Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 (1980)

Fred Quartet Anderson - Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 (1980)

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CD Details

Artist: Fred Quartet Anderson
Edition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 2009-03-31
Music Label: ATAVISTIC
Soundtracks:

A Ballad For Rita
The Bull
Black Woman
Bombay (Children Of Cambodia)
Planet E

Music reviews of Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 (1980)

Music Review: WOW!
Rating: 5 Stars

This session, recorded live in 1980, could not sound more current or modern. Tenor saxophonist Anderson is a formidable soloist and trumpeter Brimfield is a sympathetic partner in this rhythmically and harmonically adventuresome quartet. Throughout the session, Hayrod lays down solid bass lines behind the horns; his occasional, relatively short solos are interesting if not memorable. The two giants in this group are Anderson and drummer-percussionist Hamid Drake. Anderson has the ability to sound eminently modern while also being approachable --I'd love to hear him record with David Murray or Hamiett Bluiett, two other modernist giants with an equally strong feeling for rhythm and sound. Anderson's six minute solo on "A Ballad for Rita" has to be heard to be believed; Drake's drumming behind him (the trumpet lays out) is exceptional. Drake could move a band of zombies, he is so strong! Drake's sound is crisp and strong; his use of and varying of simple rhythm patterns is masterful. It's difficult to pick a favorite cut on this exceptionally strong CD, but I lean toward the trio on "A Ballad for Rita" and the twenty-some minute long quartet session, "The Bull." There is, regretably, one weak cut on the CD. On "Bombay Woman," the riff melody is repeated behind the horn soloists by bassist Hayrod: it is melodically and rhythmically limiting, and the piece quickly grows boring. Drake plays tablas on this cut and it doesn't make it. In short, "woman" is an interesting attempt but no cigar. But this is a minor flaw in a record that every lover of contemporary jazz should own.

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Description of Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 (1980)

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Saxophonist Fred Anderson was one of the visionaries to help launch the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) back in the 1960s, putting together band members who would eventually become the Art Ensemble of Chicago. For various reasons, it took until the '90s for the sage master's work to register with folks outside Chicago, but Anderson's been busy playing all along, as this 1980 concert album underscores. Here he's joined by trumpeter Billy Brimfield, bassist Larry Hayrod, and already-accomplished young drummer Hamid Drake (with whom Anderson's collaborated with scores of times since). Another volume in Atavistic's Unheard Music Series, this unreleased live 8-track recording session from a forgotten space in Milwaukee. True to form, Anderson blows long and hard throughout, but Brimfield handles the gale-force woodwind, matching the tenor's wind and velocity with numerous brassy counterpunches. For those who've wondered what Fred Anderson was doing between his original launch and resurgent popularity in the '90s, this is potent proof that jazz was far from dead in the Midwest back in the '80s. --Tad Hendrickson