Review in New York City Jazz Record, April 2014
by Clifford Allen

After nearly succumbing to a heart ailment in 2008, it’s pretty obvious that 79-year-old Mississippi-based drummer Alvin Fielder is here for as long as possible. The last year has seen four new recordings, including this one. A historian of jazz drumming from Cuba Austin to Raymond Strid, Fielder tours frequently and many of his hookups since the mid ‘70s have been with tenor saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan, based in New Orleans. Live in New Orleans features a rare performance with itinerant German Peter Kowald, months before the bassist’s untimely passing in September 2002 (he would have turned 70 this month).

The set presents one sprawling improvisation across two LPs; for good measure, the CD version also includes a set of Fielder- Jordan duets recorded in Houston in 2005. The third movement (Side C) offers a particularly broad vision of what this short-lived trio was capable. Beginning with high-register tenor peals and a palette of brushes and vibra-slaps, Kowald supplants percussion and saxophone with deft muscularity and telepathic detail. One can imagine him draped over the instrument and beaded in sweat. Kowald’s position as an architect of European free improvisation - especially with figures like multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach - contains a certain rigorous brutalism, at least on the surface, but that music is incredibly rich and Kowald’s motoring, full pizzicato in the tempo sections attests to his nuanced drive. Fielder brings the snare attack of Sunny Murray and the quickness of Max Roach to the proceedings, loose and athletic. The three engage a bluesy walk toward the section’s final third, Jordan digging clean burrs and volleying upward as Fielder and Kowald link into a simple, effortless beat, flexible enough to match the saxophonist’s harmonic and rhythmic turns. The closing part of the set follows suit, funereal purrs making an abrupt shift into Ayler-ian stomp before Jordan emerges with a fluttering landscape of brassy, interwoven runs and the bassist and drummer link into a popping swing. Fielder keeps the pulse while ensuring that Jordan’s knotty blowing is stoked and teased. It’s easy to forget that these improvisations were waxed nearly a dozen years ago; Jordan and Fielder sound as fleet and inspired now as they did then. Only Kowald is gone, his life cut short at 58 and one can only imagine what results the ensuing decade-plus would have had on his music.

More reviews of the recordings can be found at:

Dusted Magazine and
European Free Jazz Blog

CD1:
Edward "Kidd" Jordan – tenor saxophone
Alvin Fielder - drums, percussion
Peter Kowald – bass

1. Trio I 12'45"
2. Trio II 9'29"
3. Trio III (High Altitude) 5'11"
4. Drums solo 6'19"
5. Bass solo 6'26"
6. Trio IV 8'40"
7. Trio V 12'57"
8. Trio VI (Concluding) 8'50"
Recorded April 28, 2002 at Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

CD 2:
Edward "Kidd" Jordan – tenor saxophone
Alvin Fielder - drums, percussion

1. Liftoff 9'02"
2. Duo Flight 19'45"
3. E. Fashole-Luke 17'10"
4. Tempest NOLA, 2005 9'22"
5. Nameless Sound Duo 10'39"
Tracks 1-4 recorded May, 2005 at the Shed Recording Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana
Track 5 recorded January 19, 2012 at Eldorado Ballroom, Houston, Texas

Two samples of the music can be heard at the No Business Records web site. No Business also offers a 2-LP version of just the trio recording with Peter Kowald. The gatefold of the double LP features my photo montage of the artists.

Thanks,
Michael