Relativity Suite
Encyclopedia
Relativity Suite is a free-jazz LP
by Don Cherry
on Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Records JCOA LP 1006, which was released in 1973.
Scott Yanow
wrote: “Highlights include Selene Fung's lovely work on the ching, a Chinese koto-like instrument, and Ed Blackwell
's exuberant New Orleans marching
patterns on the concluding number. While not as breathtaking or cohesive as his Eternal Rhythm
, Relativity Suite almost matches that release in its first half and contains many a worthwhile joy.”
and Carla Bley
, Cherry was commissioned to write the third one in 1970. He used many of the same musicians who contributed to the first two records and molded into a suite a string of the pieces he'd been composing and performing in the previous few years. Studying with Pandit Pran Nath
, Cherry was increasingly using Indian karnatic
singing in his recordings and concerts and he starts the album with a similarly derived chant."
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
by Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
on Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group founded in 1965, to further avant-garde jazz in New York. Carla Bley and Michael Mantler were important in its organization and style....
Records JCOA LP 1006, which was released in 1973.
Criticism
Jazz criticCritic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
wrote: “Highlights include Selene Fung's lovely work on the ching, a Chinese koto-like instrument, and Ed Blackwell
Ed Blackwell
Ed Blackwell was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, known for his extensive work with Ornette Coleman....
's exuberant New Orleans marching
Marching
See also: Loaded marchMarching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady and rhythmic walking forward, usually associated with military troops.Marching is often performed to march music, and often associated with military parades....
patterns on the concluding number. While not as breathtaking or cohesive as his Eternal Rhythm
Eternal Rhythm (album)
Eternal Rhythm is a live jazz album composed by Don Cherry. It was recorded at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1968.-Track listing:1. "Eternal Rhythm Part I" - 17:49 *a. Baby's Breath*b. "Sonny Sharock"*c. Turkish Prayer...
, Relativity Suite almost matches that release in its first half and contains many a worthwhile joy.”
Background
Having appeared on the first two JCOA records by Michael MantlerMichael Mantler
Michael Mantler is a composer and trumpeter in new jazz and contemporary music.-Career: United States:Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria...
and Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
, Cherry was commissioned to write the third one in 1970. He used many of the same musicians who contributed to the first two records and molded into a suite a string of the pieces he'd been composing and performing in the previous few years. Studying with Pandit Pran Nath
Pandit Pran Nath
Pandit Pran Nath was a Hindustani classical singer and teacher of the Kirana gharana , with a successful American career.-Early life:...
, Cherry was increasingly using Indian karnatic
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
singing in his recordings and concerts and he starts the album with a similarly derived chant."
Track listing
- "TantraTantraTantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
" – 8:00 - "MaliMaliMali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
Doussn’gouni" – 5:40 - "Desireless" – 1:22
- "The Queen of Tung-T'ing Lake" – 4:30
- "Trans-Love Airways" – 6:50
- "Infinite Gentleness" – 3:22
- "March Of The Hobbits" – 3:38
Personnel
- Don CherryDon Cherry (jazz)Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
- composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, conchConchA conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
, voice, percussion - Charles Brackeen – soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
, alto saxophone, voice - Carlos WardCarlos WardCarlos Ward is a jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He is best known as a sideman.His first instrument was the clarinet at age 13 when he lived in Seattle, Washington...
– alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, voice - Frank LoweFrank LoweFrank Lowe was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer.Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone and then moved to San Francisco...
– tenor sax, voice - Dewey RedmanDewey RedmanDewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
– tenor sax, voice - Sharon FreemanSharon FreemanSharon Freeman is a jazz pianist and French hornist. She also writes musical arrangements.Freeman played French horn for the jazz opera Escalator over the Hill, Gil Evans's 1973 album Svengali, and in 1983 she worked on a piece of jazz Christmas music. Since 1982 she is a member of Charlie Haden's...
– French horn - Brian Trentham – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Jack Jeffers – tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
- Leroy Jenkins – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Joan Kalisch – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Nan Newton – viola
- Pat Dixon – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Jane Robertson – cello
- Charlie HadenCharlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
– bass - Carla BleyCarla BleyCarla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Ed BlackwellEd BlackwellEd Blackwell was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, known for his extensive work with Ornette Coleman....
– drums - Paul MotianPaul MotianStephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
- drums, percussion - Moki Cherry – tamburaTamburaThe tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
(Trans-Love Airwars) - Selene Fung – ching
Production
- Producer: Don Cherry and the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra
- Publisher: Eternal River Music (BMI)
- Engineer: Eddie Korvin
- Cover: Quilt designed and handmade by Moki Cherry photographed by Gregory Reeve
- Back cover photography: Don and Eagle Eye Cherry by Jonathan Sa’ada
External links
- Article by jazz journalist Howard Mandel http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=920558579
- Jazz Composer’s Orchestra at All Music []