REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE "KÖLN, 1977"

 

Leroy Jenkins, violin
Sirone, double bass, trombone
Jerome Cooper, drums, piano, balaphon


1. unknown title  11:36
2. unknown title  11:08
3. unknown title   9:03
4. unknown title  19:58


Recorded at Kino Lupe, Köln on September 2, 1977

Revolutionary Ensemble - Live in Genoa '05

This is a "special" post for two reasons : it's n°600 from the beginning
of I.S. and, most of all, this is the recording that documents the last live
performance of the legendary Revolutionary Ensemble.
Exactly six months after the Warsaw performance documented by the
Mutable Music's record "Beyond the Boundary of Time", the Three were
invited to Genoa for a single concert : here is the report of that historical
evening. In the folders you'll find also some photos taken at the concert.

Rec. live at "Teatro Gustavo Modena", Genoa, Italy,
on November 25, 2005 (mix recording)

Leroy Jenkins,violin
Norris Jones "Sirone",bass
Jerome Cooper,drums,keyboards,ballaphone,wood flute

1. Value Forfillment [Sirone] (11:20)
2. Configuration [Sirone] (06:54)
3. Pick [J.Cooper] (16:14)
4. Rumi Tales [L.Jenkins] (06:57)
5. Berlin Erfarhung [Sirone] (06:36)
6. Usami [L.Jenkins] (06:51)
7. Improvisation [Revolutionary Ensemble] (05:11)

Total Time 1:00:04

The Group live in Cambridge, Mass. 1987

I am reposting this one from late 2012 because it very much ties in with the theme of NY loft/club jazz in the 70s, although this specific one was later.

There has been jubilation in jazz circles about the release, after 26 years, of a live recording by the Group at the Jazz Center of New York on 13 September 1986. The tapes had languished in Ahmed Abdullah's possession ever since until the Nobusiness record label out of Vilnius, Lithuania, was told about them and expressed an interest in releasing them. The cd (and an lp) is now out in limited circulation of 1000 copies so readers are advised to rush out and get a copy before it disappears. However, it is not the only recording in circulation. In the course of the short life of the Group, up to the end of 1987, they also gigged around the East Coast, including a date in Cambridge, Mass., on 21 January 1987. This is briefly mentioned in Abdullah's liner notes to the cd release. There is no mention of the gig being recorded, so this is in all likelihood an unofficial audience recording.

Who was the Group? It was a collective composed of five members, some of whom had cut their teeth on the NY free jazz scene in the 60s (Brown, Cyrille) and others who had emerged as part of of the loft scene in the 70s (Bang, Sirone, Abdullah). After the loft scene had pretty much subsided, there was a scramble to look for new opportunities for players on a NY scene less hospitable to innovative jazz than before and to look for new collaborative models to work from. So, in that spirit, there was no leader of the Group and each member was encouraged to contribute their own compositions, even though the repertoire made room for covers of standards. As Abdullah writes, there have been several revivals of the Group, buth with the passing away of Brown, Bang, Sirone and also of Fred Hopkins (who is on the cd, though not on this gig), replacements have become a duty of necessity.

In the pic above (a flyer for their very first appearance, courtesy of the Nobusiness website), all five members are present and these are the five you will hear on this Cambridge date.

The Group
Cambridge, Mass. (USA)
1369 Club
January 21, 1987


Marion Brown as
Ahmed Abdullah tp
Billy Bang violin
Sirone b
Andrew Cyrille dr

1) 16:47 Assunta
2) 08:47 Warm Valley
3) 14:16 Fortified Nucleus
4) 06:21 La Placita – cut -
5) 17:39 cont´d - La Placita
6) 17:18 The Glow Of Awareness
7) 12:13 The Music In Us
8) 08:12 I Remember Clifford
9) 21:43 Restore Africa

This is a historical recording of five great musicians. I'm not going to single out anyone in particular, though I would like to say that anything that has Marion Brown on it is pretty much essential. All five should be familar to followers of the blog (and parenthetically, I should try to find more from Abdullah).

