Customer Reviews

Surrendered

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

 

 

I have been listening to this cd constantly for two days trying to decide if its great or not. I may have to revise my rating someday, but for now I think this may be Ware's best (Flight of i is my favorite previous cd). I have usually felt that matthew Shipp wan't a good fit with Ware, that his dense style did not mesh with Ware, like say Parker's Bass does. On Surrendered, Shipp tones down the attack enough to provide more counterpoint instead of just color sounding more like McCoy Tyner than Alice Coltrane in Trane's mid-sixties group, though that it is not a fair to any of them to compare like that. I think the reason I've been listening to this so much is the fact that it doesn't sound like anything I'm familiar with yet it feels right.

Another criticism I've had of Ware in the past is the sameness of many of his cds both in composition and recording quality. This seems to have much more variety. Each time I play it, it seems to be over very quickly (Dao seems like it lasts for hours sometimes).

All in all, a very fine cd. I'd by just about anything with William Parker anyway.

David Ware plays a deep, fast, unique horn. Tonality is key to his technique, but he is not painfully bizarre--as was Pharaoh Sanders most of the time when he nearly ruined the latter Coltrane group (except when he played alto on "Live in Japan"). Ware's music is sometimes jarring, but bright with innovation. "Surrendered" is more approachable and less "outside" than, say, "Go See the World," which I also like. There is more song structure than in other "outside" jazz. Ware's fellow musicians fit well with his sensibilities, especially his pianist, Matthew Shipp, who can hold his own with Ware's ecstatic flights into the unknown. The last piece sounds a bit like "My Favorite Things," and swings in 3/4 time.

This is not one of my most-played discs, but it is just right for some moods. Ware has a voice of his own, to be sure.

--Douglas Groothuis

mr. ware has been at the front of the free jazz scene for several years now, playing highly charged, blistering jazz. this album finds the heat turned down a little as mr. ware explores music reminiscent of john coltrane's 'love supreme' and pharaoh sanders' 'karma.' "peace celestial," the opening track, sets the tone immediately as the band repeats a phrase to build an atmosphere, then the soloists play back and forth over the original phrase, raising the musical tension. it grabs the listener, focuses them, and quickly eight minutes is over. "sweet georgia bright" is a nice nod to charles lloyd, featuring a much shorter version than lloyd's own 18 minute+ debut on 'live in the soviet union.' the shortness centers the audience on the tune's inherent swing, revealing mr. ware's solid classic jazz chops. 'glorified calypso' shows mr. ware's controlled fury, pushing limits without boiling over. 'african drums' is an extended closer, employing the same technique as the opener by building on a central riff, painting a musical landscape, and allowing for intriguing interplay between the soloists, showing the tightness and affinity this group has garnered over the years. overall, a very satisfying free jazz session by great players.

Free Jazz can be a difficult genre to expose people to. Especially when it comes to trying to recommend good introductory examples of it for novices. David S. Ware's second album for Columbia is just that sort of album. It's title has more to do with Ware's own realization that the time for the underground / indie rock scene to crossover with the free / avant-garde jazz community is ripe. This is more so than the spiritual inclinations given in the liner notes. Although those notes even acknowledge Ware's ubiquitous popularity among the tatooed and pierced set. Current opening slots for Sonic Youth certainly help in his exposure to this new breed of potential jazz fans.

The music itself is straight out of the now classic free jazz tradition as conceived by late period John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler. Free form drumming, screaming saxophones, modal bass plucking / bowing and slammed piano clusters have all been the trademarks of Ware's group sound in the past. But this album begs a plea for mainstream acceptance. Half of the album's tracks are straight out of the post-Coltrane tradition of monumental, free form-energy jazz, albeit with a somber / spiritual feel. Melodically they also share Coltrane's fascination with repeated motifs and repetitive melodic "mantras". But the rest of the tunes use traditional rhythmic structures to anchor them. This is new territory for Ware and his cohorts. There is a short R&B swing-shuffle, a propulsive calypso piece and a modal, African drumming styled selection to round out the disc. The sax solos are still tumultuous and full of the same building, blistering fury that put his name on the map. Matthew Shipp's piano playing is meandering and atonal yet strangely romantic in a melodic sort of way. But it is the rhythm section that holds it all together.

