Search - James Newton :: Axum

My very favorite James Newton album-solo flute

Phasedin | New Jersey | 09/03/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded in August 1981 for ECM records, i'm sad to see his currently out of print. Since ECM (the record label) still very much exists, I certainly hope they find it worthwhile to re-issue.

I own the original vinyl edition of this-AND bought the CD as well when it came out. I also bought a copy of this for a friend. So that's 3 copies I personally am responsible for purchasing over the years. Quiet music like this is better suited to the CD medium I find.

This is James Newton, all solo, playing all original pieces. Some of the pieces feature overdubbed flute parts as well as their being pieces simply for a single solo flute. In addition Newton doesn't just stick to the single most well-know member of the flute family, but also plays Alto and Bass Flutes, so the overdubbed pieces have a real depth to them. These pieces tend to be my favorites and if you're a casual listener, you would think that their may be a small backing string section behind the main flute part. But, no, it's all Newton.

I once bought a vinyl copy of this for a person who was playing flute in a High School orchestra. She had no idea that Alto and Bass flutes even existed. I hope this recording comes back in print so that others can discover it as well."

A Milestone of Great Music and Deep Courage.

Michael F. Hopkins | Buffalo, NY USA | 12/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For the master flutist, composer, and aesthetic pioneer

James Newton, there have been many crossroads since his

emergence onto the music scene in the 1970s. Paying first

dues alongside fellow mavericks David Murray and Arthur

Blythe, it wasn't long before Newton's love of Duke

Ellington, Claude Debussy, Charles Mingus and Eric

Dolphy converged with his copious respect of Japanese

Shakuhachi and India's Bansri traditions, forming one

of the most unique artistic voices ever experienced.

Noted for highly original Jazz expression, Newton

is as persuasive a creative force innovating Classical

music; a point generously reflected by his stirring

2000 release for New World Records, AS THE SOUND OF

MANY WATERS.

The beauty of Newton's work, whether wry straight-ahead,

elusively cohesive freeform, or dutiful homage staking

its own turf, is that any one performance is a wellspring

of pathways. Each makes its presence known, while all

sources converge into the fountain of Newton's signature

sound and vision.



It is his singular ability to summarize world society

and homegrown culture in the forging of his own expression

which makes the Guggenheim Fellowship recipient one of

the grandmasters of this or any age. For many, AXUM was

the album which first crystallized Newton's multicultural

genius for all to see, beyond any doubt. The 1982 ECM

release is Newton in the solitary spotlight, performing

solo or utilizing overdub to form his own flute choir.

To be certain, the word choir is operative here, as

his highly instrumental music never fails to sing from

the heart and soul.

Very much the African American artist, Newton's love of

gospel syntax is as profound as his frequent use of

Blues-rooted over-voicing borne straight from the

immortal Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Blendings highly versed

in Black Christian folksong dip their heads into deep

African majesties one might anticipate from the mighty

Randy Weston. Aural reflections of all manner of water

music abound here.

Through it all, Newton's lyricism is impeccable. Each

and every nuance of AXUM, from the most searching

shout to the most fragile sigh, carries the cry of

a people's struggle, and one man's commanding grasp

upon the situation.



Let anyone claim -as some have tried to "legally" do-

that what Newton has recorded here is unoriginal, ripe

to be stolen or otherwise disrespected in the trivial

pursuits of the Pop market's greed merchantry, and you

will see the vile manueverings of corporate bestiality,

and rank piracy.

If you know the tale of what was perpetrated by The

Beastie Boys -with the apparent indifference of ECM

itself- in 1992, and shamefully condoned by the courts

of this country by 2002, no further words are needed.

If you wonder what I'm talking about, check the Web

some time, and look into one of the most shocking

violations of artistic rights and aesthetic freedom

ever perpetrated by vested interests in the name of

"pure entertainment".



For an age which witnessed the barely-covert

political censorship of Country singers who refused

to be "just good ol' girls", this type of skullduggery

is all too common. For those of us who are African

American and persist in artistic endeavor and greater

good amidst sponsored Stephen Fechitry and other

genocidal practices, this latest outrage is but

another dismal sample of this nation's most

long-standing historical bad habits.



Even so, let none lose sight of the real value at

hand here. Whatever fortunes and unethical precedents

were established by thinly-veiled racism, institutional

apathy and idiomatic disdain, it all stands small and

petty alongside the lasting value of James Newton as

a courageous individual; one whose stand on behalf of

human integrity equals his many landmarks as a

creative musician.



AXUM is a centerpiece of this man's integrity, and

the achievements to come.



Long may the piper play.







"