1970s and a rarity in Argentina ('Didi', WMLP/CD-0020). Héctor Starc, the guitarist, was a young and inventive rock player. Eduardo 'Pestaña' Giovinazzo on trumpet and Jaime Prats on alto had moved from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Buenos Aires and they sure belonged in this group of high-calibre jazz musicians. Just listen to Giovinazzo's showcase 'Shhh... Bea Duerme'.
The four pieces in this album were composed by Pocho Lapouble, who was the driving force behind the project. One side of the original LP is taken by 'Ego, luego existen' ('Ego, therefore they exist') where everyone gets a chance to solo, 'Ego' is a long excursion which deserves some particular attention. The tune is quite Ornettish, the more so because it is stated by trumpet and alto in unison. Gelbard plays the first solo on Fender piano very much in one of the epochal trends: aggressively rooted in rhythm, searching, never relenting, then going into a dialogue with bassist López Ruiz, who takes over. Then we are lead into Starc's guitar solo, itself evolving in a discussion with López Ruiz's bass before letting Ruiz solo anew and sort of fade into a new Gelbard Fender piano solo. López Ruiz soloes once again, followed by Giacobbe's organ. An alto solo by Prats, relayed by Lapouble's drums, speaks with Minichillo's percussion, a conversation almost interrupted by Giacobbe's two handed solo: one of his hands plays the organ while the other one plays a Bluthner piano; then it's Giovinazzo's turn on trumpet. Throughout this piece the shifting and contrasting tempos and moods sound at one and the same time tightly controlled, yet spontaneous. The 6/8 tempo of the final part is a kind of 'tumbao' reminiscent of a related afro-argentinean folk rhythm, the 'chacarera'.
'Tema de Fatiga', stated in unison by the trumpet and the flute, is made up of successive solos by Giacobbe, Gelbard on flute and Starc. There you have gentle Giacobbe clearly showing his bop and hard bop roots, contrasting with Gelbard's Dolphy-oriented but open-minded flute solo. Gelbard's 'Dolphy-ness' is quite unusual for him, but reveals his avant-garde leanings at the time of this record. Starc follows with his rock-oriented free jazz rooted in the blues.
'Ambientex' is in two parts. The first one, titled 'Tema para Contraflaco', is a pun on contrabass - string bass - that could be translated into English as 'Theme for Contraskinny', López Ruiz's nickname being 'Flaco' (Skinny). The second part, 'Canción de Cuny', is given to solos by Prats, Gelbard and Giovinazzo. Let me now tell you how much I enjoyed listening to this album from the early 1970s. I wonder why we have been so forgetful of these - and other Argentinean jazz recorded testimonies - beauties sleeping in the vaults.
Most Argentine jazz musicians of the 1960s and 1970s were part of a middle class bourgeoisie that did not react against the 'establishment' and seemed to feel comfortable playing traditional jazz, swing or bebop. Their entrance into avant-garde and musical experimentation was a big risk within their conservative social environment. But they were right, for their music was accepted by jazz audiences and some of the incredible musical works of this avant-garde gang were fortunately recorded and more fortunately re-released in the 21st century by whatmusic.com.

