The Squid's Ear Magazine


Carter, Daniel / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Seraphic Light (Live At Tufts University) (Aum Fidelity)

A long-form 3-part work of collective improvisation from 3 masterful New York free jazz legends--Daniel Carter on flute, trumpet, clarinet, and saxophones, William Parker on bass, and Matthew Shipp on piano--performing live at Tufts University in 2017 in a beautifully thoughtful and lyrical concert presented after a screening of the '59 film "The Cry of Jazz".
 

Price: $13.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Daniel Carter-flute, trumpet, clarinet, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone

William Parker-bass

Matthew Shipp-piano


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 642623310625

Label: Aum Fidelity
Catalog ID: AUMF106.2
Squidco Product Code: 25810

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts, on April 5th, 2017.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Seraphic Light is an exemplary long-form work of collective creative improvisation, performed by three masters of this high art. It was recorded live in the performance hall of Tufts University (Boston) in April 2017. These three men each possess a complete and total devotion to the music. On this very rare trio meeting they manifest a meditative resonance, replete with lyrical and poetic exploration, throughout a sublime set.

This concert was the culmination of an event entitled "Art, Race, and Politics in America." First was a screening of the 1959 documentary film, The Cry of Jazz . The film asserts "jazz is the Negro's cry of joy and suffering" and "the Negro is [white America's] conscience...if they have a conscience." These bold and timely ideas pushed forward the second portion of the program, a discussion / QandA with Carter, Parker, and Shipp. For 45 free-flowing minutes, these three men spoke truths, told stories, floated ideas, countered assertions, listened to questions, gave advice, told jokes, and laughed together. Having already established an honest and direct bond with the audience, they then seamlessly shifted their discussion to the musical dialogue presented here."-Aum Fidelity



"Brilliant. Majestic. Grand. Beautiful. The words that critics are taught to shun. Why? Because they're suggestive, personal, without content. So be it. This album is brilliant, majestic, grand and beautiful. It is a performance by some of the leading voices of free jazz. We all know Daniel Carter, William Parker and Matthew Shipp. They need no introduction. Yet here, somehow, despite their huge catalogue of great music, they still kind of surpass themselves.

Daniel Carter is underrated. His lyricism and versatility on flute, sax and trumpet have been lauded before on this blog, yet somehow he takes it a step further here, with deep and warm tones, soaring solos, with shimmering and sensitive vibratoes. His sound also resonates in the space of the concert hall, with the piano and the bass more present at the front, creating an eery and floating atmosphere. His core instrument is the sax, but his more sparse use of flute and trumpet are equally stunning, not by the technical skill, but by the tone and space they use.

Shipp moves magesterially from the basic bluesy roots to the most complex avant-garde explorations within the same movement, rhythmic, lyrical and expressive. He knows when to pause, when to let the others take the front stage, when to create these wonderful harmonics for Daniel Carter to solo on. Shipp enjoys it. You can hear it with every note he plays, and especially in the bluesy second track, enjoying both the heritage, the sound and the possibilities for playful diversions into newer possibilities.

And Parker is always good. Rock solid in his rhythms, eloquent when bowing, a wonderful listener and team player. Mostly plucking his bass, his role is less prominent, yet robust, keeping the sound of Carter and Shipp together, making it even more cohesive.

And what they do is exceptional. It somehow all fits together, as if it's a well-studied suite, as one collective improvisation or even composition without soloing in the traditional sense, of shifting themes within the same concept, of changing moods within a single musical vision, of changing jazz genres within the same improvisation. This is music that mourns, weeps, sings, dances and jubilates at the same time. The first two tracks are separated on the album, yet in reality they form one single improvisation. In some improvisations and live performances, there are always moments when you sense that the musicians are trying to find a common ground, when there are slight hesitations about which way to go, but not here: all three musicians improvise as if they know the music by heart, as if it's always been there, agreed upon, rehearsed, and they don't need to invest their energy in how to move next, no, the entire weight of their effort relies on how to deliver, how to make it sound more sensitive, more powerful, more beautiful.

Apart from the fact that they know each other so well, and have performed together for over thirty years in a multitude of ensembles, one additional reason for this concert's success may be its sequence in a full evening at Tuft's University a year ago. The evening was organised by visual artist Kurt Ralske, also improvising musician and professor of digital media, film and sound at the University, on the topic of "Art, Race, and Politics in America", featuring a film screening, a discussion with the musicians, and a concert, with participation from students and faculty from various parts of the university.

