Thoughts on Rob Brown?

[relyles]

The past two days I have been listening to and enjoying Rob Brown's The Big Picture. I started wondering whether there had been any significant discussion about Brown. I did a search and did not see a thread devoted to him so I thought why not?

Anyway, I first started listening to Brown after hearing William Parker's Oneal's Porch. I think what I find appealing about Brown's playing is his tone and the nice balance between structure and freedom in his playing. There are times when his playing reminds me of Jimmy Lyons, but not necessarily in a derivative way.

So anyone have any thoughts and possibly recommendations for recordings that may contain essential Brown performances?

I really like what I've heard from Brown. The Parker album you mention, and his higly underrated performance on The Peach Orchard.


When I first heard that set, I thought Brown was the weak link in the group. But further examination really changed my mind quickly.

[sonic1]

He has yet to really establish himself-gets overshadowed by those other names he is associated with. But I think he's great. Some of my favorites with him:

Rob Brown: Breath Rhyme / Silkheart
Rob Brown: Highwire / Soul Note
Joe Morris & Rob Brown Quartet: Illuminate / Leo Lab
Matthew Shipp, Rob Brown, William Parker: Magnetism / Bleu Regard

[Nate Dorward]

That trio track on The Big Picture is killer--just great. The rest I didn't find that exciting.

He's terrific on Dickey's fine Prophet Moon too.

He plays like a cross between Jimmy Lyons & Lee Konitz.

[Sergio Zamora]

I don't think I have anything with Brown as a leader, but at his best as a sideman he brings out a lot of energy to the group. He seems to have absorbed several influences quite well (I say there's a good dose of Dolphy in there - others disagree), but he doesn't mimic anyone. I'll have to dig out some stuff when I'm back home this weekend.

Originally Posted by Nate Dorward

He plays like a cross between Jimmy Lyons & Lee Konitz.

I agree. I've always head a bit of Dolphy in him.

[Dan G]

I think Brown is one of the really under-rated players of our generation, probably because of the fact that his albums under his own name don't get the recognition that his work with Parker does, and in those bands it's hard to take the limelight away from Parker and Drake or Ibarra or...whoever. And yes, the comparison to Lyons is good, but in the same way that Lyons can be compared to Bird. Taking something great, moving it away from the original, and making something great of your own from it.

Some of my favorite examples of his playing are The Peach Orchard, Whit Dickey's Transonic, and Matthew Shipp's Points. Under his own name (or coleader), some highlights are High Wire, Breath Rhyme, and Orbits (with Heinz Geisser and Guiermo Mazzolo).


My favorite Rob Brown moment was at an In Order to Survive gig in toronto in about 1997 or 98; the whole band was going full tilt, and Ibarra sort of loses control (something that doesn't happen too often) and hits one of the small drums she had on the side. The bolt holding the thing onto its stand breaks or comes out for some reason. The big wingnut from it hits Brown in the temple. He just flinched a bit, and didn't miss a note. Susie finished the set down one drum.

[sonic1]

I forgot about the Dickey discs where he is just great.

[Nate Dorward]

Originally Posted by Dan G

My favorite Rob Brown moment was at an In Order to Survive gig in toronto in about 1997 or 98; the whole band was going full tilt, and Ibarra sort of loses control (something that doesn't happen too often) and hits one of the small drums she had on the side. The bolt holding the thing onto its stand breaks or comes out for some reason. The big wingnut from it hits Brown in the temple. He just flinched a bit, and didn't miss a note. Susie finished the set down one drum.

Yeah that was a great concert, though I don't remember the flying shrapel episode!

[Jesse]

It's funny there is a refrain here about his underrated status, as he is the sax player whom I was strongly encouraged to give a relisten to, by Derek, Cappy Hate & several others.

My initial exposure to Brown was the microtonally-slanted Magnetism, which I don't spin very often.

He's volcanic on O'Neal's Porch. I hear Lyons in the mix as well.

[jazzfiend]

Rob Brown is indeed one of the premier alto sax players of modern times.

