Johnny Griffin - A Blowing Session

Griffin while not being the most obscure saxophonist today he definitely is largely overlooked. Perhaps this is because he never really made any groundbreaking records but he did play really good and fast bebop.

From my point of view I'd say he's a mix of Coltrane and Rollins. He's ridiculously fast but he's melodic and always on the safe zone of tonality. As with most saxophonists from the heyday of jazz Griffin released a truckload of albums. He is perhaps most known for his contributions on two Monk albums and several Messengers albums but the album I'm sharing is something different. A Blowing Session initially got my attention because of the personnel list. You see, it's full of stars (or soon to become stars in those days).

The rundown is:

Johnny Griffin - tenor saxophone
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Hank Mobley - tenor saxophone
Lee Morgan - trumpet
Wynton Kelly - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Art Blakey - drums

But despite that Griffin still manages to shine as a player and this was surprising for me since it was my first album to hear him as a leader and I half expected him to be placed behind of all the other players. Considering all the stars here I'd say the weakest link for me here is Wynton Kelly who is just kinda there in the background, not really doing anything. Everyone else is great here, especially the saxophonists. You could get an impression that three would be too much and that they would lose their uniqueness but in fact, if you're familiar with how each man plays, you can discern them really well. So all in all this a great little jam session. It's just a bunch of talented players and friends jamming in a studio. Nothing groundbreaking but really quality work.

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Clandestine Blaze / Deathspell Omega

Long ago when Deathspell Omega were still kvlt and trve they did a series of splits with famous black metal acts in the underground. Songs that were on those splits are re-released / re-mastered on their Manifestations comps. Songs from this split were not included for some reason. Actually the songs on this split appear on this split only from what I gather. It's an interesting split but not something that I would consider essential for either band but I'm glad it happened because it's probably how Mikko Aspa and DsO met and then formed the neo-DsO which everybody on the internet knows and loves or hates.

The DsO tracks on this split are just as good as was every other material that they released during their early years. It's straight up black metal with a heavy Darkthrone vibe but it's composed good and has excellent riffs so it's all great for me because I love stuff like that. Production wise it sounds much more like Inquisitors of Satan that came out a year later after this split.

Clandestine Blaze is a band that I never really liked. Harmony Of Struggle is really great but pretty much everything else that I heard I didn't like at all. It feels so dull and monotonous that I rarely venture past his last release. I do like Deliverers Of Faith but that's it really when it comes to his earlier stuff. His tracks on the split are in vein of what I said already: dull and monotonous with quasi-death metal vocals. Not my thing so I keep this split just for the DsO tracks.

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Iskra - Bureval

Iskra is a band from Canada that used to do straight forward crust punk. I've shared their previous efforts a few years ago and I still love them to this day. There were some elements of black metal in their music but overall it was crust. Then in 2009 they went on and made this album where they embraced their black metal influence fully.

Track length wise this is very short for black metal with songs mostly ranging around 3 minutes but it's fast, riff packed and intense. They really gave it all they had on this album it definitely feels like it which is why I like this album so much. When it came out I would frequently listen to this while riding the bus to and from college but after maybe a year or so I kind of moved on to other bands and albums. Now I've revisited it and it still sounds just as awesome as I remember it. It has a unique sound and I think it's really underrated as a whole. Guess it didn't catch on. Iskra really haven't been that active after this album so it seems out their foray into black metal kinda was their downfall.

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Sun Ra - Horizon

Sun Ra's venture into Egypt is well known among fans and more casual listeners. The most known release from that venture was the collaboration with Salah Ragab who was a prominent jazz figure in Egypt. There are other recordings of concerts from that tour that did not feature Salah Ragab and Horizon is one of those recordings.

I'll be frank this isn't an easy listen, most of this recording is either free jazz or really disjointed but if you like that sort of thing I think you'll like it because the band is absolutely on fire here. The album starts with a short introduction and then moves to a lengthy free jazz soloing and exposition featuring Sun Ra solos and also a saxophone solo. After about 20 minutes of free form playing the band shifts into a more friendlier sound and goes on to play some of its famous compositions like Space is The Place. After some jamming and overall excellent melodic grooves the band switches back into the final and more bombastic free jazz form with ridiculously fierce sax solos accompanied by brooding brass sections ominously playing in the back. After those diddly dads the album ends with the band talking to the audience in a very characteristic Sun Ra manner ("we'll wait for you in another woooooooooooooorlllddddd") and then they blast into my second most liked Sun Ra track which is The Satellites are Spinning that goes on for 11 minutes accompanied by claps from the audience and loose sax soloing.

Basically what you get here is a fully packaged Sun Ra live performance. There's a bit of everything from their career up to that point (1971) but there's definitely an emphasis on more free forms rather than on more structured jazz. I myself really enjoy this recording but I'm not sure if it's for everyone though!

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Nagisa Ni Te - Feel

Nagisa Ni Te or 渚にて is a folk/rock duo from Japan but surprisingly not from the Tokyo area. They come from Osaka and their name means "on the beach" which is fairly fitting actually. They've been putting out albums since 1995 and this one was released back in 2001. Aside from this album I also heard their debut but I find this one more interesting. First one is more experimental but I enjoy the more melancholic vibe that Feel has

The core of Nagisa Ni Te is the duo of Shibayama and Takeda. They both provide vocals which fits really good with the music that's in the maximum laid back style. The songs are mainly focused on slow acoustic instrumentation but there's enough diversity and experimentation that keeps this hour long album not particularly boring. Some songs tend to draw out though. While essentially being a duo there are lots of songs where more instruments come in. Most of these "session" musicians come from Maher Shalal Hash Baz band which makes sense since both bands are kinda related even in sound. While Maher has a more naive sound to it and feels more simple Nagisa on the other hand has much more tight instrumentation and sounds overall more apt in its songs. Despite that they give me a similar vibe.

Anyway, great album. Check it out.

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