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| North America |
| Curlew |
első megjelenés éve: 1986
39 perc |
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| (2002)
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CD |
| 6.201 Ft
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| 1. | Ray
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| 2. | Oklahoma
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| 3. | Knee Songs 2
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| 4. | Person to Person
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| 5. | Time and a Half
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| 6. | Mink's Dream
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| 7. | Two-Day 'Till Tomorrow
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| 8. | Light Sentence
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| 9. | First Bite
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| 10. | Moon Lake
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| 11. | Shoats
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| 12. | Agitar/The Victim
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| 13. | Feelin' Good
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| 14. | Oklahoma
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| 15. | Shoats
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| 16. | Moon Lake
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| 17. | Mink's Dream
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| 18. | The Ole Miss Exercise Song
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| 19. | First Bite
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Jazz / Rock, Jazz-Rock, Experimental Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Avant-Garde Jazz
Anton Fier Drums
Fred Frith Producer, Mixing, Guitar, Vocals, Overdubs, Bass, Soloist, Violin
George Cartwright Sax (Alto), Vocals, Sounds, Sax (Tenor), Executive Producer
Lawrence Butch Morris Cornet
Mark Howell Guitar
Martin Bisi Drums (Bass), Mixing, Engineer
Matt Murman Mastering
Mike Decapite Writer, Liner Notes
Nicky Skopelitis Guitar
Pippin Barnett Drums
Polly Bradfield Violin
Rick Brown Drums
Tom Cora Cello, Accordion
Troy Zaushny Cover Design
North America reissues their obscure 2nd album, which was recorded in 1984-85 and originally released only in Germany. It features the band in transition from it's original line-up into the band that helped to define the "Knitting Factory Sound" in the mid/late 1980's, and who the New York Times, called, "the best of the unsigned, genre-busting downtown groups". North America is an unusual album in the band's oeuvre, as it's their one album that is the most obviously a product of the studio, and it's also their most overtly 'avant-progressive' release. Like all the band's work, it is a unique synthesis of gritty Southern r 'n' b, harmolodics, finger-popping grooves and the avant-garde. The band who perform on North America is pretty much an all-star ensemble of the emerging 'downtown' scene: Appearing as always are saxist/leader George Cartwright and cellist Tom Cora. Fred Frith appears in the role of bassist (& 2nd guitarist), which might seem a little suprising until one remembers that for many years he held down the bass chair in Naked City. The guitarist is Mark Howell. Drum duties are split between Rick Brown and Pippin Barnett. Pippin would become Curlew's drummer for the next six years. In addition to the personnel on the original album, there is 30' of never-heard bonus live material included which was recorded a year before the recording of the album, and which features Cartwright, Cora, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, drummer Anton Fier and bassist Otto Williams. We remastered it for better sound than the original issue, and repackaged it as well, with great liner notes by Michael Decapite.
"Curlew was always a fascinating group and I was delighted to be involved with it, however briefly. Producing this record was a lot of fun, and I think George and Tom definitely had some composing chemistry going on. They always sounded best when their "Southern" roots were most obvious, and I think that shines through on North America more than ever. Maybe that was the point of the title? Plus I wrote Person to Person for George and it's one of my favorite compositions, and actually the first time I played with the idea of a sax quartet, which proved to be rich territory for me over the years. So I've always had a soft spot for this record!" – Fred Frith
First recorded in 1984-1985 but previously released only on the European Moers label in 1986, North America is an excellent companion to Live in Berlin, which was recorded in 1986. Both discs are highly eclectic, but North America captures a lighter, more whimsical side of Curlew, with most pieces relatively short, and styles range from adulterated swing ("Two-Day 'Till Tomorrow") to skewed, harmolodic funk ("Oklahoma") and a ballad, "Mink's Dream," with a strong Ellington influence. Saxophonist George Cartwright plays both tenor and alto saxes, and while greasy funk might be his specialty, his alto sometimes has an uncanny resemblance to Ornette Coleman's playing (as on the harmolodic piece), and his breathy, soulful work on "Mink's Dream" even recalls Coleman Hawkins. On the up-tempo numbers, Cartwright's sputtering, funky sax (occasionally breaking into free jazz squeals) is complemented by the astringent, sometimes atonal scraping of Tom Cora's cello, Fred Frith's guitar and violin, and Mark Howell's additional guitar. The music is rhythmic but nimble. Frequent, unexpected twists and turns and the unusual timbral elements of cello and violin add an element of novelty, but there's an underlying seriousness and power that elevates the music