Charles Lloyd & Billy Higgins - Which Way Is East (2004)

Back in January 2001, saxophonist Charles Lloyd and drummer Billy Higgins decided they’d had enough of studios, producers, and anything resembling structure. So they retreated to Lloyd’s house in Montecito, surrounded by ocean breezes and too many flutes, and hit the record button.

The result is this double CD release on the ECM label that sounds like two lifelong friends sitting in a room full of uncommon instruments* and saying, “Hey, what happens if we both play this thing at once?” It’s jazz, sure, but only in the sense that Olive Garden is Italian food. However, it’s two legendary jazzers having a conversation I can only attempt to understand. But it sure sounds deep.

This guy claims the recording is "the sound of ancestors spreading wings, spinning flesh from sunlight," while another critic writes: "Recorded in a living room shortly before Higgins' death, two old friends converse, contemplate, fart around." Since I don't understand what the heck is going on here, I find myself leaning toward the latter opinion. It just might be a masterpiece, but it's not my bag, man. If you're into free jazz and world music, give it shot.

*New-to-me instruments on this recording, according to the credits: tárogató, Tibetan oboe, guimbri, Syrian 'one string,' Senegalese, Guinean and Indian hand drums, and something called Juno's wood box.

More album reviews here.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 30 tracks comprising 8 "suites" across two discs. Total time is just over 2½ hours, which is a lot to take in, much less comprehend. It turns oddly Brazilian at the end, though, so that's nice.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Pat Metheny w/Charlie Haden & Billy Higgins – Rejoicing (1984)

In which Metheny leaves his fusion group for a bit to record some more staright-ahead bebop/free jazz with two of Ornette Coleman's sidemen: Charlie Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. It's not my thing - it's not you, it's me - but I simply couldn't pass up an ECM-era Metheny CD sitting in a used bin.

In an article entitled "Pat Metheny Straight Ahead." (Guitar Extra!, Spring 1990, 56-64), Metheny had this to say about the album:

I did Rejoicing, which I really hated. That to me is one of the worst records I've ever made, if not the worst. That trio live had so much energy, so much spirit. But, when we did the record, the vibe in the studio was the worst vibe I have ever had in a recording studio. That record is the reason that I left ECM. I could not take Manfred Eicher anymore. He made it impossible to play on that date. What's on there is a struggle to try and get something over this dark blue barrier he had created between us and the tape. It was really bleak. There's a couple of things on there that are OK, like "Lonely Woman." The other thing is that the sound of that record is so weird. It's just so bad, muffled and reverby, and it doesn't have to be like that.

Yikes!

I was reminded of this album when I read this recent piece over at the Something Else website: Why Pat Metheny Fans Should Give ‘Rejoicing’ Another Listen. Further reading: ECMreviews site and the book Pat Metheny: The ECM Years, 1975-1984 by music scholar Mervyn Cooke.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "The album shows us the guitarist's very clear view of jazz past, present, and future."
• Billboard: "A luminous trio date"
• Musician: "Two and a quarter minutes of music isn't worth the price of the record"
• Downbeat (★★★★½): "shows the gifted guitarist playing with a scope and maturity only hinted at on Bright Size Life"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★½

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #116
• Billboard Jazz: #4
• CashBox: #112
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay Chart: #2

Tracks:

My top picks are Lonely Woman and Story From A Stranger. Skip track 7, The Calling, which uses an unusually abrasive guitar-synth timbre and is most experimental cut on the album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

:rarum IX (2004)	Travels (1983)
Different Trains (1989)	Offramp (1982)
Letter From Home (1989)	As Falls Wichita... (1981)
Still Life (Talking) (1987)	80/81 (1980)
The Falcon & The Snowman (1985)	American Garage (1979)
First Circle (1984)	Watercolors (1977)