What some would call a watering down of Ware's normally advanced structural forms for the sake of mainstream acceptance, I call a breakthrough. For those looking to experience the cutting edge of today's avant-garde jazz scene in a traditional acoustic quartet format, this is the perfect compromise between classic "out" blowing and more rhythmically solid song structures. Some will cry sell out, I say it's his most listenable album yet. In a sense, it's his best one yet.

David Ware is a phenomenal saxophonist and this is an awesome CD, easily among the most exciting jazz around right now. Ware has toned down his intense multiphonic attack since Earthquation but his restraint only adds to the emotional impact of this disk. He starts most tunes with simple song-like melodies and builds performances of great complexity and beauty out of these. Matthew Shipp is also excellent on this disk.

in the liner notes Ware speaks of their apperance as the opening act of a Sonic Youth show. he talked about how the audience was not prejudice and listened to the music for it's purity. and if Ware does anything it is to present pure music, heartfelt tones, and abrasive melodies. this album is not as teidious as his first columbia recording GO SEE THE WORLD. it is much more "melodic." the group is at top form. but i do miss Susie Ibarra. but Guillermo Brown fills her shoes nicely.

These days mainstream jazzmen on big labels still wear buttoned down attire while their avant garde brethren have no suits :just shades, dashikis and jeans, but sartorial issues aside,the David S. Ware quartet is a strong group with a great sound. William Parker and Guillermo Brown slap around the rhythm and offer Ware a solid foundation for his interplanetary sojourns on the T-sax. Matt Shipp is a genius who varies up the harmonic material and he plays free piano but never sounds Cecil-ian. This is good stuff without the dress code.

I reviewed this CD the day after its release because I could stop listening to it. Now, 7 months later I find I still play it quite alot. The songs have plenty of variety in tempo and tone.

I find my favorite recordings by Ware tend to be a little more subtle than his others (my favorites besides this one are Flight of i and Wisdom of Uncertainty). For me, Dao and Go See the World suffer from a sameness in song structure and even in the recording sound, making these less dynamic. Please note that many Ware fans still consider Dao as his masterpiece so this is a personal opinion.

Unlike Wail's review, having heard both Parker and Shipp's latest recordings on Thirsty Ear, I do beleive these guys might be showing a shift in their methods. Since I find all of these guys new work to be among their best, this is in no way a compromise. But I am only guessing here, only time will tell.

following the precedent of john coltrane, mr. ware gives us an excursion into prayerful, meditative jazz. i realize this sounds like i am describing some album by a group of zen monks, but free jazz has often delved into the concept of music as an expression of faith (eg., just read the song titles on john coltrane's later albums or albert ayler's 'live in greenwich village' album). this music focuses the listener and then lifts the spirit. building on a simple foundation of repeated riffs, the group builds atmospheric soundscapes as they express deep feeling and contemplation. they do so, though, without the sacrifice of swing, creating hummable free jazz. this is not to say that the power and fire of ware's earlier work is missing, it's just that here the fire burns cooler. the liner notes are also interesting recalling charles lloyd's success with a rock audience, tying in the experience of seeing mr. ware perform with sonic youth. i am sure that was quite an experience, and one that is not all that surprising. both groups work with sound the way a painter uses oils and acrylics. here, mr. ware has given us a msical portrait of spiritual longing and seeking. a great effort.

David S. Ware (b. 1949) is an incredibly talented tenor saxophonist who reminds me of a young Archie Shepp. This music is open and edgy, demanding listeners to let it inside. Ware represents a corner of the jazz world that continues to create, evolve and inspire modern listeners and critics with a sound uniquely his own. He is one of a handful pushing ahead on the cutting edge of freeform jazz music.

"Surrendered", recorded in October of 1999, is a superb endeavor with Ware accompanied by the following musicians: Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass) and Guillermo E. Brown (drums). Ware's musings are careful yet unreserved, at once appearing as violent as they do tame. Occasionally Shipp pops up from the background with a stellar piano solo for audiences, with Parker and Brown forming the makes of a solid rhythm section. This album is well worth the price.