#perry robinson

[dialoogid]

Gunter Hampel + Galaxie Dream Band - Life on This Planet 1981 (1981)

[gottahavesoul]

Archie Shepp - Mama Too Tight (1967)

Personnel:

Archie Shepp: tenor saxophone

Tommy Turrentine: trumpet

Grachan Moncur III: trombone

Roswell Rudd: trombone

Howard Johnson: tuba

Perry Robinson: clarinet

Charlie Haden: bass

Beaver Harris: drums

Yes...

[merzbow-derek]

GUNTER HAMPEL GALAXIE DREAM BAND, NDR-JAZZWORKSHOP 1972

Avec Jeanne Lee, Perry Robinson...

[puutterings]

the passage of time, saving everything; all junk is valuable. but.

  “Men are beasts,” and all the kids ended up being affected by that. His dad Morris was a beautiful guy; he loved gardening, and he was a true maestro of the earth. He had a great little philosophical essay about puttering: “The primary object of puttering is the passage of time with calmness and tranquility... One of the cardinal virtues of correct and inefficient puttering is saving everything; all junk is valuable puttering material... A true putterer never accepts pay for his stuff, advice or time; the satisfaction is in producing the needed things and fixing the fixable things, doing something for his fellow man” (Ballad of an American, page 8). But...

on his grandfather Morris, in Perry Robinson : The Traveler (autobiography of jazz clarinetist Perry Robinson, with Florence Wetzell, 2002) : link

Perry Robinson (1938-2018) wikipedia : link

—

the quote is from his father’s Ballad of an American : The Autobiography of Earl Robinson (2001) : link Earl Robinson (1910-91), wikipedia : link

Which brings me to the LoC entry for the Federal Theatre Project collection, 1932-1943 permalink and its 308-page finding aid linked therein; and the Living Newspaper project, that was the subject of Patricia Ronayne McVey’s thesis (USC, 1953) asfaltics archive : 1415 and 1416  

[dustedmagazine]

Bobby Naughton/Leo Smith/Perry Robinson – The Haunt (No Business)

Carving out any sort of sustained fiscal security as an improvising musician has never been a painless prospect. Innumerable talented players have relied on day gigs and side incomes over the course of their careers or folded entirely under the pressures borne of sporadic solvency. Charles Mingus had a postal gig. Jemeel Moondoc worked as an architectural drafting assistant. The list is lengthy and varied. Bobby Naughton eventually had to trade a career in music for one as a locksmith in order to pay the bills with regularity, leaving behind both contacts and a bold body of work appeared to presage even great things. The Haunt comes as an artifact from the apex of that earlier period, a reissue of an album where all the pieces fell into accordance and the results were an arguable masterstroke.

Originally a pianist prior picking up vibraphone, Naughton caught some fortuitous early breaks, shifting from rock into the orbit of trumpeter (Wadada) Leo Smith and becoming an active agent in the Connecticut creative music network of the 1970s. He was integral member of Smith’s New Dalta Ahkri ensemble starting in 1974 and eventually appearing on the Black Saint album Go In Numbers, a record with more than a modicum in common with Naughton’s own. The two musicians were also closely involved in the Creative Music Improviser’s Forum, a collective based loosely on Chicago’s AACM of which Smith was also a member. Naughton’s associations with clarinetist Perry Robinson dated from even earlier as a frequent visitor on the NYC Loft Jazz scene.

The five original compositions for the project allowed for an unusual degree of individual freedom coupled to constructions that ensured consistent, but unrestrictive adherence to forms. Influenced by close study of composers George Russell and Carla Bley, his writing was also open to contrapuntal dynamism and spontaneity. The title piece and “Ordette”, in particular, blend extemporization and measured structure in a manner that places each instrument in bold, but supportive relief. Robinson’s clarinet purrs and chortles while Smith muses through cleanly piercing elisions and Naughton shades the edges with tinkling chromatic clusters. The ensuing effect is often a disarming ensemble weightlessness that loses nothing in the way of melodic and harmonic potency or merit. The tripartite colloquy resembles lively chamber jazz that relaxes the pinions without ever floating out of focus too far.

Public reception to the both the album and the sold out live performance that followed it per the requirements of Naughton’s funding grant were strongly positive with critic Nat Hentoff even heralding him as “the most creatively original vibist now in jazz.” Such an unfettered encomium, while valuable in the moment, regrettably didn’t parlay into lasting acclaim and Naughton eventually had to table his dreams for the compulsory day gig. The story has belatedly happy ending though as now-retired he’s been once again making music with Smith. This set delivers a germane and genuinely inspiring reminder of the state of his art four decades ago.

Derek Taylor

[aural-art-blog]

[encyclopediedujazz]

[de-salva]

Visit Original Link

ANAT FORT - Just Now (Var. 1)

Alb. "A Long Story" (2007)

Personnel:

Anat Fort - piano; Perry Robinson - clarinet; Ed Schuller - double bass; Paul Motian - drums