The developments in jazz that have followed Ornette Coleman’s achievements pursue an obscure path which bobs and weaves amongst the dottier manifestations of so-called avant-garde music. Only a particularly careful student of the genre can be guaranteed certain passage. If one evades the pitfalls, there is much of value to be found. Of course, one must discard conventional notions of tonality, melody and rhythm along the way.
Ornette still leads this field, and it is within his massive shadow that the music on this album has been evolved. That’s not to say Mitchell isn’t an individualist of some merit – the two vastly different versions of No-naah indicate, for instance, a talent for that vital jazz ingredient, spontaneity. They also indicate his gift for thematic improvisation, reflecting the tutelage of Sonny Rollins, which takes us deep into jazz history (well, halfway back, in recorded terms). This, in itself, should indicate that Mitchell’s music is among the more accessible brands of contemporary jazz. But listeners can be shocked by his abrupt shifts in mood and key, and by his penchant for exploring sound.
Much of this music is concerned primarily with pitch and timbre and, undeniably, some of these ruminations prove to be barren. Sometimes, as in the tortured Ttum, possibly fruitful directions aren’t followed through. And his bass-sax lines on Oobina appear inconsequential, despite the three-note harmonics. Similarly, the use of silence as an improvisory force has unavoidable pitfalls. On Tutankhamen it directs the shape and flow of his solo, but, on Oobina, it fragments and obstructs.
This is a thoughtful, provocative album – not wholly successful, perhaps, but sufficiently so to overcome any feeling that a solo sax LP may be too much of a good thing. An interesting stage in the continuing growth of a leader of Chicago’s contemporary jazz scene who is now apparently woodshedding in rural Michigan.
Discography
(b) No-naah (alt); Tutankhamen (bass); Enlorfe (alt); Jibbana (sop); (a) Eeltwo Pt 1 (ten) (19 min) – (a) – EeItwo Pt 2 (ten); (b) Oobina (sop, bass); Ttum (alt); (c) No-naah (alt) (21½ min)
Roscoe Mitchell (sop/alt/ten/bs-saxes as indicated).
(a) Kalamazoo, Michigan 22/10/73.
(b) Montreal. 2/11/73.
(c) Pori International Jazz Festival, Finland, 12/7/74.
(Sackville S 2006 Import)
