It's hard to imagine 45 years, hence that one of the
things that was so controversial about Ornette
Coleman's emergence was that he gave up on employing a
pianist. The sax/trumpet/bass/drum quartet has
become commonplace in the modern jazz world since that time
(Other Dimensions in Music and Masada leap to mind
as two of today's standard bearers), and the lineup freed of
the tonal anchors of the piano has become central to
the growth of the free improvisation language.
Most jazz groups rely on a strong rhythm section,
but the pianoless quartet needs a strong simpatico in
the front line as well. Trumpeter Raphe Malik shared
such a relationship with the late saxophonist Glenn
Spearman, who died from cancer in 1998 at the age of
51. This remarkable set was recorded at the Vision
Festival five months before his death, with William
Parker on bass and Paul Murphy behind the drums.
It's surprising that Companions hasn't come out sooner,
if not immediately after the set then at least sooner in
the wake of his death, with the inevitable post-mortem
interest in his playing. The four tracks here (all
composed by the leader) are, in short, as good as it
gets. Spearman's solos are energetic and propelling.
Parker rumbles, keeping a locomotive bottom and is
matched well by Murphy.
But the real star here is the leader. Malik's playing
is crystalline and uplifting. For 40 minutes, they create
a celebration, a fast-pitched rollick of uplifting music.
That Spearman was in his final days doesn't weigh the
set down. This is life lived fast and pure.
This review originally appeared in
All About Jazz-New York.
~ Kurt Gottschalk
