- Un
message de mon ami musicien Clifford Thornton. C'est à
ses côtés ainsi qu'avec Steve Lacy que j'ai
pris mes premières leçons de free-jazz.
-
- Ce
message de Clifford Thornton a été punaisé
sur ma porte lorsque j'habitais
à Carouge près de Genève.
-
- Clifford
Thornton était un excellent pédagogue et il
a apporté aux
jeunes musiciens que nous étions une approche captivante
du jazz.
-
- C'est
sous
son influence que j'ai créé l'«Aerophonic Orchestra».
-
Clifford
Thornton jouait de la trompette et du trombone et est
l'un des pionniers du freejazz.
Né
à Philadelphie le 6 septembre 1936 il a étudié
avec le trompettiste Donald Byrd dans le milieu des années
1950 et a travaillé avec le joueur de tuba Ray Draper.
Après un passage dans l'armée il s'est installé
à New York et a joué
avec de nombreux groupes de jazz avant-gardiste, apparaissant comme
sideman avec des artistes remarquables tels que Sun Ra et Sam Rivers.
Son premier
album date de 1967 «Freedom & Unity» et a été
enregistrée un jour après les funérailles
de John Coltrane. Cet enregistrement est aussi la première apparition enregistrée
de Joe McPhee, un autre saxophoniste de cette période freejazz.
Militant du Black Panthers il a
été interdit de séjour en France en 1970 à la suite d'un concert de soutien à ce mouvement.
- Clifford Thornton a passé ses 15 dernières années en Europe. Il est décédé à
Genève le 25 novembre 1983.
Plusieurs
de ses albums ont été réédités
sur CD.
Discographie
En tant
que leader:
- Freedom
& Unity
(Unheard Music Series, 1967) avec Karl Berger, Jimmy Garrison,
John McCortney, Joe McPhee, Don Moore
- Ketchaoua
(BYG Actuel, 1969) avec Dave Burrell, Claude Delcloo, Earl Freeman,
Beb Guérin, Arthur Jones, Grachan Moncur III, Sunny Murray,
Archie Shepp
- The
Panther and the Lash (America
Records, 1970) avec Beb Guérin, Noel McGhie, François
Tusques
- Communications
Network (Third World Records, 1972) avec Jerome Cooper, Jayne
Cortez, Nathan Davis, Jerry Gonzalez, Jay Hoggard, L. Shankar,
Sirone
- The
Gardens of Harlem
(JCOA, 1974) avec Roland Alexander, Carla Bley, Pat Patrick,
Marvin Peterson, Dewey Redman, Wadada Leo Smith, Bob Stewart,
Carlos Ward
Comme sideman:
Avec Dave
Burrell (pianiste):
Avec Archie
Shepp (saxophoniste ténor):
- Coral
Rock
- Black
Gipsy
- Attica
Blues
- Archie
Shepp and the Full Moon Ensemble
- Live
au Pan-Africain Festival
- Yasmina,
a Black Woman
- Pitchin
Can
Avec Joe
Mc Phee (saxophoniste ténor):
- Survival
Unit II, N.Y.N.Y 1971
-

Clifford
Thornton
composer,
arranger, cornet, valve trombone, shenai, cabasa, bell
THE
GARDENS OF HARLEM
The
jazz Composer's Orchestra
Conducted
by Jack Jeffers
ritmo
africano
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Kobena
Adzenyah
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nnawuronta,
apentima, oprenten, ntrowa, conga, sogo,
atsimevu
|
Jerry
Gonzales
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kónkolo
bata, kaganu, quinto, tumba, bell, palos
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Milton
Cardona
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itótele,
bata, tumba
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Gene
Golden
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iyá,
bata, tumba, palos
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Vincent
Jorge
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tumba,
axatse, conga
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Asante
Darkwa
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gankogui,
nnaronta, bell
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Laxmi
G. Tewari
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axatse,
kidi, ntrowa
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Art
Lewis
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trap
set
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Andy
Gonzales
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bass
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Carla
Bley
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piano
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Bob
Stewart
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tuba
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Charles
Stevens
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trombone
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Janice
Robinson
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trombone
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John
Thompson
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french
horn
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Gregory
Williams
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french
horn
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George
Barrow
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baritone
sax, flute
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Pat
Patrick
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tenor,
soprano sax
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Roland
Alexander
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tenor
sax
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Carlos
Ward
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alto
sax, flute
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Dewey
Redman
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alto
tenor, flute
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Clifford
Thornton
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cornet
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Michael
Ridley
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trumpet
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Marvin
Peterson
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trumpet
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Leo
Smith
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trumpet
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Ted
Daniel
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trumpet,
flügelhorn
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- Special
appreciation and gratitude to my ancestors, especially
my parents and grandparents.
