Prestige 30160
Pun and manifesto combined, Booker Ervin’s The Freedom Book is also the Texas tenor’s crowning achievement. The product of a studio-only band that inexplicably never had the opportunity to tour; the album is also a marvel both in terms of quality of playing and continuity of content. Ervin scripts four out of the five tunes, the fifth, “Cry Me Not”, a ballad borrowed from his employer Randy Weston’s folio. Pianist Jaki Byard would become an Ervin ally through a joint sojourn with Mingus, though this session marked their first meeting. The rhythm team of Richard Davis and Alan Dawson resulted in one of the most viscerally appealing pairings of the era. Byard could practically outdo Monk in terms of pianistic eccentricities and his quixotic improvisatory tendencies are on full display here, girded by an overriding sense of discipline that wasn’t always present elsewhere. Ervin’s sagebrush tone and serpentine delivery set the stage on “A Lunar Tune” swiftly building to a bullet train clip. Dawson sustains a delirious rhythmic pace and Byard comps with barely bridled fervor. Even Davis’ callus-creased digits move at a blur. The propulsive “Grant’s Stand” muscles ahead on the back of a flexing rhythmic motif, Ervin swinging hard and exposing robust R&B roots before a detour into less tethered territory fielded by the rhythm section. The ballad “A Day to Mourn” works off a wistful theme, Byard’s keys turning plaintive beneath a graceful melodic solo by Davis. Ervin’s horn adopts a world-weary wisdom, a melancholy cry creeping in at the corners of his phrasing and Byard weaves a response steeped in chamber music elegance. A pun bridging poker and the drummer’s name, “Al’s In” gives voice to Byard’s id, his crashing arpeggios dancing with Dawson’s hair trigger sticks as the leader shapes another wailing solo segmented by legato moans. A fleeting “Stella By Starlight” is appended as a bonus track. Ervin followed this page-turner for Prestige with a subsequent series of primers on other song forms. This initial entry is still the best of the omnibus.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on May 8, 2007 7:23 PMAny of the "Books" are very rewarding listening. From "Cookin'" onwards any of Booker's solo albums will never let you down. His perfect "Tex Book" tone was his treasured contribution to the saxophone lexicon. He never strayed from bop/modal playing into the "New Thing" but he was the master of the art, surpassed by no other. Whenever I want to hear someone really play the changes, he is my first choice. Thanks for highlighting one of his best.
Posted by: Gary Robinson at May 9, 2007 5:59 PM...and let's not forget his Blue Notes! THE IN-BETWEEN was a fine record, and Ervin was great on Andrew Hill's GRASS ROOTS ("Bayou Red" was one of Hill's best tunes ever, IMO)...
Posted by: Bill R at May 9, 2007 9:34 PMOne of my favourite albums. "A Day To Mourn" is absolutely stunning. Great to see this out again
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 9, 2007 10:24 PMI really like Book on Ted Curson's "Urge" LP, on Fontana. It's a fine quartet with Jimmy Woode on bass and Edgar Bateman on drums... more open-ended than "Tears For Dolphy."
Posted by: clifford at May 10, 2007 12:07 AMHaven’t heard that Fontana, Cliff, but if it’s better than Tears for Dolphy then I definitely want to, Curson & Bill Barron are a great frontline combo on that one.
Booker gets pretty crazy on the overly-prolix “Blues For You” Lament for Booker Ervin, but my favorite slice of his playing is in tandem w/ Dolphy on Mingus at Antibes; Mal Waldron’s The Quest is a close second. Those two were so great together. Barron’s Hotline comes in third. On a more “inside” tip, I like to spin his organ dates w/ Don Patterson, esp. Soul People, which also involves Sonny Stitt. His meeting w/ Larry Young for Prestige is strangely so-so by comparison.
I often think that Booker’s bourbon could have just as easily been named after the saxophonist, its strong pungent flavor has an effect on the tastebuds akin to his tenor on the ears. I've got a bottle I've been nursing at home and intend to test the hypothesis again tonight.
Posted by: derek at May 10, 2007 6:15 AMI don't know the Fontana either! Has it been reissued Clifford? If not, you know what you can write about next month, dontcha? Haha. Hope you won't spend your time with Derek cursing your Transatlantic "employer" :))))
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 10, 2007 8:13 AMWe’ll be knocking back shots of Tejas firewater* in your honor, Dan.
*Lest anyone surmise alcoholic motives w/ all my spirits-related speech; rest assured, I am always one to swill responsibly.
The Curson was on CD back in the early '90s in Japan, and one sees it from time to time. Hold yr horses on it being "better" than Tears For Dolphy... it's just different.
Good that one of us will be drinking responsibly, Derek!
Posted by: clifford at May 10, 2007 9:19 AMI searched for years to find a copy of Ted Curson's "Urge" and eventually came up with the Japanese issue of it on Fontana Japan 883 910 JCY (LP). It cost a half an arm and a leg, but I wasn't disappointed.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at May 10, 2007 9:47 AMYeah, it's a toughie. I ponied up a firstborn for a UK pressing of it several years ago. But who needs kids?
Posted by: clifford at May 11, 2007 8:44 AMMy favorite album by Ervin is The Freedom Book, but my favorite single performance it "The Trance" as Alan Dawson's drum work is impeccable, particularly the high hat in the final 20 seconds of the tune.
It's sad that Ervin doesn't get the notice that other players of his generation do, because I find if very invigorating, and always soulful.
Posted by: vdog at November 8, 2007 9:47 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................