Kingdom Come

Charles Gayle | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 1994)
• Original Release Date: November 21, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Knitting Factory
• ASIN: B00000208F
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,698 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Anonymous Visionary, August 22, 1998

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"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kingdom Come (Audio CD)

A great deal of press has paid more attention than required to factors in Mr. Gayle's life that engage the "exoticism" of the musician rather than the music itself. Charles Gayle is the most definitive stylist on his instrument in the mislabeled idiom of "free jazz" and he is so not because of adverse conditions in his life, but in spite of those conditions. On this recording he is joined by musicians of equal stature, drummer Sunny Murray and bassist William Parker. Murray is a veteran and was one of the first percussionists to liberate the drums from their traditional role as a "time keeper." Parker is one of the most active and productive musicians in this music. His resume is impressive, playing under the leadership of Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Roscoe Mitchell, etc. as well as heading his own formidable projects: In Order To Survive, The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, etc... all of which are very much worth checking out. On this recording the three musicians embark upon a completely spontaneous and volitile collaboration before a live audience at The Knitting Factory, of which I was fortunate enough to be a member. The assemblage that these three men were able to accumulate was and is astonishing. Gayle in particular demonstrates far more than technical proficiency as a result of dauntless perseverence and spiritual dedication to himself and his art. His improvisations are fierce, deliberate, comitted, intelligent, tender, genuine and true. Too often do we neglect to recognize greatness while it is in our midst. This recording gives us the oppertunity to do differently.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful noise, January 13, 2005

By 

Matthew Rosecan "Mr. Pink" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kingdom Come (Audio CD)

a reviewer below describes this as "by definition-noise". Well, all music is noise. Without noise, there is no music. It may be more difficult to find form in this music than in many other kinds of music, but there is still a very strong and deep history to this music. Sunny Murray is a legendary free jazz drummer, one of the first to take the trap kit out of it's traditional role in the early sixties. Mr. Parker apprenticed with Jimmy Garrison, amongst many others, and is an incredibly respected bassist. Mr. Gayle did play in NYC for a very brief while in the late sixties, and as legend has it,blew everyone away and then disappeared. He "reappeared" in the late '80's and has since become a free jazz legend.
Track two on this disc is, to me, a high point in Gayle's incredible discography. I think it is a perfect example of Gayle's live music at this time. Very well recorded and clocking in at over 20 minutes, it shows Gayle and the group, especially Parker, in amazing form. Some of the tracks do exhibit Gayle's piano playing, which is good, but not nearly as strong as his saxophone and bass clarinet. I witnessed him play several times in the mid '90's at the knitting factory and the Cooler, and I don't remember him ever playing piano. His saxophone playing, however, has most definitely changed lives.

If you like music that does not adhere to typical convention and is exceptionally honest and strong, then listen to these musicians. If not, don't listen to it.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Heavyweight encounter; middling results, March 28, 2001

By 

N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kingdom Come (Audio CD)

This disc documents an encounter between a veteran of the original free-jazz movement--the drummer Sunny Murray, best known for his work with Taylor & Ayler--& two free-jazz players from the following generation: Charles Gayle & William Parker. In the event, it's something of a disappointment, especially when compared to Gayle's masterpiece, _Touching on Trane_, which featured Rashied Ali instead of Murray. There are a few reasons for this album's relative failure. One is that it places undue stress on Gayle's piano--three of the seven tracks (which combine for about 20 minutes of the album's running-time) are piano features, & Gayle is simply not much of a pianist. The sustained fire of his tenor playing sits oddly with the shapeless thumping of his piano. -- Murray also does seem to be having a quiet time of it--it takes ages for the 2nd (longest) track, "Lord Lord", to catch light--though this may be partially an artifact of the recording. The album is a mix of studio & live tracks; as usual with Knitting Factory discs, it's hardly audiophile sound, especially on the live session, but it's certainly passable.

Gayle, like a lot of the free-jazz underground--I think of Matthew Shipp, William Parker or Joe Morris--is perhaps too indiscriminately documented. This is a decent disc, but is not likely to make any great converts; those unfamiliar with Gayle should instead head to the much more expensive but much more worthwhile disc _Touching on Trane_ on FMP. What's so impressive about _Touching on Trane_ is its unremitting incandescence, each track hitting the ground running. On _Kingdom Come_ too many of the tracks take a while to build up a real head of steam. The most impressive tenor piece here is probably "Anthem to Eternity", which immediately gets down to brass tacks for some nicely blunt blowing that clocks in at 11 minutes. There are other nice moments, like the unexpected 3/4 rhythm that concludes the fourth track, but they are unevenly distributed throughout a too-long disc (74 minutes).

This is an OK disc, but hardly a priority purchase.