reviews
Gato Barbieri - In Search of the Mystery
ESP-Disk’ has long been a haven for the under-recognized in left field music, documenting valuable works by artists as diverse as saxophonist Marzette Watts and psych priestess Erica Pomerance. In a few cases, artists who released their debuts on ESP went on to some degree of commercial success, usually well-removed from their initial steps. Pianist-composer Bob James is one example, and Argentine-born tenorman Leandro “Gato” Barbieri is another. Known mostly for his soundtrack music and orchestral Latin American-jazz sides for Impulse and A&M in the 1970s (the first few Chapters on Impulse are particularly exciting), it’s easy to forget that Barbieri unleashed hellfire squall on records by Don Cherry, Alan Shorter, and the Jazz Composers’ Orchestra in the 60s and contributed a Coltrane-like language to rare Italian jazz sides in the decade’s waxing years.
In Search of the Mystery was Barbieri’s leader debut, released in 1967 alongside that of another Cherry sideman, vibist Karl Berger. Rounding out the quartet are cellist Calo Scott (who worked with Mal Waldron and Archie Shepp), bassist Sirone and drummer Bobby Kapp on a split-sided continuous performance. Supported by rumbling, pliant bass and Scott’s droning cello, the opening recalls the alap of Coltrane’s Indian-influenced pieces, yet by no means is it subtle. Though on the surface rising on similar modal stairsteps to his forebears, Barbieri’s screaming, hard-bitten buzzsaw is unmistakable and immediately hits extreme, primal soul-eviscerating peals. Scott’s cello is an incredibly able front-line partner; bowing double and triple-stopped chords and drawing out lines of staccato high-register electricity, he alternately ups the ante and provides a welcome respite from the leader’s sustained fireworks. Indeed, Scott sounds plugged-in and contributes a bluesy, guitar-like wah-wah to “Michelle,” the coyly delicate, brittle homage that closes out the first side. There is beauty amid destruction, too – the heartbreaking line of “Cinemateque” could be Gato’s “Alabama.”
In Search of the Mystery is, however, a particularly egregious example of low fidelity in the ESP catalog, as bass and drums sometimes sound as though they’re in another room. There’s also an unnatural reverb on everything but Barbieri’s tenor. If this reissue were done from the tapes rather than a needle drop, things like balance or the abrupt drop-off at the end of side one could have been fixed. Nevertheless, as a focus on Barbieri’s completely unhinged and downright frightening tenor playing, this disc does all it needs to do. Play loud and play often.
~ Clifford Allen
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Points of Interest
While I have no beef at all with Mr. Barbieri and rather like his two 69 discs, Cherry’s Symphony for Improvisers to my ears tells the story: Pharoah Sanders weaves circles around the guy while he’s on piccolo for most of the album, then on the finale tears him to pieces when he switches to tenor, you can’t kill a human being any more after you’ve listened to that . . .
Ok, I hate this site and will never post anymore. The last half sentence got stuck between edits and it seems I can’t make it undone. Those in charge can you please kill both entries plus what’s left of me. Thanks.
Uh. Okay.
As to your original point, for one thing I don’t think that Symphony for Improvisers is particularly well-recorded. J-F Jenny-Clarke is pretty well lost in the mix and Grimes isn’t given too much boost either.
Alan Silva said something once that really hits it - Rudy Van Gelder didn’t know how to record the New Music. Consequently recordings like that Don Cherry LP and Unit Structures sound way “off” to my ears.
I’m not saying ESP always hired the best engineers either, though Alderson and Scholtz were pretty good. Where’s Conny Plank when you need him?
To my ears, Gato and Don sounded best on Togetherness (Durium LP reissued by Inner City).
Erm, this just means that I hate the fact I cannot change a thing I didn’t mean to go down for posterity like forever. Gato was sort of into the new age of the new thing, sometimes it works, then I adore him. But when the Pharoah switches to tenor at the end of the Symphony, then, to me, he’s instantly out where no man dares to tread. I suspect he does it to cut Gato, well he completely succeeds, his screech is simply out of this world, saying things we have purposefully forgotten… and Gato’s contributions in retrospect just seem very polite.
The ability to edit posts would nearly be as great as this album.
And oh, I’m not sure about the Van Gelder thing. While he probably really didn’t know how to record the new music, his productions tend to share the house sound of the respective label he works for rather than have a signature sound. A Prestige session will sound more like a couple of folks thrown into a room than a Blue Note session, and therefore better to these ears (mine). I think he could have recorded the new music for Prestige. While, e.g., the Coemtemporary records he’s done all have that flattening sense of seperation of everybody involved with a slight halo of echo around the edges that make it sound like a revival of something nobody was involved with in the first place . . . I guess this just means that mastering is as central as recording and always has been. (The first Ornette record with Paul Bley sounds like Contemporary, who recorded that? Far from my collection and too lazy to google . . . )
i don’t have any problems with “unit structures” . . .
re: “in search of the mystery”, is it me or does it sound like gato might have pissed off the drummer between the side takes? on side two bobby kapp sounds pissed as hell, whereas he barely plays on side one . . .
for my money, the best gato record, hands down, is “the third world”. so weird.
my favorite of the don cherry blue note trilogy is “where is brooklyn?” - no gato, and full-on pharoah sanders.
RASHIED ALI RIP
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I don’t understand Silva’s comment (Unit Structures sounds just fine to me), and I find it rather amusing coming from someone who’s released several pretty badly recorded albums himself (Luna Surface, The Shout, Desert Mirage are all fine musically but not exactly great recordings).
This particular Barbieri is worth it for the cello playing. I prefer Gato’s playing on Alan Shorter’s Orgasm myself.
I don’t know, those Cecil BNs always sounded too “condensed” to me (even on orig vinyl). I think the best-sounding example of ‘66 Cecil is on the Japanese BYGs. IMO. Besides, though I hear you on some of those Silva recordings, complaining about the sound on “Luna Surface” is like wishing for more separation on an (early) MEV LP. It’s about masses of sound.
And I’m convinced the Gato ESP is one continuous take split over two sides…
Luna Surfaces is a wall of mud. i think it does disservice to the intended wall of sound, which probably sounded much better than that (cf. “seasons”, side six)
Word. Masses of sound don’t have to be - shouldn’t be - muddy. Xenakis!