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Southern Extreme by the Joel
Futterman/'Kidd' Jordan Trio with Alvin Fielder delivers vigorous yet sensitive free jazz
on this 1997 concert recording. New Orleans tenor man Kidd Jordan can blow as hard
as anyone, and pianist Joel Futterman is another powerful player who gets a big sound from
the instrument. After an introductory poem read by executive producer Phil Egert,
the 20-minute long opener to the concert, Mississippi Sweet, finds the pair
playing a musical game of tag. Luckily drummer Alvin Fielder doesn't try to compete
with them on strength, being more content to lay back and comment on the activity.
This instant composition ebbs and flows, with passages of soaring intensity offset by more
relaxed sections. Cecil Taylor's Sixties trio with Jimmy Lyons and Andrew Cyrille is
the obvious model for this group. Futterman seems to be attracted to dynamic
saxophonists, as some of his early recordings in fact feature Lyons on alto.
Futterman introduces another dimensions when he leaves the piano to pick up a soprano
saxophone. The idiomatic Kidd's Blues features a middle section with Kidd's
tenor, Futterman's soprano, and Fielder's drums, before Futterman moves back to the
keyboard for the last half of the tune. Sound quality is a problem at times, with
some of Jordan's most intense work being off-mike. Even the drums sound a little far
away most of the time. But the energy of the trio and their spirited interplay come
through, making Southern Extreme definitely worth hearing. |
IAJRC
Journal,
Winter, 2000 Stuart
Kremsky |
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Even before peeling the plastic off of
the intricately designed CD packaging, I had a good feeling about Southern Extreme.
The jittery sketches on the front cover reminded me of an outlandish Silkheart Jazz
release with has all active instruments in a state of perpetual motion. This withdrawn
trio embraces both contemporary, post-bop jazz and some of the classic artists of the 60s,
creating an amazing intersection of free jazz and the airy, romantic elements of an older
generation. This self-titled release is a mind-boggling presentation that any enthused
jazz fan should immediately seek out for his or her collection. Kidd Jordan's tenor
saxophone lands squarely between Rollins' famous sheets of sound and the pumping ferocity
of Roland Kirk's driving chops. Futterman's lightning-quick fingers dance across the ivory
keys, deftly sensitive and a perfect accompaniment to Fielder's percussive flurries.
Together, each musician plays a distinct role, creating several pieces of passionate art
that supplant traditional jazz philosophies with a chemistry that's unrivaled in its own
right. |
Spendid eZine |
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Every once in a while those long
afternoons spent rummaging through bins and boxes of records and CDs will pay off in the
form of turning up a real gem. Sometimes said prize is an artifact so rare that it will
take care of your next month's rent should you choose to pass it along to the right buyer.
Other times the bounty will take the form of a piece of music that opens doors you never
knew existed. I suppose the greed in us all would lean us toward hoping for the best of
both worlds, but as those of you who have found the golden key - and held onto it - will
likely attest, a well fed head engenders much more lasting value than a (temporarily)
thick wallet.
Case in point:
some ten years ago I stumbled across a record in the used bins titled Inneraction
by a pianist named Joel Futterman. Now I would imagine the six dollars I paid for the
album more or less represented its fair market value in the day, but the many hours of
pleasure I've received from listening to Inneraction in the intervening decade are
priceless. Not to mention the impetus the album provided for the exploration of the rest
of Futterman's discography, which currently totals 20 releases. In case you're still
scratching your head and wondering "Joel who?" - don't worry, you're not alone.
Even among those who have their ears pretty well directed toward the free jazz
underground, Joel Futterman is anything but a household name - and that probably has more
than anything to do with Futterman's own desire to keep a very low profile.
Born in Chicago in 1946, Futterman began playing piano
professionally at the age of 14 while sitting in with a variety of local and touring jazz
musicians in several of the Windy City's after hours clubs. He played with such notables
as Gene Shaw, Jimmy Garrison, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Ira Sullivan. In the early 1970s,
Futterman also interacted with members of the AACM, an association that no doubt
influenced his past and present musical direction as much as his fondness for the music of
Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, and Cecil Taylor. By his late
twenties, Futterman burned out on the daily grind of the Chicago club scene, and in 1973,
he packed up all his belongings and moved east to Virginia Beach, Virginia. At this point
in his musical career Futterman more or less sequestered himself from the outside world
and spent the majority of each waking day seated at his piano, typically practicing for 8
to 10 hours a day. It was this several year self-imposed exile from the bandstand that
afforded Futterman the opportunity to develop his own unique style of playing - "a
three-hand technique based on completely autonomous playing between the hands." The
attendant, and likely ever-evolving, result of Futterman's technique is an expansive sound
palate that brings to mind the note-cluster barrages of Cecil Taylor and Borah Bergman,
the oblique melodicism of Andrew Hill, and the elegant tunesmanship of Thelonious Monk.
