Now Available: Blues and the Empirical Truth

[ejp626]

Given the Blues Politics these days, I'm thinking I should have called it: The White Album.

How about "The Whiter Than Thou Album"

[Hot Ptah]

Too much music to digest at one time. All seems to be on a high level but....

I do have trouble absorbing all of it in an serious way.

Chuck, That was my first reaction too. After a number of listens, I found that I became familiar with many of the songs and it all became easier, all came into focus.

I now think that in comparison to this album, too much recent jazz is too easy to digest, disposable after a few listens, nothing more to explore. This album rewards repeated exploration, or shorter exploration of small pockets of it.

It is not like the disposable antiseptic wipes that pass for many jazz CDs these days. Instead, it is a bolt of dense, luxurious cloth. But why prefer a disposable wipe?

Edited October 27, 2011 by Hot Ptah

[AllenLowe]

my favorite review so far, from the New York City Jazz Record:

"Blues and the Empirical Truth is a personal project of a different order. A modern day Harry Smith of archiving historic blues recordings, Allen Lowe is an academic as well as accomplished musician who has been cursed by obscurity. He is also, possibly, quite mad."

Edited October 29, 2011 by AllenLowe

[Peter]

this just in; in French from something called Focus; accompanied by 5 stars, so I assume it's friendly; if not, don't tell me.

JAZZ | Une méditation sur le blues par un saxophoniste et compositeur doublé d'un musicologue. Avec Blues and the Empirical Truth (hommage à l'album d'Oliver Nelson enregistré il y a un demi-siècle), Allen Lowe livre un point de vue neuf et décapant sur ce genre musical fondamental à travers 52 morceaux qui éparpillent le blues aux 4 coins de la musique populaire américaine (et même au-delà)-partant des champs de coton pour aboutir au free jazz, en passant par l'église, les marching bands, les maisons closes, le ragtime, les minstrels, le swing, le bop, le rock, la pop, tout en faisant référence à des musiciens aussi divers que Johann Strauss, Maybelle Carter, Armstrong, Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bud Powel, Max Roach, Mingus, Brubeck, David Schilkraut, Doris Day, Miles, Ayler, James Brown, Coltrane ou Lou Reed! Entouré, selon les titres, par les pianistes Lewis Porter et Matthew Shipp, le tromboniste Roswell Rudd, les guitaristes Marc Ribot et Ray Suhy, le saxophoniste Spikes Sikes, le contrebassiste Jessie Hautala, l'électro-batteur Jake Millett et le chanteur Todd Hutchinsen (sur 3 titres), Allen Lowe, qui évoque Ornette à l'alto (instrument auquel il substitue, ici ou là, le ténor, le C melody sax et même la guitare), fait montre d'une imagination débordante, d'une culture illimitée et d'un humour (juif) détonant au sein d'un triple album qui, à l'exception peut-être du grand précurseur évoqué plus haut (The Blues and the Abstract Truth), est sans équivalent dans son genre.

Ph.E

Here's a computer translation:

A meditation on the blues by a saxophonist and composer and a musicologist. With Blues and the Empirical Truth (tribute to the album of Oliver Nelson recorded a half century ago), Allen Lowe book a nine views and stripper on this fundamental musical genre through 52 pieces which scatter blues with the 4 corners of American popular music (and beyond) - from the cotton fields to free jazzpassing by the Church, the marching bands, brothels, ragtime, the minstrels, swing, bop, rock, pop, while making reference to musicians as diverse as Johann Strauss, Maybelle Carter, Armstrong, Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bud Powel, Max Roach, Mingus, Brubeck, David Schilkraut, Doris Day, Miles, Ayler, James Brown, Coltrane or Lou Reed! Surrounded, according to titles by pianists Lewis Porter and Matthew Shipp, trombonist Roswell Rudd, guitarists Marc Ribot and Ray Suhy, saxophonist spike Sikes, bassist Jessie Hautala, électro-batteur Jake Millett and singer Todd Hutchinsen (3 titles), Allen Lowe, which evokes Ornette to the alto (instrument to which it overrides, here or there, the tenor, C melody sax and even the guitar)shown to an overflowing imagination, unlimited culture and (Jewish) humour detonating in a triple album, with the exception perhaps of the large precursor mentioned above (The Blues and the Abstract Truth), is unique in its kind.

[AllenLowe]

thank you -

[six string]

Is that nine views and a stripper or nine views OF a stripper?

