Noah Howard - discography
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Title: | Desert Harmony |
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| Recording : | 2007 (featuring Omar Faqir) | |
| Label : | © 2007 Noah Howard (634479615061) (format: CD-R) | |
| Note: | Over the years one thing I have learn is to be open to all music and to keep on learning and creating this this year for the firdt time in my life i travel to the middleast it was a long journey from New Orleans but a continuation of the experince of composing and playing music all over the world " Desert Harmony is a representation of the magnificent brotherhood of musicians in our wor | |
Download MP3s http://cdbaby.com/cd/noahhoward |
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Title: |
Noah Howard - The Eye of the Improviser |
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Released: |
2003 | |
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Label : |
Alt Sax Records - Altsax 2030 |
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Tracks : |
CD1 CD2 This 2 cd set is a compilation of different compositions recorded over the last 30 years. Noah Howard |
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Title: |
Eve Packer & Noah Howard - Cruisin w/moxie |
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Recording : |
2002-2003 in NYC, New Orleans, Brussels | |
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Label : |
Alt Sax Records - Altsax 90023 Download MP3s |
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Recorded with : |
A:Cesare: drums / Tammy Hall: keyboards, synthesiser /l.c.: acoustic & electric bass / Marty Townsend: electric guitar / Danny Dhont: electronic percussion / Curt Hanson: el. bass / Jan Verheyen: el. guitar / Walter Metz: drums engineers: Peter Bulkens (Ace studio), D Dhont (Top Studio), Peer Rave (Tango Studio)
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Tracks : |
1 - Word (A) - 1:56 |
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Title: | Eve Packer & Noah Howard -NY woman |
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| Recording : | 2002 in NYC | |
| Label : | Alt Sax Records - Altsax 90014 - | |
| Recorded with : |
Eve Packer / words |
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1 - NY Woman This special edition of NY WOMAN is in celebration of the lives and spirit of New York, 9/11/01, & in the nights and days to come! |
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Title: |
Noah Howard - Dreamtime |
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Recording : |
2002, Altsax Studios, Brussels. Starlite Studios, New Orleans (1,7,9), Blanco Studios, Paris ( 2) | |
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Label : |
Alt Sax Records - ALT 90022 - | |
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Recorded with : |
Noah Howard, soprano, alt & tenor sax, |
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Tracks : |
1 - Brother Ju Ju Download MP3s http://cdbaby.com/cd/noahhoward
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Title: |
Eve Packer & Noah Howard - Window 9/11 |
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Recording : |
2002, Altsax Studios, Brussels, Top Studio Ghent and Ace Studio, Antwerp (2) | |
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Label : |
Alt Sax Records - ALT 90020 - | |
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Recorded with : |
Noah Howard, soprano, alt & tenor sax / Cesare: drums / Tammy Hall: keyboards, synthesizer / LC: acoustic & electric bass / Marty Townend: elec guitar / Danny Dhont: elec percussions / Curt Hanson: elec bass / Jan Verheyden: elec guitar / Walter Metz: drums | |
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Tracks : |
1 - WTC1 |
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Title: |
Noah Howard - Live in Paris |
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Recording : |
Recorded live at the New Morning Jazz Club, Paris - France - 2001 | |
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Label : |
Alt Sax Records - ALT 90017 - | |
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Recorded with : |
Noah Howard: alto sax, soprano sax/ Boulou Ferret: guitar/Joe Lee Wilson: vocals on one track / François Tusque: piano/ Jack Greg: bass /Armando: percussion / Daniel Berchet: drums | |
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Tracks : |
1 - Music in my soul (Noah Howard) |
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Title: | Live at Documenta IX (reissued in 2002- Boxholder BXH025) |
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| Recording : | Recorded In Weesp, the Netherlands - July 14, 15, 16, 17, 1992 | |
| Label : |
1st issue: Megadisc - Produced by P + C and Altsax Music - MDC 7874 |
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| Recorded with : |
Michael Joseph Smith, piano & keyboards |
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| Tracks : | 1 - Phoenix 2 - Kentucky 3 - Karma 4 - Joy 5 - Night trip 6 - Masai 7 - Lovers 8 - Bush Talk |
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Flow in psychology means oneness between you and your doing. Flow in Noah Howard's music means high density: the experience of happily being absorbed in an improvisational flow exceeding all boundaries of categorization. Such was the feeling at a breathtaking live performance of altosaxman Noah Howard at the Documenta 9 in Kasel. A special reunion of the Noah Howard Quartet chilled a captive audience: virtuoso Michael Joseph on keyboards and piano, powerful Jack Gregg on bass, crisp Chris Henderson on drums. What unfolded was a complete magic circle cast by New Orleans-born Noah Howard who has travelled from his roots in Dixieland, Gospel and Free Jazz thru the wonderland of world music and funk back to a refined group approach in free-form.
Witness a heavy revolution of musical soul!
