Noah Howard - The Black Ark

NOAH HOWARD - The Black Ark (Freedom, 1969)

Noah Howard: alto saxophone
Arthur Doyle: tenor saxophone
Earl Cross: trumpet
Leslie Waldron: piano
Norris Jones (Sirone): bass
Juma (Juma Sultan): congas
Mohammed Ali: drums

1. Domiabra
2. Ole Negro
3. Mount Fuji
4. Queen Anne

Noah Howard's 1969 album The Black Ark has, in an unintended way, lived up to its name in recent years. It has become, to free jazz obsessives, a sort of Ark of the Covenant, a fabled and much sought after grail and jazz message boards lit up when it was announced that the British label Bo'Weavil would be putting the album out on CD.

Recent years have also shown a renewed interest in Howard's career, with new recordings on CIMP, Cadence, Ayler and Boxholder and an important reissue on Eremite pairing his 1971 album Patterns (by a sextet that included Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg) with an unreleased 18-minute track from 1979 called "Message to South Africa" (with Johnny Dyani, Kali Fasteau, Noel McGee and Chris McGregor), recorded for Mercury in France but unissued because of its perceived militancy.

The Black Ark was Howard's third record as a leader. Released by Polydor after two ESP titles, it should have been his breakthrough. Instead it broke him. Unhappy with the lack of support for free jazz in the states, within three years he had left for Paris, eventually moving again to Belgium where he still lives. Record labels at the time were scrambling to figure out what was going on in jazz as well as rock and many worthy albums didn't get the proper promotion and distribution and were lost in the shuffle.

But The Black Ark was one that should have risen to the top. It is, in a sense, the missing link between Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp. Simple yet insistent melodies scream through the twin saxophones of Howard and, on his recording debut, Arthur Doyle before breaking down into strident, freeform marches. Like Ayler and Shepp, Howard here favors tunes that feel like work songs, or even nursery rhymes. With a third horn (Earl Cross on trumpet), the front line flies over the rumbling rhythms of Leslie Waldron (piano), Norris Sirone Jones (bass), Mohammed Ali (drums) and Juma (conga). Compared to the mountains of recordings released in today's market, the discography of revolutionary (politically and musically) jazz from the late '60s is rather small and it's fantastic to hear another piece of the picture. (from AAJ)

HERE

Bobby Few - More or Less Few

Bobby Few: piano, melodica, voice
Alan Silva: bass
Mohamed Ali: drums

1973 MORE OR LESS

Frank Wright - One For John

Frank Wright: tenor saxophone
Noah Howard: alto saxophone
Bobby Few: piano
Mohamed Ali: drums

1969 ONE FOR JOHN

Frank Wright - Church Number Nine

Frank Wright: tenor saxophone
Noah Howard: alto saxophone
Bobby Few: piano
Mohamed Ali: drums

Review

by Dan Warburton

Following on from the Fractal reissue of Frank Wright's two Center of the World albums three years ago, the French label Black Keys has unearthed and issued an even rarer free jazz gem. Originally released in 1973 on an obscure label called Calumet, only 300 copies of Church Number Nine ever made it into circulation. As was customary at the time, the sides of the original album were entitled "Part One" and "Part Two," but each is in fact a separate track and is presented as such on the CD. The booklet retains the original Calumet front and back covers, along with Val Wilmer's liner notes and also includes a useful complete Wright discography. The personnel is the same as on Wright's BYG Actuel album One For John: Wright on tenor, Noah Howard on alto, Bobby Few on piano, and Mohamed Ali (sic) on drums. The first track, a 26-minute explosion of holy-rolling free gospel, finds the leader extending the tradition of free jazz's two most influential saxophonists, John Coltrane and Albert Ayler -- the theme is a churchy chord sequence which could have come right out of Ayler's songbook, and the occasional extra percussion instruments recall late Coltrane. Few's playing is particularly volcanic, including Tyner-esque comping and spectacular runs of clusters and glissandos, and Ali's drumming throughout is close in spirit to the raw energy of Sunny Murray. The second track has no theme other than a ten-note idea Wright blurts out ten times before taking off on a high energy solo flight. Howard's solo starts out more florid, but the rhythm section's relentless attack and Wright's preaching vocals and percussion eventually blast him into the upper atmosphere. 1973 CHURCH NUMBER NINE (flac) PART 1 / PART 2