Customer Reviews

Duo Exchange

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A previously quite rare 1972 free jazz date that compares interestingly with Interstellar Space, Ali's earlier and better-known duo with John Coltrane. Ali plays similarly on both, producing a constantly changing stream of complex rhythms, the basic pulse implied rather than stated. Lowe's tenor doesn't have Coltrane's power and intensity but his less unrelenting, more varied approach has its own attractions and taps into a wider tenor tradition. There is no great sense of Ali and Lowe listening to, and feeding off, one another. Rather, they manage to do their own things without getting in one another's way. But they do it superbly and if you're into free jazz grab this record before it disappears again.

In what would appear to be a re-examination of 1967's landmark John Coltrane-Rashied Ali album 'Interstellar Space', the drummer Ali teams up with then up-and-coming (and now, sadly, recently deceased) tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe for two lengthy exchanges. And given that it was recorded only a few years after the original, one might hope to find some of the same power and spiritual energy. But power is largely lacking from this interesting yet ultimately frustrating release. Ali is fine - always impressive and so polyrhythmic it's easy to lose yourself amongst all the changes. And Frank Lowe, who would grow into a wonderful & unique style as he incorporated older techniques into his voice (catch him on Billy Bang's 'Valve No. 10', where he sounds like Coleman Hawkins half the time) builds up to quite an impressive burst of energy. But at times he seems to be searching about for ideas, and Ali doesn't seem able to help him out. Throughout this rather short album (it clocks in at less than thirty minutes), it often sounds as if the two men were playing in separate rooms, unaware of the others' presence. There's very little of the shared creativity that jazz often supplies. It's good that Knitting Factory has made this once-rare and out of print album available to fans, but it's probably only going to be essential listening for hard-core Rashied Ali fans and maybe Frank Lowe enthusaists.