Monday, November 6, 2006

Charles Bobo Shaw & Lester Bowie: Bugle Boy Bop



The details:
Label: Muse Records
Catalog#: MR 5268
Format: LP
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Jazz
Style: Free Jazz

Credits:

Drums - Charles Bobo Shaw
Producer - Michael Cuscuna
Trumpet - Lester Bowie
Notes: This album was recorded live at Studio Rivbea on February 5, 1977.

Tracks:

A1 Bugle Boy Bop (6:11)
A2 Go Bo (6:00)
A3 Cootie's Caravan Fan (3:55)
A4 Latin Recovery (4:17)
B1 The Girth Of The Cool (7:28)
B2 Chop'n Rock (6:29)
B3 Finito, Benito (6:23)
This is a trumpet & drum duet that will please fans of AEC & Human Arts Ensemble. If you are someone who loved Don Cherry & Eddie Blackwell's album Mu, you'll probably like this one.

The title track gets things off to a high-energy start. The second track ("Go Bo") is where Shaw cuts loose & Bowie lays low (at least somewhat). A barnburner. "Cootie's Caravan Fan" slows things down, but just barely, with a pulsating rhythm giving the tune a very trance-like feel. The title "Latin Recovery" is fairly self-explanatory, with Shaw going bossa nova as Bowie freaks out on the trumpet. The flipside starts with what amounts to a free improv ballad "The Girth of the Cool" - slow-tempo late night feel to it, but by mid-song builds in intensity and eventually the duo picks up the pace and the ferocity. "Chop'n Rock" is characterized by a choppy, rockish beat through much of the tune, seemingly nodding to an old AEC tune, "Rock Out". "Finito, Benito" ends the album on an entropic note. Be aware, the mp3s on this one are a bit dodgy, and the last tune seems to cut off in the middle. As the saying goes, better dodgy mp3s than no music at all.

I don't know if there ever will be a proper digital reissue of this album. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. In the meantime, these mp3 files help to document just a bit of what was going on during the late 1970s NY jazz loft scene.

Download Bugle Boy Bop