BAB – 1975

Albums

1) In Praise Of Learning – Henry Cow (Living In The heart Of The Beast) Second collaboration between HC & SH simply going by Henry Cow at this point.  Just for fun an earlier Henry Cow only version (Halstern), fantastic. 1b) Slapp Happy/Henry Cow – Desperate Straights (Riding Tigers, Apes In Capes) First collaboration between these two bands. Rumor has it that the Henry Cow folks asked Dagmar Krause to join and she refused so they merged bands. Most of this material is clearly Slapp Happy with Henry Cow as the backing band as opposed to the above In Praise of Learning which again is both bands but credited to Henry Cow and a more HC leaning vibe.

2) Tonight’s The Night – Neil Young (Borrowed Tune,  Tonight’s The Night)

3) Bongo Fury – Zappa/Mothers/Beefheart

4) Another Green World – Brian Eno (Sky Saw, Golden Hours)

5) Fish Rising – Steve Hillage – A delightful dish of the Canturbery! Dig how Hillage, Dave Stewert, Pierre Moerlin and company  go absolutely PROG during the “Hiram Afterglid meets the Dervish” movement (10:30 – 13:30) of Solar Mystik Suite…what a jam!

6) Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Joni Mitchell ( The Jungle Line)

7)  Voyage Of The Acolyte – Steve Hackett

8) Sunset Glow – Julie Tippetts (Sunset Glow)

9) The Mothership Connection – Parliament (Give Up The Funk) Parliament/Funkadelic attempt to conquer the world in 1975. Also see Chocolate City (Side Effects), Let’s take It To The Stage (Better By The Pound).

10) Warrior On The Edge Of Time – Hawkwind

Honorable Mention – Bob Dylan & The Band – The Basement Tapes (Tiny Montgomery, Lo And Behold!) Understood that this is not technically 1975, more like ’67/’68 but released officially in ’75.

Songs

1) Throw Back The Little Ones – Steely Dan (Katy Lied)

2) Cobrade – Eddie Palmieri (Unfinished Masterpiece)

3) Right – David Bowie*

4) Barstool Blues – Neil Young/Crazy Horse (Zuma)

5) Symptom Of The Universe – Black Sabbath (Sabotage)

6) Gary’s Step – Sonny & Linda Sharrock

7) ¾ -Carla Bley

8) Deixe Entrar Um Pouco D’água No Quintal – Os Mutantes (Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol)

9)  See Land – Neu (Neu ’75)

10) Minstrel In The Gallery – Jethro Tull (Minstrel In The Gallery)

* If you are in the unfortunate habit of disregarding Young Americans as I was guilty of please give this an honest listen.

The “Other 10”

1) Julius Hemphill – Coon Bidness – A left over track from the Dogon A.D. sessions, The Hard Blues is perhaps the heaviest thing ever…Jeez, could Abdul Wadud’s Cello burn and slower?

2)  Frank Lowe – Fresh –  Wadud from the above Hard Blues and Shaw from the below Rocket along with both Bowie brothers (Lester & Joseph…not David) can be found laying out the classic Fresh as well as a gloriously loose (sloppy?) take on Monk’s Epistrophy.

3)  Roscoe Mitchell – Quartet – A lot of overlap again as this features Abrams as well as the recording debut of George Lewis on trombone. Troona…I find this so very intense!

4)  Oliver Lake – Heavy Spirits – An unheralded and underappreciated absolute gem. Dig Charles Bobo Shaw’s rhythm on Rocket.

5)  Air – Air Song – Debut Lp from Henry Threagill, Steve McCall, & Fred Hopkins who would lay down some of the greatest composed and free music of the 70’s.

6)  The Revolutionary Ensemble – The Psyche – Leroy Jenkins and company…anything but your typical chamber jazz outfit.

