Brown, Sheldon Group / Blood Of The Air
Album: Blood Of The Air   Collection:Jazz
Artist:Brown, Sheldon Group   Added:Jan 2019
Label:Edgetone Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2019-01-22 Pull Date: 2019-03-26 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Feb 10 Jan 27
Airplays: 1 2

Recent Airplay
1. Mar 29, 2019: Old Fart At Play
First Star
3. Jan 26, 2019: Music Casserole
Oraibi
2. Feb 04, 2019: Wild kingdom
To Have The Courage
4. Jan 25, 2019: old Fart At Play
First Star

Album Review
Tom McCarter
Reviewed 2019-01-14
Reviewed: 2019-01-14
Genre: Jazz
Review: The work centers around “speech melodies” created from readings by the Beat-era poet Philip Lamantia. Each piece begins with a recording of Lamantia reading his poetry, and one of the musicians (often Brown himself) responding in a melody that matched the prosody of Lamentia’s speech. The melodies serve as points of departure with the ensemble responding with rhythmic vamps, countermelodies, and solos.
FCCs: none
If You Like: Ornette Coleman, Capt. Beefheart, Henry Kaiser, Eric Dolphy, Pere Ubu, David Thomas, William Parker
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
*1/ Oraibi Intro (3:36) – sax starts> slow haunting jam with dissonant noises & slowly sung song swings into uptempo jam & vocal> quick stop
*2/ Oraibi (11:44) - spoken word poem over midtempo dissonant jam> midtempo insrumental jam> trumpet solo> sax solo> midtempo jam> pause> spoken word over midtempo dissonant jam> wild instrumental break> quick stop
3/ To You Henry Miller, Part 1 (3:38) – drums/vocal start> poem over bass clarinet> quick stop
4/ To You Henry Miller, Part 2 (10:38) – heavy electric guitar jam starts interspersed with midtempo dissonant jam with sax & trumpet up front> slow piano solo morphs into midtempo space jam> sax solo builds into uptempo dissonant jam & slows> trumpet solo> uptempo dissonant jam> brief piano solo leads into uptempo swinging instrumental jam, then dissolves into midtempo off-kilter dissonant jam> slow piano solo leads into slow tempo jam, then swings up to midtempo rocking dissonant jam> fade
*5/ First Star (5:36) – Theremin starts with space noises> spoken word poem over space sounds> slow song with altered vocals over space jam> sax solo> slow song> slow fade
*6/ Primavera (12:11) - vocal starts> poem over bass> bass clarinet/bass duet> guitar solo over Theremin> piano solo builds into uptempo jam> electric guitar solo morphs into uptempo rocking jam> soaring sax solo> uptempo jam morphs into fast tempo> pause> spoken poem over dissonant midtempo jam> off-kilter piano solo morphs into midtempo space jam> pause> spoken word poem over slow dissonant jam> midtempo jam to fade
7/ The Romantic Movement (6:53) – vocal/bass clarinet starts> slow spoken poem with bass clarinet> pause> midtempo instrumental off kilter dissonant jam> piano solo> midtempo jam slows to fade> pause> bass clarinet solo to stop
**8/ To Have The Courage (6:58) – vocal starts> midtempo poem with sax accompaniment morphs into scat sung bopping uptempo song> swinging instrumental with bopping vocal over the top> bass/scat duet> warped guitar solo> trumpet solo> sax solo> uptempo jam> quick stop
9/ Out Of The Jungle/ The Hand Grenade/ Man Is In Pain (11:07) – wild dissonant uptempo jam starts, morphs into ululating vocal over space jam> vocal poem with slow dissonant jam underneath> pause> uptempo spoken vocal poem over uptempo dissonant off-kilter jam> pause> slow space jam in waves of sound with sporadic piano notes intermingled> drum solo morphs into slow dissonant jam> spoken word poem over slow dissonant jam to stop & some breathing

Track Listing
1. Oraibi Intro   5. First Star
2. Oraibi   6. Primavera
3. To You, Henry Miller, Part 1   7. The Romantic Movement
4. To You, Henry Miller, Part 2   8. To Have The Courage
  9. Out Of The Jungle/The Hand Grenade/Man Is In Pain