JORGE LOPEZ RUIZ 5 - DE PREPO

320 vinyl rip.
Review swiped from cdbaby:
In May 1972, Jorge López Ruiz, Fernando Gelbard and 'Pocho' Lapouble had been part of an ensemble gathered around a project of Lapouble's and released under the name of 'Ego' by Jazz Band de Free (WMLP/CD-0080). The music in that record may be described as a 'fusion' of Ornette Coleman's and Miles Davis' electric propositions on what 'free' jazz might be, as seen from Buenos Aires by musicians deeply rooted in bop and hard bop. Four recording sessions in October 1972 brought the three musicians together again on a project of López Ruiz's and based on a more meditative but full-of-energy approach, stemming from Davis and his alumni, Weather Report. One of the tunes in 'De Prepo' is titled 'Mirosbass', an homage to Miroslav Vitous, bassist with the first Weather Report. A pun on his name, 'Mirosbass' is ethereal, but not wholly so; the Jorge López Ruiz 5 have almost no rock flavour, the bop roots of all concerned show clearly, and they have found their own very melodic way of dealing with freedom. So here we are confronted with a musical daydream, sweet and energetically propulsive in equal measure, if I may say so. Let me be contradictory perhaps, but the music in this album strikes me very much in the aforementioned way. Allow yourself to be rocked into a daydream-like haze and be open to the music as it is: highly enjoyable. Times were pretty hard in Argentina by 1972, and would get dangerously tougher still; the jazz musicians involved in this record reflected this, wanting the music to sound risky and pushy. Yet thirty years later the music is perceived as quite soothing. This view changes nothing as to the quality of their effort named 'De Prepo' ('Forcing Your Hand'), it only shows they found original ways to overcome hardships, fears and frustrations; for as John Keats very charmingly said: 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever'. Escapism? No, definitely not. Rather art in a very effective way.
Take a look at three of the titles: 'Homenaje a la Muerte' ('Homage to Death'), 'Puntos de Partida' ('Points of Departure') and 'Todo Fluye' ('Everything Flows'). Don't they show real philosophical, albeit metaphysical, preoccupations associated with the music? Then 'Homenaje a la Muerte' ('Homage To Death') is followed by the very much alive 'Mirosbass', as 'Todo Fluye' ('Everything Flows') precedes the tender 'Oda Para Mi Niña' ('Ode For My Little Girl'); the final title is 'Más De Prepo Que Nunca' ('Forcing Your Hand More Than Ever'), a way of saying 'we're more alive than ever before and this is our way of forcing your hand, actually not even forcing your ear: our music speaks for itself'. Don't forget they are in Argentina, it is late 1972 and circumstances in Argentina are forcing them to become aggressively pushy. But they just want you to listen to a thing of beauty that is a joy forever. 'Homenaje...' sounds possibly too restrained today, retrospectively juxtaposed against the terrible wave of violence Argentina was to live through until the fall of the military dictatorship in 1983, but in its own quiet way it expresses the deep respect and concern the group had for life. A feeling that would become inexorably mired in personal insecurity and deep trouble under the rule of men who never spoke literally, but acted out: 'Long live death!'
They knew very well they belonged to the cream of jazzmen in their country and time has confirmed their view. Only then, the local scene was extremely conservative, with a majority of musicians, critics and media people dead against avant-garde jazz. Traditional and mainstream jazz seemed to be what most attracted the public; more modern jazz had only a moderate appeal. So the fact that some of the better-known modern jazzmen were ready for the challenge of free and avant-garde jazz, was almost intolerable to the rest of the musicians and the opinion makers. Then the listeners had their say and they responded positively to the challenging music this avant-garde minority was producing, much to the astonishment of everyone involved. This middle-class group of musicians, reacting in their own artistic way to the many challenges of the epoch, opened new ground for music development in Argentina. And their very gentleness in so doing might imply also that the anger and aggressiveness in much north american and european music of the late 1960s and early 1970s was apparently excessive.
Who are they? Jorge López Ruiz, a highly respected arranger, composer and bassist (on this album also playing electric bass, cello and piano), had played with a legendary quintet led by Lalo Schifrin in 1956-1957; the featured saxophonist was Gato Barbieri. López Ruiz had also been Schifrin's big band bassist along with Gato. López Ruiz always played with the best in argentinean jazz. For this particular project he was surrounded by musicians of the same level: Hugo Pierre, here on soprano and clarinet, but a superb alto and tenor saxophonist too. Somewhat younger are Fernando Gelbard on Fender piano and flute, and drummer-percussionist Carlos 'Pocho' Lapouble. Gelbard was a pianist very much involved with the flute or perhaps vice versa; and also a pioneer in electronics applied to jazz, for electronic instruments were new to the jazz scene in the early 1970s and a rarity in Argentina. He had also played with Gato Barbieri and another great tenor from Argentina, Chivo Borraro. Long before that, as a teenager pianist at the time of Schifrin's quintet of 1956, Gelbard had played once for Lalo who gave him some advice: 'Kid, you sound too much like Brubeck, you should listen to Horace Silver'. Which he did - witness two other whatmusic.com reissues: 'Didi' (WMLP/CD-0020) and 'El Nuevo Sonido Del Chivo Borraro' (WMLP/CD-0027). Lapouble has always been someone as full of talent as of ebullience, so it didn't take long for him to be counted among the best argentinean jazzists. A bit younger, percussionist Miguel 'Chino' Rossi does a very creative job here.
'De Prepo' is an extremely convincing testimony of high musicality, purpose and dynamism. Be a witness to a musical experience that points to the then-unknown, based on a sound knowledge of jazz roots. It is perhaps due to Buenos Aires' special jazz scene: not many great jazz names from the States or Europe used to visit, musicians had to rely on records, travel, hearsay and personal enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is probably what it boils down to. And the joy of creating beauty under duress: the tragic circumstances of Argentina's history transmuted into musical creativeness.

Takehiro Honda ~ Earthian Air

1. Flyer's Land
2. Earthian Air
3. Ra-Mu
4. Dark And Mellow
5. Sea Road
6. Sun Shower
7. Cool Eyes

TAKEHIRO HONDA-p
YOSHIO SUZUKI-b
MOTOHIKO HINO-ds

SHINTARO QUINTET
(Shintaro Nakamura with Shunzo Ohno)
EVOLUTION
Ultra Vybe, 1984

Shintaro Nakamura (bass)
Shunzo Ohno (trumpet)
Robert Kenmotsu (tenor saxophone)
Jeff Jenkins (piano)
Fukushi Tainaka (drums)

All you old jazz bloggers will remember El Swami Hermitus, well the good news is he's back HERE So go grab some music and say hello !!