7)  Creative Construction Company – Volume 1 – AACM heavy weights Anthony Braxton, Steve McCall,  Muhal Richard Abrams, Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins,&  Richard Davis. Seen by many as THE representation of AACM it’s fitting two tracks are composed and named after the founder (Muhal Part 1, Muhal Part 2).

8)  Don Cherry – Brown Rice – That’s Don’s electric piano on the title track while Frank Lowe blows his guts out over the top.

9)  Peter Brotzmann, Fred Van Hove, Han Bennink – Tschus

10)  Anthony Braxton Five – New York Fall 1974 (Composition 23a, Composition 23b) Wow Mr. Braxton hanging out at the bottom…who would have thought?

Percussionists! (AKA drummers)

I’m not looking at this as a “best of” list, but more of a list of drummers I really
enjoy. I limited my list, but there are so many more that could have been mentioned.

Drummer:

Hamid Drake (Jazz, various artist): When thinking about the top drummers in the
world past or present, Hamid is the first one that comes to mind. I’ve witnessed
Hamid play over a dozen times and his drumming abilities never cease to amaze me.
His style is effortless and something that really needs to be experienced first
hand. (photo below)

Paal Nilssen-Love (Jazz, various artists): Paal should be considered the Ironman of
drummers, he hits very hard but in contrast creates the most suitable melodies to
compliment the performers he’s playing with.

Dale Crover (Melvins, various side projects): Pure ability, pure power is the only
way to sum up Dale Crover. Sometimes he’s completely on key, sometimes timed off,
he is amazing.

Keith Moon (The Who): I can not kid myself to believe I was never in complete awe
of Keith Moon as a drummer and a rock and roll personality, but we’ll only need to
focus on drumming. The slap-happy, sloppy presence of Keith Moon was an element of
the Who that really made them that something special. The sound of his licks added
a complexity that made their sound completely unique. Just listen to the last
portion of Happy Jack.

Max Roach (Jazz): My first exposure to Max Roach was through my disc Rick vs.
Roach. With Rich coming through one channel and Max coming through the other, over
a little bit of time is was clearly distinctive who was who. Yes, Buddy Rich was
fast and accurate, but Max had soul. He hit the groove. Max Roach was one of the
greatest.

Earl Hudson – Bad Brains. Punk rock/reggae drummer with style. Earl cements the
songs together. He sounded like a free jazz drummer in many ways.

Han Bennink (Jazz): I was fortunate to see Han play live, although he played only a
snare that night. Han was an amazing contributor to the European Free Jazz movement
that changed the world of Jazz everywhere. His drumming was outside the box, and
within the box, and around the box and the box… etc. A true legend. (photo below)

Coady Willis (Melvins, Big Business): When Coady first started playing with the
Melvins alongside Dale Crover, my first thought as well as I’m sure everyone who
never heard of the guy) was WHYY??? would they need to add an additional drummer??
HOW??? can anyone play next to Dale Crover? Is this going to be a disaster? Not at
all. The combination of Coady and Dale playing the duel drumming kit creating what
I like to call the abyss… was a perfect combination of the drumming. Drumming
being recognized as a key element to every track and song. The Melvins were even
more complete. (photo below)

Joey Baron (Masada, John Zorn, additional projects) Joey’s drummer always came to
the forefront for me, his drumming stands out. He’s quick, he’s accurate, it makes a
statement. Solid.

Tony Williams (Jazz): Love his style and vibe as well as his music as a band leader. (photo below)

Jim Black! I absolutely adore the work he did with Tim Berne!

Oh, and the Incredible: Charlie Watts, the leader of the popular band, The Rolling Stones!

Honorable mentions:
Elvin Jones, Frank Rosaly, Chris Corsano, Tim Daisy, Guy Lombardo, Neil Peart, Jeff Nelson, Buddy Rich, Michael Zerang, Ginger Baker, Ronald Shannon Jackson, John Bonham, Neal Smith, the list could go on and on and on…. and I’m sure I’m missing a lot!