Listen to Noah Howard, Free-Jazz legend of the sixties, resuscitating his favourite musical terrain in the '90s. Spirited, sensual, energetic.
Andrea Tapper
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Title: | J. Emanuel & Noah Howard -Middle Passage | ||
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| Recording : | Recorded at Altsax Studios 17- 19 May 11, 2001 | |||
| Label : | Alt Sax Records - ALT 90010 | |||
| Recorded with : | Noah Howard - sax J. Emmanuel- text and voice |
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| Tracks : |
1 - |
Jazzanatomy - 01:00 |
22 - Michael Jackson - 00:25
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Title: | Noah Howard Quartet - In Concert |
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| Recording : | Recorded live September 11, 1997 at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Label : | Cadence Jazz Records - CJR 1084 | |
| Recorded with : | Noah Howard - sax Bobby Few - piano James Lewis - bass Calyer Duncan - drums |
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| Tracks : | 1 - The Blessing - 12:23 2 - Schizophrenic Blues - 09:32  (6.5 MB)3 - Afro Blue - 07:32 4 - The Fugitive (part 1) - 07:06 5 - Transition Flight (solo) - 02:24 6 - The Fugitive (part 2) / Sunrise / Lovers- 05:58 7 - We Remember John - 11:24 8 - We come from the Mountain - 11:36 |
Liner notes :
Noah Howard's music gets under your skin; makes you want to dance, sweat, cry, pray. From the first keening notes of Quartet Live In Concert, it's obvious that this is music rich with the contradictions of existence. Howard's debut album was recorded in the first month of 1966, for the quintessential free-jazz label, ESP-Disk, its freak flag waving high with the sounds of artists like Sun Ra, Frank Wright, and Albert Ayler. Absolute freedom seemed possible then; in this absurd universe there were no divisions, no hierarchies. A jazz bar patron recently recalled for me a concert he attended where John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Gato Barbieri were calling youths up from the audience during the performance, letting them play their own horns, whether they knew how to or not - the sense of community allowed for everything. But alienation eventually set in; "the roar of cataclysmic Soul," as Amiri Baraka put it recently, would prove too much for many in the audience, and for some of the musicians themselves. Howard, like many of those who did not want to give up the Ghosts that Ayler had raised, left for Europe.The road that led to this often stunning performance at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam's premier jazz club, is marked by Noah's travels through, and stays in, Paris, Africa, Nairobi, Germany, Belgium... as he says in introducing himself, "I'm Noah Howard - of the World." In the thirty-some years since he first hit the scene, his chattering, flying, slashing alto saxophone has retained its love of freedom, and has deepened in emotional resonance. The way he shapes and produces his notes, so close to the human voice, places him in the tradition of such great players as Johnny Hodges, Charlie Parker, and Marion Brown. These notes can be raised in joy and sadness simultaneously, and are sometimes set loose in a fusillade, and in phrases that push up and outward but refuse to resolve. He's also well aware of the value of economy; listen to the way he floats into Mongo Santamaria's "Afro-Blue," subtly changing the tune's emotional hue by the simple alteration of one note of the melody. East Village Other columnist Lionel H. Mitchell wrote on the back of Howard's second ESP album, Live At Judson Hall, of "the ferocious superstition that the sacred and the sensual are antagonistic." In Howard's music there are no such divisions. It encompasses everything he's lived, not in the sense of the easy cross-pollination of genres that characterizes so much of what passes for "innovative," but in the way it suggests a universe of sensibilities.
This universe is considerably enriched by pianist Bobby Few, in whom Howard has the perfect accompanist for his music. Constantly embroidering his lines and chords with shifting emotional undercurrents, Few adds immeasurably to the leader's vision; small wonder that Howard refers to him as "the Mozart of the jazz piano." I'll namecheck from a different era and say that Few also draws from one of the richest blues feels this side of Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. Calyer Duncan, whom Noah calls "my engine," drives the band with a sometimes ferocious intensity on drums, with wonderful, voluble cymbal clatter. James Lewis subs here for the band's usual bassist, Wilber Morris, and has worked with Howard and Few on a number of occasions. As Noah told me recently, Lewis "fitted into our band and the structures we're playing like he had been playing with us all his life." Together, the band breathes life into the music and, if our ears, minds, and pores allow passage, the music can breathe life into us. Let the ear of the behearer be open.
Larry Nai
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Title: | Between two eternities |
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| Recording : | Recorded in New York, October 99 | |
| Label : | Cadence Jazz Record 1114 | |
| Recorded with : | Bobby Kapp - drums | |
| Tracks : | 1 - Between two eternities - 9:36 2 - For Al - 4:57 3 - The Rev - 5:27 (3.7 MB)4 - The Other Side - 12:07 5 - B and N - 5:10 6 - In Flight - 11:22 7 - Space Probe - 9:58 8 - Tele Transport - 6:29 |
Liner notes :
As this millenium is closing, and we head off into the 21st century, this recording is a statement of two musicians creating in harmony in the pursuit and shaping of the next century. For it is the inalienable right of man to discover and challenge oneself and to push the frontiers and boundaries into shaping new terrains; that's what keeps the human race evolving.After 30 years of separation, Bobby and I met again through t he internet.The technological advances of the last 10 years have made world citizens able to communicate instantly, openly, and more freely, which is also one of the underlying principels of this music since the '60s. In this improvisational music, we have been striving to get to what I call "the core communication center of the human soul, direct and pure."
