Brown Rice (album)
Brown Rice | ||||
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Studio album by Don Cherry | ||||
Released | 1975, Italy | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 39:17 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | Corrado Bacchelli | |||
Don Cherry chronology | ||||
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Brown Rice, reissued as Don Cherry, is a studio album recorded in 1975 by trumpeter Don Cherry.
Overview
The album presents a fusion of jazz with rock, African, Indian, and Arabic music.[1][2] Charlie Haden plays wah-wah bass on the title track, while Frank Lowe's tenor evokes a blues influence.[1][2] "Malkauns" includes tambura accompaniment.[2]
The tracks "Brown Rice," "Malkauns" and "Degi-Degi" were recorded by engineer Kurt Munkacsi at Basement Recording Studios in New York City.[3][4] "Chenrezig" was recorded by Michael Mantler at Grog Kill, Woodstock, New York.[3][4] Corrado Baccheli produced the sessions with his associate Beppe Muccioli.[3]
Reception
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Brown Rice is the most accessible entry point into Cherry's borderless ideal, jelling into a personal, unique, and seamless vision that's at once primitive and futuristic in the best possible senses of both words. While Cherry would record a great deal of fine work in the years to come, he would never quite reach this level of wild invention again".[1]
Brian Morton and Richard Cook, writing for The Penguin Guide to Jazz, called Brown Rice "a lost classic of the era and probably the best place to sample the trumpeter as both soloist – he blows some stunningly beautiful solos here – and as the shamanic creator of a unique, unearthly sound that makes dull nonsense of most 'fusion' work of the period.… Exceptional and recommended."[7] Previous editions of The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the album a four-star rating, of a possible four.[5]
Carl Braurer, writing for Cadence, suggested that the title track and "Degi-Degi" were the least successful tracks on the album, and would have benefited from shorter running times.[2] However, Braurer felt that overall, "this [album] is Cherry at his finest."[2] The All Music Guide to Jazz, which reprinted Braurer's review, marked the album as a landmark recording.[2]
Track listing
- All compositions by Don Cherry except as indicated
- "Brown Rice" - 5:15
- "Malkauns" (Bengt Berger, Don Cherry) - 14:02
- "Chenrezig" - 12:51
- "Degi-Degi" - 7:06
- Recorded at The Basement Recording Studios in New York (tracks 1, 2 & 4) and at Grog Kill in Woodstock (track 3)
Personnel
- Don Cherry - trumpet, piano, electric piano, vocals
- Frank Lowe - saxophone (tracks 1, 3 and 4)
- Ricky Cherry - piano, electric piano (tracks 1, 3 and 4)
- Charlie Haden - bass (tracks 1, 2 and 4)
- Billy Higgins - drums
- Verna Gillis - vocals (track 1)
- Bunchie Fox - bongos (track 1)
- Hakim Jamil - bass (track 3)
- Moki - tambura (track 2)
Carl Brauer noted apparent errors in the album's credits: "Don Cherry does not play trumpet on 'Brown Rice,' but he does play it on 'Degi-Degi,' and for the life of me I can't hear Frank Lowe's tenor on that track."[2]
- Additional personnel
- Corrado Bacchelli - producer
- Beppe Muccioli - associate producer
- Stanley Crouch - liner notes
Release history
The album was first titled Brown Rice.[1][2][7] EMI Records originally released the album in Italy under this title.[2] Horizon Records reissued the album in 1977, titled Don Cherry.[2][8] John Snyder and Rudy Van Gelder prepared a digital master at Van Gelder Studio in 1988, and in 1989 A&M Records released Brown Rice on compact disc.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Huey, Steve. Brown Rice (album) at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Braurer, Carl (1994), Ron Wynn, ed., All Music Guide to Jazz, M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov, San Francisco: Miller Freeman, pp. 147–148, ISBN 0-87930-308-5
- 1 2 3 4 Brown Rice (Media notes). Don Cherry. Los Angeles: A&M. 1976. 397 001-2.
- 1 2 Don Cherry at Discogs
- 1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
- ↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 40. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- 1 2 Morton, Brian; Richard Cook (2010) [1992]. The Penguin Jazz Guide: The History of the Music in the 1001 Best Albums. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (10th ed.). New York: Penguin. pp. 424–425. ISBN 978-0-14-104831-4.
- ↑ Brown Rice (album) at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
External links
- Brown Rice at Discogs (list of releases)
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