John Tchicai

[Late]

 

Tchicai (which I learned is pronounced chee-kigh; "kigh" rhyming with "sigh") strikes me stylistically as right between Jimmy Lyons and Marion Brown, while certainly putting forth his own plaintive sound on the horn.

 

Fans? Favorite albums, as leader or sideman? Favorite live appearances? Share away!

 

I missed out on a chance to see him live last year and also back in '95. Argh!

Edited November 13, 2017 by Late
Updated photo.

[Chuck Nessa]

For me (please understand this) he never lived up to my expectations of the '60s. His music sort of went limp after that. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I misunderstood his '60s playing. Sigh.

[Late]

So you did like his stuff, say, with the New York Art Quartet? Or the New York Contemporary Five?

You might be pleasantly surprised by this session, from the 70's:

Though Pukwana probably steals the show, Tchicai does sound good on this one.

[Chuck Nessa]

Yes, I know that one. I ran the US office of SteepleChase in the early '80s. Yes, Dudu steals it. Very nice date.

For me, his early stuff had an "inner spine" missing in later stuff.

[Christiern]

Did you know that John has another profession? When I first met him, in the early sixties, he was working as a chef at the Copenhagen restaurant in NYC. I don't think he has cooked in many years (except perhaps on his alto)!

[David Ayers]

He has a home page, you might care to look at.

I love the three Fontanas - Rufus, Consequences, Mohawk. The last two are among my favorite albums ever. The Delmarks are also essential, though the CD issue loses a track, and the ESP is of course fine. I haven't heard the America release, which I see is due for CD issue and I am very much looking forward to it.

I dig Willi the Pig (even though the CD is dubbed from an LP...), but other than that I have avoided other releases due to the changes in direction Chuck mentioned. That said, I am sure I have missed some good stuff, and I'd quite like to know about later offerings that are musically comparable to the early stuff.

[JohnS]

I took this one in 1968 when he was playing in London with Cadentia Nova Danica.

Edited November 10, 2004 by JohnS

[clifford_thornton]

I do like those Cadentia Nova Danica records quite a bit, but they aren't really anything like his small-group '60s recordings. Haven't heard much from the 80s or later, though I did see him in a group with Paul Smoker and Adam Lane that was one of the best jazz shows I've ever seen.

[Late]

Nice photo, John!

[Nate Dorward]

Yes, the recent work with Lane (documented on two CIMPs) is very good. -- I have only heard bits & pieces of his other stuff (a friend burned a few CDRs of things such as a date with Charlie Kohlhase), mostly pretty good.

[Swinger]

I can also recommend "Grandpa's Spells" with Misha Mengelberg.One of my desert island cds for sure.

Another good one is Triot: Sudden Happiness.Take a look at the following link to read its review.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=2035

[Enterprise Server]

Glad to hear someone mention Tchicai’s name. Haven’t listened to him in a while. I never was extremely excited about him but I thought he was interesting and I like some things he has done. Loved the New York Contemporary Five and the New York Art Quartet.

[Christiern]

Glad to hear someone mention Tchicai’s name. Haven’t listened to him in a while. I never was extremely excited about him but I thought he was interesting and I like some things he has done. Loved the New York Contemporary Five and the New York Art Quartet.       

That album cover brings back memories--it was my rooming house room at 25 West 82nd Street until 1963, when I moved to my present apartment. I spent a lot of time in that window, looking up and down the street!

[Tony Pusey]

Are the Fontanas available anywhere?

[Chuck Nessa]

This one with Tchicai on board, originally on Fontana I believe, is available again.

The sound samples make it seem like a Don Cherry record (which is not a bad thing).

This is not from Fontana. This is a Storyville reissue of material originally on two Sonet lps. The first volume was issued on lp by Delmark when I worked there. Unfortunately an 11+ minute piece titled "Cisum" has been omitted to keep it to one disc.

[Late]

Gotcha. I thought it contained this album (but now can see I was mistaken):

Details here.

[Chuck Nessa]

The stuff on the Storyville is at least as good as the Fontana material. Did you know the band made a Fontana lp without Cherry (he was late)? It is called Rufus and is fine as well.

[David Ayers]

The original liner notes for Rufus and Mohawk (but curiously not Consequences) can be found at the link I posted to Tchicai's site.

[Late]

Fans of Tchicai need to check this one out:

This is a very good disc. At first, I was a little wary of buying it because it's actually a Tchicai-with-sampled-music project, but Jon Coxon and Ashley Wales are providing the samples (called "strings" in the title of the disc), and they do a very tasteful job. Tchicai solos over the soundscapes that Coxon and Wales programmed (some of it in real-time, evidently), and the results are unusually moving. Only the last track (where Tchicai recites a poem) is somewhat off-putting. The rest of the tracks have that remarkable plaintive quality that Tchicai is so well-known for. Highly recommended.

Again, if you're a Tchicai fan, you need to hear this one!

[Late]

Oh yes — thanks to the board member here who turned me on to Tchicai's Timo's Message on Black Saint. Tchicai's on tenor throughout, and it's another splendid recording.

[Guest the mommy]

yeah i wish timo's message had less solo stuff (even though the longer solo tune is pretty cool) but overall it is a great album.

[clifford_thornton]

The stuff on the Storyville is at least as good as the Fontana material. Did you know the band made a Fontana lp without Cherry (he was late)? It is called Rufus and is fine as well.

All those NYCF recs are serious business... Cherry was too junked-out to make the date, from what Tchicai told me. Seemed to be a recurring problem...

I am a big fan of Tchicai's Cadentia Nova Danica records as well, though more than one girlfriend has been rather turned off by Afrodisiaca!

It's strange that Storyville left off "Cisum" - that tune is totally kick-ass!

Edit: guess I already mentioned CND. But so what? Great LPs!

Edited November 3, 2006 by clifford_thornton

[clifford_thornton]

Glad to hear someone mention Tchicai’s name. Haven’t listened to him in a while. I never was extremely excited about him but I thought he was interesting and I like some things he has done. Loved the New York Contemporary Five and the New York Art Quartet.

That album cover brings back memories--it was my rooming house room at 25 West 82nd Street until 1963, when I moved to my present apartment. I spent a lot of time in that window, looking up and down the street!

Wow, great reminiscence! Thanks for that!

[Shannon Dickey]

Hi,

Anybody know the FULL details on the beef with Charles Gayle & John Tchicai, whilst recording the album

issued on Silkheart? I have heard several versions, the most common being that Gayle did not like Tchicai's playing/attitude.

Anybody know the straight dope?

---HB

[Late]

An FYI: MPS/Germany has recently reissued the long out-of-print Afrodisiaca on compact disc in mini-LP format. I can't imagine this one will stay around too long. Carpe diem!