Andrew Hill - Compulsion

The second date where Gilmore played with Hill is this record. Compulsion and Andrew!!! are very different records. While Andrew!!! was a demanding exercise in complex modal jazz Compulsion brings in more of an "afro" influence to the table.

The afro influence is brought into the record via two specialized drummers who played various percussive instruments coupled with Joe Chambers who accompanied them with good old regular drum set. Those two components were the main building blocks on which the rest of the album was made. The compositions are long and varied, most of them being around ten minutes. The interesting part is that Andrew tried to use his piano more as a percussive instrument rather than a regular piano and the results vary in success. Sometimes it sounds great but at times it can also sound like he's just bashing stuff in. But probably the main stars on the album are Freddie Hubbard and Gilmore of course. They both get a lot of space and time to improvise and correlate their instruments during these long passages of drumming..

Get it.

Molly Rankin ‎- She EP

Molly Rankin is the vocalist of a new-ish Canadian band called Alvvays. They released their first album back in 2014 and it was pretty neat. Musically it was laid back dream pop drenched in delay and reverb. Before all that conundrum Rankin did this little EP back in 2010.

Compared to aforementioned Alvvays it's vastly different in style. She EP is a blend of cutesy folk backed by rock instrumentation and sometimes strings arrangements as well. Rankin's voice, much like her melodies, are also cutesy and happy. Although she usually sings about being broken hearted everything is happy and upbeat. It's a short but very sweet trip and the last song is unbelievably catchy so the whole thing is worth checking out just because of that last song.

Get it.

Andrew Hill - Andrew!!!

Speaking of adventures beyond Sun Ra here's another album that Gilmore was on. Andrew Hill is definitely one of my favorite jazz pianists. His playing is interesting because it sounds so cold and structured as if some alien machine is playing it. The cover art and the album titles tries really hard to convey a different picture which is kinda weird but I kinda get it. Generally he's not very accessible because of his playing so naturally the label will try to lull people into his music. But you can't be lulled into it. It's just too damn weird and good for that at this point. Later on he did some more accessible stuff like Grass Roots and some of his big band stuff but on here it's hard and serious jazz. Bobby Hutcherson on the vibraphone steals most of the show though. The sound of his instrument demands attention and gives very little room for anything else in the back so at times it's kinda hard to focus on what everyone is doing because of it. This makes Gilmore on this record not that very apparent but when he does get a moment to shine he shines greatly. Once you're accustomed to what Andrew does with his compositions this album gets exponentially more fun to listen.

Overall it's a fantastic record but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't more experienced with jazz.

Get it.

Cliff Jordan & John Gilmore - Blowing in From Chicago

This joint album from Jordan and Gilmore is interesting on several levels. The Arkestra of Sun Ra featured a lot of members throughout its fruitful years but John Gilmore and Marshall Allen are two names that you will, without exception, always hear when someone is discussing members of the Arkestra. Gilmore was a very promising and interesting saxophonist but he recorded almost exclusively with Sun Ra which makes this album intriguing just to hear how Gilmore sounds without Sun Ra. He is joined by Clifford Jordan, a saxophonist probably best known for working with Charles Mingus on several records. To me on those Mingus records Clifford often sounded like a  counterweight in the sextet to Eric Dolphy. While Dolphy would of often provide incredibly weird, abstract solos and instruments Clifford would counteract with a more conventional, Coltrane-like style of improvising more grounded in reality. Later on his admiration for Coltrane manifested even more with a couple of spiritual jazz records like Glass Beads.

On the album the two saxophonists are accompanied by Horace Silver and Art Blakey who are arguably one of the most known men in the hard-bop pantheon of giants. The only unknown here is Curly Russell of whom I know very little and can comment even less. In general on this record the focus is on the two leads and their interactions with the tunes. It's like you're at a cutting contest.

Oh and a interesting side note that I'd like to mention: There's a peculiar rumor mainly circulated among Sun Ra fans which implies that Coltrane was very much inspired by John Gilmore. In fact the rumor states that Coltrane had an epiphany after hearing Gilmore play. This was never confirmed fully  but who knows, maybe there is something to it. Whatever the case may be this album lets you take a peek at Gilmore's own talent without being overshadowed by Sun Ra and his special brand of jazz. In any case you can read about the whole Coltrane-Gilmore thing here.

Get.

Grouper - Alien Observer

If I had to choose my favorite song of all times it would most likely end up being Planet Caravan. A lot of things that I adore and seek are in that song. Yes, it's a flimsy song that was created by accident in the studio but I still immensely enjoy it every time I hear it. Ever since I fell in love with that song I've been looking for a band or other some other song that sounds like it. My search proved to be somewhat fruitful over the years. Black Sabbath themselves rarely made anything remotely similar (Solitude comes to mind) and other bands in that vein didn't fare any better as well. Other genres did come relatively close to what I was searching though.

Grouper as whole is the closest to that Planet Caravan feeling so far. This album in particular. The last song if we're being absolutely particular.

In case you have no idea who Grouper is and what kind of music it is let me indulge you. It's a mix of drone and folk. The vocals are mainly composed out of silent humming of barely understandable words. I love it. It's a very particular and well executed atmosphere that hangs on a thin balance of annoying and soothing. Songs are very simple but effective in their intent. There's not a lot of instrumentation here, from what I could discern it's just her voice and a delay ridden guitar. With such a minimal set Grouper manages to do a lot of things, making each song feel unique. Some are more happy, some are sad but they all have this underlying feeling of melancholia, of foggy mornings etc. Lovely stuff in general. I'm pretty sure this artist isn't very rare or unknown but I'm sharing this mostly out of sentimental reasons.

Get it.

Taeko Ohnuki - Mignonne

For the first album of the year here's a heavy dose of jpop cheese coming straight out of the 70s. I'm always infatuated with this sort of tasteless pop from Japan. Mostly because it reminds me of 80s and 90s anime from my childhood. All of the tracks on this album could be an opening or a closing for some garbage 3 episode OVA.

Taeko actually has a very decent voice even though there are several layers of reverb on everything. I hate reverb but I think here it brings that special fuzzy atmosphere. Apart from her voice everything else is the same "city pop" fare that's on every album of this kind. There's even a track with a over the top alto saxophone solo. Choirs in English as well. Piano ballads too!

Wallow in it.