Grachan Moncur III

[bertrand]

I was stunned two days ago to get an e-mail from the man himself inviting me to a CD-release party in Newark next Sunday. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go.

Anyway, I found the following while googling:

http://www.celebritytradingplace.com/jazz.html

Anyone know any more about this?

Bertrand.

[clifford_thornton]

No, but I look forward to hearing it...

[bertrand]

Upon further investigation, I see that the site is run by the Moncurs themselves.

I can't find the track listing, but am very intrigued by the unrecorded compositions. At the gig I saw in April 2006, his keyboard player told me he has some great new pieces. I wish they had played some that night.

Bertrand.

[Niko]

it has a nice cover, too

[JSngry]

Also available: http://www.celebritytradingplace.com/catal...327/2198008.htm

Hipnosis III is named after the well known tune Hipnosis by Grachan Moncur III. There are two versions of this tune on the CD, one instrumental, and the other with poetry. An arrangement of the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn tune A Train was created by Grachan Moncur III and features vocalist Ebony Carr, and poet Tamam. Another tune entitled Black Boy Mothers Blues, a twelve bar blues, composed by Tamam and featuring vocalist Darlene Jenkins, artfully explores the controversial issue of police brutality while being musically driven by a bass line created by famous bluesman John Patton. A haunting rendition of Grachan's tune When is performed by Ebony Carr. This CD is a must have to add to your collection.

[Guest donald petersen]

why didn't he record with the band he played the iridum with with the rhodes/acoustic piano double dump? that would have been nice to document.

[freeform83]

Is there a mailing list for Grachan Moncur or was this a personal email? I tried to add him on MySpace, but he never responded.

[jlhoots]

When I see vocals & poets I get "nervous".

Somebody please report when they've heard this in its' entirety.

[clifford_thornton]

Is there a mailing list for Grachan Moncur or was this a personal email? I tried to add him on MySpace, but he never responded.

I'd try to contact him through his website.

Grachan Moncur III

[AndrewHill]

Is there a mailing list for Grachan Moncur or was this a personal email? I tried to add him on MySpace, but he never responded.

Yeah, I tried that too, but no reply.

[clifford_thornton]

Damn. I'll see what I can find out. Would like to hear the new one also.

[hprill]

Yesterday I got my copies of Inner Cry Blues and Hipnosis III, which I had ordered from the Moncurs' website. Here are slightly edited versions of the reviews I wrote for the rateyourmusic.com website:

Hipnosis III is very much a showcase for Tamam's and Moncur IV's poetry, set to the sound of percussion, keyboards, electronics and the strangely lingering tone of Moncur III's trombone.

The songs are successful to different degrees, and moments of true inspiration alternate with moments of mediocrity without any warning, often within the same song. Moncur III is hardly to blame. His trombone is never really in the front spot, and his compositions stand up well enough. "Hipnosis" works even when converted to a gospel-like backdrop for poetry, and "When", here transformed to a soulful pop song, is in fact one of the highlights on this album.

The biggest problem is more the sometimes too obvious homemade flavour of the album. The keyboard sounds a bit too cheap in several places, and much as I agree with Tamam's stance on police brutality in "Black Boy Mother's Blues", ten minutes of continuous poetry recital is a bit hard to stomach, even though the very same track also contains some of the better musical moments of this album. Ellington's "A Train" is similar torn between moments of excellence and parts that just don't feel right at all, leaving me undecided what to make of it.

All in all it's interesting, especially for a Moncur fan such as myself, but I wouldn't call it a jazz album.

Inner Cry Blues, on the other hand, is very much a jazz album, and a good one. It's a good, straightforward swinging date that pairs Moncur with Ben Adams's quintet. The result is a remarkably fresh sounding display of elements from cool jazz and hard bop, but not really any of the post-bop/avant garde music that Moncur used to be famous for. Which is fair enough, as the musicians seem to be enjoying themselves, and there is no need for forced seriousness. Even the tracks dedicated to Moncur's late mother-in-law and to his daughter who died tragically at a young age show none of the bleakness of tracks like "Ghost Town"; on the contrary, there seems to be a strong element of warmth and hope in them. Fans of Moncur's mid-60s recordings might find this unusually optimistic-sounding music.

Ben Adams is no Bobby Hutcherson either; his playing is more forward-looking, spelling out melodies rather than setting accents, and thus well-suited to this very swinging, uptempo album. He disappoints only once, when his accompaniment for "A for Pops" is a bit too similar to his lines on "Sonny's Back". Mitch Marcus on tenor and Erik Jekabson on trumpet provide valuable contributions while never hogging solo space; the result is a comfortable, organic melodic flow that never feels forced.

Even though (or perhaps because?) this is less of a musical showcase than 2004's Exploration, the smaller line-up makes this feel equally or even a bit more convincing. A very fine album.

[relyles]

Has anyone else heard Inner Cry Blues and have any reactions to share?

Edited December 4, 2008 by relyles

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, I'd like to hear that one, too.