Agree with the sessions mentioned. I'm also quite high on his Marge cd, Visage, as well as another fine trio disc, Round the Bend (Bleu Regard).

[relyles]

Peach Orchard is something that I need to get back to. It seems to always be mentioned favorably. I have it, but I have to confess that the few times I have tried to listen to it I was unable to sustain the concentration necessary to fully appreciate the recording. It does not really have anything to do with the recording itself, instead it is more a relation to the circumstances under which I tried to listen to it i.e. while driving and listening on a portable CD player in the park while waiting for a live peformance to start. Peach Orchard is a little more intense than some of the other things I have heard with Brown and will require a more attentive listen.

I have been meaning to pick up a couple of the Whit Dickey discs.

[LeMo]

Not as great as Marco Eneidi, but I like Rob brown playing when he is push by a heated rythm section.

"Highwire" is a great album, particularly in the last tune or the one just before, don't remember exactly, when William Parker seems to "explode" his amp. "Round the Bend" is also a very good one.

As a sideman, what he plays on "The Peach Orchard" (who is, IMO, easily the best Parker) and on "Prophet Moon" with the Whit Dickey Trio Ahxoloxha (I bought that one for his Julio Cortazar's palyndrome name, first, and was glad that the music stand up to the title of the band) are the best work he has done.

I, too, hear, a mix of Jimmy Lyon and Eric Dolphy in his playng when I hear a mix of Jimmy Lyon and Ornette Coleman in Marco Eneidi's one.

Originally Posted by relyles

Peach Orchard is something that I need to get back to. It seems to always be mentioned favorably. I have it, but I have to confess that the few times I have tried to listen to it I was unable to sustain the concentration necessary to fully appreciate the recording. It does not really have anything to do with the recording itself, instead it is more a relation to the circumstances under which I tried to listen to it i.e. while driving and listening on a portable CD player in the park while waiting for a live peformance to start. Peach Orchard is a little more intense than some of the other things I have heard with Brown and will require a more attentive listen.

You really should pay it another visit, relyles.

The thing that first struck me about that album was the stellar piano work from Cooper-Moore. But the intensity and depth of concentration you can hear going on between all the players is just awe inspiring.

The title track still get me all wound up inside!

[Frisco]

Rob's playing Saturday night in a great quartet at the new Vision place with Steve Swell, Joe Morris (bass), and Luther Gray. He's long been a favorite of mine, ever since I heard him in the mid 90's with In Order to Survive at the Old Knit. Recently, he and Perry Robinson (both struggling, unmiked, to be heard above the drums) played a feverish set at PS 122 with Parker and Alvin Fielder.

Sometimes, when he's performing, he gets into a zone where the notes just fly, almost effortlessly, into a mesmerizing swirl of soulful flurries. A few years back at the Knit's "What is Jazz" festival, Rob had the ill fortune of being slotted a 1:00am set in the Tap Bar, following a Clusone Trio set. The majority of the crowd left, but some 50 people stayed on, half of them gabbing at the bar while Rob, William, and Jackson Krall set off into the stratosphere. It was one of those incredible sets where the sounds were transformed beyond music to some higher plane. A few months later I asked Rob about that set and he said that he was sitting at home until late in the evening, dragged himself out of the house around midnight to get to the Knit, felt kind of oblivious to the surroundings, and just ripped (not his words, but that was the message).

I'm not sure that there is yet a record that captures that spirit. Perhaps "Breath Rhyme" comes close. Hey, he has a few sets slated for Vision Fest, and I would imagine that he'll be part of Karen Borca's group as well.

[Gary Sisco]

Derek Taylor once called him (Rob told me) "the Clark Kent of free jazz." Pretty accurate, I'd say.

I think he's great. He might be my favorite alto (apart from Jackie Mac, who wears the crown so long as he lives, which of course I hope is for many more years). In fact, I can't think of an alto I like more, right now.

His leader dates are well worth checking out. All of the five or so that I have are keepers and then some.

Looking forward tonight to listening to the brand new William Parker Quartet release, as a matter of fact.

