Nov 6, 2019
Brother in arms Malachi Thompson offers his “Lament,” which begins in the darkest recesses of the assembled instruments, gurgling like didgeridoos behind Bowie’s freshly gilded warbling.
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Brother in arms Malachi Thompson offers his “Lament,” which begins in the darkest recesses of the assembled instruments, gurgling like didgeridoos behind Bowie’s freshly gilded warbling.
Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy
I Only Have Eyes For You
@ 1985 W Germany Pressing
*****
Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy’s debut album is a deliberate provocation. The band, a nonet consisting of four trumpets, two trombones, a French horn, tuba and drums, displays Bowie’s love for pop music while clearly being in the jazz tradition, the album is released on ECM Records, a label that is famous for its clean and perfect sound. The band is extremely cool and tight (especially Bob Stewart on tuba, Steve Turre on trombone and Philip Wilson on drums), the sound is full of emotional depth and the selection of the tracks – from The Flamingo’s doo wop classic “I Only Have Eyes For You” to Bob Stewart’s majestic and uplifting “Nonet” – take the concept of Ancient to the Future to the next level because in spite of the pop approach the music breathes the spirit of gospel and blues. Lester Bowie’s “Coming Back, Jamaica”, is one of the best reggae tracks ever, which is dominated by the mother of all tuba solos. One of my all-time-favorite albums!
Vitko
The French have every reason to be proud of Django Reinhardt. Jean Cocteau called him "the guitar with the human voice". Anyone can dip into his performances and possibly find something they love. It is not possible to sample any of Lester Bowie's performances with the same results. Bowie has the same "trumpet with a human voice" style as Louis Armstrong. Let countless angels sing Pops to his rest, by the way. On the other hand, Bowie stood on the gnarly, broken ground of free jazz. He was a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, one of the flagships of free jazz. On this CD, it is the paradign of Gate, the model of Dipper, the tone of Louis Armstrong that holds the cards. On Ken Burns' TV series 'Jazz' Bowie told of pointing his horn out an open window when he practiced. He wanted Pops to hear him, a green tinhorn who did not know all his scales, and hire him for his band. Now, there is such a thing as 'funk' (pronounced as 'fonk' in New Orleans, Louisiana) in this world. Funk propels this band, courtesy of of Bob Stewart's tuba and Phillip Wilson's drums. Presiding over all is an incarnation of Armstrong, a vision in a white lab coat whenever he played for an audience, Lester Bowie. A varied programme of covers and originals is presented. The opening and title track is a revelation, with the band creating a floating groove that inspires Bowie to coax beautiful slurs from his trumpet. "Think" ends as soon as it starts. "Lament" begins with a series of drones from the horns, then slow paced chords usher in the solo by Stanton Davis. "Coming back, Jamaica" is worthy of special mention. Bowie was interested in the music of Jamaica so he moved there for a few years, putting the career of the Art Ensemble on hold. It is, in essence, reggae with Bob Stewart's tuba laying down the beats. "Nonet" was written by Stewart and recorded by him with a very different band on his CD, "First line". It is an ensemble piece, light on solos. Like Ellington, it is wonderful to hear how the chord voicings change. "When the spirit returns" is another slow starter, drones humming along until Stewart and Wilson signal that the fun should commence. And so another ending. All wholes are greater than the sum of their parts. The members of the Brass Fantasy and their leader are all fine players, in some cases leaders in their own right. I don't know why Lester Bowie always wore a white lab coat on stage. Maybe it made him feel like a Mad Professor of Trumpet in conjunction with his forked beard. He is gone, now, courtesy of prostate cancer. If you never saw him playing live you really missed something.
Frances Huntington
Bowie himself rounds out the set with two tunes. “Coming Back, Jamaica” is a respectful taste of the islands, grafted by chanting voices and supernatural lines, not to mention a tuba solo to end all tuba solos. “When The Spirit Returns,” on the other hand, is a trudge and a half, but one that shoulders a burden of hope which it offers to us with mounting selflessness.
“I Only Have Eyes For You” it was Lester’s first record with his new group, Brass Fantasy, and for my money, this lineup is my favorite. And of all the subsequent Brass Fantasy albums, this first one is my favorite. The basic (and I know it’s not cool to reduce a great concept down to something so basic) premise for the group seems to have been: take some pop tunes and make arrangements for a brass band of improvisers with the lead role going to the great singer of songs, Lester Bowie. So if that’s the schtick with this band, then maybe why I like this first album so much is the fact that this first album only features one pop tune cover; the other five tracks are originals, two of which are Lester compositions. The cover feature here is obviously the title track which dates back to the early 30’s, but the version everyone today knows is the most popular: the 1959 version of “I Only Have Eyes For You” by the Flamingos. The Flamingos were a classic doowop group and they had their share of hits, but their version of this tune is one of the classic recordings of all time. It’s just magical. Here, listen. Awesome, right? Now, check out the Brass Fantasy version. It’s longer than the Flamingos version but it stays pretty faithful to that 1959 arrangement, even down to those amazing “doo bop shoo bops.” I can hear Lester playing the words and I love how he sings that diminished feel coming out of the bridge each time the bands repeats. So many great sounds of Lester’s ridiculously huge arsenal of amazing trumpet sounds come out in this recording. He’s really a vocalist stuck with a trumpet. And dig Vincent Chancey’s French horn. Perfect.
What a great start to an amazing record. Another gem on this record is “Think” by trumpeter Bruce Purce (never heard of him before or after this record! Have you??). Malachi Thompson’s “Lament” is also pretty special. Lester’s two compositions on this record “Coming Home Jamaica” and “When the Spirit Returns” are also pretty sweet (some classic Lester on these) and indicative of the kinds of tunes he wrote and often played with later versions of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. And then there’s the great tuba monster Bob Stewart who is always the rock of Brass Fantasy albums. His tune “Nonet” is probably the most “avant” on this album. It’s amazing. Wonderful arrangement and spectacular group playing and improvisation. All in all, it’s a really special album from a performance standpoint and fro a compositional standpoint. Although some of the future Brass Fantasy records resort to kinda dialed-in, almost cheesy arrangements of pop tunes, the band never compromises here. There is some adventuresome and powerful playing and writing on this first album.
Have I sold you on this record yet? :)... If you like brass instruments, if you like trumpet, if you like Lester Bowie, if you like The Flamingos, if you like jazz, if you like good music, then you really should consider adding this album to your collection. (_by Outside Pants)
Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy
Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy - I Only Have Eyes For You
What a fabulous rendition of this song!
jazz