Two hours of goodness for y'all.

SIRONE - ARTISTRY (OF THE COSMOS, 1979)

A1. Illusions Of Reality
A2. Breath Of Life

B1. Circumstances
B2. Libido

Muneer Bernard Fennell, cello
Sirone, double bass
Famoudou Don Moye, drums, percussion
James Newton, flute

Recorded at Generation Sound, NYC, 7 May 1978

Of The Cosmos ‎– OTC 801

LP Rip

SIRONE SEXTET ‎– LIVE IN BERLIN, BALLHAUS 1987 (SAGITTARIUS A-STAR, 2011)

A.  Illusions Of Reality, Part I & II

B1. Illusions Of Reality, Part III
B2. Getting It Together

Nick Steinhaus, alto saxophone
Sirone, bass
Anthony Brown, drums
Thomas Borgmann, soprano saxophone
Jacques Nobili, trombone
Jason Hwang, violin

Sagittarius A-Star 13

LP Rip

And then there was none ...

With the passing away of Jerome Cooper on 6 May this year, the Revolutionary Ensemble has taken their revolution to the spiritual realm. Leroy Jenkins died in 2007 and Sirone in 2009, both of whom have been featured on this blog before as well as the Ensemble in full. The Revolutionary Ensemble started up in the 1970s, mostly playing the loft and club circuit in New York, disbanded in 1977 and came together in the new millennium to make a couple of albums before it was all over.

With a basic lineup of violin, bass and percussion, the group developed a chamber-like sound, less rowdy perhaps than their free jazz compatriots at the time, yet, still distinctely anchored in free improvisation.

The three sets featured here were recorded at the Tin Palace, located on the Bowery, close to CBGBs, and one of the few places offering performance space for this type of music. It eventually folded in the late 70s, but there are fond memories attached to the place to judge from accounts found on the web.

Revolutionary Ensemble
January 14 1977
Tin Palace
NY, NY

master audience cassette > cdr (transferred by orchiddoctor)
cdr > eac(secure mode) > peak pro 5.2(adjust volume, trim wave files) > flac(level 6) (tracked/edited by carville, no noise reduction)

total time 2:24:58

1st set 54:29
1 19:12
2 14:43
3 7:08
4 13:25 (tape flip @ 5:01)

2nd set 59:09
1 14:25
2 30:30 (tape flip @ 27:10)
3 14:13

3rd set 31:19
1 7:32
2 11:09
3 12:35

This is another recording done by "orchiddoctor" and edited and uploaded by "carville", so thanks to them for keeping history alive. To quote orchiddoctor's notes:

"The Revolutionary Ensemble. What can I say? Rare performances (among the last) by an underappreciated group that just couldn't get work. These two nights were the only times I saw them. I did do a photo shoot of Jerome Cooper a year later at his practice space in the meat packing district, and I saw him with Roscoe Mitchell at the Wildflowers set; but I don't recall seeing any of these guys again. Certainly not as a unit. Just for flavor, during the quiet moments--especially Leroy's solos--you can hear the cash register at the Tin Palace going ca-ching. I miss that sound! The Palace is now a vacant, ugly mess, haunted by the ghosts of great musicians. R.I.P. Mr Jenkins and Sirone."

And Mr. Cooper.

THE REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE ‎– THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC (HORIZON RECORDS & TAPES, 1976)

A1. New York
A2. Trio For Trio
A3. Chinese Rock

B1. The People's Republic
B2. Ponderous Planets


Sirone, bass, large gong, vocals, bells, shaker, wood block, trombone
Leroy Jenkins, violin, viola, small gong, claves, thumb piano, recorder
Jerome Cooper, drums, bugle, piano, vocals, balafon, temple block, wood block, gong, bells, arco saw, cymbals

Recorded 4-6 December 1975 at Kendun Recorders, Burbank, CA.

