JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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It’s astonishing to think that one of the greatest free jazz recordings of all time would never have seen the light of day had it not been for the efforts of bassist Gene Perla, the founder of PM Records. If it weren’t for Gene, Open Sky would exist only as a fading memory for those souls lucky enough to be at the WBAI studios while they were playing on May 1st, 1972.
Bassist Gene Perla, who has played on such classics as Elvin Jones’ Live At The Lighthouse and On the Mountain, clearly founded PM Records to provide an outlet for jazz without regard for blatant commercial considerations. Free jazz has never been a sales magnet, even free jazz as accessible as Open Sky.
Open Sky consisted of three master musicians, Dave Liebman on flutes, clarinet, saxes, and percussion; Frank Tusa on bass and bells; and Bob Moses on drums and kalimba. Between these instruments, this trio manages to eke out an extraordinary range of tonal colors and emotions.
When people think of free jazz, they tend to think of headache music, musicians playing at the same time without regard for structure or coherence, shrieking outside of the natural range of their instruments. Nothing could be further from the music of Open Sky.
Open Sky spans the gamut of emotions from plaintive, mournful, playful, drivingly intense, inquisitive, and lyrical. But mostly, Open Sky is deeply thoughtful, spiritually questing music.
Click on the link to go to the Open Sky page on the PM Records label, where you will be able to hear samples of this wonderful music.
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Related posts:
- Spirit In the Sky - Open Sky
- Drum Ode - Dave Liebman
- Bittersuite in the Ozone - Bob Moses
- Pendulum Live At The Village Vanguard - Dave Liebman Quintet
- Dave Liebman’s Pendulum Re-released on Mosaic Records!