Azar Lawrence- Prayer for My Ancestors

May 20, 2020 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Azar Lawrence- Prayer for My Ancestors

Azar Lawrence, whose work as a sideman (including with McCoy Tyner after Coltrane’s death) is well recognized, has been enjoying a recent resurgence -two of his albums from the mid-‘70s as a featured performer have been reissued by the Jazz Dispensary. This album seems to have been neglected so far and is worth seeking out, though I have only found it on CD (and even that has not been so easy to find). Released in 2008, Prayer for my Ancestors has a killer roster of players: Nate Morgan on piano, Henry Franklin (whose album, “The Skipper,” is one of the best in the Black Jazz label catalog) on bass and Alphonzo Mouzon, one of the founding members of Weather Report, on drums. The compositions vary, from hot jazz combo work to folk ballad to soul jazz to more exotic, Eastern influenced stuff. It’s varied enough to keep you engaged and recorded well.

“Open Sesame”- the magic words that open the sealed entrance to the treasure. And here, that’s a cooking opener.

“Under Tanzanian Skies”- a mellow reflection of endless possibilities, Lawrence’s sound on what I assume is a soprano sax has a nasal, reedy sound that is a perfect lead; Franklin, who apparently wrote the composition performs a “study” on bass before we return to the main theme. Beautiful song.

“Thokole”-guitar by Ibrihim Ba, who wrote and sings this piece. It’s an almost universal folk song—could be almost any culture, place or time. There’s a kora being played here, a multi-string instrument played by Amadou Fall. Just lovely.

“Prayer for My Ancestors”-full of soul from the open notes by Lawrence, juxtaposed against bowed bass, the song maintains a deliberately slow pace as Lawrence sails above the mass of instruments below. Those bass notes are a perfect counterpoint. Morgan’s piano is deliberately muted. The track ends too soon for me.

“The Baker’s Daughter”- this piece has some swagger and gives Lawrence room to wail. There’s a trumpet part that sneaks in, and Morgan shows his stuff on the piano, the drum solo is just right and we return to theme, a horn led trot that takes us out close to the edge, but the horn is never strident and the song fades to end.

“Swinging in Exile”- if I was hanging in a club in Tangier, watching the mysteries of life unfold in an exotic locale, I’d want this song playing — it’s hot jazz, played so coolly by Morgan and the band that it’s like a refreshing cocktail that warms and chills at the same time. Stunning sax work by Lawrence here—and that riff he plays could be the basis for a whole other song.

“Ode to Pharoah”- I guess Lawrence owes a debt to Pharoah Sanders as much as he does to John Coltrane. This is a lullaby- a slow paced ballad that unfolds easily- Morgan’s keyboard work in sync with the bass (credited to Tony Dumas) is a joy to hear.

“Linda G.”- swinging, hot paced riff that sets us up for some quality sax work by Lawrence, high-hat snapping and Morgan’s playing is grand—Linda Gordon is credited as co-writer of the song bearing her name. She should feel honored by this performance.

A stunning record that should be more accessible. It deserves a decent vinyl release. Well worth the trouble to find a copy on CD in the meantime.

Bill Hart

Austin, TX

May, 2020

There Is No “Magic Bullet” in Hi-Fi

There Is No “Magic Bullet” in Hi-Fi No Magic Solutions I’ve spent some time on the audio chat fora over the years. Many popular threads these days are devoted to cheap improvements that can be made using audiophile “tweaks” or repurposed non-audiophile products. These can be applied to isolate gear, enhance the signals or connections or otherwise address some perceived problem that, once solved, offers to raise the level of music reproduction. It’s like a cheap solution to upgrade your system: from audiophile fuses, special wires (beyond simply having a high-quality interconnect, speaker wire or power cable) and other tweaks, to contact fluids and other things that you can attach to power sources, equipment, or place in the room (bowls, various harmonizers or active resonators, noise harvesters, etc.) This is apart from room treatment, which is sui generis; that is, every situation is … [Read More...]

Milt Ward Reissue-release date May 6, 2022

Milt Ward Reissue-release date May 6, 2022 Andreas Vingaard, of Frederiksberg Records, dropped me a note that the Milt Ward & Virgo Spectrum record about which much has been written here will be available on vinyl beginning on May 9, 2022. However, several promo emails today, Friday, May 6, 2022 say the record is available NOW via Bandcamp (see link below). The reissue was done with the participation of Milt Ward’s family and includes comprehensive notes in a booklet. Given the price of original pressings, this should be worthwhile even if not taken from the master tape. I plan to get a copy and we’ll do a shoot-out with my “OG” pressing. I’m sure some of you are willing to brook a little sonic compromise to get access to an otherwise very hard to find, expensive spiritual jazz rarity. At the time of this writing there is one copy on Discogs in NM condition for media for over … [Read More...]

Milt Ward Virgo Reissue Coming from Frederiksberg

Although I don't have all the details yet, I have learned that Frederiksberg Records, a small, eclectic label from New York, is in the process of reissuing the hard to find (and even harder to pay for) jazz obscurity, Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum. You can find out more by keeping tabs on Frederiksberg's Bandcamp page, https://frederiksbergrecords.bandcamp.com I'm told there is a bootleg out there so be careful. Frederiksberg is doing this project with the participation of the family of Milt Ward, which is to be applauded. Hopefully, this will give more access to a great jazz record at a reasonable price. The Roots album reissue from Frederiksberg (which is sold out on vinyl on the Frederiksberg Records bandcamp site) still appears to be available through some online retailers as a pre-order, so that's another one to jump on now if you can find it-- the original is extremely pricey and … [Read More...]

Clem Snide- Forever Just Beyond

Clem Snide- Forever Just Beyond With a name derived from a character in the same literary work as the band name so famously identified with the Walter Becker-Donald Fagen duo, Clem Snide has an extensive discography, typically cataloged as “alt country.” This latest release is the work of one of its founding members, Eef Barzelay, who was responsible for much of the songwriting and singing. According to his bio, Barzelay suffered some serious bumps in the road during the last decade, including a failing marriage and financial ruin. At the same time, he learned that Scott Avett was a fan and they found inspiration in each other, leading to this album- a collaboration of artistry where Avett and Barzelay share some writing credits and Avett produces. The result is a fresh, upbeat set of tunes that are appealing in their simplicity and refreshing in their sincerity. The band is first tier … [Read More...]

Muriel Grossmann- Reverence

Muriel Grossmann- Reverence Muriel Grossmann continues her quest for musical ascension on Reverence, which was released on vinyl in early December, 2019 on the RR Gems label as a 2 LP set. The compositions are Grossmann’s, and the band is much the same as the group of seasoned musicians with whom she has worked for some time (and detailed in the review of her Golden Rule), but for one notable exception: the addition of a keyboard player who brings that rich, woody Hammond B-3 sound to a series of compositions devoted to Africa. In some ways, Ms. Grossmann’s exploration of the roots of jazz deliberately eschews any superficial attempt to make African music. Instead, she draws inspiration from its influences, which are wide ranging and deep—you can hear rhythm and blues sounds mixed with more traditional African instrumentation and polyrhythms and come away with something that is both … [Read More...]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply