Customer Reviews

Free Fall

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

mr. giuffre took a hard left turn as the 1960s opened making him almost unrecognizable to his original fans (he was part of woody herman's thundering herd and has a single enshrined in the grammy hall of fame), exploring european classical structures and sound in general, much like cecil taylor, ornette coleman, and, later, john coltrane. on this record, we hear the experiment in its fullest expression: tension building silences, two and three note conversations in the trio format, angular rhythms and spiky tonalities. each piece unfolds with each note played, drawing the listener in, but it requires attention. this is not background music, this must be LISTENED to for it make its impact. mr. bley continues to reval his avant-cool expression of the '50s and '60s and the real treasure here is steve swallow-- an early example of his bass meisterwork. this is an enjoyable free jazz work with highlights being the clarinet solo pieces (ornothoids, divided man, man alone) and the long piece 'five ways'which really lets us hear the trio at work. a fascinating gem from the early free jazz period.

This is one of those albums which, before you can be truly critical of it, you must understand what it is.

This album was made with the understanding that some, indeed maybe large chunks, may not "work", or that it may only appeal or connect with small numbers of people. When reviewed with this understanding in mind I must give it 4 stars; the album is a unique direction in free jazz; the jazz rhythm section was very much still a part of free jazz at this point and the idea of taking more of a "Euro" approach, with a chamber "ensemble" idea (and henceforth removing the pulsating drums), is an interesting one.

It has always been easy for me to detect whether free music is just self indulgent junk or intelligently crafted sound sculpture, and this one is firmly in the latter category. In the lp notes, Swallow discusses the long rehearsals and the intensity of them. You can hear the results of this hard work in the album.

However this album stops just short of total perfection for my taste; I think that the group should have been exploited far more; "The Five Ways" works so much better than the solo clarinet improvisations; the solo things are fine, but the balance between those and the ensemble numbers are not quite where they should be.

However, this sort of problem always exists with records that try to reinvent the musical wheel, so this is certainly forgiveable; had the group stayed on longer in the sixties they probably would have had records that would develop on what worked so well on Free Fall.

Still, this album is a classic; as a composer and guitarist there is much for me to learn from Giuffre's unique approach.

I came to this album as a fan of free jazz (and indeed free improvisation) who was chiefly interested in Jimmy Giuffre because he'd played with Jim Hall, a mainstream jazz guitarist whose work I love. I read the back of the CD with a certain amount of surprise, as I'd never heard Giuffre's stuff and assumed on the basis of descriptions I'd read of his work that he was a fairly mainstream figure.

Imagine my surprise. 'Free Fall' is nothing less than one of the most ground-breaking and brilliant recordings in jazz, an essential counterpart to other more famous (and equally fine) contemporary ventures into pure improvisation like Ornette Coleman's 'Free Jazz' and John Coltrane's 'Ascension'. Giuffre's album sounds nothing like either of those great recordings, but it is no less intense, imaginative and ahead of its time.

The clarinet is an instrument that I normally associate with older jazz, apart of course from the bass clarinet of the late great Eric Dolphy, and Giuffre's playing here is a revelation (at least, to me). His attention to timbre and tone is acute. Some of this music reminds me (in a good way) of the chamber music of one of my favourite modern composers, Anton Webern. Paul Bley and Steve Swallow provide forward-thinking and acute accompaniment on a good number of the cuts, but I think that this is really Giuffre's record. He summons up a huge variety of moods from the humble clarinet.

This CD has changed my mental picture of the history of jazz. It ought to be on anyone's top 10 list of great avant-jazz recordings of the 60s. Not to be missed.

This album is all the evidence necessary to secure giuffre's place as the genius who pioneered the clarinet's place as a valid free jazz voice. "FREE FALL" takes the massive advancements made by the triumvirate of giuffre, bley & swallow on earlier (& equally essential) ablums such as, "THESIS" & "FUSION" to the nth degree of creativity. Comprised of duos, trios & a multitude of sublime solo clarinet reflections this disc is a pleasure from the first plaintive strains of 'propulsion' to the closing whispers of 'let's see'...but don't take my word for it, do your ears a favor & pick-up this far-reaching slice of avant chamber jazz & see where everyone from anthony braxton to perry robinson first got their chops.

Another Giuffre gem. Clever and innovative. If you enjoy clarinet small ensemble work this jazz will likely satisfy you. Three kindred spirits at their professional peak, completely emmersed in their well thought out project. I recommend also Giuffre's '1961', Michael Moore's 'Chicoutimi' and 'Bering', and the Ben Goldberg-Kenny Wollesen duet disk, 'The Relative Value of Things'.

There once was a Lennie Tristano tune called "Out on a Limb", but while the pianist's contributions to the realm of free music has been known for decades, this Giuffre album has been a hidden treasure for more than 30 years ... and I can't help asking why?!
Perhaps because this music can't be defined as jazz in the purest sense, it's obviously white and bears no traces of black improvised music at all. By the time of the recording ('62) Jimmy Giuffre had found a musical language all his own and even abandoned his well-known clarinet chalumeau sound, which had rightfully made him one of the princes of the 50's West Coast Scene, in order to develop something new, though you'll still recognize him very easily. The music has much in common with European improvised music, Schoenberg unmistakably just around the corner. It doesn't swing , except for some bars where especially Steve Swallow shows that this is a jazz ensemble after all. But it's not merely an experiment but an accomplished
invention, almost a feat. The trio is undoubtedly well-rehearsed and that makes me wonder why JG relied so much on playing solo, where he encounters his creative limits sometimes before he has come to a logic end. It leaves something to desire, even more he would never again be given the opportunity to record with musicians of that calibre (Swallow/Bley) for a major company.
But they were really "out on a limb" and one only needs to take a glimpse at the current improvised music landscape in Europe to discover that this group was a tough forerunner.

Too bad Mickey Trotter's one-star review had to pull this down. Check out his More About Me page....stick with Motown and La Streisand, Mick. Also, I don't believe you really like Ornette's Shape of Jazz to Come...Free Fall is a masterpiece of subtlety and invention. Free jazz, as great as much of it was, would have benefited from a solid dose of Giuffre's influence.

Absolutely stunning. Listening to this cd, one can hear its influence on modern day reed geniuses like Evan Parker.

i ran across Jimmy Giuffre on accident. i only picked him up because of my devout love of Paul Bley. but this record, and anything really with this trio, is excellent. Jimmy Giuffre is a very underated player. One might compare him to Don Byron. he is lyrical and so are Steve Swallow and Paul Bley. this is a good avant garde record to start out on. it is free jazz mixed with cool jazz tendencies. i highly recommend it.