After extensive e-mailing, we agreed to meet in Gotham City as soon as we would both be there.The fact that Bobby is currently living in a 465 year old artist colony, San Miguel De Allende, Mexico, and I'm living in Brussels, the European Capitalof Europe, however, did not make this the easiest task. But we made it in October'99. When we both arrived and met in the City, it was one of those moments when I felt as if real time had stopped and we were in a spiritual time zone ready for creation. It's like we say in New Orleans,"if you have all the ingredients and you know what you're doing, the File Gumbo is: Si BON CHERIE."
The music you will hear on the CD is a natural flow of ideas and exchanges of codified information that has been a guiding force in our lives for over 30 years.
During that time I worked with a lot of drummers, such as Kenny Clarke, Art Taylor, Oliver Johnson, Mohammed Ali, Rashied Ali, Sunny Murray, Steve Mc Call, to mention but a few of the greatest. Bobby is one of those master drummers who follows the creative improvisational tradition. As for me, I am a transmitter, conveying these 2 1 st century sounds on this CD to you. Sit back, listen, and be transported into the next century.
We would like to thank all the people in our lives, both past and present who have supported us in this music, to bring about a change and a better world.
Welcome to the 21st century.
Noah Howard Dec. 11, 1999
Being in the center of the creative process again with Noah was the way I wanted io end my century. I also have played with some great ones: Dexter Gordon, Marion Brown, Pharoah Sanders, and so I know how alive I feel when I'm around the legendary Noah Howard, who to me expresses in his life and music the words of the great masteryardbird Charlie Parker: "if you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn."
Bobby Kapp Dec. 11, 1999
For listeners interested in reading about the worldwide creative improvised music scene,Cadence Magazine (a division of CADNOR LTD.) is recommended reading.
Cadence Building, Redwood, NY, 13679 USA 315/287-2852 fax: 315/287-2860
e-mail: cadence@_cadencebuilding.com wwwcadencebuilding.com
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Title: | Live at the Unity Temple |
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| Recording : | Recorded in concert at the Unity Temple, Chicago, September 9, 1997 | |
| Label: | Ayler Records - aylCD-001 | |
| Recorded with : | Bobby Few, piano Wilber Morris, bass Calyer Duncan, drums |
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| Tracks : | 1 - Introduction by Scott Black The Blessing - 12:13 2 - In Transition (4:39) 3 - Lovers/Schizophrenic blues (18:53) (13 MB)4 - Lightning Rod. Part 1 (22:52) 5 - Lightning Rod, Part 2 (7:02) Total time 65:39 |
Liner notes:
When the music organization "Annan Musik" in Norrköping, Sweden, booked Noah Howard and Bobby Few for a concert, we discovered that, this was going to be the very first visit to Sweden for Noah Howard. This CD was produced in order to prepare Sweden for Noah. The music is Noah's and the song themes are well known like "The Blessing" and of course the rocky "Schizophrenic Blues" from other Noah Howard recordings.
Noah has a clear and recognizable sound on his altosaxophone and the tunes normally start with his singable themes and often reach high energy peaks where the Quartet sounds like a much bigger band. This is very much due to Bobby Few's strong and pliable piano playing but the whole Quartet is very tight after playing together for a long time. The second set starts with a surprise; Noah on tenor (4).
Jan Ström I wish to thank the ayler team in Sweden for making this CD possible. I also thank the musicians in the group, Mr. and Mrs. Scott Black for all their assistance and our engineer Ken Christianson, Pro Musica, Chicago. This recording was born out of our first tour in the Mid West in many years and we were all very happy to be playing in Chicago.
The Unity Temple is a house of worship designed by one of America's foremost architects, Frank Lloyd Wright and it is situated at OAk Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois
As we enter the 21 st century we send you all greetings for peace and love.
