-Originally published in The NYC Jazz Record, Feb 2024-
Within the special pantheon of revolutionary Black music, much attention is paid to New York and Newark’s fiery vision of this “new thing” led by Amiri Baraka, and the sounds in the wake of free jazz’s initial sonic eruption. As Black Liberation birthed various radical arts collectives, the West Coast had already come to know the extra-musical reach of pianist/composer/activist Horace Tapscott. A bold comrade of the Black Panther Party (he composed their theme song, “Seize the Time”), Tapscott’s Los Angeles-based organization pre-dated Baraka’s NYC Black Arts Movement, as well as Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and St. Louis’ Black Artists Group.
With Tapscott’s 1961 founding of the Union of God's Musicians and Artists' Ascension (about the same time Sun Ra brought his Arkestra to the Lower East Side), the composer recognized the liberation inherent in “free jazz”, but also conceived of still newer forms. His ensemble, the Pan-Afrikan People's Arkestra, fused traditional African music into modernist textures along with unfettered free improv and overt statements of pride, protest, and spirituality. Various editions of this band ran for decades and Tapscott, ever the teacher, remained a philosophic force well beyond his 1999 passing. So powerful his tutelage, the Arkestra’s legacy continues to current day. One can compare this ensemble to that of Sun Ra, but Tapscott focused quite exclusively on this planet, leaving the solar system environs to others. He composed a music of African American culture as well as the issues, struggles and celebrations within the immediate, reachable purview.
This collection of six previously unheard live recordings delves into the lifespan of the Pan-Afrikan People’s Arkestra, spanning from its early days through 2019. Most striking is the immediacy; but for the progression in recording quality, these expansive works could have come from a single concert. Opening cut “The Golden Pearl” from ’61, featured the original septet’s garage performance and a young Arthur Blythe’s aerial solo out front. But be sure to also absorb Angel Bat Dawid’s probing solo bass clarinet, many years hence, on “The Ballad of Deadwood Dick”.
The R&B grooves and soul-drenched vocals of “Little A’s Chant”, “Nation Rising” and “Justice” speak to street-heat as much as urban nights dazzled by extended improvisations. The slow build on the latter is exquisite, from Dwight Trible’s throaty vocal performance (wonderfully reminiscent of Levi Stubbs) to a stirring trombone improvisation (Julian Priester??) against the throbbing 3/4 meter’s final tumult. And 1981’s “Nation Rising”, with an empowering vocal by Jujigwa, is nothing short of epic, spitting fire at the nascent ultra-conservative Reagan Administration. But this 2-record collection does not claim any single era, 60 Years is a compendium of Tapscott’s vitality across the as many decades----and counting. If there is an aspect herein that disappoints, it’s only in the lack of clarity on the specific personnel of each magical track.
CREDITS:
Collective
Personnel: Horace
Tapscott: piano, conduction; Jesse Sharps: soprano saxophone; Arthur Blythe:
alto saxophone; Sabir Mateen: alto saxophone; Gary Bias: alto saxophone; Tracy
Caldwell: alto saxophone; Devin Daniels: alto saxophone; Al Collins: tenor
saxophone; Michael Session: alto and tenor saxophone; Charles Owens: tenor
saxophone; Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq: tenor saxophone; Randal Fisher: tenor saxophone;
Ralph Gibson: tenor saxophone; Charles Chandler: tenor saxophone; Jimmy Woods:
saxophone; Guido Sinclair: saxophone; Amos Delone Jr.: baritone saxophone;
Aaron Shaw: baritone saxophone; Adele Sebastian: flute; Dadisi Komolafe: flute;
Kafi Roberts: flute; Maia: flute; Kafi Roberts: flute; Raiyan El-Megharbel:
oboe; Angel The Oracle: bass clarinet, vocals; Lawrence Douglas Morris:
trumpet; Steve Smith: trumpet; Richard Grant: trumpet; Nolan Shaheed: trumpet;
Chris Williams: trumpet; Fundi Legohn: French horn; Lester Robertson: trombone;
Lorenzo Gardman: trombone; Thurman Green: trombone; Phil Ranelin: trombone;
Isaac Smith: trombone; Zekkeraya El-Megharbel: trombone, conduction; Nate
Morgan: piano; Austin Peralta: piano; Brian Hargrove: keyboards; William Roper:
tuba; Ben McIntosh: tuba; David Bryant: bass; Richard Herrera: bass; Robert
Miranda: bass; Nick Rosen: bass; Chris Palmer: bass; Bill Madison: drums,
percussion; Everett Brown Nr.: drums; Billy Hinton: drums; Fritz Wise: drums;
Sonship Theus: drums; Mekala Session: drums, vocals; Ernest Cojoe: congas;
Taumba: congas; Moses Obligacion: congas; Natajite Olokun: percussion; Linda
Hill: vocals; Jujigwa: vocals; Dwight Trible: vocals; Aankah: vocals; Tamina
Johnson-Lawson: vocals; Qur’an Shaheed: vocals.
Selections:
The Golden
Pearl
Little A’s Chant
Nation
Rising
The Ballad of Deadwood Dick
Justice
Dem Folks
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