geechee recollections II (tokalokaloka parts one two and three)

yesterday and today's listening geechee recollections  by marion brown. recorded june 4th and 5th 1973 at intermedia sound studios boston.

the second of marion brown's georgia trilogy (the first on impulse). a poem 'karintha' from the work of harlem renaissance poet jean toomer performed by bill hassan, bookended by two improvisations (one by marion brown, one by leo 'wadada' smith). all hands on deck for the persussion but a minimum of three percussionists pootling away in an african fashion plus william malone on thumb piano and autoharp (tokalokaloka parts one two and three).

marion brown was born in altlanta. his mum moves to new york late 50ies/ early 60ies taking him with her. he’s university educated but has also spent 3 years in the army in the army band. there he meets leroi jones (aka. amiri baraka), in his building he meets archie shepp, ornette coleman lends him his saxophone so he can play with shepp, shepp mentions him to coltrane and he ends up playing on coltrane's  ascension (and on shepp’s fire music). he plays on the radio or has a radio show.

but it’s difficult to make a living as a free jazz musician in the US so he moves to paris and tours europe. he records for ESP (and later ECM) he meets leo smith in connecticut (who’s an art ensemble of chicago/ association for the advancement of creative musicians kind of guy).

‘I was teaching in elementary schools. I was teaching children how to make instruments and create their own music...mostly percussion instruments and I made some flutes from bamboo. (later) I played them with Leo Smith and for ECM on Afternoon of a Georgia Faun.’

Afternoon of a Georgia Faun is the start of the georgia trilogy (it was recorded in august so horsemouth will be reviewing it then).

it’s tempting to read free jazz as frenetic urban music (its what the film-maker does with marion brown in can you see what I am saying?) but with the georgia trilogy marion brown manages to make different musics for the south, for the rural, something downhome and yet avant-garde.

that said geechee recollections doesn’t do it for horsemouth like sweet earth flying does - it’s the fender rhodes electric piano of paul bley on part one (compare it to the amina claudine myers vesion on grand piano), the organ of muhal richard abrams on part three, it's marion brown's writing for piano that does it.

marion brown has a career but then he gets old and sick. for his last three decades he’s practically silent. he dies in 2010 in a florida nursing home. in 2003 there’s an interview with him. there’s a book he wrote (somewhere).