Noah Howard
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Title: | Migration |
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| Recording : | Recorded at Top Studio in Ghent and Ace Studio in Antwerp, Belgium | |
| Label : | Altsax records - Altsax 9009 | |
| Recorded with : | Cesare - drums Tammy Hall: keyboards, synthesizer L.C.: acoustic and electric bass Marty Townsend: electric guitar Danny Dhont: electronic percussions Curt Hanson: electric bass Jan Verheyen: electric guitar Walter Metz: drums Lode Gansen: 1st trumpet (on Music in my soul) |
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| Tracks : | 1 - Migration 2 - African man 3 - Cousin Gerri (3.7 MB)4 - Catch up 5 - The lady 6 - Music in my soul 7 - Nairobi 8 - Nobody knows 9 - Amazing graze 10 - The way she walks 11 - Rising rays of the sun |
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Download MP3s |
Liner notes :
Migration - The title song of the album was originally conceived in Kenya. The composition relies on a very hypnotic, repetitive African rhythm, which is part of what Noah Howard absorbed while living in Africa. There is a tightness and definite rhythmic interplay with the free and overflowing melodic structure on saxophone.African Man - An African funk track and a celebration of meeting African men. On a political level it talks of great African men like Tutu, Mandela and Kuti, but it also speaks of the african men as a rhythm man, the roots of all modern music.
Cousin Gerri is dedicated to my cousin whom I grew up with and who was very much like a sister. The emphasis is on the saxophone with a very laid back reggae type feeling. Catch up - is more of a simple jazz hit, directed towards the climate of the late 80's and the 90's. Compositionally the song is based upon a subtle click, an interplay between sax and piano, always returning to the theme which is very melodic and rhytmic with a funk beat.
The lady - was inspired by Noah Howard's deep respect, love and sensitivity towards women. It was written as a samba to reflect the hypnotic and sensual feeling of how he sees a woman, "the way she looks, the way she feels, the way she projects herself", from an artist's and a man's point of view. The song has a feeling of oneness and wholeness about it; it's very smooth and very flowing.
Music in my soul - is a song reaching out with saxophone and vocals to the feeling of the times. Orchestration and background vocals are with a soul reggae feeling. Nairobi - a hypnotic soprano saxophone line dancing on a romantic Nairobi feeling. Nobody knows - a blues featuring Noah Howard on vocals - straith ahead - we all groove on the blues.
Amazing grace - an old English, Protestant spiritual, but for Noah Howard, a sense of returning back, as he grew up in New Orleans, influenced by a Black American church, his grandfather being a minister. The way she walks - is a modern fun!( rhythm and a track for dancers and lovers.
Rising rays of the sun - is about the feeling a musician has many mornings coming out of a club, where it's dark in the streets, all quiet and empty. It's peaceful and there is a certain level of expectations, of positiveness of what the day is going to be about. The day is rising, the dynamics are slowly building. Musically there is an interplay between the rhythmic structure and the vocals and some typical Motown arrangements. Throughout there is an emphasis on the saxophone, a rock-pop beat, with the drum recorded in a live atmosphere.
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Title: | Patterns - Message to South Africa |
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| Recording : | Patterns: recorded In Hilversum, Holland, October 1971 Message to South Africa: recorded in Paris, France, 1979 |
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| Label : | Eremite - Eremite MTEO19 | |
| Recorded with : | Patterns: Han Bennink - drums/percussion/Tibetan horn Steve Boston - congas Earl Freeman - bass Misha Mengelberg - piano Jaap Schoonhoven - guitar Message to South Africa: |
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| Tracks : | 1 - Patterns - 36:24 2 - Message to South Africa - 18:26 |
Liner notes :
Noah Howard remains one of the great, under-appreciated saxophonists of free America. The tension-fraught brilliance of his alto playing during the1960s &1970s has an edge of palpable liberation that is both unquestionable & unmatched. A student of Sonny Simmons & Dewey Johnson, Mr. Howard's success in transmuting thejoy-wedge of his instrument's post-Ornette identity is well documented on sessions issued by the ESP, Freedom, & America labels. Later efforts show evidence of the kind of programmatic structuring that supplanted fire music's evolutionary explosions. But such artistic realignments were characteristic of a general shift in the ground underlying the improvisational avant-garde during the 1970s; Mr. Howard was, and remains, capable of producing massive and mighty flux, as the two lost sessions combined here ably demonstrate.Originally issued on his own Alt Sax label in 1971, the "Patterns" session is one of the great mystery spots in the Noah Howard canon. Mr. Howard was in Europe, subsequent to the American jazz diaspora of the 1960s. His Parisian-based group with Frank Wright, Muhammad Ali & Bobby Few was in merge process with Alan Silva to form the Center of the World Collective. When a Dutch radio broadcast beckoned, Mr. Howard connected with fellow expatriates, bassist Earl 'Goggles' Freeman (who the following year would appear on Noah's Live at the Village Vanguard), & conga player Steve Boston. Enlisted for the rhythm section were Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg, then in the heat of their duo functionality as ICP, along with the guitarist Jeep Schoonhoven (Wally Tax, etc), who is blinding here. The resultant music was a thirty-eight minute spasm of creative thunder.