Horizon Records & Tapes ‎– SP-708

Vinyl Rip

CECIL TAYLOR UNIT "SPRING OF TWO BLUE J's" (UNIT CORE, 1973)

 See here for some background with great cover scans - also you may find still some mp3 with more music from the concert there.

Cecil Taylor, piano
Jimmy Lyons, alto saxophone
Sirone, bass
Andrew Cyrille, drums


1. Spring Of Two Blue-J's (part 1)  16:05
2. Spring Of Two Blue-J's (part 2)  21:24

Recorded on 4 November 1973 at Town Hall, NYC.

UNIT CORE RECORDS 30551

(this rip from the Jazz View 008 CD - which was a bootleg)

Note: new links for a rip of the LP added - Thank you G!!!!

ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET - VALENZA 1974 (PRIVATE LABEL)

This tour with James Blood Ulmer is from a transitional period between the acoustic groups and the electrified bands of Tales Of Captain Black and Prime Time.

There are videos from the Rome concert on Youtube.

An LP release from the Padua concert on the tour suffered from the guitar being poorly audible.

A concert recording from Keystone Corner, San Francisco in September 1974, has also been circulating, with David Williams replacing Sirone and playing both acoustic and electric bass.

However, this is my favourite from the year. 


Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone, trumpet, violin

Sirone, double bass

Billy Higgins, drums

James Blood Ulmer, guitar


C1 Unknown Title     10:10    
C2 Tutti     14:05    
D Lonely Woman     17:40    
E1 Something To Listen To     8:40    
E2 Bells And Chimes     9:00    
F  Comme Il Faut     19:40    
G What Reason Could I Give?     15:00    
H  Love Call     10:40    

Recorded live in Valenza, Italy 1974. Compiled with a 1966 trio live recording as part of a 4LP release.

Label: BAT 2-4

Vinyl Rip

Henry English - YOU SEE WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY (1967)

Even if it's not in the habits of Inconstant Sol to write about moving images, we're going to make an exception for a special short film. Made in 1967 by director Henry English, "You see what I'm trying to say" could be described as a portrait of Marion Brown in New York, both parts of the sentence being of importance.

Scarcely shown or circulated, it has kindly been transfered to digital media by Henry and we feel that it's something the readers of Inconstant Sol will want to see. Of note : the film contains shots of a studio session (set-up for the movie) involving Marion Brown, Dave Burrell, Sirone, and Bobby Kapp.

Shortly after the making of the film, Marion Brown - fed up with his poor financial situation - would take off for Europe.



Henry has written a very thorough write-up about the making of the film, that can be accessed at this address.

The movie can be seen online, following this link :

http://vimeo.com/19619667

Many thanks again to Henry for his work in bringing the movie back to light.

Sirone with Cecil Taylor Unit - live in Köln 1978

We posted a little while back a concert with Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle and Sirone to commemorate the passing away of Ali. Now the news have reached us that Sirone has also passed away, thus providing us with an opportunity to commemorate his musicianship, though obviously not the most happy occasion for doing so.

The Ali concert was from last year and this one goes back 31 years to 1978. Both have one thing in common - performed and recorded in Germany. Sirone - Norrie Jones - settled more or less permanently in Berlin in the late 80s, finding a more conducive environment for his composing skills and perhaps a more receptive audience as well.

As with Lateef, Sirone is not a player who wants to be pigeon-holed: "I know that this music that has been labeled free jazz but nothing is free and this music free jazz certainly isn't free. As a composer, I put a definite attention towards the composition merely as a path of reaching the point where we can find that magical moment when you understand...that to reach that point of that freedom is discipline and that discipline is a study, this is why that word doesn't sit so well with me because it has been abused, the music has been abused by that word 'free'. sometimes you get a lot of noise" - from an online interview with All About Jazz.

