Ken McIntyre

[Late]

Where should one start with McIntyre on Steeplechase? Any particular favorites?

[couw]

I'm sorry I can't help you out. I have always enjoyed the BN/UA collection and the album w/ Dolphy, so am curious what else is out there as well, especially also considering the long gap between the UA and the Steeple Chase stuff. Besides on Cecil Taylor's album, did he appear anywhere else in that period?

[Chuck Nessa]

I used to have them all on vinyl. They didn't really strike me as special, but I think I liked "Home" and "Chasing the Sun" best.

[Philip]

McIntyre's playing on Home really seems to anticipate the playing of David Murray, rather than being reminescent of his contemporaries.

[marcoliv]

Hindsight is good too

[HWright]

During a business trip a few years back I found a number of the Ken McIntyre Steeplechase albums in the Virgin Megastore (or maybe it was the FNAC nearby) in Paris. Being a big fan of McIntyre's UA set and work with Cecil Taylor on "Unit Structures," I was tempted to buy them all. However, I decided to just buy one and give it a try, so I picked up "Home" (1975). I liked it a lot. It has on it a good line-up:

Ken McIntyre - Flute, Bassoon, Oboe, Sax (Alto)

Jaki Byard - Piano

Reggie Workman - Bass

and some interesting compositions too.

That said, I found the sound/engineering/mastering of the recording (at least on the CD version I got) to be only average (a little dull in fact) and it's not something I've listened to a lot since I bought it and I never did pick up any of the other Steeplechases, unless I also got "Hindsight" (1974) at the same time, but unfortunately I can't remember right now... [later edit: I did not buy "Hindsight."]

Fans of McIntryre should also check out his interesting side-man appearances with drummer Beaver Harris' group 360 Degree Music Experience. I have an import copy of Harris' album "Beautiful Africa" (1979, Soul Note) which is very recommended and not only has McIntyre, but also has Grachan Moncur III.

I should also add that McIntyre did a great free performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, which I attended a few years ago.

Since someone raised the question of the hole in McIntrye's discography, in between Taylor's "Unit Structures" (1966) and his Steeplechase contract (starting in 1974), I have not seen or read anything to suggest that he made any recordings during that period. I believe that Ken was mainly teaching during that time, both in the New York City public schools and at various college and universities. See his website for more details:

http://www.mkmjazz.com/bio.htm

postscript: in consulting the above website for the first time, I found out that Ken died in 2001, which I was not aware of. The site also tells about an album he made that year, which may also have been the year I saw him in concert, although I'm not sure.

Edited July 26, 2004 by HWright

[mikeweil]

I saw him live in Frankfurt in 1979 at the old Sinkkasten club - it was Beaver Harris' band, with Grachan Moncur III, Ron Burton and Cameron Brown. Nice music, nothing earth shattering, but personal and played with conviction. Ken was a very nice guy, I remember seeing him with his one big case where he kept all his woodwinds in, including a bassoon, helped him haul it up the flight of stairs after the gig, and he was very friendly. I always thought I'd have to get all of his SteepleChase albums to payback a little for the warm music he played. Shame on me, I never did, and they're still available ... I'll have to get me some of these. It made me very sad to read about his death a few years ago, such a modest person. He and Dolphy were a great combination. Lots of humor in his playing, too.

[jamf]

I picked them all up (except Introducing Vibrations) from a store that was selling them for $4.99 ea. I like them more than the BN/UA stuff. The SC stuff just seemed to showcase his playing better. One reason is probably there were no arrangements with strings, etc.

[Jazzdog]

I was never really that big on the UA material either, apart from the sides with Jaki Byard, I didn't think that set was anything spectacular. On the other hand Hindsight is an excellent disk, Home a tad less so, as far as the Steeplechase material. His last cd he made before he died was pretty good as well, with Joanne Brackeen and Charlie Persip guesting. Until I heard Makanda I had never heard anyone solo on bassoon or Oboe in a jazz setting. Pretty cool if you ask me.