Parsing the segments of "Patterns" is something best left to the timid. It is a piece into which one is best advised to dive, head-first, fully-clothed & rigidly attentive. The blasted opening sequence, which we seem to enter whilst already in-process, is a space duet for conga & electric guitar unprecedented in the annals of jazz & new music. When the rest of the musicians enter there is a heavy attempt to Africanize Dutch architecture, a proposition which Mr. Mengelberg seems reluctant to accept. What eventually occurs is a primitivist aerial slugfest that invokes a world of shared experience, then negates its substantiality with hammers of nihilist beauty. Emblematic of the end of Europe's open arms policy towards America's expatriate improvisers, "Patterns" remains a ferocious, confounding ghost.
The 'Message to South Africa' session is another kind of spirit flare. Written in Paris the week that Steve Biko was killed, the date came together around two of the great South African jazz exiles, pianist Chris McGregor & bassist Johnny Dyani. Drummer Noel McGhee (who had played on Noah's Live at the Swing Club date) was enlisted to give the band Caribbean representation. In Paris as well was Kali Fasteau, who lends the proceedings some of the same vibrational magic she had used so notably on Archie Shepp's Bijou.
Mr. Howard is careful to note the creative insertions made by his fellow players. Mr. McGregor spliced in the chords to what was then the South African National Anthem, & Mr. Dyani improvised vocals and invocations in Zulu throughout the suite. The combination of free-ranging throats & small, repeated melodic figures gives the piece a feel very congruent to that which flowed from the pipe of free Africa. It is truly a slab of riveting "world music' in the purest sense - cartwheeling through the changes like a shaman & surging up from a place beyond the reach of the western civ shuck. The project was done with the idea that Mercury might release it, but the heavy political vibe was too much for the company. Consequently, the track has never been released until now. Especially in the wake of Dyani's and McGregor's deaths, "Message to South Africa," is a valuable addition to all five musicians too-scant discographies. It is also one of Mr. Howard's most blues-wailing performances yet.
Heard together on this disc, these sessions make it clear that Noah Howard holds an important place in the fire music trajectory of late 20th centuryjazz. The time to hear him is now.
Byron Coley, Deerfield MA 1999
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Title: | Convergence - Chris Chalfan |
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| Recording : | Recorded in New York, June 23, 1997 | |
| Label : | C. Chalfant Music - 2306-7 | |
| Recorded with : | Chris Chalfant - piano, vocals Noah Howard - alto sax Wilber Morris - bass Calyer Duncan - drums |
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| Tracks : | First meeting - 6:31 Chatelet - 10:01 Slow road - 11:39 Lovers - 4:35 (3.1 MB)Oh! so is life - 12:27 Ritual - 12:08 African Harp - 9:13 |
Liner notes :
CONVERGENCE defines this recording on many levels. The interactions and occurances of the people involved has shown a deeper level of harmony that allowed this recording to be so spontaneous. We decided to record this CD just days before it happened and just days after our first meeting in this incarnation, playing the New York Jazz Festival. Once we made the decision to record, I went flipping through my scores and found what was to become the music on this CD. For the most part my arrangements were created without paper, and without much verbal direction, as I felt this would keep the music fresher. There were many moments where we had no idea what would happen next, but somehow our intuition seemed to lead us to the right place. We went into the studio on the 23rd of June 1997, six years to the day after I had written 'The Umbrella Man" for Bobby Few. It was Bobby who sent me to Noah to sub for him on the Festival gig. Thanks Bobby.Chris Chalfant
1. First Meeting 6:31 - This playful rhythmic strut sets a fine tone for Chris' daring new release. A pulsating surge of powerful energy is stated on this track.
2. Chatelet 10:0 I - Written in Paris in 1990, it is a picturesque 'folk train" that journeys through the four seasons. Starting simply, Chatelet builds in rhythmic and tonal complexity, while maintaining a strong ostinato.
3. Slow Road 11:39 - Slow Road begins with a sensuous, almost intimidating line, like a walk down an alley after midnight. Rather than a bridge to contrast the line, Chris' solo surprises us by delivering a brave departure into the unexpected. One wonders what corners she'll turn next.
4. Lovers 4:35 - A welcome ballad sung by Chris, Lovers is reminiscent of the European chanteuse genre with it's haunting melody. This tune fits well in the context of this recording.
5. Ah! So is life 12:27 - A sweet collaboration between lyric and music, this tune joyfully blends the two. A fine journey and a welcome return, there are many surprises on this track.
6. Ritual 12:08 - An unbroken rhythmic line sets the backdrop for this meditation into Chris' familiar place-the unknown. Here, Noah's alto is bright, remaining melodically closer to the tune, while Chris' chordal contrasts often sound like a percussionist's third hand. Calyer is well at ease with Chris' playing.
7. African Harp 9:13 - This tune is fluid and it breathes easy, like the lyrical chanting sung by Chris. It is a smooth ending to this recording session. Chris Chalfant has a rare gift. In her music she uses tradition as a springboard for her journeys into those interesting, sometimes dark corners few musicians dare to explore. Simply put, her music is fearless.