This line-up is certainly among my favourite CT Units:

CECIL TAYLOR UNIT

Cecil Taylor (piano)
Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone)
Raphe Malik (trumpet)
Ramsey Ameen (violin)
Sirone (bass)
Ronald Shannon Jackson (drums)

Date: June 10th, 1978
Place: Köln
Venue: Großer Sendesaal, Funkhaus

Track 1: Third part of one (23:19)
Track 2: Third worlds making (34:08) (inc)

or, alternatively

Third World Makings: 1 I, Part 1 5:48 2 I, Part 2 28:25 3 II, Part 2 23:17

This is a very dynamic and forceful combo, so the listener is in for an hour of hyper-intense interplay. It ends rather abruptly, indicating that there might have been more, but as this was a radio broadcast, I suppose that's what there was time for. Off that wonderful Dime, so thanks to posters and seeders and reseeders etc.

Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle and Sirone live at Burghausen 2008

Here's something to remember Rashied Ali by, who died on 12 August. This is a fairly recent concert in Burghausen, Germany (in Ober-Bayern, more precidely), beautifully captured by Radio Bayern 4.

Basic info:

Rashied Ali - Charles Gayle - Sirone, 2008.03.08, Burghausen (Germany)
Stadtsaal, 39.Internationale Jazzwoche
Burghausen, Germany
8. March 2008

Charles Gayle - as,p
Sirone - b
Rashied Ali - dr

1. Burghausen Rising I (Sirone) - 15:24
2. Burghausen Rising II (Sirone) - 14:19
3. Burghausen Rising III (Sirone) - 7:44
4. Burghausen Rising IV (Sirone) - 10:33
5. Off Rythm (Gayle/Ali/Sirone) - 5:52
6. Naima (Coltrane) - 17:09
7. Expression (Coltrane) 15:16

total time 86:17 - complete!

The partnership of the three goes back a long time, to the NY loft jazz scene of the 70s, vividly described by Valerie Wilmer in her "As Serious As Your Life", an essential read for followers of this blog, I would think. A fine performance by all three, Ali with a lighter touch than what he sounded like on his early 70s duet with Frank Lowe (which ought to be posted somewhere, if it hasn't already), Charles Gayle, going from his post-aylerean expressiveness on the sax to a somewhat more lyrical side on his two piano offerings here, and finally, but not least, Sirone, who might be the least conspicuous here, but is right there with some beautiful, sinuous empathetic support. Do listen in cos bassists often get buried in the mix, but not here, though.

More Ali coming up if I find something in the archives. We have posted Ali before, here and here. Charles Gayle can be heard here and Sirone here.

The Revolutionary Ensemble "The People's Republic" (1975, Horizon SP-708)

To complement Sotise's post of "Manhattan Cycles", here's another one of the five Revolutionary Ensemble records. Note that the other Revolutionary Ensemble 1975 record originally issued on the group's own RE: label as "The Psyche" has been recently transfered to CD format by Mutable Music.

If interested, don't forget to take a look at the documentation post for a link to an audio interview with Leroy Jenkins & Marilyn Crispell also containing music. The post has also been updated with scans of William Parker, Trevor Watts & Peter Kowald interviews.

Short on time again so please excuse the lenght of my post !

Enjoy,
Pierre

the Revolutionary Ensemble- manhattan cycles 1972 (india navigation lp 1023) lame and flac

heres an old favourite , and a tasty follow up to recent Braxton postings.
I don’t think this has been reissued on cd , it was reissued on innercity in 1978,.
Sadly very few of their albums are available at present.

This is one long continuous piece recorded live in concert on December 31st 1972 (the record cover does not specify where.

This even features an early example of the turntable as instrument, billie holiday’s low moan being clearly audible , though seeming to emerge out of a fog..and becoming less and less audible as the piece progresses.
This was the first release on India navigation.. and it’s a beauty.


Hope you enjoy it.
Flacs will be added , later tonight or tomorrow if they are required.


Manhattan cycles – India nav lp 1023

1 piece manhattan cycles- composed by leo smith
side a) 23’
side b) 18’

leroy jenkins, sirone, jerome cooper

truncated lp cover scans included

enjoy!!