[AllenLowe]

this just in from All About Jazz:

By

TROY COLLINS,

Published: December 16, 2011

Allen Lowe: Blues and the Empirical Truth

Operating on the fringes of the jazz establishment since the early

1990s, under-sung saxophonist Allen Lowe has earned meritorious praise

for his distinctive efforts. It is his academic writings documenting

the history of American folk music that have garnered him the most

widespread critical acclaim however. Lowe's first foray into roots

music, his 1994 album Dark Was the Night—Cold Was the Ground (Music &

Arts), reconciled modernism with tradition, consequently inspiring his

interest in scholarly dissertations like American Pop from Minstrel to

Mojo: On Record 1893-1956 and That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History

1900-1950. No stranger to ambitious projects, Lowe's recent excursion

into the blues, the wryly titled 3 disc set Blues and the Empirical

Truth, encapsulates myriad variations on the timeless form. Expertly

realized by a rotating roster of talent, the diverse line-up features

all-stars like Marc Ribot, Roswell Rudd and Matthew Shipp working

alongside a handful of lesser-known, but talented local musicians from

Lowe's adopted hometown of Portland, Maine.

Recorded in Brooklyn and Portland, Lowe arranged an assortment of

instrumental configurations to extrapolate venerable blues

tropes—abstracting and reconfiguring the standard form according to

his capricious whims. The sheer volume and variety of material is

staggering (52 cuts over three and half hours), sprawling from

lyrically austere chamber-like vignettes to rousing punkish tirades.

Having recently switched from tenor to alto (in addition to playing C

melody saxophone and a bit of primitive but effective guitar), Lowe's

soulful tone and probing phrasing serves as the date's unifying

factor, instilling a sense of rough-hewn consistency to the eclectic

proceedings.

Though the collection is filled with an endless array of stylistic

detours—far too many to list—the stalwart contributions of Lowe's

sidemen cannot be understated. Ribot's spiky fretwork, Rudd's blustery

vocalisms and Shipp's elliptical contributions (on piano and Farfisa

organ) imbue the set with expressionistic ardor, while the efforts of

Lowe's Maine-based cohorts find concordance in their amiable rapport.

Key among them is guitarist Ray Suhy, whose scorching leads veer from

Delta-inspired anguish to metallic posturing. Unfortunately, Jake

Millet's electronic percussion sounds at odds with the session's

stripped-down aesthetic; his digital drums' lacking spatial presence

and artificial decay is suitably futuristic, but ultimately proves

more distracting than engaging.

Ironically, Wynton Marsalis is one of the key instigators of this

vanguard project; an argument with Marsalis over the role of

minstrelsy in African-American musical history indirectly led to

Lowe's publication of Really the Blues? A Blues History, 1893-1959

(encompassing a 36 CD set and an 80,000 word essay!), which

subsequently resulted in this unique exploration of the malleable

idiom—in all its many guises. Endlessly revealing, Blues and the

Empirical Truth is a fascinating journey into one man's vision of

modern music's most basic and resilient foundations.

[cih]

ordered it yesterday.

Dunno what I'll make of it though - I don't get this mumbo-jumbo educated notes-sticking-out-everywhere futurist blues crap - I like the raw beer-can stuff that I can hammer nails outside in the yard to...

[AllenLowe]

actually, it comes in a hard case that's convenient for all kinds of household tasks.

[JETman]

I bought it just for the cover shot, which I can use to scare my kids into submission.

[AllenLowe]

if I can frighten just one small child in this world, I will have served a purpose in life.

[Pete C]

When I did an Amazon search on Allen Lowe this came up:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BLY0DE/ref=sr_1_album_11_rd?ie=UTF8&child=B002BLY0IO&qid=1324160615&sr=1-11

because it has Frank Lowe and Geri Allen! Great lineup...

[AllenLowe]

I'm tired of those guys riding on my reputation.

[theteach]

Allen, I'm loving your new release. Every time I think a song is going to lose my interest you insert an ingenious quote and pull me back in. AND I love the steely classic feel of this album. In 2011? Who would've thought! Great work!

[AllenLowe]

thank you - we placed number 52 in the top 600 records in the upcoming Village Voice poll.

[theteach]

Congratulations! How are these guys not pushing your new release? I'm surprised:

http://www.dtmgallery.com/Main/index.htm

Lou

[AllenLowe]

it's got plenty of distribution; don't know the answer to that. They carried my last CD.

[Dave James]

Amazon wants like $33 and change for this. Is it available anyplace else for a little less? It's not on iTunes.

[David Ayers]

Awesome!

Oh, wait...

Thought maybe this was a kind of 'best of'...

[theteach]

it's got plenty of distribution; don't know the answer to that. They carried my last CD.

I emailed Bruce. Hopefully he'll carry it and review it.

Lou

[papsrus]

Just got an amazon email promoting both "Blues & the Empirical Truth" and "Really the Blues?" as the top two items on a list introduced by, "Are you looking for something from our Blues department?"

Nice!