Yet first and foremost, Futterman sounds like an individual speaking his own language in
his own voice, awakening his own coterie of spirits to excite the emotions of his
listeners.
Southern Extreme
finds Futterman and Kidd
Jordan in the presence of AACM member and long-time Jordan associate, Alvin Fielder.
Futterman and Jordan scale peaks known only to those few who pursue freedom with equal
unrestrained commitment. The comparison to Taylor and Lyons is almost impossible to avoid,
and in light of Futterman's long-time association with the late Jimmy Lyons (documented on
Inneraction and several other releases), I'd say pretty damn spot on. A familiarity
with the greatness of the Taylor/Lyons partnership will provide ample comment on the
eminence of the union between Futterman and Jordan. These two musicians are men to be
watched - and heard, and appreciated. Their music easily transcends the ordinary and
reaches heights attained by few others. Four decades into their accent and still climbing,
Futterman and Jordan most certainly know which way is up. |
Jazz USA Mike
Trouchon |
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The partisan politics of jazz have
polarized much of the music. Stigmas surrounding 'progressive,' 'avant-garde,' 'free,'
'innovative,' or 'forward-looking' jazz music have only served to stunt its growth and
have added nothing to jazz's assimilation into the mainstream culture of America in the
new millennium. Most major labels have avoided it like the plague, leaving the smaller
independents to keep the fire burning and stretching the envelope by utilizing
unconventional and unstructured (music like the music itself) sources. College radio has
played a pivotal role and the advent of the internet has given progressive improvisational
music a new and resourceful outreach to spread the good news.
Drimala Records is a label solely making their releases available online. Southern
Extreme, one of their inaugural releases, is a graphic illustration of how
avant-garde can be and should be. A trio recording featuring tenor wizard Edward
"Kidd" Jordan, drummer Alvin Fielder, and pianist Joel Futterman, Southern
Extreme is a hardcore trip through advanced free jazz that lasts over an hour. Mississippi
Sweet is a masterpiece with muscular solos from Jordan and wide-open interaction
amongst the trio. The music struggles between contained chaos and complete anarchy as
Jordan slashes and carves his way through with strong counters from both Futterman and
Fielder. Jordan's helter-skelter sermon stretches on to a striking Plato's Reverie.
It is all done in a pure, unadulterated form.
Southern Extreme is a powerful statement that
is rousing to the senses and inspires the thinking mind. It will not disappoint. Southern
Extreme can only be purchased off the Drimala Records' site. |
Jazz USA Fred Jung |
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"Pianist Joel Futterman leads a trio
of vastly under-recorded and underrated giants of the free music genre through a
stimulating live set of seven pieces. Futterman's debt to Cecil Taylor is evident, but he
stamps his own personality with some outrageously adventurous voicing, spectacular
technique, and frenetic style. Tenor saxophonist Kidd Jordan is compellingly powerful
throughout, able to sustain long innovative solos, while drummer Alvin Fielder, a founding
member of Chicago's AACM, is never less than a marvelous whirlwind of energy. Together,
the threesome keeps the listener guessing, with Futterman doubling on sopranino and some
sort of flute-like wind. Their third recording as a trio and first for the Drimala label
is a winner all the way, indicative of the high quality to be expected from these
neglected musical virtuosi. "
(4 Stars) |
All-Music Guide
Steven Loewy |
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"In a new departure, Drimala Records
are making this recording available only through their website. It cannot be found
in music shops. The trio is composed of pianist/flautist, Joel Futterman, veteran
New Orleans saxophonist, Edward 'Kidd' Jordan, and drummer, Alvin Fielder. All
compositions are by the group. The late Bill Evans once told Gene Lees, 'Any music
that is not in some way in touch with the process of improvisation is likely to be
sterile.' Well folks, there is no sterility on this CD. This is 'cutting edge
jazz' played by the people who will carry our music into the 21st century.
