Abbey Rader (1943 - 2025)

Abbey Rader (still from Get Free)

  

By Paul Acquaro

 

His Bandcamp page description lays out the fundamentals: "Abbey Rader is an avant-garde jazz drummer whose "free" approach is heavily influenced by Buddhism. Since the 60s, he's worked with Dave Liebman, John Handy, Billy Bang, Mal Waldron and many others."

 

Born in NJ in 1943 and growing up the Bronx, Rader, Rader took early to the drums as well as to spirituality. Formed by the golden age of jazz. Rader talked about hearing Philly Jo Jones and Papa Jo Jones, as well as John Coltrane, and playing opposite Jimi Hendrix at the Filmore East during his early life in New York. It was seeing Coltrane, however, that provided an inflection point. "The capper for me was seeing Coltrane at the Half Note. When I heard him say 'Love Supreme,' 'Acknowledgement,' 'Resolution,' 'Meditations,' 'Selflessness,' I realized that the spiritual realm is the governing body of everything.When I heard that, my journey changed." Rader became a Buddhist and was an active member of the Loft Scene in New York City.

 

Rader moved to Europe in the late 1970s, playing with a number of musicians on the continent, working with, among others, Gunter Hampel, Jeanne Lee, John Handy and Mal Waldron. He also married and  raised a family in Germany before returning to the US in 1989. After settling in Florida, he worked with musicians such as Billy Bang, Frank Lowe and David Liebman.

 

In recent years, Rader played often with woodwindists Peter Kuhn, John McMinn, Noah Brandmark, Drew Ceccato and Kidd Jordan, bassist Kyle Motl, releasing many recordings on his own ABRAY imprint. Below are visit to his last few releases.

 

Rader passed away at the end of September.

 

Abbey Rader & Davey Williams: In One Is All (ABRAY, 2023)

This duo features Rader with electric guitarist Davey Williams, recorded in 1999 live in Atlanta. Williams who died in 2019, worked across genres, playing blues, punk, rock and experimental music (he was in Curlew) and was also a music critic. All of these influences (except maybe the last one) are evident in this spirited improvisational recording.

 

The one long track begins with some guitar sounds, not quite chords, not really notes, more like humming and the sounds of small chattering primates. Rader then jumps in with a wash of cymbals and some suggestive rolls. The guitar tones get fuller and more aggressive, foreshadowing the slashing assault that soon follows. The punk and the avant-garde soon come together to critical mash-up of the two musicians. Over the nearly one hour of musical flow, the sounds are non-stop, sometimes sparser, like when a simple chime from Rader holds the space or William's plays a single line melody, but mostly angular and intense, the music is brutally lovely in a sharp, well-rounded way. 

 

 

Abbey Rader Trio: Live at Subtronics 24 (ABRAY, 2023)

Recorded in 2017 in Miami, Live at Subtronics 24 begins with Rader's drums and Motl's bass setting a vigorous tempo. Then we hear the saxophones, Jordan, already into his 80s, springs into action. His tone is a bit muted at first, but the spirit is spry. Next, John McMinn's sturdy voice slips in, injecting his own lively playing and giving Jordan's a boost. Within a few minutes the lines of 'Anytime, Anywhere' are flowing from all four musicians. "The Gateless Gates,' begins again with Rader creating a foundation of tone for Motl's meaty, bowed bass line. This time, the woodwinds enter a bit more reservedly, starting with a set of bluesy lines before exploding into free blowing. Last track, "Intrinsically, There is No I,' has the quartet at once setting the direction and demonstrating the title.

 

Overall, it's a musical feast! Rader's drumming is the table, the table cloth, the plates and cutlery, Motl's bass is protein (meat, tofu, what have you) and the woodwinds, everything from the vegetables to the garnish to the fine wine and digestives.

 

 

Abbey Rader & John McMinn: Two As One (ABRAY, 2021)

 

Florida based saxophonist John McMinn needs to be heard, his playing embodies all that is good about free jazz: free-spirited, spiritual (maybe inspiring is a better word), and melodious. Sometimes that last word seems to juxtapose oddly with the notion of free-improvisation, but it is an integral piece of the music on Two as One.

 

While the two musicians produce a collage of sounds, there is distinct structure to the music. Absent of chords and bass lines, McMinn's lines themselves follow the contours of songs and melodies even as they splinter and split in unexpected ways. For example, 'Inner Vision,' the second of the 10 tracks of the album, begins with a melody both known and never heard before, which serves as a foundation for an arcing improvisation over Rader's propulsive and supportive drumming. McMinn is not a overpowering player, his tone never quite threatens to break the instrument, rather it seems to be constantly stretching, imbuing the tunes with a certain yearning. On some tracks, McMinn is also at the piano, providing variety and some dissonant intervals to the recording.

 

Their playing together, which spans over 30 years, more than confirms the album's title. 

 

 

 

Here is a short movie, Get Free, from 2016: