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Charles Gayle Trio Spirits Before Cat. No.: SHCD117
Personnel:
Charles Gayle tenor saxophone
Sirone bass
Dave Pleasant drums
Track Listing:
1. Eternal Now (Gayle) 7:34
2. Spirits Before (Gayle) 17:46
3. Heart's Nectar (Gayle) 9:53
4. Earth's Families (Gayle) 9:04
5. Give (Gayle) 6:47
6. Black Oil (Gayle) 7:58
7. Sometimes (Gayle) 7:57
Total time: 66:59
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"One of the right night, Gayle
live is one of jazz's sublime experiences; Spirits Before will clue
you why."
Kevin Whitehead, Down Beat, December 1991 |
See
also:
Steve Dalachinsky
The Final Nite
Complete Notes from
a Charles Gayle
Notebook 1987-2006
More... |
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Liner Notes
A very private man, tenor saxophonist Charles Gayle's early career in music is
shrouded in mystery. Raised in Buffalo, New York, Gayle was part of New York's
free jazz movement in the late 1960's, but he has chosen to remain out of the
spotlight, shunning the business of music. Charles Gayle has appeared on the New York Club and loft scene maybe half a dozen
times in the past fifteen years and somehow or other we've managed to hear him
in all kinds of different settings, always forthrightly projecting his personal
approach to playing. He has always been a gut player, with ideas and no fear.
To all intents and purposes, Charles was living up the streets of New York in
1987 when we approached him with the idea of letting more people hear his music.
The result was that be organized a trio with Hill Green on bass and David Pleasant
on drums, which made its debut at the 4th Lower East Side Music Festival. From
then on the Charles Gayle Trio began to generate a great deal of excitement and
interest on the New York music scene.
His music has a strength, a purity and a beauty that is completely spontaneous
and devoid of pretence. We discussed his approach to the music with Charles and
his reply was, "The music I am playing at this point is totally spontaneous,
nothing set just go for the Spirit, the Holy Ghost. I feel I am pushing
for the Black Sanctified Spirit beyond the ego consciousness. I always feel uplifted
and filled with the Holy Black Spirit propelled (or drawn) to the unconscious." This album represents an overture to the music and musicians who have preceeded
him Charles feels he owes them. For our part, we find that blues, gospel,
avant-garde, the music of changes, etcetera somehow all-inclusive in these
works. We've had the opportunity of hearing Charles a good deal during the past year
and have begun to understand that his music is forever changing, with a constant
stream of fresh ideas and new searchings. Very particular directions have been
set up and pursued from one gig to the next and, as avid listeners, we can only
hope that Charles Gayle's wider audience will have a chance to hear this outpouring
of musical directions as they unfold. We feel compelled to include portions of an article in the New York Times for
Thursday, September 3rd, 1987, written by music critic Jon Pareles: "The challenge of free jazz is to create coherent, compelling music without
such obvious devices as melody, recurring chord sequences or a steady beat. It's
a challenge that has defeated many a virtuoso since the free-jazz heyday of the
1960's. But Charles Gayle, a tenor saxopbonist, is carving out a free jazz that
is muscular, impassioned, clearly structured and wonderfully volatile. Mr. Gayle plays contours and textures rather than melodies, using a different
range and technique for each composition. He gets a huge saxophone tone, whether
he's playing wide-open low notes or shrieking overtones, and he holds the stage
with calm dignity while generating a fusillade of music. Mr. Gayle's trio makes music to move mountains by." We realize, of course, that words are an implication of reality. For the past
forty years we've witnessed the music and musicians at first hand from generation
to generation, the greats and the near-greats. On an average of four or five nights
a week in all those years we've seen them all. We express this to give credence
to our words when we say that Charles Gayle will definitely get your attention
if you dare to listen to him.
Irving and Stephanie Stone
N.YC. 1988 |
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