Anatomy of THE Groove For The Brothers & Sister’s Who Aren’t Here: “Timeless” by John Abercrombie

John Abercrombie picked up his first guitar at age 14 in his native Port Chester,New York. He attended the Berklee School Of Music in the early to mid 60’s. He played with a group of fellow students at Paul Mall’s Jazz Workshop, a local my father often talked about seeing some acts at during his 70’s trips to Boston. This resulted in him being discovered by organist Johnny Hammond,who had him join his group for a time. After a brief time attending Northern Texas State University, Abercrombie returned to New York to become one of the most renowned jazz session guitarists in the city.

Abercrombie went on to recording as a leader on the German ECM label. This is one of those jazz labels that actually has its own particular sound. Primarily a jazz label, the artists on ECM didn’t want to focus too much on any other musical genre they adopted into their music. But more on their playing ability and their own sound. Abercrombie made his debut album for the label in 1974. It featured him in a trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette and fusion pianist/organist/synthesizer pioneer Jan Hammer. The album was called Timeless. And the title track is one of those songs that speaks a thousands words.

Hammer starts off the song with a sustained,deep synth bass tone. Than his organ comes in with its own kind of sunny sustain. Into this mix comes DeJohnette’s drums, which come through with some ascending hi hat and cymbal brushes creating a dreamy rhythmic atmosphere. Abercrombie’s guitar, playing a number of bluesy and faster gypsy jazz style licks, is complimented by Hammer’s synth bass changing harmonically to accommodate it. Around the bridge of the song, the drums gain a heavier power with Hammer’s synths rocking more. Then the song fades into its original theme as it fades.

“Timeless” is a nearly 12 minute song that’s based heavily around Abercrombie’s soloing. His style was light and understated-very much in the Miles Davis/Ahmad Jamal school. Yet he takes some very fast and elaborate runs too. Jack DeJohnette’s serves the soloing amazingly. While Jan Hammer provides that critical extra texture on his organ and synth. Its big,small,progressive and ambient all at once. Its also the first time hearing this song-after the passing the album over many times. John Abercrombie has sadly passed away this week at the age of 72. And this is a beautiful way to remember his music.

 

Anatomy of THE Groove: “Ruckzuck” by Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk (German for “power plant”) were a group who came to my attention through a PBS documentary talking about electro funk pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. He was explaining how when he first heard the German groups album Trans Europe Express,he was convinced this would be the music for the future. Thanks to Bambaataa’s parties for his proto hip-hop collective Zulu Nation,late 70’s Kraftwerk records became major fixtures at black and Latino dance parties throughout the Bronx and Brooklyn. As krautrock’s prototype for what became today’s EDM sound,Krafwerk had an origin point all it’s own within their native country.

The group’s founders in keyboardist/guitarist Ralf Hutter and flutist/percussionist Florian Schneider,whose celebrating his 69th birthday today,came together at the very end of the 60’s in a psychedelic fusion oriented band known as the Organisation. After that bands first and only album, Ralf and Florian  formed their first addition of Kraftwerk along with drummers Andreas  Hohmaan and Klaus Dinger for their self titled debut. Released in 1970,it was produced by the iconic krautrock producer  Konrad “Conny” Plank. Upon first hearing the album,the opening song stood out to me with heavy familiarity about it. The name of the song was “Ruckzuck”.

Florian begins the song with a double tracked flute solo playing very Arabic style scales. He then brings a very whisper,brittle violin solo which instantly kicks into the song itself. Hohmann’s hi hat heavy,rolling 2 by 2 beat snare drum pushes along at a hard grooving tempo with Hutter’s high pitched organ providing the main melody. Florian’s flute flows in and out of the mix. As Hutter’s organ grows more atonal and higher in the mix,the main melody of the song suddenly returns at an accelerated tempo. Then the whole disappears into a sea of tribal,very aboriginal African sounding percussion before that accelerated main theme fades back in to officially close out the song.

Henrique Hopkins and myself have had a number of discussions on Kraftwerk providing more raw instrumental material than strong melodic song content to those influenced by them. The Kraftwerk on this song are very different. Later member Karl Bartos said once that one the groups main key influences was James Brown. That can be heard on this song having such a complete relationship to rhythm-even the violin soloing. Because everything in this song is mixed in such close proximity,I cannot tell my next point for sure. But it does sound as if the rhythm is deeply locked into the Afro-Latin clave as well. That plus the very tribal pulse in the middle of the groove brings that out as well.

It was a few years ago that the songs familiarity came to me via YouTube. In the late 80’s and early 90’s,about 30 seconds of this song was used as the theme song to the PBS science program Newton’s Apple. The use of the song was apparently unauthorized and was replaced by a cover version during the shows later years. Part of the reasoning for this had to due with Ralf and Florian seemingly disowning this and Kraftwerk’s next two albums after the late 70’s-with Florian himself referring to them as “archaeology”. Even still,hearing Kraftwerk’s first song from their first album in such a progressive jazz-funk context showcases what their musical core has remained over the years.

 

Andre’s Amazon Archive for 10/18/2014: “Live In Williamsburg” by Shuggie Otis

First time I ever heard Shuggie Otis perform was on an episode of Conan O’Brien in 2001. It was when his Inspiration Information album was reissued on Luaka Pop and suddenly there was an enormous demand for new music and performances by this once relatively obscure artist. Finally over a decade later we got that when Shuggie released Wings Of Love-an album of songs he’d recorded over the past 30-35 years. Still I’d always wanted to hear how he’d sound in a live setting. Bringing in a band that included his sons Eric and Nick for what he’s calling his Never Ending Tour,this album culls from a live date in Brooklyn NYC.

Of course it’s songs such as “Inspiration Information”,”Island Letter”,an elongated bluesy funk jam medley of “Sparkle City” and “Miss Pretty” and of course a version of “Aht Uh Mi Hed”-one of my favorite Shuggie Otis compositions in which the horn section plays the same part the Hammond Organ did on the original. “Tryin’ To Get Close To You”,”Me And My Woman” and “Doin’ What’s Right” present more of that Sly Stone-ish rhythm box based funk Shuggie expanded on as done in the live setting. “Sweetest Thing” is a slow,extended blues that goes on forever but really cooks as Shuggie’s guitar solo goes onto an organ on the next verse. “Wings Of Love” presents another elongated piece-playing out the Santana-like progressive fusion nature of the song. “Picture Of Love” and “Shuggie’s Boogie” both lay down the swinging blues thick while “Strawberry Letter#23” ends the affair on perhaps his best known song-done in a comfortable blend of his and the Brothers Johnson hit version.

All twelve of these performances here are wonderful. Shuggie Otis was much like Prince in terms of being the multi instrumentalist singer/songwriter/producer who seemed to be able to play a boundless array of musical styles. And this album album seems to play out that way. Very diverse running from funk to blues to progressive,exploratory jazz workouts. Of course after it’s over you realize one of the most important things about Shuggie Otis’s musical legacy-one that really shines onstage. And it’s that all of the music he plays represents links on one singular chain. And rather than play one link such as just the 12 bar blues? Shuggie explores the whole chain from top to bottom. And hearing him do this within a band context makes the whole affair all the more powerful to contemplate.

Originally Posted On October 16th,2014

Link to original review*