[sidewinder]

Very cool ! I have been playing the Steeplechase vinyl of 'Home' and 'Hindsight' today and they are both heartily recommended and compare well with the material on the 'Complete UA Sessions' set (ie. 'Year of the Iron Sheep' and 'Way, Way Out'). The LP with Byard is a very interesting line of development from the 'Iron Sheep' session, with McIntyre on great form on both disks. Must get hold of the 'Introducing the Vibrations' LP as well. In contrast with some of the Steeplechase sessions of this vintage, these LPs are anything but 'journeyman' stuff.

[Late]

Kind of on-topic here ... but McIntyre's Stone Blues, if you didn't already get it in the Concord blowout, is currently available from The Bards for $5.99 Carpe diem!

[sidewinder]

Kind of on-topic here ... but McIntyre's Stone Blues, if you didn't already get it in the Concord blowout, is currently available from The Bards for $5.99 Carpe diem!

Yep, not to be missed !

[HolyStitt]

I play the Steeplechase LPs more then I do the UA LPs.

One of the first jazz concerts I went to was the Charlie Haden The Liberation Music Orchestra. The reed section had Joe Lovano and Ken McIntyre, which was my first exposure to both of them. I enjoyed Lovano, but it was McIntyre that really made an impression on me. I went on to buy every recording by him that I could get me hands on.

Buying Ken McIntyre recordings was actually how I first heard Eric Dolphy.

[ep1str0phy]

I seem to be in the minority here, but the first album of the UA sessions (Way Way Out) has to be one of my all time favorites. The strings provide a terrific uplift that elevates what could have been a fairly rote hard boppish session; McIntyre just flies over those arrangements, and the accompaniment grooves like mad... and those string arrangements--prototypically advanced-sounding, perhaps, but swinging as hell in an angular, Dolphian manner (wide, dissonant intervals, careening harmonies, a bubbling, effervescent sense of rhythm). Only the Andrew Hill string quartet sessions, IMO, are as strong a marriage of avant-garde/post-bop jazz.

Edited September 25, 2006 by ep1str0phy

[felser]

I also really like the UA sides, more than the Steeplechase sides, which strike me as good but not spectacular.

[king ubu]

I see I'm not alone in liking the strings album! I agree it's one of the best w/strings project I know!

Of course Brownie or Ben Webster with strings is what some may call heaven, and I like it as well, it's lush and soft and beautiful, but the strings on McIntyre's album have a different quality that at time gets quite soaring. I like that date as much as I like the Byard one!

As for the Steeplechases, I've had the Vibrations for some time, it's ok. Picked up three more recently in a sale, so far only gave them one spin, but I enjoyed them. To me, McIntyre seems to be a rather nuanced player. He may just sound slighty weird (sound and intonation-wise) if you play his music in the background, but he gets much more involving if you listen closer and pay attention to the small shades and idiosyncrasies of his style.

[erhodes]

I seem to be in the minority here, but the first album of the UA sessions (Way Way Out) has to be one of my all time favorites.

"Way Way Out" is actually the second of the UA albums (recorded in 1963). "Year of the Iron Sheep" was taken from several 1962 sessions.

[ep1str0phy]

I stand corrected (first disc of the UA sessions was the string session, I mean...). Anyway, up to praise Makanda for his contributions to Unit Structures--between his 'freer' sides and the more inside UA and SC albums, there's a wide, wide spectrum of terrific, diverse music.

[king ubu]

Finally got McIntyre's "Stone Blues"... I thought it was gone for good but found it for a more or less acceptable prize on amazon marketplace!

It may indeed be a bit more conventional than the UA and Dolphy sessions, but I just love that alto sound and lines of his. He's got a slightly melancholy, acerbic quality (I might call it "zartbitter" in German, as dark chocolate is called here, I think that word quite suits his sound).

A couple of the arrangements here almost suggest old-time jazz (trombone backing in not-quite but close to tailgate manner, simple bouncy beats...)

His flute playing is lovely, too. Good soft and full-bodied sound, none of that annoying high and thin and hard-played jazz flute you often seem to get from less-proficient doublers. But his alto is what I love - floating and kind of blurry and soft around the edges...