Here we have an album by pioneering free jazz bassist Steve Tintweiss recorded on August 7th, 1967, in Tompkins Square Park, New York City, which is part of a series of releases from his archive being worked on by Inky Dot Media. Here we find Tintweiss (double bass, melodica, vocals) joined by Jacques Coursil (trumpet), Perry Robinson (clarinet), Joel Peskin (saxophone), Randy Kaye and Laurence Cook (both drums) with James DuBoise sitting on trumpet for the last two numbers. Mind you, the booklet also credits “An audience member joins on a whistle; also heard peripherally on the recording are people playing tambourine and bongos, singing in Spanish; a request for a cigarette; barking dogs and very enthusiastic boys”. If that sounds chaotic, take it from me it is nothing compared with the sounds one hears when listening to this.
Although Tintweiss has never been a major releaser of albums during his nearly six decades in the scene, he has always been a believer in taping many of his bands’ sessions, and in recent years nearly 400 of these have been digitised. This is not an easy album to listen to, but this music was never meant to be, and for those coming to it without the spectacle of the band being in front of them will find it will take a while for this to become enjoyable, and for many that will be a step too far. We get an explosion of sound in the ears, with each musician obviously following their own path and there are times when we wonder if any of them have the same destination in mind, or if they have individually wandered into the wilderness never to return, but somehow, they always come together in the end. They can be reflective or following themes which come to light which everyone jumps onto but then leaves in different stages and manners. The two drummers are hugely in sync with each other, sometimes complementing and at others viciously opposed, while cymbals are a hugely important element.
Here we have music which at the time must have seemed hugely antagonistic and critical of the establishment, and nearly 60 years later this is still challenging stuff. Fascinating, compelling and enthralling, this will only be of interest to a select few but those who want their music to be totally off the wall then this is fascinating.
Rating: 8/10
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Track list:
1. Warm-Up And Announcement 0:23
2. Water 4:15
3. Land 5:41
4. N.E.S.W. Up/Down 7:35
5. Are You Lonely? 2:02
6. Waltz Of Eternity 7:07
7. Space Rocks 6:34
8. California Sandra 10:46
9. To Angel With Love 2:15
10. Ramona, I Love You 10:47
11. D-Drone 1:18
12. Y Interlude 7:17
13. The Purple Why 5:27
Links:
http://tintweiss.com/
https://www.originalvinylrecords.com/inkydot