Being a 62 year old, 'mouldy figue, dixielander', I found the music somewhat
foreign to my old ears. The musicians, though capable and enthusiastic, seemed to
convey a certain anger in their delivery. If you like the music of Archie Shepp, Joe
Harriot, Gene Shaw, and Albert Ayler, then this record deserves a place in your
collection. Good luck to Drimala Records with this new marketing concept." |
Jazz Review Richard
Bourcier |
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"Drimala is a new
label whose recording can only be obtained at http://www.drimala.com. Futterman, who
plays mainly piano, has recorded with the genre-bending Hal Russell; Kidd Jordan played
contrabass clarinet for Hamiet Bluitt, but sticks to tenor sax here. Alvin Fielder
is a sensitive and daring percussionist a la Sunny Murray.
After a minute-long recitation of the
poem that gives this disc its title, the trio dives into the twenty-one minute long
'Mississippi Sweet.' Jordan's tenor is strongly reminiscent of the Trane and
Pharoah workouts of the mid-Sixties --- he sounds like both of them together!
Futterman's piano is as impassioned as McCoy's was in those bygone days, and then, like
Keith Jarrett, he switches to flute in midstream. Unlike Keith, however, he uses the
switch as an occasion for some high-register dueling with Jordan, who eventually takes
center stage (with Futterman returning to piano) for a screaming workout right out of
Live in Seattle.
And so it goes. 'No Train North'
begins with a whirling drum solo followed by Futterman playing at a furiously lyrical
Cecil Taylor pitch. Like Taylor he can (and does) turn down the volume and work in
miniature. As Jordan enters in a high register he strums the strings, then takes
the reedman on at the keyboard in another ferocious encounter. If Albert Ayler had
had a pianist on Spiritual Unity, it would have sounded like this.
Especially worthy of note on this fine
example of latter-day 'free' playing: On 'Plato's Reverie' the trio shows off a sinewy and
hypnotic lyricism. 'Kidd's Blues' has Futterman and Jordan in anguished duet
melodies with Futterman on soprano. This interesting release from this new label
shows that the paths blazed by Ayler, late Coltrane, and early Pharoah can still be
fruitfully trod today." |
All About
Jazz
Robert Spencer |
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"Southern Extreme is the first
release from the internet-exclusive Drimala Records, a label which proposed to document
the work of seriously underexposed New Orleans saxophonist Edward 'Kidd' Jordan.
However, judging from Jordan's performance on this CD (recorded live at Mississippi State
University last fall), even those who have never heard him might find themselves feeling
as if they'd been listening to him for years. Jordan plays with a style that simply
sounds like New Orleans---traveling the development of jazz from its birthplace, through
Chicago, Kansas City, New York, and returning home with the authority and wisdom befitting
to such a journey. Pianist Joel Futterman is similarly insightful, blending many
styles to create an aura which transcends pinpointing and in many ways acts as the most
cohesive element within the trio. Drummer Alvin Fielder propelled various Chicago
incarnations of Sun Ra's Arkestra in the late 50s, was a charter member of the AACM in the
60s, and his playing appropriately reflects these heavy credentials. As a unit, the
trio becomes an entity well beyond the linear sum of its members, displaying profound
levels of communication in its entirely improvised music. The disc's opening track Mississippi
Sweet covers all facets of the group's sound over a continuous shift of dynamic
range---by the time Futterman returns to the piano (after an Indian flute and curved
soprano sax excursion) amidst Jordan's key-clacking screams and Fielder's full-out
driving, the piece has come back to rest in Mississippi after having traversed all
conceivable jazz geographies. The exploration continues throughout the disc: No
Train North commences with a ferocious drum solo and concludes with high-intensity
restraint; Plato's Reverie brings to mind the spiritual melodicism of a Trane
ballad ('Alabama' deconstructed perhaps?); You Are My Truth concludes in a
carnival-esque (a strong New Orleans presence once again) sax duet; Kidd's Blues
features Jordan negotiating through Futterman's ivory-crashing to ablowing-over-dramatic-
changes destination; and Renaissance And Reprise is comprised of a
Futterman/Fielder due with long streams of Indian flute (though probably the least
engaging piece as a result of Jordan's absence). Fans of improvised jazz should not
hesitate to seek out this group, not only to ensure that Jordan earns recognition on a
wider level, but also because the trio has many highly-rewarding musical stories to
tell." |
Signal To Noise
Scott Hreha |
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"For those who value jazz
experimentation at its most audacious and fiercely committed, the viscerally exciting
music-making on this disc will prove difficult to resist. Pianist Futterman,
reedist, Jordan, and drummer Fielder collaborated on two earlier recordings, and it shows
in the complexity and intricacy of their most recent work. Jordan's often blistering
lines on tenor saxophone, Futterman's bracing chord clusters and fiery virtuosity on piano
and Fielder's shimmering contributions on drums neatly counterbalance one another.