Andrew Nielson
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Title: | Expatriate Kin |
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| Recording : | Recorded in Paramus, NJ, March 20, 1997 | |
| Label : | Creative Improvised Projects | |
| Recorded with : | Zusaan Kali Fasteau - cello,soprano saxophone, voice Bobby Few - piano |
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| Tracks : | 1. Sunrise - 05:43 2. One For Mo - 04:53 3. Confiding In Us - 06:05 4. Thick and Thin - 06:25 5. Truth Be Told - 13:34 6. Sea of Japan - 06:33 7. Expansive Thoughts - 06:31 8. Falasha - 05:11 9. Nightbirds In Paris - 8:11 (5.6 MB)10. Cardinal Flight - 05:0.4 |
Liner notes :
Producer's NotesThe first day of any season is an occasion of private celebration for me and, in 1997, the first day of Spring held a special promise: the opportunity to document the artistry of 3 distinct musicians whose work I have long enjoyed. The anticipation of inspiration was enough that it motivated us to leave our beloved sonic heaven, The Spirit Room, to search out a space with a suitable piano. Pianist Joseph Scianni (CIMP 1 22, 1 30) had told us about the Tedesco Studio, where he had recently helped choose a Steinway suited to his very discriminating standards. So we booked the room and ventured forth. Kali Fasteau first came to my attention through her 1 974 collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Donald Rafael Garrett on ESP Records and then their later documentation on Red Records. After some 1 3 years of world travel and absence from the general scene, she re-emerged in the United States and began issuing recordings on Flying Note Records.
Noah Howard also first came to the attention of the public at large in recordings from 1966 on ESP. Noah was part of that vital and distinct New York Free Music scene of the I 960s. As with many of his contemporaries, he left the United States and followed a familiar journey to Europe where he found a more receptive environment for his art. From Europe came a number of interesting releases on Freedom, FMP, SAJ, Sun, Ame rica, and Frame Records, some of which include Bobby Few as his pianist.
Bobby Few was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1 935, but came to the attention of the world as an artist living in Europe. And though he recorded on a number of American labels (Blue Note, Impulse, etc.), with artists such as Booker Ervin and Albert Ayler, all of his self-led sessions are on European labels (Sun, Freebird, etc.). This session, I hope, will mark the beginning ofinterest, in America, of this native son.
It's a bit ironic that these three artists, all of whom had to go outside the USA to find part .of their artistic center or base, have recorded together for the first time on bn American label. Sounds like a good idea to me. After the recording of 'Expansive Thoughts, Kali remarked upon the changing volume of the sox. I commented that this was a natural dynamic of the group and their musical statement/conversation. It again reminded me how we have become accustomed to a homogenized (safe) world: predictable, bland, and settling. Definitive statements, unequivocal opinions are viewed as disruptive, out-of-step, and politically incorrect - that is not what art of its own time is about. It's about bold statements, often provocative. It comes from this direction or that. It is not about waiting its turn or setting a volume level. It is about seizing the moment. Sounds good to me. So here are the statements of the Fasteau-Howard-Few Trio. This is what they had to say on the first day of Spring 1 997. And it is reproduced, not according to some sound engineer's idea of what that dynamic should be (through a shuffling of dials and equalizers), but is accurately reproduced through the trio's presented dynamic. Sounds good.
Robert D. Rusch
Artist's Notes
The three musicians here shared the vivid experience of the Paris music scene of the I970's and early '80s. A comraderie of exile, a rejoicing in our special gifts" a conspiracy of good humor, nourished our spirits and our work.
We would like to dedicate Expatriate Kin to the memory of our dear departed colleagues reedman Reverend Frank Wright and multi-instrumentalist Donald Rafael Garrett. Zusaan Kali Fasteau
Recording Engineer's Notes
Experienced CIMP listeners will note that this date has a very different sound from our Spirit Room. It can !tpbe emphasized enough how important the room is to the 'sound' of a group, or even a single instru ment. We made the best possible effort to get the sound of this Qroup. I can only tell you that the sound on this disc is the same sound I heard in the room where the performance took place. Some of the tracks are just plain loud and dense. We have not altered the density of this performance in any way. In a world of homogenized sounds we feel that it is important to capture the essence of the moment as best we can. It is in that spirit that we present you with this music.
This recording took place in a studio not designed for our type of recording. Consequently, we had a difficult time getting what I generally hope to achieve sonically. However, the,end result comes across fairly well. Due to misunderstandings about what we were doing, unforeseen time constraints, and unfamiliar circumstances, set-up time was truncated, but we used our various talents and made the session work.
Noah moves around a lot in the vertical plane when he plays and Kali sort of draws circles in the air with her horn. These movements can be heard as tonal shifts in their sound and should be viewed as a way to 'see' their energy
Kali is on the left, Noah is in the center, and Bobby is on the right.
