Peter Apfelbaum and the New York Hieroglyphics

[Big Wheel]

Other than a mention by johnagrandy in the Live Shows forum, there doesn't seem to be any mention on this board of this new album. I had never really paid attention to Apfelbaum. I'm paying attention now. Fans of Dafnis Prieto's drumming will want to grab this posthaste.

[Big Wheel]

Bumping this up, as I saw the group last night in SF. It is truly a joy to watch this band when it is firing on all cylinders - it is more than the sum of its parts. Prieto is just sick playing these grooves (African polyrhythmic stuff all over the place, often in meters like 7/8. I think I counted one or two tunes that had sections in 11/8 or 13/8.). Abdoulaye Diabate is a treasure.

Personnel:

Apfelbaum: piano, tenor, harmonium, percussion, flute

Prieto: drums

Patrice Blanchard: electric bass

David Phelps: guitar

Jessica Jones, Tony Jones: tenor

Peck Allmond: flute, saxes, trumpet (!)

Josh Roseman: trombone

Charles Burnham: violin

Diabate: vocals

Josh Jones (guest on encore): conga

Natalie Cressman (guest on encore): trombone

Edited October 31, 2008 by Big Wheel

[randissimo]

Peter Apfelbaum is a bad boy! I used to go to his shows around the S.F. Bay Area in the mid-late 80's when he had that killin' band "The Hieroglyphics Ensemble" together.. Peter released I believe two discs with that band. Peter also did some collaborations with Don Cherry that are available on disc and DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search...baum&page=1

[Guest Bill Barton]

Yeah, the San Francisco edition of the Hieroglyphics was one hot band. I heard them twice, once with Don Cherry. Was James Harvey in the band when you heard them Randy?

I heard the New York Hieroglyphics this past Tuesday in Seattle doing Aural Histories. They were killin'. Hear 'em for sure when they visit your area. You won't be disappointed.

[AllenLowe]

don't wanna deflate - however - I heard their cd originally back in the 1980s - always thought it was just more slick/fake World Music - simple grooves, exploitative -

(I will now run away and hide)

[randissimo]

don't wanna deflate - however - I heard their cd originally back in the 1980s - always thought it was just more slick/fake World Music - simple grooves, exploitative -

(I will now run away and hide)

On the contrary my friend, this band was on fire live !!! Very interesting and exciting band.. If you could have seen them live you would feel differently..

[AllenLowe]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmmmm........................................................................

....................................

[WorldB3]

Peter Apfelbaum is a bad boy! I used to go to his shows around the S.F. Bay Area in the mid-late 80's when he had that killin' band "The Hieroglyphics Ensemble" together.. Peter released I believe two discs with that band. Peter also did some collaborations with Don Cherry that are available on disc and DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search...baum&page=1

I use to see the edition of that band with Will Benard all the time back in SF. They put on great shows. Luminous Charms was a killer record, nice mix of Mingus type compositions and outside playing.

If Allen has only heard the first album Sings Of Life I can see why he may have that impression but they progressed greatly after that.

He is playing with Dafnis Prieto's band this weekend in my hood, think I will go check them out.

[randissimo]

Peter Apfelbaum is a bad boy! I used to go to his shows around the S.F. Bay Area in the mid-late 80's when he had that killin' band "The Hieroglyphics Ensemble" together.. Peter released I believe two discs with that band. Peter also did some collaborations with Don Cherry that are available on disc and DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search...baum&page=1

I use to see the edition of that band with Will Benard all the time back in SF. They put on great shows. Luminous Charms was a killer record, nice mix of Mingus type compositions and outside playing.

If Allen has only heard the first album Sings Of Life I can see why he may have that impression but they progressed greatly after that.

He is playing with Dafnis Prieto's band this weekend in my hood, think I will go check them out.

If Allen could have been to that show at Kimball's In S.F. in 1987 he would be a fan.. They were killin' that night!

[Teasing the Korean]

never mind...

Edited November 2, 2008 by Teasing the Korean

[AllenLowe]

ok, so if I wanted to hear a CD which was not like the one I first heard and which I did not like, what should I listen to (after all, yes, I am an open minded guy, with a liberal mind and an inquiring mind and a mind, after all, is a terrible thing to waste)?

[Guest Bill Barton]

ok, so if I wanted to hear a CD which was not like the one I first heard and which I did not like, what should I listen to (after all, yes, I am an open minded guy, with a liberal mind and an inquiring mind and a mind, after all, is a terrible thing to waste)?

Personally, I like Jodoji Brightness quite a bit and I love the tracks Hieroglyphics did with Don Cherry on Multikulti.

[tkeith]

I'll respectfully disagree with Allen on his assessment of this band. Love Apfelbaum. I even liked Luminous Charms (which did not have the extended band). He's one of the few guys of his era that really speaks to me. LOVED the stuff with Don Cherry.