As the liner note mention: "Thus on the evening of April 5, 2017, the audience attending Tuft's concert hall enjoyed an unusual three-part hybrid-format program. First we watched the 1959 documentary film, The Cry of Jazz, written and directed by Edward O. Bland, with the participation of Sun Ra. The film asserts "jazz is the Negro's cry of joy and suffering" and "the Negro is [white America's] conscience...if they have a conscience." These bold and timely ideas pushed forward the second portion of the program, a discussion / Q&A with Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Matthew Shipp. For 45 free-flowing minutes, the men spoke truths, told stories, floated ideas, countered assertions, listened to questions, gave advice, told jokes, and laughed together." Then they started making music.

May this be the reason? A very long evening, talking of deep historical and family trauma and discussing deep sentiments, creating a bond with the audience, interacting with them before taking the stage with the respective instruments? To demonstrate what music is all about? To demonstrate without words what deep sentiments are all about? To demonstrate what true art is? To demonstrate what life is all about?

This one is already now one of the best albums of the year, if not one of the best free jazz albums ever.

Brilliant. Majestic. Grand. Beautiful."-Stef, The Free Jazz Collective


Get additional information at The Free Jazz Collective

Artist Biographies

"Daniel Carter (born December 28, 1945, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American experimental saxophone, flute, clarinet, and trumpet player active mainly in New York City since the early 1970s.

Carter is a prolific performer and has recorded or performed with William Parker, Federico Ughi, DJ Logic, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Sonic Youth, scientist/musician Matthew Putman, Cooper-Moore, Sam Rivers, David S. Ware, Yoko Ono, Living Colour, Medensky Martin and Wood and Jaco Pastorius among others. He is a member of the cooperative free jazz groups TEST and Other Dimensions In Music."

-577 Records (http://www.577records.com/danielcarter/)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City, heralded by The Village Voice as, "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time."

In addition to recording over 150 albums, he has published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists.

Parker's current bands include the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind, and the Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore. Throughout his career he has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Milford Graves, and David S. Ware, among others."

-William Parker Website (http://www.williamparker.net/)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Matthew Shipp was born December 7, 1960 in Wilmington, Delaware. He started piano at 5 years old with the regular piano lessons most kids have experienced. He fell in love with jazz at 12 years old. After moving to New York in 1984 he quickly became one of the leading lights in the New York jazz scene. He was a sideman in the David S. Ware quartet and also for Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory before making the decision to concentrate on his own music.

Mr Shipp has reached the holy grail of jazz in that he possesses a unique style on his instrument that is all of his own- and he's one of the few in jazz that can say so. Mr. Shipp has recorded a lot of albums with many labels but his 2 most enduring relationships have been with two labels. In the 1990s he recorded a number of chamber jazz cds with Hatology, a group of cds that charted a new course for jazz that, to this day, the jazz world has not realized. In the 2000s Mr Shipp has been curator and director of the label Thirsty Ear's "Blue Series" and has also recorded for them. In this collection of recordings he has generated a whole body of work that is visionary, far reaching and many faceted."

-Matthew Shipp Website (http://www.matthewshipp.com/bio.html)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Part 1 21:27

2. Part 2 20:54

3. Part 3 13:06

Related Categories of Interest:

Aum Fidelity

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Parker, William
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
Aum Fidelity.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Carter, Daniel / Watson Jennison / William Parker / Federico Ughi
Live! Volume 1: Erie [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Working together in tours and recording since 2005, the NY trio of multi-reedist and wind player Daniel Carter, bassis William Parker and drummer/percussionist Federico Ughi are joined by saxophonist Watson Jennison also on flute, recorder and keyboards for this enlightened album of modern and transcendent jazz in a limited, remastered LP edition with bonus material.
Carter, Daniel / Tobias Wilner / Djibril Toure / Federico Ughi
New York United [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(577 Records)
An excellent blend of electronics and acoustics as saxophonist, flutist and trumpeter Daniel Carter meets sound artist Tobias Wilner from world-renowned electronic pop band Blue Foundation, with Wu-Tang Clan bass player Djibril Toure and drum wiz Federico Ughi rounding out this forward-thinking album of hazy and rhythmic electroacoustic environments.
Carter, Daniel / Patrick Holmes / Matthew Putman / Hilliard Greene / Federico Ughi
Telepatia Liquida [VINYL + DOWNLOAD CODE]
(577 Records)
Recorded on the last night of 577's Forward Festival 2017 in Brooklyn, the quintet of Daniel Carter (reeds & trumpet), Patrick Holmes (clarinet), Matthew Putman (piano), Hilliard Greene (bass) and Federico Ughi (drums) take their audience on three remarkable journeys of almost chamber-oriented collective free jazz, adventurous and not-to-be-missed examples of modern jazz.
Listening Group (feat. Daniel Carter / Patrick Holmes / Jeff Snyder / Stelios Mihas / Federico Ughi)
Live at the Forward Festival 2016 [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(577 Records)
A live performance at Forward Festival 2016, in Brooklyn, NY, merging chamber music, free improvisation, free and avant jazz and other forms in a an ensemble with Daniel Carter (sax & trumpet), Claire de Brunner (bassoon), Patrick Holmes (clarinet), Nick Lyons (sax), Jeff Snyder (electronics), Stelios Mihas (guitar), Jonah Rosenberg (piano), Zach Swanson (bass), and Federico Ughi (drums).
Carter, Daniel / William Parker / Federico Ughi
The Dream [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(577 Records)
This album was developed to present Daniel Carter, typically a wind/reed/trumpeter player, on an album that included his piano playing, which then advanced by adding the goal of both Carter and long-time collaborator, drummer Federico Ughi, to record with bassist William Parker, who rounds out this excellent trio on bass, tuba and shakuhachi.
Dickey, Whit / Mat Maneri / Matthew Shipp
Vessel In Orbit
(Aum Fidelity)
While working with Matthew Shipp on an Ivo Perelman album, drummer Whit Dickey and pianist Shipp agreed to record an album of their own and enlisted violist Mat Maneri to record this album of deep space-themed improvisations, collective music of heavy propulsion that bursts from impassioned exchange to convoluted clusters of sound.
Shipp, Matthew Trio
Root Of Things
(Relative Pitch)
Pianist Shipp's long-standing trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey, complex and inspired compositions that makes modern creative approaches to jazz beautifully accessible and essential.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Coleman's, Steve Natal Eclipse
Morphogenesis
(Pi Recordings)
Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse brings together 9 musicians in a chamber jazz setting without a drum set--Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jen Shyu (vocals), Matt Mitchell (piano), Mara Grand (tenor sax), Rane Moore (clarinet), Kristin Lee (violin), Greg Chudzik (bass), and Neeraj Mehta (percussion)--performing 9 of Coleman's sophisticated original compositions.
Mahobin (Fujii / Anker / Tamura / Mori)
Live at Big Apple in Kobe
(Libra)
Continuing the celebration of pianist Satoko Fujii's 60th birtday by releasing one CD each month, this quartet brings an excellent set of electroacoustic improvisation to the collection in a quartet with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, New York saxophonist Lotte Anker, and New York electronic artist and former DNA drummer Ikue Mori, performing live at Tokyo's Big Apple in 2018.
Bica, Carlos & Azul (feat. Frank Mobus / Jim Black)
Azul In Ljubljana
(Clean Feed)
For their 7th album after 20 years of collaboration, double bassist Carlos Bica's trio Azul with Frank Mobus on guitar and Jim Black on drums presents this exemplary live album recorded at the 2015 Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Lsovenia, clearly illustrating their characteristic clean and lyrically melodic sound through beautiful textural and energetic playing.
Costa, Mario (w/ Marc Ducret / Beniot Delbecq)
Oxy Patina
(Clean Feed)
Drummer, composers and electronic artist Mario Costa in his first solo album as a leader, presenting 9 original compositions performed at the 26th Festival de Jazz na Praca da Erva in a trio with French improvisers Benoit Delbecq on piano, prepared piano and synth, and Marc Ducret on guitar, a great album and an absolutely stunning concert by three masterful players.
Schnell (Borel / Borghini / Lillinger)
Live At Sowieso
(Clean Feed)
An album of accelerated bebop from the perspective of the original intention of the form, performed live in Berlin from the trio of Pierre Borel on saxophone, Antonio Borghini on bass, and Christian Lillinger on drums, their goal to investigate speed, stasis and trance and play jazz "on its verge, at high speed, where body memory, intuition and the unconscious are essentials".
LFU (Lisbon Freedom Unit)
Praise Of Our Folly
(Clean Feed)