One thing I love about his playing: Sometimes he'll start up with what at first sounds like saxophonist noodling, running the same series of notes up and down his horn. At first you think, Oh, man, everybody does this. And then you realize that while he's doing it, he's accenting certain of those notes, so that in fact what's happening is the "usual" noodling but *also* he's got another little melodic or rhythmic thing happening in there as well, within the accented notes.

A great player who's more than earned the props he's yet to fully receive outside his native niche (the Vision crew of players, more or less, as well as the related listeners of that scene, of which I consider myself one).

Wicked nice, polite, open cat, as well, and straight edge as they come.

[relyles]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Looking forward tonight to listening to the brand new William Parker Quartet release, as a matter of fact.

Is this out already? This is the release on AUM Fidelity? I am looking forward to picking that up as soon as it is released.

[relyles]

Just ordered the new William Parker quartet release from the AUM Fidelity website. Can't wait to get it.

[Captain Hate]

Originally Posted by Jesse

He's volcanic on O'Neal's Porch. I hear Lyons in the mix as well.

I go by my original statement that he's never been better than on "O'Neal's Porch". I saw him at Vision Fest 99 with Whit Dickey (he might have been in that Vision Fest Orchestra that fuckwad Alan Silva mismanaged so goddam badly; peace and love Alan: Bite my crank, you fucking poseur). He had the great icy tone on alto that was all dressed up, but he like had a governor on his horn whereby he couldn't take the next step up. Either he was on acid for O'Neal's Porch or something removed the constraints because it was like "Yeah, this is what I wannna hear". He's been pretty good on some of the subsequent discs, as Nate has mentioned, but I swear he was channelling Marshall Allen on O'Neal's Porch.

[Jesse]

You're dangerously close (again) to seeing that Silva snippet sent over to "Memorable Quotes". LOL.

[Captain Hate]

I warned you in that pm last night; btw the burns are done and will be in the mail tomorrow. You're in for a *great* experience!!!!

relyles must have me on his ignore list.


That sucks..............

[Nate Dorward]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

relyles must have me on his ignore list.


That sucks..............

Nah, he probably just has The Peach Orchard on his ignore list.....

[Gary Sisco]

If you dug the swinging tracks on "O'Neal's Porch," you'll dig the new one, "Sound Unity," a mix of live recordings from Vancouver and Montreal, where The quartet comes out in power-swing mode and stays there, through to the last sound.

[relyles]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

relyles must have me on his ignore list.


That sucks..............

Why do you say that? Did I miss something? I don't have an ignore list.

I am going to take your advice and try to give Peach Orchard an attentive listen as soon as possible.

[relyles]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

If you dug the swinging tracks on "O'Neal's Porch," you'll dig the new one, "Sound Unity," a mix of live and studio recordings, where The quartet comes out in power-swing mode and stays there, through to the last sound.

I have a copy of a radio broadcast of the group's performance in St. Anna Arresi, Italy last September, which is terrific. Since I am assuming the new disc was recorded shortly before, I have high expectations.

[lazy]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

One thing I love about his playing: Sometimes he'll start up with what at first sounds like saxophonist noodling, running the same series of notes up and down his horn. At first you think, Oh, man, everybody does this. And then you realize that while he's doing it, he's accenting certain of those notes, so that in fact what's happening is the "usual" noodling but *also* he's got another little melodic or rhythmic thing happening in there as well, within the accented notes.

That's called hidden polyphony man!

[Gary Sisco]

Relyles -- Your broadcast tape would have been shortly afterward, as the tracks on the CD were recorded last summer on their Canadian tour (Montreal and Vancouver).

[relyles]

I relistened to the first disc of Peach Orchard late last night when the rest of the family was sleep and was able to focus on the music much more attentively than before. I am thinking of making this my featured recording of the week and give it as many listens as possible. Thanks for encouraging me to revisit this one.

Originally Posted by relyles

I relistened to the first disc of Peach Orchard late last night when the rest of the family was sleep and was able to focus on the music much more attentively than before. I am thinking of making this my featured recording of the week and give it as many listens as possible. Thanks for encouraging me to revisit this one.

There's a lot there to take in.

Enjoy it, brother!!!