BARRY ALTSCHUL
You Can't Name Your Own Tune (32 Jazz)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Drummer Barry Altschul's resume is more than impressive. He's worked with Paul Bley, Andrew Hill and Anthony Braxton, and he was a member of Circle, which featured Chick Corea, Braxton and Dave Holland. If you're assuming he has the right to play jazz from deep left field, you're correct. True, he can play as free as a bird, but for this tremendous session (February 8th and 9th, 1977), Altschul chooses to find the common ground between hard-bop and free jazz, and he stakes out the territory quite distinctly on the opening track, "You Can't Name Your Own Tune." Saxman Sam Rivers, bassist Dave Holland, Trombonist George Lewis, and pianist Muhal Richard Abrams put their shoulders down and attack the piece, an Altschul original that features explosive playing by all. When you break the piece down to define the components, the word "free" is unavoidable, but the hard-bop element--that visible, winding highway the flows forward into the distance--is ever present.

Rivers brings out the flute for some hypnotic interplay with Holland's cello on "For Those Who Care," a piece where Altschul is free to embellish with building gongs, triangles, cymbals, and all kinds of creative percussion. Sam Rivers' status as a master flutist is clear with one listen to this cut, as he runs the gamut from harmonic interplay to manic melodic flight.

That winding hard-bop highway is waaaay back in the rear-view mirror as the band goes four-wheelin' on "Natal Chart," which evolves in fascinating fashion from totally free to a raw form of Dixieland. It's a real shock to the senses that somewhat prepares you for "Cmbeh," a free jazz piece that showcases Abrams' extraordinary piano skills as he creates a typhoon of sound, punctuated by discordant stabs.

With all this talent on hand, it's still Altschul's show, and he pulls off a riveting solo piece called "Hey Toots!" that is full of creativity and exciting sounds from his trap set, wood blocks, chimes, cowbells, gongs and even a bowed waterphone. When it's all said and done, You Can't Name Your Own Tune has to be considered one of the great unknown albums. 32 Jazz's dedication to re-releasing the Muse Catalog has been a boon to jazz collectors, at least partly because it's brought spectacular work like this to light. Priced at around 7 bucks, they're obviously not in it for the money. Gotta love 'em.

© 2000 - DJ Johnson