Search - Don Cherry :: Actions

A must-have for collectors...

David W. Madeira | Nashville, TN USA | 05/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...otherwise, you should be advised as to what you are getting yourself into.First, let me say this: As far as rare finds and collectors items go, this is a gem. I had never heard of this record before when one day I stumbled across the CD rummaging through a box at a used record store. The title "Actions" doesn't explain enough. The group is billed as The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra, featuring none other than experimental jazz guru Don Cherry and Krzysztof Penderecki (of Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima fame), known for his use of sound mass and tone clusters in his compositions, making him one of the foremost late-twentieth century composers. Needless to say, when I found this thing I nearly wet myself, and had to buy it regardless of whatever musical content was contained therein.First of all, as I said before, just the content of this album makes it a must-own for fans of post-modern free-form music, even if only from a learning standpoint. Nevertheless, be warned: as you can probably guess by the name of the group, this is very much "free" jazz. The recording is of a 1971 concert at the Donaueschingen Music Festival in Germany. The first two pieces are "composed" by Cherry, and the last is "Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra," written and conducted by Penderecki.To give you a taste of what you will hear, I offer the following quote from Cherry himself in the liner notes:"I hate professionalism. I've been a professional musician long enough and shown I can do it. But professionalism became like a religion in certain quarters. To me, there's more to religion than that."Needless to say, said professionalism has been very much eschewed from this performance. So you are not going to hear tight, explicitly notated licks. Rather, nothing was notated of the Cherry tunes--in rehearsals, he introduced the players to 15 "themes," of which some were used in the actual performance, which moved freely among seven or so. To give you another idea of Cherry's idealism for this concert, a couple of the sections feature drumming and guitar playing by Cherry's 3 YEAR-OLD SON (!!), Lanou Eagle Eye, who you may know from the one-hit wonder band Eagle Eye Cherry. The second track on the recording is of Cherry teaching the basic tenents of an Indian raga (specifically, the traditional "teen tal") to the audience, coaxing them to participate in a rather bombed attempt to get a German audience to lose themselves into a free-flowing Indian beat cycle. (I know, I know...who'da thunk it would fail?)Finally, the record concludes with Penderecki's "Actions," a semi-notated free jazz piece that moves through a variety of different sections, some having distinct jazz rhythmic grooves, and others trailing into formless chaos. The saxes overblow to produce screaming multiple pitches, and the brass instruments blare obscure lines of sound over the top of the ensemble. It's a different style than anything I'd heard of Penderecki's, but has some characteristic KP giveaways: semi-tone dissonant entrances between two instruments, and siren-like slides reminiscent of "Threnody."All in all, I'm not going to lie and pretend that this is a monumental record or that these are monumental pieces just because of the names involved--they're not. In fact, it's a pretty bizarre recording and at times is pretty abrasive to listen to. But if you are a fan of either of these guys or have an interest in free form jazz (and especially its influence from Indian music), just get this for the sake of owning such a rare gem."

Experimental Jazz Freak Out...

JC | MD USA | 06/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I too immediately grabbed this from the bin of the used CD shop, figuring I'd either love it, or if I didn't would easily be able to pass it along to someone who would (it reeked of collectibility, as well as weirdness). I don't know if I love it exactly, but parts of track one alone turned out to be enough to keep it.



The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra is an all-star ensemble that gathers an amazing proportion of the luminaries of the free jazz movement in a single live performance (to wit: Don Cherry, Tomasz Stanko, Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Brotzman, Han Bennink, Terje Rypdal, Kenny Wheeler, Willem Breuker, Gunter Hampel, ...).



This is at times a challenging listen (as free jazz often is), yet there's also a distinct cohesiveness prevailing through a series of fine grooves in track one. Track two is interesting despite what the other reviews might lead you to think. Track three melds avant-classical composition with free jazz improv, for another performance that has unique merits. I'd like to hear the rest of the show (since this disc seems to be just part of it). Overall pretty sweet... and worth seeking out."

Another Gem By Don Cherry!!!

Kurt Leith | Vernon, CT | 10/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This hard to find recording documents a live performance at the Donaueschingen Music Festival in 1971, but the co-crediting is somewhat misleading. While the New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra (named for Cherry's magnificent album from a few years prior, Eternal Rhythm) appears throughout, the first two pieces are by Cherry, the last by Penderecki. The two "principals" don't actually come into contact with each other. The orchestra is truly an all-star cast of the cream of European improvisers, each and every one having gone on to significant achievements. Cherry's "Humus - The Life Exploring Force" is a suite not too dissimilar to those he performed on both Eternal Rhythm and the ensuing Relativity Suite (including an early version of "Desireless"), ranging from raga-inspired lines to bluesy refrains, to jaunty modal riffs. If the performance is a little on the ragged side and if vocalist Loes Macgillycutty proves somewhat overbearing, it more than makes up for it in enthusiasm and joy. This is followed by a brief encore in which Cherry gets the audience to sing along on a complex (for Westerners) Indian scale; it's quite enchanting before exploding into a short, orchestral free-for-all. Penderecki's "Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra" is another kettle of fish entirely. The composer had often used jazz elements in his previous works, though always sublimated to his overall classical (if avant-garde) direction. Here, he makes a good attempt to meet this "foreign" genre halfway, allowing the orchestra much latitude for improvisation while supplying dark and brooding borders to keep things corralled. The problem is, that's basically all there is to the piece: alternating written parts (fine in and of themselves) and free improv (also energetically performed) with little to conceptually bind them. It's not a bad performance by any means, and is of some degree of historical import if only to document a relatively rare meeting of the jazz and classical avant-garde, but it doesn't quite hold together as a solid work. Fans of Cherry, though, will definitely want to own this disc as a significant addition to his stellar work of the late '60s and early '70s. (Courtesy of AMG)

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