DON CHERRY / JOHN TCHICAI / IRENE SCHWEIZER / LEON FRANCIOLI / PIERRE FAVRE – Musical Monsters
Intakt Records: Intakt CD269
Don Cherry: trumpet; John Tchicai: alto saxophone, voice; Irene Schweizer: piano; Leon Francioli: bass; Pierre Favre: drums
Recorded Jazzfestival Willisau, August 30th, 1980.
The liner notes give a nice potted history of the Free Jazz Festival at Willisau that Niklaus Troxler organised from 1968. Over the course of its history, this festival gathered many of the Europe’s and the US’s premier exponents of the various styles of Free Jazz that developed through the ‘60s and into the ‘80s. Central to many of the concerts was the trio of Schweizer, Favre and Francioli – so much so that one critic called them the ‘house trio of Willisau’. So, through a series of events, Tchicai and Cherry ended up being booked to play at the festival in 1980. Having said that, Cherry hadn’t confirmed that he was coming, hadn’t signed the contract and had provided no means of contacting him, and so the programme only indicated a group called ‘Musical Monsters’ with no names attached to it. Troxler says that a small rehearsal room was provided but the group just sat in the bar and chatted for most of the time.
The four pieces recorded here work as developments from one or two head arrangements. Track 1 begins with what sounds like an archetypical Cherry riff that Tchicai joins in and the group work up a frantic groove on over the next 8 minutes, then segues into a slower variation on a Tchicai composition ‘Real Kirsten’. This closes with a wonderfully spikey piano solo from Schweizer at her most forceful. Track 2 also works from a Tchicai composition, ‘Transportation of nudles’. Here the sparring of the group gives way to a well-balanced drum solo. Both of Tchicai tracks are on the Tchicai / Pierre Dorge ‘Ball at Lousiana’ recording, and Dorge provides the head for track 3 in ‘Xongly’, which the group take at a vaguely Latin 5/4 pace, and which has a marvellously eloquent bass solo.
I suppose you might expect this to be a meeting of two traditions, with giants of the US Free scene coming to Europe (albeit that Tchicai was Danish in the first place). What you actually get as a sense of the ways in which Free music can rapidly develop a shared language and how quickly a group can gel. As a long-time fan of Schweizer’s piano playing, this recording confirms my feeling that she is a fascinating player who, in this set, often takes the role of leading or pulling the group through its collective paces. This is more than an historical curio, but a document of Schweizer, Cherry and Tchicai playing off each other to marvellous effect.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Intakt Records: Intakt CD269
Don Cherry: trumpet; John Tchicai: alto saxophone, voice; Irene Schweizer: piano; Leon Francioli: bass; Pierre Favre: drums
Recorded Jazzfestival Willisau, August 30th, 1980.
The liner notes give a nice potted history of the Free Jazz Festival at Willisau that Niklaus Troxler organised from 1968. Over the course of its history, this festival gathered many of the Europe’s and the US’s premier exponents of the various styles of Free Jazz that developed through the ‘60s and into the ‘80s. Central to many of the concerts was the trio of Schweizer, Favre and Francioli – so much so that one critic called them the ‘house trio of Willisau’. So, through a series of events, Tchicai and Cherry ended up being booked to play at the festival in 1980. Having said that, Cherry hadn’t confirmed that he was coming, hadn’t signed the contract and had provided no means of contacting him, and so the programme only indicated a group called ‘Musical Monsters’ with no names attached to it. Troxler says that a small rehearsal room was provided but the group just sat in the bar and chatted for most of the time.
The four pieces recorded here work as developments from one or two head arrangements. Track 1 begins with what sounds like an archetypical Cherry riff that Tchicai joins in and the group work up a frantic groove on over the next 8 minutes, then segues into a slower variation on a Tchicai composition ‘Real Kirsten’. This closes with a wonderfully spikey piano solo from Schweizer at her most forceful. Track 2 also works from a Tchicai composition, ‘Transportation of nudles’. Here the sparring of the group gives way to a well-balanced drum solo. Both of Tchicai tracks are on the Tchicai / Pierre Dorge ‘Ball at Lousiana’ recording, and Dorge provides the head for track 3 in ‘Xongly’, which the group take at a vaguely Latin 5/4 pace, and which has a marvellously eloquent bass solo.
I suppose you might expect this to be a meeting of two traditions, with giants of the US Free scene coming to Europe (albeit that Tchicai was Danish in the first place). What you actually get as a sense of the ways in which Free music can rapidly develop a shared language and how quickly a group can gel. As a long-time fan of Schweizer’s piano playing, this recording confirms my feeling that she is a fascinating player who, in this set, often takes the role of leading or pulling the group through its collective paces. This is more than an historical curio, but a document of Schweizer, Cherry and Tchicai playing off each other to marvellous effect.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
