home

The Vinyl Press

  • Features
  • Records
  • Cleaning – Care
  • Editorials
  • Compendia
  • Ephemera
  • Phono
  • About
You are here: Home / Records / Ronnie Boykins (The Will Come, Is Now)

Ronnie Boykins (The Will Come, Is Now)

September 30, 2019 by Bill Hart Leave a Comment

Ronnie Boykins (The Will Come, Is Now)

Ronnie Boykins was a disciple of Sun Ra’s Arkestra with a long list of credits as a bassist.  This album, which is Boykins’ sole release as a band leader, is great fun. It starts with “The Will Come, Is Now,” a good simple bass line that is joined by an agglomeration of horns that sound, well, a little “off”—maybe somewhat out of tune, a little discordant, it could be just a free jazz thing where everybody is playing something different, but I find it amusing. They knock it into shape as they get going, though, and it gets better as the instruments cohere.

The horns transition beautifully from alto to soprano to tenor and what sounds like discord now begins to make more sense. The drums are crisp snare and deep kick drum; the trombone (a neglected instrument) is beautifully set against the percussion and that relentless bass line. The sonics on this album are extremely good in the sense that the instruments sound very real- listen to the bowed bass against the various percussion bits in that section of the first track—stark and uncluttered and you get a real sense of the original recording space. When the band comes back in, and reprises the original theme, you are now fully accustomed to this sound and probably wouldn’t have it any other way—they sneak some gorgeous harmonies into the off-center playing, enough to know it’s deliberate.

“Starlight at the Wonder Inn” is far more “normal” sounding, with a warm bowed bass and very controlled horns playing something that is melodic and extremely accessible. This track, alone, is worth the cost of the album- demo level material that could compete with the best of the cherished “audiophile” stuff. If you love the sound of double bass, in the hands of a consummate player, you’ll love this track. When the horns come back in, the bass still defines the melodic line—it’s almost traditional but performed with an edge and the depth and harmonics of the instrument are on full display.

The first side finishes with a bit of cacophony entitled “Demon’s Dance”, described in the liner notes as “[e]nsemble solos.”  The band comes together at the end in unison.

The “B” side also contains three tracks. The first, “Dawn is Evening, Afternoon” starts with a slow horn ensemble drawing you in when the soloing begins—competing saxes that meet and swing away into their own excursions. Boykins keeps it together on the bass and Art Lewis, on percussion, is masterful here. We return to what sounds like a funereal lament-for some reason the bass isn’t as pronounced in the mix at the end, which is a truly minor quibble.

“Tipping on Heels” has a jazzy horn orchestra that sounds like it is playing in a big room.

The album finishes with “The Third I,” which as you might gather, is a little “out there”—various noise makers on intro with some horn blats, various explorations of percussion, horn inventions, a nice bit on flute.

The copy reviewed here is an original pressing from 1975 on ESP-Disk. That label had some fascinating releases, most of them of the avant-garde variety—free jazz, The Fugs, a mix of underground, a lot of notable players and some historic live releases. There are a number of articles on the web about the label and Bernard Stollman, its founder, as well as “best of” lists that are probably worth a read. The label is still active, though Stollman has passed away.

In the meantime, this record, which sounds fabulous and has some tracks that are truly enjoyable, is more than just a collector’s piece or a musical oddity. Well worth finding a clean playing copy if you are going to bother.

 

Bill Hart

Austin, TX

September, 2019

 

Filed Under: Records

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

In Brief:

Incoming- Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising

Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising   A 21st century rock opera? Recorded to tape? And mastered at Bernie Grundman’s shop? I’ve started to explore this box (3 LPs, 2 CDs and a substantial book) in more depth and plan on interviewing the producer in an upcoming piece. … [Read More...]

Power to the People-Back Up Generator

    Shortly after the Texas "big freeze" in February 2021, I contacted various vendors of back up generators. Some did not bother to respond, a few came out, ostensibly to give me a quote and I never heard from them again. One vendor did send me a blank form with a very high total price, without completing the cost analysis for running gas lines, electrical wiring and the other things that are "adds" to the cost of the generator itself.  I kicked this around for a while-- given the heat in Central Texas during the summer--110F for days on end, we got constant warnings last summer (2023) to reduce power consumption, lest we suffer rolling blackouts. And then there's the fact that Austin really isn't "built" for freezing temperatures. Black ice with no road crews, downed power lines, and demand that teeters off the edge of power failure catastrophe. I do not want to go into the power grid … [Read More...]

Incoming-Know what I mean?

Cannonball Adderley's "Know what I mean? is a warhorse, to be sure,but one that deserves its reputation. I was prompted to explore a few different pressings as a result of a thread on the Hoffman forum: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/do-you-have-cannonball-adderley-bill-evans-know-what-i-mean-the-best-sounding-vintage-jazz-lp.1175660/  I used to shop these OJCs as bargains back in the day when Tower Records was thriving. They were a solid entry point into some very good sounding jazz--some of it "straight ahead" but well made, taken from analog masters for the most part and did I say cheap? Back in the day, these were bargain records when they were released, and until the more recent surge in prices of older LPs, could be readily found for little money.  The recent Craft reissue cut by Kevin Gray has brought renewed attention to the record. I thought it might be fun to do a … [Read More...]

We’re Back!

We’re Back! Some fresh content for your consideration. Neil Antin did some modest updates to his seminal book on Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records. Neil did not regard these changes as a “new version” so the download is now 3.1 with a “Record of Changes” at the end. I’ve talked to Peter Ulrich, the drummer from Dead Can Dance a few times over the years because I was fascinated by the group. They hit it big in audiophile circles with “Into the Labyrinth” which became a “demo” record with the MoFi release. I got that, but also sought out an original 4AD pressing, and as I delved into their music, bought more original copies- they were not crazy expensive at the time. When Peter told me he was doing a book on the history of his involvement with the band, I was eager to read it. It offers some great insight into a period when this band was inventing new sounds in the post-punk … [Read More...]

Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures- Peter Ulrich

  Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures Peter Ulrich   I didn’t really get on to Dead Can Dance until “Into the Labyrinth,” their most popular LP that made the audiophile rounds here in the States. 4AD, their label, wasn’t well distributed in the US when the band was first developing, it wasn’t exactly mainstream stuff here, even in the audiophile community. Yet the band had a following, starting in Australia, where Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry had a band and moved to a council flat in London where the two met our narrator, a soon to be jobless publicist for a theatrical/live show venue. Ulrich had the time, interest, musical background, and chops as a drummer to become part of their band. So we get the story of DCD from the outset of their adventures in England, playing local venues and developing a following. The scene was a sort of post-punk, … [Read More...]

Terms of Use ·  Copyright © 2025 The Vinyl Press.com ·  Privacy Policy
A service of Flying Reptile Media Group ·  Contact


Register | Login to Comment | Comments FAQ

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in