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Fire Music - Free Jazz Documentary

Rabshakeh

By Rabshakeh
in Miscellaneous Music

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Rabshakeh Grand Master

Rabshakeh

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In case anyone hasn't seen the press, there's a doc coming out about the early years of Free Jazz, that is directed by Tom Surgal. 

It comes out on Friday, which is my wife's birthday. I've been joking with her that I will take her to see it as a "treat". (Although I'm not sure it is getting a theatrical release over here, so sadly she may have to miss it.)

The Guardian gave it a long write up today.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/sep/07/fire-music-history-free-jazz-documentary

The write up makes it sound solid, but a little generic.

Still, I am interested. I'd like to hear what any New Yorkers or Los Angeleans think of it. 

In the meantime, I'm reminded of this classic meme: 

20210817_222010~2.jpg

Edited by Rabshakeh
T.D. Mentor

T.D.

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Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, clifford_thornton said:

Seeing it on Saturday in NYC (and sitting on the Q&A panel w/ Surgal and Thurman Barker). Will report back -- though I'm on the panel, Tom hasn't given me the chance to pre-screen the film so I'm going in cold.

Thanks, looking forward to the report.

I checked the website, hoping for one near me (there are a couple of potential eventual sites in Mid-Hudson Valley), but only announced E. Coast screening is Friday 9/10 @ Film Forum. "More upcoming showings soon..."

Edited by T.D.
medjuck Proficient

medjuck

Posted
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6 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

This reminds me - if anyone here doesn't know "Imagine the Sound", you should check it out HERE.

 

Damn right.  And the ad doesn't even mention Cecil Taylor.  

Edited by medjuck
Rabshakeh Grand Master

Rabshakeh

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3 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

This reminds me - if anyone here doesn't know "Imagine the Sound", you should check it out HERE.

I did actually make my wife sit through this. She was really entranced by Cecil Taylor, but formed a visceral dislike of Paul Bley. 

Everyone in this film looked like they were going through a tough patch at the time. Bley pontificating with rotten teeth, Shepp welling up constantly, and Dixon, still largely unknown, talking about himself, drunk. I'm not sure how Taylor compared to himself at his height. I really felt for them all: I got the sense that they felt left out in the cold at the turn of a rough decade, during which they must have been made to feel like irrelevancies.

Regardless, i second the recommendation.

clifford_thornton Mentor

clifford_thornton

Posted
Posted

Dixon was doing all right at the time; he had a good setup with Soul Note and the Black Music Division at Bennington was ongoing, though strife with the college administration was pretty heavy. 

It's a great documentary though. A bit like Spellman's Four Lives updated and translated to a slightly different scenario.

And I remember some fun nights with a lot of wine in Bill's presence. Nothing wrong with that!

felser Veteran

felser

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

This reminds me - if anyone here doesn't know "Imagine the Sound", you should check it out HERE.

 

Never heard of it, but now #1 in my Amazon Prime queue - thanks Chuck!

clifford_thornton Mentor

clifford_thornton

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Posted

Fire Music is quite good but it is short at 88 minutes in length. There is a lot to cram into that space, as you might imagine. The film basically stops in the early 1970s -- there's a little bit on the Europeans, but it's quite superficial. I know Tom knows that music so it was certainly a time constraint issue. Nothing on Japanese or South Korean improvised music. A big area of focus was on Ornette, Cherry, and Dolphy through the eyes and ears of Bobby Bradford, Prince Lasha, Sonny Simmons, and Carla Bley. Ayler, Coltrane, Cecil, Sun Ra, the Jazz Composers' Guild, and the AACM/BAG were also discussed, but to me it seems like the Dolphy/Ornette angle was the leaping-off point. It was great to see footage of some of our departed masters -- Burton Greene, Noah Howard, Rashied Ali, Sirone, Prince & Simmons -- in interview. 

The Q&A had to be cut short because of time as well, but we did get some conversation in. Thurman Barker can unfurl passionately on the topic, and it was great to hear him speak. He lives not too far from me so I'm sure we will break bread at some point. 

  • 8 months later...

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