- For my son Kevin and all
the harlems everywhere.
Soloists:
Roland
Alexander, Clifford Thornton
0 DESÃYO.
A Jamaican interpretation of
a hail and farewell song with variations, sung by children: a group of boys
responding to
a group of girls in the lead. The melody, is of Angolan origin.
Soloist: Janice Robinson
OGÚN BÁRA. An Afro-Cuban (Lucurni) interprétation
of a chant from Recife, Brazil which originates among the Yoruba of
Nigeria. It
represents the type of religious incantation which precedes a performance of ritual
dance for Ogún, Orisha of iron and fire; protector of hunters, warriors, blacksmiths...
and spirit of their tools. Ogún holds dominion over hunting andbattle;
oaths are sworn on his symbols (iron tools and weapons).
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Agbadzá (extrait de
4:30)
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Soloists:
Marvin
Peterson, Michael Ridley, Clifford Thornton
AGBADZÁ. Originally from Dahomey
a social dance
derived from the traditional after-war dance called Atrikpui, among the Ewe of Ghana.
Formerly, strong restrictions limited both the time and place for performance of
the Atrikpui dance. It could only be danced after war,
when the warriors were reaching
home; and it had to be danced at the outskirts of the town or village where people
would go out to meet the returning soldiers. Atrikpui is still danced, and the songs
are repositories of military folklore.
Today, the occasions for Atrikpui are still ceremonial
but no longer military, although male dancers must wear knives. In the absence
of tribal war, Atrikpui has evolved as Agbadzá, which is now the popular
dance for social recreation. As in other dances, Agbadzá songs are in two classes:
Hatsyiatsya songs and the main dance songs. More than half are in the former group.
Their characteristic feature is that they are free songs and are unaccompanied
by rhythm. Some are semi- free: the first half is free and in the middle it
becomes metrical and people begin clapping or beating time. We use such a song with
free rhythm, as the preliminary song or introduction.
CHANGÓ OBARÍ. Soloist:
Leo
Smith. An Afro-Cuban (Lucumi) interpretation
of a chant from Pernambuco. Brazil of Yoruba origin. The chant is
a religions incantation to Changó Orisha of thunder, lightning and fire, who
is called upon for protection against natural elements. The lyrics to this chant
are in Nago (Dahomey) dialect; an adaption of those lyrics becane popular
in the United States. Changó actually was king among the ancient Yoruba
- a fierce warrior-king
who personifies masculinity and virility. His symbol is the double-bladed
ax.
GOSPEL
BALLADE. Soloist:
Carla Bley, Charles Stevens. A somewhat traditional ballad of uncertain
origin, inspired by Abyssinian Baptist Choir of New York
City during service.
SWEET ORANGES. A somewhat traditional street vendors
's cry, inspired by a fruit and vegetable seller heard in Columbia. South Carolina.
BLUES CITY. Soloists:
George
Barrow, Ted Daniel, Dewey Redman . An extended (14 bar) blues constructed
on a mode. Harlem on my mind.
In
1969, what had long been more than an interest for me
in West african music became a formal and continuous study. This study
was to involve both academic research and performance. I feel fortunate
to have
had the benefit of the wisdom, skills and experience of Professer Fela Sowande of
Nigeria and Kobena Adzennyah of Ghana in these respective pursuits. It was in
Algiers, also in 1969, at the First Pan-African Cultural Festival (sponsored by the Organization
of African Unity), that I made first-hand contact with this music
on
the "mother earth".