It's not music for delicate or mainstream tastes, yet there's no denying the fervor or
force of these performances." |
Chicago
Tribune, November 22, 1998 Howard
Reich |
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"One of the
interesting things about this recording is the way the mix of instruments weaves in and
out of the listener's range. Drums are present, then fade, but only in subtle ways.
And while the horn and piano playing, particularly on an extended number like Mississippi
Sweat (clocking in at a hefty 21:30), seem omnipresent, there is an auditory illusion
to them that refuses to let the drums vanish, even when they aren't being played.
Much of what passes for jazz and
improvised music is music played at the same level with everyone heard primarily in the
foreground. Southern Extreme is an exception (aided, no
doubt, by being a live recording). Perhaps it helps that three are only three
members to this band, but the three-dimensionality to this material is furthered along by
its experimental nature as well. As the liner notes say, 'This recording is a
document of an art and music collaboration...in which Mississippi State University art
students created large murals in response to the live music performed by the trio.'
Southern Extreme
is the trio's third album, and it brings together young and old. The youthful Joel
Futterman's discursive, bright piano is augmented by occasional turns on soprano and
Indian flutes, while the New Orleans veteran Kidd Jordan cooks throughout on tenor,
weaving any number of stories on his horn, some terrifying and seemingly manic, others
showcasing his saxophonic reach for conventional tonality. The other vet, Alvin
Fielder, a paradox: Both a ball of polyrhythmic fire and a gentle presence here, his touch
is just right (check out his brush work on Plato's Reverie).
All seven selections were written by the
trio, and, like much 'new music,' was probably better heard by the audience in November
1997." 3 stars |
Down Beat,
January 1999 John
Ephland |
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"The
Futterman/Jordan trio, with Fielder on drums, opens with a telling, one-minute poem by
Jason McNeil dealing with abstraction, from which the album title derives. It sets
the creative tone for probing, compatible music that follows when the group dives headlong
into a sound storm of torrential proportions. The deluge is manifested by the
abundance of energy exerted by these three. This live performance at Mississippi
State University has vitality galore, providing these three geographically diverse
musicians an opportunity to become an incendiary force.
Futterman is a double threat. He
creates a whirlwind when scurrying across his keyboard at a frantic pace, and he matches
that enthusiasm when switching to woodwinds to joust with Jordan in combative fashion.
Futterman plays e-flat and b-flat Indian flutes and the curved soprano in his
diverse role. His blowing has a volatile effect that seems to ignite Jordan,
allowing him to return to the piano for further prodding while Jordan maintains the
intensity. At one point, he plays the soprano while pounding the keys with his left
hand. New Orleans stalwart caught the eyes and ears of The Big Apple when he more
than held his own with Milford Graves and Charles Gayle at the 1998 Vision Festival.
He seemed to captivate the audience with his drive, and that momentum is present on this
recording as well. His tone is bold and gutsy but not raspy. It merges
seamlessly into the chaotic world that Futterman inhabits. Former Chicago resident
and original AACM member Fielder sparks the performance with his drumming. His
sometimes freewheeling, sometime unhurried approach adds the proper ingredients to the
trio equation. He provides the right chemistry for this group.
All seven compositions are a group
effort. This typifies the play on this recording. It is a collaborative
effort by three empathetic musicians who are in tune with nature, science, and each other.
Their rapport is obvious, and the product is engrossing. You will like this
union." |
Cadence,
Vol. 25 No.2 Frank
Rubolino |
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"While outwardly
tied to the sixties energy music, the individuality of this trio emerges intact.
Edward 'Kidd' Jordan on tenor evokes as much the jazz voices of the 30s as the work of the
Impulse saxophonists. Alvin Fielder is up for the challenge, playing with agility
and imagination throughout this program, feeding the fire of the front-line (Southern
Exposure). Joel Futterman's early work with Jimmy Lyons and Rahsaan Roland Kirk
colours his approach here yet he has the good sense (and ability) to go his own way.
Recorded in performance at University of Mississippi, there is great strength in
the rush of this music as well as tenderness. (Plato's Reverie)." |
Coda,
Issue 285, May/June 1999 Steve
Vickery |
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