\n<\/p>\n
Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n You can tell Don Cherry wasn\u2019t wedded to any one instrument, from the way he played the trumpet. OK, that sounds like faint praise, or arch \u2014 but it\u2019s not. Sound came out of his horn in splatters and whistles, with a blend of playfulness and deep spirit that made it clear that the vessel he used mattered little. By the late 1960s, Cherry was playing flutes, keyboards, percussion instruments \u2014 anything he could get his hands or his lungs on. In 1978 he formed Codona with Collin Walcott and Nan\u00e1 Vasconcelos, multi-instrumentalists who were on a similar mission. Like Cherry, both sought to trace folk music traditions back far enough \u2014 and blend enough of them together \u2014 to find something like a universal language. That is certainly the idea on \u201cTrayra Boia,\u201d from \u201cCodona 3\u201d (1983), a smoke bath of half-whispered voices repeating a mysterious chant. The only instrument we hear is Cherry\u2019s trumpet, in serene and simple harmony with another falsetto voice. Toward the end of the track, the trumpet goes away for a moment and a louder, brighter vocalist comes in, with that familiar playful spirit: Clearly, it\u2019s Cherry \u2014 the voice that was behind that trumpet, all along.<\/p>\n Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n As I was researching spiritual jazz artists, I came across Don Cherry\u2019s two-part \u201cEternal Rhythm\u201d album. The first few seconds of \u201cPart 1\u201d felt like a type of calling: one where Cherry was calling for my attention and my patience, which then triggered curiosity and calmness. It was probably the drone on the vibraphone and the birdlike chirping on flutes that induced me into a trance. The flutes were having a conversation with each other. I assume that Cherry was playing both flutes simultaneously. Therefore, it was like listening to him have a conversation with himself.<\/p>\n I had high hopes of finding video footage of this session online so that I could see exactly who was playing what. I tried rewinding the audio over and over again to understand this sonic puzzle. Some of the sounds mimicked electronics, but there weren\u2019t any listed. The electric guitar was the only electric instrument being played, according to the liner notes. And the prepared piano added an interesting timbre. Cherry was able to bring technology into this brilliant piece with acoustic instruments somehow. Years later, I\u2019m still wondering about the process.<\/p>\n Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n In the late 1960s and early \u201970s, the debate around fusion brought up questions about the future of jazz itself. For many on both sides of this debate, fusion was an uneasy proposition to navigate. Would the incorporation of electronic instruments and rock aesthetics into jazz erode the genre, or could fusion open new possibilities that would carry the music into the future? In a way, Don Cherry\u2019s 1976 recording \u201cUniversal Mother\u201d would answer the latter part of this question with a resounding \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of a soaring electric guitar, harp and a funky, syncopated groove by Neil Jason on bass and Steve Jordan on drums, Cherry holds down the center of \u201cUniversal Mother\u201d with a sweet and playful spoken-word delivery. Shouting out the women in his family who came before him and the Watts, Los Angeles, community that raised him, Cherry offers a colorful and playful ode to motherhood, community and the karmic ties that bind all living beings. For 1976, the tune sounds surprisingly modern and could be posited as a precursor to genres like acid jazz and hip-hop. Today, the debate about the merits of fusion have largely receded into the past, and \u201cUniversal Mother\u201d remains as a reminder of how fruitful the music was in the hands of a master like Don Cherry.<\/p>\n Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Giovanni Russonello, Times jazz critic<\/h2>\n
\u201cTrayra Boia\u201d by Codona<\/span><\/h3>\n
\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Dr. JoVia Armstrong, percussionist and composer<\/h2>\n
\u201cEternal Rhythm Part I\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
John Morrison, writer<\/h2>\n
\u201cUniversal Mother\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Marcus J. Moore, jazz writer<\/h2>\n
\u201cSummer House Sessions Side A\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n