Marion Brown (1935-2010) attacked the new thing when it was really new, but he never achieved the fame of avant garde giants. If you like intense, energetic, and genuinely free jazz, listen to Why not? (ESP 1968). Or, maybe even better, Three for Shepp (Impulse 1966).
The collection here is one from the vaults. The first 3 numbers were recorded at the Maison de la Radio that same year. The last 2 at the Festival de Châteauvallon, Ollioules, France in 1972. Along with Brown’s alto sax are Gunter Hampel on vibraphone, Barre Philips on bass, and Steve McCall on drums.
The Maison Ronde recordings are by far the best of the five. Brown was a pioneer of a certain kind of free composition. He takes a simple, bluesy phrase, twists it inside out, and extracts every last drop of nectar. Beyond that phrase, there is no narrative. There is, however, the slightly melancholy mood of the horn itself. Brown’s sound reminds me somewhat of Steve Lacy, especially in his collaborations with Mal Waldron. His playing, on the other hand, is similar to what you might hear on Miles Davis Live at the Plugged Nickel or, more recently, the amazing recordings of Fred Anderson. Marion Brown is one of those jazz geniuses that could expand his soul into simple horn lines with such grace as to make the angels jealous.
One caveat is that the recording is not what the music deserves. At the 1st venue, you can hear the horn just fine. The rest of the band really needs to come up at bit. The same is true for the horn on the last two cuts, but the supporting instruments are largely reduced to the sound of wind chimes. To what extent this was intended (it was 1972 and the drugs had taken effect) I do not know. It gets better as the piece, Djinji’s Corner, goes on. Short of halfway through you can hear everything.
I am grateful to NoBusiness for bringing this document to my ears. I realize that margins are tight, but I do wish there was more documentation on this recording. There is a lot of cheap talent out there (yours truly, for example) who would do the research.
Meanwhile, if you have no Marion Brown in your collection, any time after 1972 is a good time to start. The recordings mentioned above are good. This one gives you some dangerous beauty.
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