JAMES TARTAGLIA TRIO + VOICES
A FREE JAZZ TREATISE CONCERNING CURRENT AFFAIRS
Paedophile Priest; Asylum Seeker; Weapons Of Mass Destruction; Peace Process; Economic Migrant; Paedophile Priest (Live); Peace Process (Live); Weapons Of Mass Destruction (Live) (62.23)
James Tartaglia (ts); Nick Haward (b); Mark Huggett (d); Lizzi Wood, Sonja Morgenstern (v)
London, live tracks the Old Crown, New Oxford St, February 2003
(Nous Jazz 2003)
Conceived in the run-up to the recent Anglo–American invasion of Iraq, ‘Treatise’ employs the musical language of Albert Ayler – his fervour, intensity, and exuberance, as well as his wide vibrato style and strong melodic invention – to explore some particularly difficult current issues. Tartaglia realises that Ayler’s music was a product of religious fervour and black power politics and thus not immediately relevant today, but seizes on its universality to make his political points. This approach works extraordinarily well, the pieces – all first takes – mixing expressive solo tenor lines and childlike, often wordless singing over marching beats or repeated bass notes with free-form trio interjections. Asylum Seeker and Economic Migrant are poignant dirges, the solo saxophone intro to Priest alternates between the two personal perspectives on the unfolding situation, Weapons is suitably cataclysmic, while Peace Process reflects some of Ayler’s joyous, uplifting hope. Not an easy listen, as if its subject matter would allow that, but certainly a hugely rewarding one, even for those who do not share its political concerns. Released through www.jazzcds.co.uk.
Simon Adams
[October 2003] |
