The past year was a watershed for Philly-based saxophonist Odean Pope. His large ensemble the Saxophone Choir finally garnered gallons of fresh ink thanks to a justly-lauded release on HighNote. That disc made more than a few year-end tallies and was touted by some critics as a welcome return from the recording hinterlands. What’s somewhat amusing about such claims is that Pope’s been recording nearly yearly for CIMP since ’99 and the label continues to be a faithful steward of his muse. His latest trip to the Spirit Room marked another milestone: his first commercially released session with a guitarist. The presence of a formal chordal instrument, particularly one played with the panache of Matt Davis, tilts the familiar Trane-influenced Pope prism in fresh angles.
Both Davis and bassist Michael Taylor are Jersey boys, but their professional experience includes regular gigs with a census of Philly talent including Dave Burrell, Byard Lancaster and Bobby Zankel. Drummer Craig McIver is a recognizable Pope foil having served on most of his previous CIMP projects. Other than the obvious power of the leader, it’s Davis who really makes the date special. His Frisell-influenced picking is warm and resonant and his facile comping style under Pope’s signature scalar squiggles embellishes the overall effect. Pope builds his postbop pieces to accommodate plenty of solo space for his young sideman. Melody and twisting time signatures play prominent parts in nearly every one. The guitar regularly acts as a calming agent on the saxophonist’s more aggressive tendencies, bringing out the band’s temperate side without leavening the underlying muscularity of the performances. There’s an added sense of structure and symmetry, but never do the players feel fenced in. Also aiding in this regard is Marc Rusch’s limpid engineering. Taylor comes through loud and clear, the pliant buoyancy of his strings captured scrupulously and without any obfuscating murk, and I found the disc just as pleasurable on my car stereo and I did on my primary home system. At sixty-seven minutes, it doesn’t feel the least bit overly long. A brief field recording of Pope in concert with birds closing the disc on a pertinent note.
As the title indicates, the entire set is dedicated to Pope’s former employer of 24-years and McIver purposely modifies his method in places to mimic the master. The elder drummer’s health has been on the wane for the last few years, but here’s hoping a copy of this fine disc finds its way to his doorstep and he is able to glean enjoyment from the venerating sounds. Those who sang the praises of Locked and Loaded should definitely seek this one out.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on January 22, 2007 7:19 AMThis does sound interesting; I still don't have the Saxophone Choir disc, but hope to get it at some point.
Tangentially, it would be interesting if Pope's mid-60s recordings with Hasaan Ibn-Ali saw the light of day. Buried, lost, or some such they probably are.
Posted by: clifford at January 22, 2007 10:53 AMMost Atlantic stuff got destroyed in a fire but I believe a backup tape of that still exists--talk to Chuck Nessa, if memory serves he knows what happened to it.
Posted by: nd at January 22, 2007 11:05 AMWhat is Odean Pope's best album?
Posted by: Jeff Olson at January 22, 2007 4:40 PM"Most Atlantic stuff got destroyed in a fire but I believe a backup tape of that still exists--talk to Chuck Nessa, if memory serves he knows what happened to it."
Right. Thanks, Nate.
Guess I'll trot back over to the other forum!
Posted by: clifford at January 22, 2007 4:52 PMAs for his best, I could not say.
I've enjoyed EBIOTO (Knitting Factory, iirc) and the quartet with Lasha on CIMP, released under Lasha's name. I don't have much else in his discography, but do like his playing in spite of CIMP's recording foibles.
Posted by: clifford at January 22, 2007 4:55 PMIt's hard to pick a "best" of Odean--all his CDs are reliably good.
I'd cast my vote for his Enja release, "96". Also on Enja: Sunny Murray's "13# Steps on Glass" (a trio w/ Pope & w/ Wayne Dockery on bass).
Pope's Moers trios w/ electric bass ("Just Like Me", "Out for a Walk") are also fine (despite a truly peculiar vocal track on one of them, I forget which(. They make a great mix tape w/ a couple of other Moers discs: the Ned Rothenberg Double Band CDs.
Posted by: Bill R at January 22, 2007 8:59 PMi second odean pope's moers trio records! awesome, complex harmonlodic funk - very composed and detailed stuff loaded with killer improvisations. it's kind of like early '80s prime time meets prog or something.
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Posted by: weasel walter at January 22, 2007 11:00 PMSaccharine Trust guitarist Joe Baiza's late 80's/early 90's group Universal Congress Of used to play one of the Pope tunes ("Kyle's Tune") that I think is from one of those Moers albums. Saw Baiza in L.A. recently with his current version of Congress and the Pope tune is still in his repertoire, as is Shannon Jackson's "Small World." Both hold up well.
Agree w/Weasel re: the prog quality. Very cool. Was the bass player Gerald Veasley? One of those guys who could make the el-bass work in these settings.
