Continuing on my path of illogical comparisons....Last weekend I watched THE BODY perform a collaborative set with LENGUA IGNOTA in Oakland. It was around 30 minutes long and featured essentially one riff (alternately: one essential riff) and a series of mostly improvisational movements. One would take the mic and the lead, then another would follow until they themselves were in control of the direction, transferring power and vision seamlessly from one member of the ensemble to another in the context of soul crushingly heavy doom colliding with soul crushingly heavy outside/r sounds. It didn't simply work, it was simply beautiful. And I don't want to elevate that night to a pedestal upon which it doesn't belong, but the following day when I ripped this 1966 JOHN COLTRANE recording the similarities were stark. Coltrane and Sanders feed off of each other throughout this hour long performance, sometimes both taking a backseat while Alice Coltrane contorts her piano, the recurring melody popping in and out sometimes seemingly at random and other times clearly very calculate. Rashied Ali seems intent to drive the group to the very edge of the cliff and hold them there with a steadfast looseness, keeping you on edge even while Alice's piano (note: this is particularly evident around the 32 minute mark) offers the most innocent beauty imaginable. It really is a thing of beauty, just like the show last weekend...so maybe the comparison holds more logic that I gave it credit for.
1 comment:
I appreciate your writing and your taste in music. Thanks man.
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