Craig Taborn "Light Made Lighter"

Another record I haven't listened to in forever but used to love: Craig Taborn's Light Made Lighter (Thirsty Ear, 2001). Shocking that this is the first Thirsty Ear record I've posted on here considering my love for the label and Blue Series mastermind Matthew Shipp. Promise to correct that in the coming weeks.

Light finds Taborn teamed with drummer Gerald Cleaver and bassist Chris Lightcap. "Crocodile" and "Whiskey Warm" are shared here. On the former, Lightcap keeps a halftime groove behind Cleaver and Taborn's hurried rhythms, the drummer and pianist locked in a duel and pushing to higher levels of intensity with each passing meter. "Whiskey Warm" finds Taborn hammering away at the piano, playing chunky, fat chords, his densely layered note structures creating a Coltrane-esque "wall of sound."



1. bodies we came out of (part 1)
2. st. ride
3. I cover the waterfront
4. crocodile
5. light made lighter
6. whisky warm
7. morning creatures
8. st. rangelhold
9. american landscape;
10. light made lighter (piano)
11. bodies we came out of (part 2)

Here's a cool New York Times show review from a 2009 performance.
Video of Taborn performing with Dave King @ the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis.
Review of Light Made Lighter from All About Jazz by Nils Jacobson.

The Guiseppi Logan Quartet

Been a minute. For the 5 people that follow this blog, sorry?



May as well just jump right in with something noise. Guiseppi Logan was probably insane, definitely did a lot of drugs, and spent most of three decades living in absolute obscurity before resurfacing in 2009 after being "discovered" by multi-media artist and journalist Suzannah Troy in Tompkins Square Park, NYC.

The Guiseppi Logan Quartet (not to be confused with The Guiseppi Logan Quintet album released last year... 45 years after this one!) is nothing short of brilliant and has long fascinated me. In so many ways it is the "best" of what late 60s free jazz was. "Dance of Satan," shared here, is nothing short of brilliant, a perfect example of what this era was all about. Logan performs alongside drummer Milford Graves, an obscure legend in his own right. Don Pullen shines on the piano. Eddie Gomez rounds out the 4-piece on bass.



The Guiseppi Logan Quartet - "The Guiseppi Logan Quartet"
1. Tabla Suite
2. Dance of Satan
3. Dialogue
4. Taneous
5. Bleecker Partita

Apparently only one interview with Guiseppi Logan exists, prior to his "rediscovery."

1966


2009


Sad... Logan isn't the only artist from this era who ended up in the state that he did. The first two statements above (regarding insanity and drug use) could probably be said about a (large) handful of white rock or metal artists. The last part (living in obscurity)... not so much. The fact that Ozzy Osbourne ended up with a reality TV show Guiseppi Logan ended up sleeping on park benches is just absurd to me.

This guy's story of meeting Logan is pretty amazing.