Marc D. Rusch
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Title: | Eve Packer- Noah Howard Trio West frm 42nd |
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| Recording : | Recorded in NYC, October 1997 | |
| Label : | Altsax records 9008 | |
| Recorded with : | Eva Packer, vocals | |
| Tracks : | 1 - I'm a NY woman I do what I want 2 - West from 42nd 3 - Fantasy booth 4 - One for bimbo 5 - (latino) couple 6 - #36 7 - Commando 8 - Swept away 9 - Spitting fiery nickels 10 - Playland 11 - All night 12 - Trapeze artist 13 - /paris 14 - Voice 15 - Eve 16 - Waffle 17 - Hale - Bopp 18 - Boat 19 - Sunday afternoon (2.9 MB)20 - 5:45 |
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| Liner notes : |
Out of print LPs
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Title: | UHURU NA UMOJA |
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| Label : | Producer Pierre BERJOT for Philippe THOMAS MUSIDISC-EUROPE | |
| Recorded with : | Frank WRIGHT, tenor-sax Noah HOWARD, alto-sax Bobby FEW, piano Art TAYLOR, drums |
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| Tracks : | I - ORIENTAL MOOD - 9'30 - (Noah Howard) 2 - AURORA BOREALIS - 7'50 - (Noah Howard) 3 - GROOVING - 7'15 - (Noah Howard) 4 - BEING - 6'1 5 - (Noah Howard) 5 - PLUTO - 4'05 - (Noah Howard) |
Liner notes :
FRANK WRIGHT QUARTETTenor saxophonists come in all shapes and sizes but the exuberant, struttirg Frank Wright Is pretty typical of the now brood of strong men playing the Instrument.
Frank stands alongside Shapp, Ayler and Pharaoh Sanders in the front rank of the post-Coltrane tenor-men. He has paid some heavy dues to get to the position of making records In order that everyone can hear his gruff and tortuous saxophone, and the toughness of his past existence Is reflected In his uncompromising approach to music.
For 13 years Wright held down a variety of day jobs, - just priming - himself for his day to come. And now It's here.
Bom 9 July, 1935, in Granada, Mississippi, he grew up In Memphis Tennessee. His soulful Southern background stood him in good stead when he first started playing creative music after moving to the mid-Weatem town of Cleveland, Ohio. There he swapped ideas and blew regularly with his longtime friend and native of Cleveland, Albert Ayler. He studied extensively with orthodox teachers before making the inevitable move to Now York. There he worked with organist Larry Young and his front-line partner on this album, alto saxophonist Noah Howard. He also appeared with Sunny Murray, Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane and was accepted by them all as a man with something to say. Frank Wright was home free.
Noah Howard and pianist Bobby Few who came to Europe with Wright earlier this year are his long-time associates. Few, who was bom in Cleveland, Ohio on. 21 October, 1935, has appeared with the saxophonist off and on since 1956. In New York from 1958-64 he led his own trio while working with people as diverse as Brook Benon and Jackie McLean, and he has also recorded with saxophonists Booker Ervin and Albert Ayier.
Howard comes from the birthplace of jazz Itself. He was bom on 6 April, 1943, In New Orleans. La., and has studied with saxophonists Byron Allen and Sonny Simmons as well as working with Ra, Don and Albert Ayier, Sunny Wright and leading his own group.
The drummer on this album Is almost as surprised to find himself joining forces with the Nbw Music as listeners will be to see his name. Art Taylor, the New Yorker who has been living in Paris for the past few years, has always been associated with the tight hardbop style of jazz; here he makes' his first foray Into the area of freedom. He reported that this was an enjoyable and challenging expefience for him, and his only quarrel came after the session when the rest of the musicians Insisted on referring to him as the Old Masterl (Taylor is only a couple of years older than Wright himself) As time and place erect no barriers to the creation of worthwhile musical forms, so these four musicians of varied backgrounds have come together a long way from home. Their music talks of today, of the straine and stresses in the atmosphere and the catharsis that creativity provides for the artlet. Listen to Frank Wright, the self-styled Superman of the Saxophone; his finger Is right there- on the pulse of NOW!
Valerie Wilmer
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Title: | Live in Europe-vol.1 |
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| Recording : | Recorded in 1975 live on different European scenes | |
| Label : | Son RECORDS SR-105 | |
| Recorded with : | ||
| Tracks : | 1 - Creole Girl (11') - (N.Howard - N. Dove) 2 - NewArrival (6') - (N. Howa rd) 3 - Lift Every Voice And Sing (4') - (J. R. Johnson) 4 - Ole' (12') - (J. Coltrane) 5 - Kanpai (9') - (N.Howard - N. Dove) |
Liner notes :
Noah Howard joue du sex. alto; Takashi Kako du piano; Kent Carter de la contrebasse; Muhammad All de la batterie, sauf sur Olé, où ii est remplacé par Oliver Johnson. Les arrangements, excepté New Arrival, sont de Nat Dove. Muhammad Ali apparait avec I'autorisation de Center Of The World Productions.La photo est due à Thierry Trombert.