Without a leader, this 9 piece collective ensemble includes members of Red Trio (Rodrigo Pinheiro, Hernaani Faustino and Gabriel Ferrandini), Garden (Jose Bruno Parrinha, Ricardo Jacinto, Luis Lopes), the duo Eitr (Pedro Sousa and Pedro Lopes), 2/3 of the Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio (Amado, Ferrandini) and half of the Luis Lopes Humanization 4tet (Lopes and Amado).
Aranda, Irene / Johannes Nastejo / Nuria Andorra
Inner Core
(Relative Pitch)
Referencing geothermal physics in the titles of their improvisations, these three Spanish improvisers create a riveting and radical set of experimental works, with Irene Aranda working inside and out of the piano, Johannes Nastejo extending and adapting his double bass, and percussionist Nuria Andorra using an arsenal of metallic and percussive objects.
Beaudoin-de-la-Sablonniere, Louis / Eric Normand / Louis-Vincent Hamel
Brulez les Meubles
(Tour de Bras)
Seeking to extend the guitar trio into new and unique territory, the Quebec trio of Eric Normand on electric bass, Louis Beaudoin-de-la-Sablonniere on electric guitar, and Louis-Vincent Hamel on drums, reference performers like Jim Hall, Sonny Sharrock, John Abercrombie, & Bill Frisell while focusing on harmolodic force and unusual melodic lines.
Conly, Sean
Hard Knocks
(Clean Feed)
The history of bassist Sean Conly's collaborations and releases shows a strong love of the jazz tradition and a perceptive writing style that references that tradition, heard here in free and lyrical original Conly compositions performed in the studio in a trio setting with fellow New York musicians Satoshi Takeishi on drums and Michael Attias on alto saxophone.
Leandre, Joelle
A Woman's Work [8 CD BOX SET]
(Not Two)
A thorough overview of bassist and vocalist Joelle Leandre's recent work in a boxed set of 8 CDs and a 16 page booklet of essays, photos and credits, each CD bringing a unique grouping from Les Diaboliques to duos with Mat Maneri, Fred Frith, Lauren Newton, & Jean-Luc Cappozzo, plus one solo disc and a quartet with Zlatko Kaucic, Evan Parker and Augusti Fernandez; magnificent.
Machinefabriek
Dwaal/Wold+
(Moving Furniture)
Two contrasting works composed for the tape label Dauw by Rutger Zuydervelt, exercises in creating an auditory space or sphere rather than sculpting a structured composition; "Dwaal" presents orchestral washes amidst a barrage of radio static and erratic noise; "Wold" is a dream-like work of pianos, subtle hiss and field recordings; plus remixes of each.
This Is It! (Satoko Fujii / Natsuki Tamura / Takashi Itani)
1538
(Libra)
Part of pianist Satoko Fujii's "Kanreki" (60th Birthday) tour and monthly album release, the "This Is It!" Trio with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer/percussionist Takashi Itani is heard at Koendori Classics, in Tokyo, Japan, in January 2018, for an incredible album of Fujii's compositions that include quirky asides in coherent and effusive playing.
Reid, Tomeka / Kyoko Kitamura / Taylor Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry of Caves
(Relative Pitch)
Bringing New York and Chicago performers together, the quartet of cellist Tomeka Reid, guitarist Joe Morris, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and free vocalist Kyoko Kitamura present an album of expressive and creative collective improvisation, bridging chamber forms and free jazz with a captivatingly eccentric appeal from Kitamura's wordless vocalese.
Omelette
Live At The JazzLab
(FMR)
Australia's performing trio Omelette of Jordan Murray on trombone, Ronny Fereller on drums, and Luke Howard on piano follow up their 2014 album on Jazzhead with this live album, the trio joined by Chilean percussionist working in Melbourne Javier Fredes, for a lyrical and rhythmically rich live performance at Melbourne's JazzLab in 2017.
Threadgill, Henry
Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus
(Pi Recordings)
Composer Henry Threadgill's Double Up band does not include Threadgill himself, but for this second release with the group he adds a 3rd piano (also doubling on harmonium) alongside two alto saxophones, cello, tuba, drums and percussion, the octet performing Threadgill's complex yet effortlessly intricate and distinctive compositions that allow his performers to shine.
Threadgill, Henry 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg
Dirt... And More Dirt
(Pi Recordings)
Composer, saxophonist and flutist Henry Threadgill presents 2 full-length works for his 15 piece band "14 or 15 Kestra: Agg", as he explores new ways of integrating composition with group improvisation, here using an entirely new system of improvisation based on preconceived series of intervals realized in multi-layered counterpoint, rigorous polyphony, and timbral contrasts.
Moondoc, Jemeel Quartet
The Astral Revelations
(RogueArt)
Saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc takes his masterful NY quartet of pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist Hilliard Green, and drummer Newman Taylor Baker to perform live at Bimhuis in Amsterdam in 2016, capturing four remarkable improvisations of Moondoc compositions including an extended rendering of "Cosmic Nickelodeon", the band balancing lyricism with intensely creative playing.
Free Music Septet
Meandros e Vertentes
(Creative Sources)
A live recording from the acoustic septet Free Music 7tet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Luiz Rocha (clarinets), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Eduardo Chagas (trombone), and (piano), Hernani Faustino (double bass) and Paulo Ferreira Lopes (drums), performing at O'Culto da Ajuda, for five improvisations from active free improv to lowercase exploration.
Opalio, Roberto
Once You'll Touch The Sky You Will Never Return To Dust
(Opax Records / Elliptical Noise)
Half of the Italian improvising duo My Cat Is an Alien, Roberto Opalio uses prepared mini-keyboard, handmade shortwave receiver, alientronics, and vocalizations to create this improvised prelude and statement, a shifting work that draws the listener into mesmerizing sonic environments of alien origin and transports them deceptively between ringing and textured vistas.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC