SPACE (THOMAS BUCKNER & ROSCOE MITCHELL) / New Music for Woodwinds and Voice/An Interesting Breakfast Conversation
Roscoe Mitchell (soprano, alto, tenor, & bass saxophones, Eb soprano clarinet); Thomas Buckner (extended voice); Gerald Oshita (alto, tenor, & baritone saxophones, contrabass sarrusaphone, Conn-o-sax)
"Putting Roscoe Mitchell, Thomas Buckner and Gerald Oshita in a room together is as good a way as any to ensure a high level of freakiness. Roscoe Mitchell is one of Creative Music's granddaddies, having had a hand in the establishment of both the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago. He plays about a zillion instruments; here, he plays a variety of saxes and clarinets. Thomas Buckner is an extended voice guy, best known for his work in Robert Ashley's many incredibly lovely and weird operas (http://www.lovely.com). In addition to his involvement in Ashley's work, Buckner has long been a champion of experimental composers, often commissioning and performing new works. The late Gerald Oshita was a Bay Area reed player and composer. He plays saxes, contrabass sarrusaphone and "conn-o-sax" on these pieces." - irving Bellemead, Splendid
TRACK LIST
CD 1: New Music for Woodwinds and Voice
Marche (5:58)
Textures for Trio (14:13)
Prelude (7:18)
Variations on Sketches From Bamboo, No. 1 & 2 (11:40)
CD 2: An Interesting Breakfast Conversation
An Interesting Breakfast Conversation (3:27)
Live At The Public Theatre, I (9:54)
SVSA, Scene 1 (2:17)
Live At The Public Theatre, II (5:31)
Shapes (9:09)
Phonics (4:27)
Journeys (7:16)
REVIEWS
Wire, July 2001
Space was formed in 1979 by singer Thomas Buckner and two complementary woodwind players, Gerald Oshita, who died in 1992, and Roscoe Mitchell of The Art Ensemble of Chicago. The trio recorded two finely crafted albums, New Music for Woodwinds and Voice (1981) and An Interesting Breakfast Conversation (1984), originally issued on Buckner's 1750 Arch label. The two albums have now been reissued as a double package. The earlier album showcases their rhythmically ingenious and texturally rich compositions. On the second they transfer their technical poise and precision to group improvisation, assembling resilient structures balanced in space. The recordings form a fitting memorial to Oshita, and serve as a taster for Mitchell's subsequent chamber work
irving bellemead, Splendid
Now don't get me wrong, Splendid's supreme being and ever-diligent editor George is a fine human being; he's nice to unknown bands and he once he even saved a kitten from the jaws of a rabid donkey. But occasionally he does something like send me seventeen CDs full of sax-based free improv music, and as a result I occasionally want to feed him to a bear. Not that there's anything wrong with a) saxophones or b) free improv, but come on, we've all got our limits (mine is three, apparently). So. This was a trying week. But now that I'm finished whining (HA! - Ed.), let me say that if you're going to make free improv music involving saxophones, you might as well be a total freak about it. And putting Roscoe Mitchell, Thomas Buckner and Gerald Oshita in a room together is as good a way as any to ensure a high level of freakiness. Roscoe Mitchell is one of Creative Music's granddaddies, having had a hand in the establishment of both the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago. He plays about a zillion instruments; here, he plays a variety of saxes and clarinets. Thomas Buckner is an extended voice guy, best known for his work in Robert Ashley's many incredibly lovely and weird operas (http://www.lovely.com). In addition to his involvement in Ashley's work, Buckner has long been a champion of experimental composers, often commissioning and performing new works. The late Gerald Oshita was a Bay Area reed player and composer. He plays saxes, contrabass sarrusaphone and "conn-o-sax" on these pieces.
This two disc set is a reissue of two records originally released in the early 1980s by 1750 Arch Records. New Music for Woodwinds and Voice includes two compositions each from Mitchell and Oshita. Although they're composed works, there's still a fair amount of improvisation involved. An Interesting Breakfast Conversation has seven fully improvised tracks. Both discs are excellent; the improvisations are full of raw energy and tremendous creativity, and are always interesting enough to hold your attention for the duration. One of the most striking aspects of these discs is their use of the wide pitch range afforded the musicians by the variety of instruments they play; from the lowest of low rumbles to the highest of squeals, there's usually something interesting going on no matter where you aim your ears. And for those of you who might be frightened by the prospect of two CDs full of "extended voice", not to worry. Buckner doesn't have the greatest voice in the world, but he's quite musical with what he has, and never once does he start reciting poetry.
About the only negative thing I have to say about these discs is that the sound is sometimes a little iffy -- it breaks up and distorts at several points. But in the face of this much creative and sonic energy, that's not so surprising! That's just a quibble though; this is an impressive, memorable release.
François Couture
For the introduction of his new record label Mutable Music, new music vocalist Thomas Buckner decided to reissue as a 2 CD set the two LPs his trio Space had released in the early 1980s on his previous label 1750 Arch Records. Both feature the same line-up: Buckner on extended voice, Roscoe Mitchell and Gerald Oshita on an arsenal of saxophones and clarinets. New Music for Woodwinds and Voice (1981) contains four compositions, while an An Interesting Breakfast Conversation (1984), presents seven group improvisations. This is a chance to rediscover Oshita, who died in 1992 without getting the recognition he deserved. His playing on these two recordings is exuberant, tortured, and inventive to the bone. The sax/voice/sax trio format works very nicely, even though on the first CD Buckner tends to be buried in the mix and under-used. The compositions remain textural and blend elements from both classical and jazz idioms - interesting but a little dry. The improvisation CD truly illustrates what this trio was capable of. "An Interesting Breakfast Conversation" opens the set frenetically, with Buckner's voice turning into a third saxophone as the three of them engage in a dizzying polyphonic dance. On the other end of the spectrum is the delicate, sustained notes of "Phonics." "Journeys" reverts to more contemporary classical stylings, but still taps into something deeper and very moving. The wide range of saxophones used insures the listener against linearity. Both albums sound as fresh and new today as they did in the 1980s. With a price tag in the two-for-the-price-of-one range, this historical set becomes a must-have.
As a longtime fan of both Roscoe Mitchell and "chamber jazz", I picked up both of these 1750 Arch LPs by Mitchell's Space Ensemble shortly after they came out in the early 1980s. Although I liked them very much at the time, I must admit that by the time of this mutable 2-CD re-release, I probably hadn't heard either of them in a decade. Prior to spinning the new discs, my recollection was that both were in the pointillistic tradition of "classical" music's Anton Webern and jazz's Jimmy Guiffre?somewhere on the road to the Joe & Mat Maneri releases of the mid-1990s.
On re-hearing, I see that this impression wasn't entirely correct. First of all, there is what seems like a considerable Braxton influence on the two Oshita compositions that open the earlier release, New Music for Woodwinds and Voice, as well as on what I take to be (based on both the musical style and the identity of the engineer) the earliest of the freely improvised works on the second release?the title tune. These pieces sometimes involve the instrumentalists investigating one or two motifs or techniques?say, a lightning-fast arpeggio or a low, buzzed drone?to the near exclusion of any other material. At times, only Buckner seems to be freely commenting?the others are just going their own way without noticing the scenery. "Textures for Trio", with its competing sarrusophone and bass sax drones, also has more Ligeti to it than either Guiffre or Maneri.
The two Mitchell compositions on New Music do, however, have at least a bit of New Viennese feel (as well as a Threni-era Stravinsky one), and are, I think, the highlights of the roughly 83 minutes reproduced here. They involve a brilliant admixture of improv and composition, and Buckner is in particularly lovely voice. In the three years that elapsed between the release of the two LPs, Space moved away from the written note and took to relying exclusively on the improvisational instincts of the performers. Based on the recorded results, this may not have been an entirely successful change. (Interestingly, while Mitchell was getting more and more abstract with Space, he was getting funkier and funkier with his Sound Ensemble.) With the exception of the wonderful (but only three-and-a-half-minute) title tune, the pieces meander a good deal. Because of the talent level of the individuals comprising this trio, there are wonderful moments and Webernian Giuffreacs like me will undoubtedly enjoy the overall atmosphere of delicate counterpoint. But nothing here quite compares with, for example, the crystalline beauty of the opening chorale of the final work on New Music: "Variations on Sketches From Bamboo, Nos. 1 & 2". There is also the occasional problem?most noticeable in the final moments of "Live at the Public Theatre I"?that just as things are at their most wonderfully intricate and otherworldly, in walks Buckner for no good reason at all.
Given the quite reasonable price of this set as well as what I take to be the indubitable desirability of owning every Roscoe Mitchell release, it's easy to recommend this mutable album to those who don't already have the LPs. But having the two discs together like this does suggest that the onward development of the Space Ensemble was not straightforwardly upward.
Space was one of the more intriguing cross-platform collaborations of the late '70s and early '80s. By then, Roscoe Mitchell had solidified his stature in post-Coleman jazz, and had begun to stake out a claim as a new-music composer. In vocalist Thomas Buckner and the late Gerald Oshita, who shared Mitchell's penchant for extreme low-register horns, Mitchell found compatibility in heterogeneity. They made two LPs for 1750 Arch: New Music for Woodwinds and Voice, which featured improvisation-friendly compositions by Mitchell and Oshita; and An Interesting Breakfast Conversation, which was entirely improvised.
Reissued together, these two albums have retained a surprising amount of their provocative electricity. Space's bold palette of tenor voice, astringent high reeds and bellowing low reeds, proved to be remarkably flexible on New Music, a program that ranged from the gruff turbulence of Oshita's "Marche" to the languid counterpoint of Mitchell's "Variations on Sketches From Bamboo, No. 1 and 2." Their abilities as improvisers are more thoroughly detailed on their second LP, which lived up to its name by mixing bright banter and dreamy imagery.
Recorded nearly 20 years after New Music, 8 O'Clock reflects both the continuity and change in the rapport between Mitchell and Buckner since Oshita's passing. The continuity is reflected in maintaining not so much a long thread of thought, but of temperament. During these two lengthy improvisations, Mitchell moves between percussion, flute and soprano and alto saxophones; yet the incremental unfolding of the material is never ruffled. The change is reflected in that Mitchell is doing the switching, as Oshita unfailingly provided contrasting color and forward momentum, allowing Mitchell to remain on the same horn for an entire piece. The change is also manifested in the unwavering solemnity of the proceedings.
