Customer Reviews

Go See the World

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

 

 

I write this after reading the other posted reviews, and I do so for one reason: namely, to point out that Ware and company are exceptionally subtle players, in the tradition of Ayler and Dolphy. To be certain, Ware has a gallimaufry of timbres at his command and a tendency towards the brash, the honk, and the skronk. These "noises" may make some listeners uncomfortable. For those listeners, I recommend the refuge of the absolutely beautiful ensable playing. Take the time, (and the effort), to put your ears around the melodic juxtaposition of Ware's playing against that of his group, (i.e., Mikuros Blues and The Way We Where). Those with the (guts) to do so will be rewarded with an great blowin' session, one eloquent like an uncommitted crime. Highly recommended.

I was lucky enough to find this CD in a used record store and it's been in heavy rotation on my CD changer ever since. I would recommend this to fans of Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor as it combines elements of all 3.

That being said, the music here is quite complex and may be an aquired taste if you're just getting into free jazz (and if you are, I'd recommend Dave Holland's Conference of the Birds); but please do give it time and I promise you will love it. Ware's sax playing bristles with electricity, and ranges here from the bluesy riffs of 'Mikuro's Blues' to the impossibly fast sheets-of sound approach in 'Lexicon' to an abrasive, distorted wail that surfaces throughout.

The supporting players are equally brilliant; Parker's manic bowing adds to the generally schizophrenic mood; while Shipp is pure genius; shifting ideas and styles as quickly as Ware, his contributions range from fragments of lyric melody that float in and out to ominously banged-out chords to clusters of notes that in themselves sound like the raw material for an entire composition.

Get this CD. If you don't like it at first, come back to it from time to time until it grows on you. It's like an idiosyncratic fine wine that you may need to work toward appreciating, but it will reward you for a very long time.

If you like late Coltrane you'll like the music on this CD entitled GO SEE THE WORLD (the words allegedly spoken by Mr Ware's mother when she held him in his arms the day he was born). There is much feeling in this music which gives the impression it's straining at the form imposed, straining to burst out with a cry of pure feeling, but it is held in check. I like listening to this music for two main reasons: firstly, it is balanced between sweetness and rage, between darkness and light, and it is balanced between the musicians so that there is no one dominating - one is always conscious of the presence of bass, piano and drums throughout even when Mr Tenorman David S. Ware is in full flight. The power of the music, and its drama showing this balance between sound and silence, between sweet piano chords and a gut wrenching run of notes on the tenor, and is especially evident on the track ESTHETICMETRIC (Ware is magic on this track.) All shine but it's worth replaying and listening just to the shimmering, splashing, tinkling, wowing, tintintabulations in the contribution of drummer Susie Ibarra, then replay and listen just to the bass work of William Parker, then replay and listen just to the piano of Matthew Shipp. Secondly, It is music of much feeling and intelligence and clears the mind of dross of revivalist music, slick music, shallow music. I suspect that in 20 years time I'll still be listening to this CD in the same way I am listening to Coltrane, or Taylor, or Coleman, or for that matter, Mulligan, Monk, or Miles. Beautifully recorded as well.

There is something about the production of this record that I cannot come to terms with. It is a good record (3.5 stars would have been more appropriate), but I find Ware's sax to be too over-powering and there is a big production sound I find endemic of big labels. (I found a similar problem wth James Carter's CD'S on DIW/Columbia) I really should come back to it and re-evaluate, but I find that Iberra (whose drumming I usually love) and Shipp are not the best compliment to Wares explosive sound (Parker on the other hand seems to work well with him). Perhaps I should hear some of the other releases that this combo has done on different labels. I must give Kudos however to Sony/Columbia (via Brandford Marsalis) for giving this music a chance as it is quite challenging and will certainly not be on of their best sellers!

In Summary, a good cd but not excellent. I am happy with it in my collection (all cd's cannot be 5 star material now can they).

Wares version of "The Way Were" is worth the admission price alone. As for the rest, free jazz is never easy and if it's good it's challanging and this cd is both. With a band that includes William Parker, Matthew Shipp and Susie Ibarra, all gifted muscians in their own right, how can you go wrong? Warning though, not for the unintiated.

I love free jazz, I ought to like this CD more than I do, but something puts me off--maybe Ware's incredibly harsh timbre, maybe the production which puts all four instruments IN YOUR FACE. Ware's ideas and skill are evident, but once you get past the opening track it's difficult listening.

It will probably sound weird to say this but David S. Ware is my least favorite musician on this cd. His compositions are great so in that sense this cd never could have been made without him, but as far as just his "playing" is concerned he is my least favorite.

The trio of Shipp, Ibarra, and Parker though are outstanding. They are really the people who make these performances as good as they are and almost all of my favorite moments on this cd are the moments when Ware lays out and let's the trio play. Actually the full ensemble sections of LEXICON are great, but more in spite of Ware's playing than because of it. I honestly think that Ware's playing detracts from many of these tunes. If someone edited LEXICON so that Shipp was isolated from the rest of the band I think Shipp's playing could be the basis for a great modern symphony.

QUADRAHEX has beautifully atmospheric percussion work from Ibarra and RAPTURELODIC is given a ghostly and eerie feel due to the manner in which Parker bows his bass.

All in all, a good cd. Shipp, Ibarra, and Parker definitely make it worth owning but had Ware just given these compositions to the trio this probably would have been a 5-star cd. Now if Shipp, Ibarra, and Parker were playing with tenor sax master Fred Anderson this could have been incredible, maybe even better than the Anderson, Crispell, and Drake cd DESTINY.