and commands attention. This reissue of the 1984-1985 studio recording is supplemented with six tracks from a live 1983 date in a small N.Y.C. club, Mort's Place. Curlew's personnel throughout their history has always been fluid, and a year or two earlier, Cartwright and Cora were the only links to the group that recorded North America. Drummer Anton Fier predates J. Pippin Barnett on the club date, and Otto Williams is on bass rather than Fred Frith. Nicky Skopelitis plays guitar. Even allowing for the inferior acoustics of this live session, the sound is much heavier and there is more unison playing -- a contrast that is even more apparent because of the repetition of four songs in both the live and the later studio sessions. Fier went on to form the Golden Palominos at about this time, which also included Curlew guitarist Skopelitis. Fier's preference for a heavier, more edgy style of funk had an obvious effect on the group, with wit and whimsy traded for a sound that is more relentless and menacing. It's an interesting progression, which serves to document the group's evolution into the playful and yet still dangerous beast that they were to become. ~ Bill Tilland, All Music Guide
Curlew
Active Decades: '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: 1979
Genre: Rock
Styles: Modern Creative, Prog-Rock, Experimental, Jazz-Rock, Experimental Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Avant-Garde Jazz, Avant-Prog
Curlew were formed in 1979 by George Cartwright, who has served as the group's leader, saxophonist, and main composer for nearly three decades. Although Curlew have been viewed as pioneers of New York City's so-called "downtown scene," Cartwright was born in Mississippi and has consistently brought a roadhouse R&B swagger -- not to mention the influence of early hero Ornette Coleman -- to the band's sound. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Curlew served as something of an incubator and showcase for N.Y.C. avant jazz and rock talent. The group's eponymous first album, recorded in 1980, featured Cartwright on alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones along with cellist Tom Cora, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Bill Bacon. (In 2008 the album was re-released by Downtown Music Gallery paired with a live disc recorded at CBGB [also in 1980] and featuring Denardo Coleman on drums.)
By the mid-'80s and the release of North America on the European Moers label (later re-released by Cuneiform with live bonus tracks), the bandmembers included guitarists Fred Frith and Mark Howell along with drummer Pippin Barnett. Barnett was a founding member of the Orthotonics and later performed with Cora in the Swiss group Nimal; Cora was also a founding member of Skeleton Crew with Frith and played with many downtown artists of the era, including Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn. Maverick keyboardist Wayne Horvitz played on Curlew's third album, Live in Berlin, a release that also saw the arrival of guitarist Davey Williams, who -- along with Barnett (and of course Cartwright) -- would remain a mainstay of the band for a number of years.
Curlew's first album of the 1990s (a studio recording released by Cuneiform) was Bee, and marked the first appearance of bassist (and vocalist on a fine rendition of Cream's "As You Said") Ann Rupel, who also played in the group No Safety. One of Curlew's more experimental releases, the 1993 A Beautiful Western Saddle, featured singer Amy Denio and lyrics by poet Paul Haines. By 1996's Paradise, drummer Barnett had been replaced by Samm Bennett, also a member of Third Person, a trio that included Cora. Bennett was also leader of the N.Y.C. jazz-rock band Chunk. In addition, Paradise featured Chris Cochrane, another member of No Safety, on second guitar. By 1998's Fabulous Drop, Bennett was gone from the drummer's chair, replaced by Kenny Wollesen, one of the most prolific drummers in New York creative jazz.
By the new millennium, most vestiges of the downtown scene had moved from the geographic center of Lower Manhattan, with punky CBGB and the late-arriving avant jazz-centered Tonic soon to disappear and the Knitting Factory long having hitched its wagon to more mainstream rock (the Stone remaining one of the few venues consistently serving up adventurous creative fare on the Lower East Side). While Brooklyn (where a lot of "downtowners" lived anyway) in many ways took over as the locus for what might have been termed downtown music in earlier decades, by then George Cartwright had moved to -- somewhat surprisingly -- the Twin Cities of Minnesota, while still fully immersed in avant jazz and keeping the Curlew story alive and ongoing.
The ironically titled Meet the Curlews (released in 2002, again on Cuneiform) featured Cartwright and Williams with a band whose members lived in places that would make the prospect of weekly rehearsals exceedingly difficult: drummer Bruce Golden (who Cartwright says is his "oldest [and] longest...musical pal") is a lifelong Mississippean, keyboardist Chris Parker lives in Memphis, and bassist Fred Chalenor (Wayne Horvitz, Hughscore) is from Seattle. In 2003 this lineup, with Minnesota guitarist Dean Granros replacing Davey Williams, appeared on Mercury, the eighth Curlew album to be released by Cuneiform. Regarding Williams, Cartwright vowed "he'll be back," suggesting the possibility of a two-guitar lineup with both Williams and Granros at some point in the future. The diverse energy of Curlew's various bandmembers has kept the group continually on the creative cutting edge throughout its history, and any particular version of the band is filled with surprises and dynamic musical interactions.
---Bill Tilland & Dave Lynch, Rovi |
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