Two sessions from the white heat of mid-sixties New York, drawn from the ESP-Disk archive and returned to full clarity in the new Reference series from AlAy, the Basel imprint curated by Werner X. Uehlinger. The Call brings together the only recording ever made under the direction of the painter, engineer and multi-instrumentalist Marzette Watts and the sole date led by the great bassist Henry Grimes, the connecting thread between the two, in a single volume with sonic restoration and mastering by Michael Brändli and new liner notes by Art Lange.
Recorded in December 1965, the Henry Grimes Trio session finds the bassist, fresh from the bands of Rollins, Ayler, Cecil Taylor and Pharoah Sanders, in the company of clarinettist Perry Robinson and drummer Tom Price. It is free music of rare concision: pointed, pithy pieces built on sombre themes for unison clarinet and bowed bass, from the overlapping tempos of Fish Story to the subterranean lyricism of For Django and the three-note motif of Son Of Alfalfa. A year later, Watts convened an astonishing ensemble in his Cooper Square loft: Byard Lancaster, Clifford Thornton, Sonny Sharrock, Karl Berger, Juni Booth and J.C. Moses, with Grimes at the centre. The music moves as a consensus of colours and textures, Sharrock's koto-like quivers and bristling clusters against Berger's bright vibes and the horns' passionate moans, culminating in the seventeen minutes of Backdrop For Urban Revolution, collective improvisation as an image of community in action.
Two contrasting faces of the freedom principle, restored with care and sounding better than they ever have. Essential listening for anyone drawn to the ESP orbit, and a moving document of two musicians whose message remains vital today.
Recordings and cover photo licensed from ESP-Disk. Sonic restoration and mastering by Michael Brändli, Hardstudios AG. Cover photo by Ray Gibson. Liner notes by Art Lange. Graphic concept by fuhrer vienna. Curated by Werner X. Uehlinger.
