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As part of the vinyl revival, even ECM Records – a label whose music seems designed for the dynamics and clarity of the compact disk – has jumped on the bandwagon. And why not? The production quality of the average ECM release would sound great coming from a TDK cassette – on pristine vinyl it sounds as incredible as it does on CD, and in nice, full-size jackets to boot.
Originally released in 1970, Afric Pepperbird contains the ECM debuts of four Norwegian musicians whose destinies would be entwined with the label from then on: saxophonist Jan Garbarek, guitarist Terje Rydal, bassist Arild Andersen, and the late drummer Jon Christensen. Indeed, Garbarek is right up there with his buddy Keith Jarrett as the embodiment of the ECM sound, though his later work tends to shove him past chamber jazz and into the area of new age mush – at least in the public mind. So fans of Garbarek’s work with choirs and Scandinavian folk melodies may be surprised by Afric Pepperbird, a bristling free jazz record that features melodies stretched to their limits and skronks from the leader’s horn that contemporary fans had forgotten (or never knew) he was capable of making. “Blow Away Zone,” for example, features some squeals and honks that would make fans of his later work shiver in fear. (Ditto Rypdal’s clinks and clanks on his strings.) Or check out the roiling title track, on which the saxist and guitarist double each other for a riff that’s closer to grunge than chamber music. “Beast of Kommodo,” the album’s requisite epic masterpiece, showcases Garbarek’s fiery riffing and savage soloing over relentless rhythms from Andersen and Christensen and guitar fills from Rydal so gnarled they prefigure James Blood Ulmer. Afric Pepperbird is a landmark release for ECM, for Garbarek, and for the Scandinavian free jazz tradition in general. (Now, if ECM will only include the equally remarkable follow-up SART in the next round of Luminessence reissues…)
Though born in Canada, trumpeter/flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler was associated with the U.K.’s vibrant jazz community for his entire career. He played with a variety of musicians and labels during his near-five decades on the scene; for 1997’s Angel Song, Wheeler recruited some of the greats. Bassist Dave Holland’s work with Wheeler goes back to the latter’s 1969 vinyl debut, and Wheeler first played with guitarist Bill Frisell on the axeperson’s second album Rambler. But this was the trumpeter’s first time recording with legendary saxophonist Lee Konitz; their relationship would continue for tours and live albums. Unsaddled by a drummer, the quartet explores unadulterated melody and harmony – musical concepts at which each musician excels singularly, let alone collaboratively. Wheeler’s bright tone and sinuous compositions and Holland’s tuneful grooves had long been sympatico partners, but the addition of Frisell’s shimmering licks and Konitz’s bop-based melodicism put the performances in the realm of the sublime. Listen to the luminous “Kind Folk,” featuring Frisell (sitting in, one supposes, for Wheeler’s regular compadre John Abercrombie) at his straightforward best, as the rest of the ensemble responds with beautifully considered moments. Or “Past Present,” on which the quartet explores the ballad form to sparse and beauteous affect. “Onmo” and the title track, meanwhile, swing breezily thanks to Holland and Frisell’s flowing rhythms and the horn players’ swooping, bluesy lines. Never before released on vinyl and a double LP now, Angel Song is a lost gem in the ECM catalog that deserves to be brought back to lush life.