I was very anti electric bass in any jazz/improv settings for a long time til I saw some recent gigs of Jamaaladeen Tacuma (2 with Blood, 1 with Ribot)...Makes one wish for a rematch of the Bennink/Tacuma gig Han eludes to in the interview in Corbett's book.
Posted by: Rob Cambre at January 23, 2007 2:07 PMYes that was Gerald Veasley and the Drummer was Cornell Rochester. That Moers Trio was really good. Saw them a couple of times and they sounded great. Another Cd of that ilk is a Blood Ulmer Record on a Japanese label DIY? with Amin Ali Cornell Rochester, Arthur Blythe and Hamiett Bluiett. Prog Funk Energy Music. Great stuff.
Posted by: alden at January 23, 2007 2:36 PM"Another Cd of that ilk is a Blood Ulmer Record on a Japanese label DIY? with Amin Ali Cornell Rochester, Arthur Blythe and Hamiett Bluiett."
Yep, DIW. Sounds to me like it's the Music Revelation Ensemble, and the album in question is either 'In The Name Of' or 'Knights of Power', more likely the latter (can't tell you for sure because the discs aren't to hand).
Posted by: Bryan Merely at January 23, 2007 2:52 PMOh, and I used to own Odean Pope's Moers records too, and thought they were terrific, but I haven't heard them for more than a decade. Anyone know whether they've been reissued?
Posted by: Bryan Merely at January 23, 2007 2:56 PMI’ve not heard those Moers LPs & don’t think they’ve yet been reissued on cd, but there’s a pretty tasty cut by the Pope/Veasley/Rochester trio on Live From Soundscape set on DIW.
What Bill R said regarding Pope's best, though that Murray disc on Enja doesn't do much for me, mostly because of Murray who seem to be having an off day. Pope's various CIMP sessions are a strong body of work too.
Posted by: derek at January 23, 2007 3:35 PMThe Moers records were issued in CD format. I see they're still listed on moers-music.com, so I suppose they're probably available.
Oh, BTW, I had one title wrong: it's *Almost* Like Me, not Just Like Me. Well, I was ALMOST right...
Posted by: Bill R at January 23, 2007 3:40 PMGood to know, Bill, though those Moers cds ain’t cheap. Just found an mp3 cut from Almost Like Me: Mwalimu. Veasley’s really working those strings.
Posted by: derek at January 23, 2007 3:55 PMI would like to take this opportunity to thank
the creative writters for their comments on my music.Is it possible to get additional information?
Very best regards,
Odean Pope
(Tel:215-242-6202)
(E-Mail:odeanpope@aol.com)
(www.odeanpope.com
"Almost like Me" was just huge for me when I was getting into creative music. I found a copy on ebay last year and it is still amazing.
Biaza is amazing. Weasel's quartet ( that I play in) opened for Sachrinne Trust last year.
Odean, thank you for reading the review and comments and for all the marvelous music lo these many years. I'm not sure what you mean by "additional information", but I would be happy to provide whatever I can. I'm reachable at derekct AT hotmail.com.
Posted by: derek at January 26, 2007 2:31 PMthank you for reading the review...
This is a new one on me.
Posted by: walto at January 27, 2007 10:01 AMThanks for reading the review too, Walt.
Posted by: derek at January 27, 2007 11:58 AMOh, no--Thank YOU!
Posted by: walto at January 27, 2007 1:56 PMFor what?
Posted by: derek at January 27, 2007 3:27 PMAm I the only one that likes the two Soul Note Saxophone Choir releases: "The Saxophone Shop" and "The Ponderer"??
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 27, 2007 4:13 PMI like The Ponderer a lot; haven't heard Saxophone Shop. What do you think of Epitome, Cap'n?
Posted by: derek at January 27, 2007 6:01 PMHaven't heard that, D; that was about the time that Black Saint/Soul Notes became relatively difficult for me to find, iirc. I'm sure I'd like it because the first two were real eye-openers to me, particularly because my exposure to Odean's work live with Max Roach was less than ideal.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 27, 2007 6:30 PMBack to the Sunny Murray, for a minute: Derek, I just listened to that disc for the first time in several years, & I'm afraid that you're right--it's not among Odean's best. Shoulda given it a spin before I reccomended it! However, I'm not prepared to give up on it entirely; there are a few tracks (mostly, the originals; the standards seem a bit perfunctory) that I'll cull for my personal mix tapes.
Now, the other Enja record, that's another story. "Ninety-six", with Tyrone Brown & Mickey Roker--I still love that one. It was the first thing I ever heard by Odean as a leader, & I probably listened to it fifty or a hundred times. I checked it out again a couple of days ago, after not hearing it for several years, & it still does it for me! Great tunes, great performances from all. On a par wih his CIMP's & EBIOTO, I think, though perhaps not quite as special as the wonderful Moers discs.
Odean, if you're still out there: thanks much! Your music has given so many of us so much joy over the years!
Posted by: Bill R at January 28, 2007 7:42 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................