ERNEST DAWKINS'
NEW HORIZON ENSEMBLE
The Messenger : Live at the Original Velvet Lounge
Delmark
This album, simply put, rocks. It also wails,
shrieks, dances, shuffles, boogies, celebrates, mourns,
teaches, preaches, swings, and gets down every which way.
Dawkins’ New Horizons Ensemble is a mighty, mighty
force, the legacy of Chicago’s famous avant-jazz hothouse
the AACM and its most celebrated members, the Art Ensemble
of Chicago. Like AEC and many of the musicians who passed
through AACM in the 1960s and 1970s, right through to the
current generation of AACM standard bearers, Dawkins seeks
musical fusion of the various styles and genres into which
music that traces itself back to the same root sources has
been rent asunder. Chicago’s best avant musicians
have that magic ability to look both backward and toward
the future at the same time. The sense of history and of
being part of that history that these creative musicians
embody is palpable in Chicago, even these many years since
it has ceased to be regarded by most as any kind of jazz
center.
The group leads off with “Mean Ameen,”
the title track of the group’s previous album and
a tribute to previous New Horizons member and lifelong friend
and collaborator of Dawkins, trumpeter Ameen Muhammed. It’s
an open, modal number whose ancestors are some of John Coltrane’s
classic quintet work. Dawkins plays beautifully and with
fiery energy. Drummer Isaiah Spencer, a relative newcomer
to the band, demonstrates that he has what it takes to power
this explosive ensemble. Trumpet player Maurice Brown, who
fills Ameen’s trumpet chair, is coming into his own
with this ensemble, becoming more and more essential to
their sound with each recording. Dawkins’ compositions
often utilize a bebop vocabulary, but they are shot through
with the Chicago blues that forms the basis of Dawkins’
musical experience as well as fired by the energy of free
improvisation. “The Messenger” is a tribute
to Art Blakey that utilizes a shuffle rhythm to carry along
its hard bop melody. Brown leads off with a well-considered
solo that rides the piece’s groove without forcing
itself on the listener or creating unnecessary turbulence
just to attract notice. Dawkins is next up, blowing some
molten alto saxophone, and by this time the band is swinging
just as hard as one can imagine any band doing. Trombonist
Steve Berry gets off a growling plunger mute-colored solo
that pushes the energy level higher before Spencer explodes
into an excellent drum solo.
Next the band plays a straight ahead, dirge-tempo
blues with Dawkins providing a spoken word philosophical-educational-humorous
rant a la Albert King or some other blues declaimer. There’s
nothing at all fancy or high concept about it—they
morph into an incredible blues band and play like they’re
in a blues club. Next is the late-60s coolness vibe of “Toucouleur,”
which at times recalls the cerebral but approachable side
of Herbie Hancock or Wayne Shorter. Its rhythmic home keeps
shifting from a gentle Latin breeze to doubletime bop, and
both Dawkins and Brown get off long and interesting solos
prior to the piece’s three-part counterpoint conclusion.
“The Brood” is probably the most free jazz-oriented
piece on the disc, and it does provide space for the soloists
to get things going without benefit of chord progression,
but it’s really not all that far ‘out’—or
else my ears have become very attuned to the AACM sound
over the years.
Dawkins and company bring things to a conclusion
with the raucous “Lookin’ For Ninny,”
which starts off as a jump blues but quickly becomes a real
second line parade. The joy with which these musicians play,
as well as their sense of humor and interplay, makes listening
to them a sheer joy, and that is what The Messenger:
Live at the Original Velvet Lounge delivers.
This program is also available on DVD, an
important document, since it captures the group live at
the original Velvet Lounge before its closure and reopening
in a new space. It also gives a sense of the visual element
of this band, which has always been an important aspect
of experiencing many AACM musicians’ work. The show
is well filmed but not slick, making it seem all the more
cinema verite and ‘real.’ It also features Dawkins’
monologue “The Boute,” not included on the CD,
which is hilarious. It’s a worthy document with great
sound quality that should find its way into the library
of any music fan that enjoys great music, and especially
gifted improvisers. Or drop the CD on at a gathering of
friends without telling anyone what it is or what ‘kind’
of music it is supposed to be. I bet you’ll find the
majority will enjoy it; even those who would never go anywhere
near ‘free jazz.’ Here in Chicago, that makes
it great music.
