BILLY BANG "SWEET SPACE / UNTITLED GIFT" (8TH HARMONIC BREAKDOWN, 1979/82)

SWEET SPACE:

Billy Bang, violin
Luther Thomas, alto & tenor saxophone
Butch Morris, cornet
Curtis Clark, piano
Wilber Morris, bass
Steve McCall, drums

1. A Pebble Is A Small Rock (Alternate Take)     14:09
2. Sweet Space (Alternate Take)     4:43
3. Loweski For Frank (Alternate Take)     12:13
4. Music For The Love Of It (Alternate Take)     4:23
5. A Pebble Is A Small Rock     16:37
6. Sweet Space     5:09
7. Loweski For Frank (T.F.R.)     12:50
8. Music For The Love Of It     5:44

------

UNTITLED GIFT:

Billy Bang, violin, yokobue flute, congas, bells
Don Cherry, pocket trumpet, flute, bells
Wilber Morris, bass
Denis Charles, drums

1. Echovamp 1678     12:08
2. Night Sequence  5:52
3. The Kora Song     6:05
4. Maat     11:53
5. Levitation For Santana     4:18
6. Focus On Sanity  4:25


"Sweet Space" recorded at the Loeb Student Center, New York University, November 15, 1979. Tracks 5 - 8 previously released on LP Anima 12741 (USA) - tracks 1 to 4 previously unreleased.

"Untitled Gift" recorded at OAO Studio, Brooklyn, New York, February 7, 1982. Previously released on LP Anima 3BG9 (USA).

Both CDs were mastered from the original source tapes.
8th Harmonic Breakdown – 8thHB 8005-6 (US, 2004)

Charles Tyler - Mid Western Drifter

I posted the Folly Fun Magic Music a little while ago and the one following, this one, was to be his last. In contrast to the former, here we're down to a trio, just sax, piano and bass, It' a low key affair, subdued, no flashes, a touch of melancholy to the proceedings. . All in all, a record of intimate beauty, even infinite beauty. We have a mix of standards, some select tunes from the Tyler repertoire, even my fave from the second ESP album, dedicated to Chris McGregor. Did they know each other or meet? Both had settled in France by the 1980s.

This record is a musical documention of a travelogue, so what better to cite the poem that starts off the record:

It was a return to the east
as in the children's music march
like the flight of the Surf ravin
on a voyage From jericho
they were happy sad hip folks
who knew of Cadiz of the west kentucky woods
they knew not, of the dark blue depths,
pale blue planet
lucifer got uptight
as he gazed upon the wasteland
of uptown manhattan puerto-rico
he came as a space traveller
to play his role in the warlock mystery drama
little did he know that the adventures of the ode to lady
day stand so strong
it was a saga of the outlaws
versus The legend of the lawman
you see
I was only a mid western drifter
in search of the route
from saint-louis to kansas-city by
way of Chicago
as I told the tale of bari red
a man alone
who could twing twang twiddle all night along
with a song, A tale of bari red
I was just a mid western drifter

To quote Thom Jurek again from the Allmusic review, he left the best for last.

Tracks:

1. Mid-western drifter
2. Life can be so beautiful
3. There was a flower near Napoli
4. Photo of Cecil Tyler and Jimmy Lyons
5. Blue Monk
6. Man alone (for Chris McGregor)
7. 'Round midnight

Charles Tyler - alto sax, voice, arrangments
Curtis Clark - piano
Didier Levallet - double bass

All compositions by Charles Tyler, except 5, 7 by Thelonius Monk
Recorded in France 30-31 March 1992
Died 28 June 1992

Billy Bang Sextet - Sweet Space - Anima 12741

Billy Bang Sextet
Sweet Space

Billy Bang - violin
Frank Lowe - tenor sax
Luther Thomas - alto sax
Butch Morris - cornet
Curtis Clark - piano
Wilbur Morris - bass
Steve McCall - drums


1. A Pebble Is A Small Rock 16:57
2. Sweet Space 5:21
3. Loweski For Frank (T.F.R.) 13:05
4. Music For The Love Of It 5:56

total 41:22

Recorded live at the Loeb Student Center north lobby, New York University, November 15, 1979.

Anima 12741 / own LP-rip
Owombat, May 2011


Hi all,
over at 9 grey chairs (http://ninegreychairs.blogspot.com/) there is much more to be found from this great musician, human being and personal friend. Sweet Space was not among them, so I decided to .flac my LP (some mp3´s of this are floating around in blogland) to the honour of Bill and for the pleasure of you

Billy Bang Sextet - Live in Moers '80

This time i want to exagerrate : two Ali on drums!

Rec. live at the "9th Moers Festival", Moers, Germany,
on May 24, 1980 (mics recording)

Billy Bang,violin
Lawrence "Butch" Morris,cornet
Curtis Clark,piano
Wilber Morris,bass
Muhammad Ali & Rashid Ali,drums

1. Track #1 (16:13)
2. Track #2 (18:22)
3. Track #3 (11:37)
4. Track #4 [inc.] (14:33)

Total Time 1:00:46