In 1970 I briefly visited Ghana, Togo, Dahomey, Nigeria and
Cameroon. Later that summer I performed in Tunisie. Growing up in New York, the
easily accessible music of the Caribbean and South American countries becomes
our live connector to this African heritage: particularly the music
of Cuba, Haiti and Brazil.
A trip to the Caribbean in the summer of 1972 provided focus on
the differences in the evolution of styles and interpretations of
ancient West African origin.
Ideas which had begun to formulate as early as 1968,
and which were fertilized beginning in 1969, had become a tentative score by
May 1972 which was read through in a public JCOA works-in-progress workshop
at that time. Ten of the orchestra musiciens, includinq five of the African
rhythm section, have lived with this music from that beginning through the public
workshops, private rehearsals and recording. A period of almost two years passed,
during which I revised the score twice. The players are my personal choices
and collectively bring wide expérience in this idiom. All are greatly
admired by me, and most are friends and colleagues of long standing.
My objectives in this work have been authenticity
(traditional, historic validity) and contemporaneity. The challenge of writing for and
working with large, ensembles has always interested me. My first influences in
this direction as a child were the big bands of Basie, Eckstine, Gillespie, Machito
and Puente. Later, I had the good fortune of working with the orchestras of Sun Ra,
Bill Dixon, Sam Rivers, Archie Shepp and the JCOA. This piece, conceived
as a linkage of chronological and geographical themes, traces the continuum from
West to North Africa, to the Caribbean, the Southeastern United States, to Harlem.
Most of this music is based on indigenous source
material, especially the rhythmic basic and, to some extent, melodic
content as well. Essenticially, these are instrumental versions of vocal melodies,
with the exceptions of Aïn Salah and Blues City. With harmony, an attempt was made to
capture the essence of the varions vocal and choral styles, flavoring them with
contemporary harmonic devices where this did not threaten idiomatic integrity.
The spiritual and psychological fulfillment resulting
from re-establishing the relationship with the traditional ethos... aesthetic...
is boundless. It continually re-energizes, re-inspires and re-affirms the sense of
direction. At the same time, it serves chiefly as a balance between the inner-self
and the environment. This is, in part, the role and function of music in traditional
African societies and among peoples of primarily African derivation. In this
connection, music is vital to both religious and secular life for the same reasons and
is manifested in the same ways. It is the core and foundation, the language
of both religious and philosophic thought. The spirit, which informs an object or living
thing must be HEARD to be completely experienced, understood and felt. It cannot
be merely described or otherwise shown... HEAR, then, the fruit of
The Gardens of Harlem.
Clifford Thornton*
- *Clifford Thornton is Assistant Professer of Music
at Wesleyan University, Connecticut, where he founded and directs the Program in African
American Music.
I am deeply grateful for the contributions of Michael
Mantler, Jack Jeffers, Christine Jakobs, Manuel Amaez, Marilyn
Harris, Ron Ancrum, Eddie Korvin and Fred Seibert to this undertaking.
This project has been made possible with Assistance from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the
Arts.
- Music ©1972, Third World Music, BMI.
- Produced by Clifford Thornton and the Jazz Composer's
Orchestra
- Associate Producer: Fred Seibert
- Recorded April 4, 1974: Blue Rock Studio, NYC.
- Recording and Mix Engineer: Eddie Korvin
- Mastering: Harry N. Fein, CBS.
- Front cover painting: mural done by elementary school
students at Public School 125 on a fence at 121st Street and
Amsterdam Avenue, Harlem, USA.
- Photographe: Christine Jakobs (2,3), Rufus Nickens
(1)
- Back cover print: Momodou
Ceesay
- Cover design: Susan Rivoir
- Printed in USA.
- ©1975, JCOA Records.
- Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-750279
-
JCOA RECORDS is the record label of the Jazz
Composer's Orchestra Association, Inc., a non-profit
organization.
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