By Nick Ostrum
Ode To BC/LY... And Eye Know BO.... da Prezis the first release from Booker T and the Plasmic Bleeds. Actually, it is one of just a handful from leader Booker T. Williams, mostly on Silkheart and Cadence Jazz from the late 1980s and a few limited release sideman efforts from the 1990s. And now, after years of performing on and off, teaching, digital painting (his artwork graces the cover), and who knows what else, in his mid-70s, he decides to release just his second disc as leader? That takes some real plasmic nerve, and a huge amount of resilience, as well.
The result is extraordinary, both in light of Williams’ relative obscurity and regardless of it. The Plasmic Bleeds add much to this. Many of them have appeared on Mahakala releases before, some for many recordings: Christopher Parker (piano, and convener of the ensemble), Chad Fowler (stritch), Chad Anderson (drums), Marc Franklin (trumpet), Christopher Parker (piano), Kelley Hurt (vocals). In addition, the Bleeds include Luke Stewart, who is fast becoming the go-to bassist of his generation, and guest saxophonist Gary Hammon. Hammon seems kindred to Williams. He has played widely, but mostly underground, and recorded only sparingly. He is a hell of an addition, too.
The album begins with a snippet from an interview with Booker T that presents the idea, “The more imperfect the better.” I do not hear much imperfection, or obvious mistakes or mismatches on this. However, the idea is sound. Experimentation produces mistakes as well as successes, and those imperfections – the deviations from any collectively agreed intended outcome – can make the moments of bliss.
Along those lines, this is jubilant and open music, with composed themes and frameworks but big spaces for improvisation beyond predetermined scales or charts, and generally with an underlining pulse of funk, soul, and New Orleans, or at least southern, boil. The music is tight and can be tender, as on Are You For Me, a sad ballad on which Hurt, who otherwise contributes wordless, almost atavistic ululations (for instance, Mama Cries), shows off her sweltery side and Parker centers his intricate, disorienting cascades. However, what first really caught my ear was a stretch on the third selection, Simontov, wherein one of the reedists soars into territory the flutters between Charles Gayle’s rapidity and Arthur Doyle’s tortuous, broken-reed screech. This was one of those moments of unanticipated (for the me, at least) ecstasy, especially in the contrast to splayed free grooves the rest of the band was laying. Last of the Tribesman, a Hammon composition, is another standout, as it is a funkified free bop scorcher, and features Franklin as well as the reedsmen unleashing a range of techniques and fanfares. The final cut, Stay Alert, goes even further into spirited stretches of free jazz a la Ornette Coleman’s grand double quartet experiment.
A few of the shorter themes, or rather one that is reprised three times, Ode To BC/LY... And Eye Know BO.... da Prez, reference Bill Clinton and Barack Obama of the good old days. Stay Alert, as the Bandcamp notes state, speaks to awareness, though as this was recorded in 2022, I hesitate to pull this too far into our current recidivist moment. The message is opaque, lying somewhere between wistful, ominous, and determined. The music, however, is tight, wild, and some of the best soulful free jazz – to break a tabu (see the Mahakala Music introductory video here ) – I have heard in a long time. And, it begs the question why Booker T and Hammond, in particular, have recorded so little, when this is what they can do.
Ode To BC/LY... And Eye Know BO.... da Prez is available as a CD
and download via Bandcamp:
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