Le disque a été enregistré au cours de I'année 1975 sur différentes scènes européennes.
Sun Records 103, rue Vercingétorix 75014 Paris, distribue ce disque on Europe sous licence Altsax Productions.
1-A et 2-B sont publiés par Altsax Music BMI et par Tricief Music BMI ; 2-A par Altsax Music B@l ; 3-A par Clef Music BMI ; 1-B par Jowcol Music BMI ; (D 1975 Altsax Productions.
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Title: | NOAH HOWARD QUARTET |
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| Recording : | Recorded in January, 1966 in New York City | |
| Label : | ESP-DISK' - 1031 | |
| Recorded with : | Ric Colbeck-trumpet Scotty Holt-bass Dave Grant-percussion | |
| Tracks : | Side1 Henry's Street Apotheosis Side 2 All compositions by Noah Howard, Copy- right |
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Title: | Live at the Village Vanguard |
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| Recording : | Recorded Iive at the ViIlage Vanguard, New York City, 22nd August 1972 Recording Engineer: John Sadler | |
| Label : | A FREEDOM recording (FLP40127) | |
| Recorded with : | FRANK LOWE, (tenor saxophone and bells) ROBERT BRUNO (piano) EARL FREEMAN (electric bass) JUMASUTAN (congo drums and timbali) RASHIED ALI (drums) |
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| Tracks : | SIDE ONE 1.BACK A'TOWN BLUES - Howard (Time: 2.42) 2.CONVERSATION - Howard (Time: 8.33) SIDE TWO 1.DEDICATION (TO ALBERT AYLER) - Howard (Time:14.34) |
Liner notes :
Noah Howard belongs to the first generation of post-Ornette Coleman saxophonists. That Means that although he is relatively young, he is an experienced artist by comparison many of the younger players in United States.
He comes to the music with all the right credentials. His birthplace was New Orleans, the city famed not only for its contribution to early jazz, but for the funky rhythms that sparked a whole era of rhythm-and-blues. Motown tried to pin down those unchainable rhythms but could never duplicate them; Noah Howard can draw on them at any time and that, combined with his extensive experience in the Black Church, makes him a exceptional musician. Whatever Noah does, and wherever his impulsive head may lead him, he always retains his technical skill and what the critics usually refer to as 'taste'. That means that although he will yell lustily through his instrument, he never achieves the grainy coarseness of, say, Pharoah Sanders or Albert AyIer. His is more of a conventional purity and contrasts well with the hoarse "desperation" of Frank Lowe.
This remarkable tenor saxophonist, who joined the Howard unit for this and several Sunday concerts at the Village Vanguard, has sand-blasted most of the surface of his horn to increase its overtones. He is an energy man first and foremost. Born and raised in Memhis Tennessee, Frank Lowe had most of his playing experience in San Francisco whilst in New York he has played ith Sun Ra's Arkestra, with Alice ColtrAne and Milford Graves.
Robert Bruno, a pianist since the age 'of 12, comes from Silver Springs, Maryland. He has recorded with Louis Armstrong, and played for artists as diverse as the Platters, Fathead Newman and the late Jimi Hendrix. Playing conga drums and other percussion is Juma Sutan, another Hendrix alumnus from - the Band of Gypsies days. Originally from California, he has. lived in New York since the late I sixties where he is most famous as a manufacturer of the non-Western instruments which are played by the floating population of his Aborikinal Music Society. That Noah Howard takes care of business in all departments is obvious from his choice of bassist. The adept and propulsive Earl Freeman who appears here on Fender bass instead of his more usual acoustic model, was born in Oakland, California. He had played with Sun Ra in Chicago, but most of his professional experience was acquired in Europe with Sonny Murray, Kenneth Terroade, Burton Greene, Noah and Frank Wright. Rashied Ali, immortalised through his work with the late John Coltrane, is a king among percussion's princes. He never falters for an instant wherever he plays; he is the modern drummerman for all seasons. His work here is absolutely superb, even though he was called in at the last minute to substitute for Noah's regular drummer, Art Lewis.
Back A' Town Blues (not related to the Louis Armstrong piece of similar name) is a reminiscence of one of the sections of New Orleans, and is his bowtothe sounds he heard there as a child. The next selection, Conversation, a solo composition for alto saxophone, has the leader's most relaxed playing of the evening. Essentially melodic, it is lengthy but to the point, and revealing of the artist's inner nature. Dedication, was written by Noah Howard in memory of the late great innovator Albert Ayler. Frank Lowe, propelled by Rashied Ali blows with almost frightening intensity, and is the ideal foil for Howard's more thoughtful approach.
There are those who dislike 'live' recordings, preferring i'me more controlled conditions of the recording studio. But given that it is still difficult to really capture the energy and impact of the new music through any recording process, 'live' dates contain more of those elements than do their studio counterparts This is a strong session because Noah Howard picked his components with taste and skill. The same way he plays his saxophone, in fact.
Valerie Wilmer
