Marty Ehrlich - Traveller's Tale [Lossy]

Growing up in the promiscuous musical community of St Louis (it was Oliver Lake who first introduced him to the recording studio) and the fertile artistic commune of Boston (in that city he earned a degree in music in 1978), and moving to New York in 1978, Marty Ehrlich (1955) soon established himself as a clarinetist, flutist and saxophone prodigy, contended by George Russell, Anthony Braxton, Jaki Byard. His eclecticism was especially evident in collaborations with Leroy Jenkins' classical quintet, Anthony Davis' opera productions, and Richard Abrams' orchestra, experiences among the most diverse and eccentric.

Ehrlich reached his masterpiece with Traveller's Tale (june 1989 - Enja, 1990), accompanied by Previte, Strickland and bassist Lindsey Horner. Here, the spirited themes of the two woodwinds (generally Ehrlich's warm, clear, controlled clarinet vibrato and Strickland's dark, menacing tenor), which often play "dual" solos, not really contrasting but almost independent (exemplary Melody For Madeleine), the abrupt tempo changes (when not the very absence of a tempo, as in the chaotic Plowshare People) and a plethora of elegant quotations (the swinging clarinet interlude in The Short Circle In The Long Line, the square dance of the double bass over the marching bass drum rhythm in March, especially the spiritual lament and the slow Pork Pie Hat-esque "nighttime" of The Recosidered Blues) are the building blocks of the new course's elegant jazz. The title track is the most spectacular composition: it begins with a subdued tribalism beaten out by the double bass (!), then the alto sax launches into a melodic zigzag that is interrupted by the off-beat, dissonant double bass solo, and from here on the quartet plunges into an atonal piece. Despite the obvious influence on Ehrlich from the quartets of Braxton and Coleman, the music of Traveller's Tale is both original and classical.

Tracklist:

"The Short Circle In The Long Line" - 0:00
"The Reconsidered Blues" - 6:46
"The Traveller's Tale" - 11:38
"March" - 20:36
"Alice's Wonderland" - 26:09
"Melody For Madeleine" - 32:41
"Plowshare People" - 40:24
"Lonnie's Lament" - 48:04

[pierrepicot]

Four génius at work (Bob Previte is a réal resercher on drums and the solos are a masterpieces of improvisation)

[pierrepicot]

They give me on Mingus or Coltrane (on all songs ; in fact) a réal gift