58 JAZZTIMES SEPTEMBER 2019
genius who seems to disdain com-
mercial success despite having all the
skills to attain it. He’s a saxophonist,
composer, musicologist, preserva-
tionist, historian, author, lecturer,
and curmudgeon who writes obscure
books that few people read and makes
great, weird records that just about
no one hears. He blends blues, bebop,
avant-garde, free jazz, and punk rock
into a wonderfully singular concoc-
tion; lures A-list musicians to help
create it; and then issues it on multi-
disc sets with titles like Jews in Hell.
It’s as if every piece of art he makes islection’s subtitle suggests, there’s little
connective tissue in the music pre-
sented here, and it doesn’t fit anyone’s
preconception of what jazz should or
shouldn’t be. It’s not traditional, and
it’s not not traditional.
For a guy who spent a good half
of his career in bucolic but jazz-less
South Portland, Maine, it’s hard to
believe that Lowe was able to recruit
the likes of Julius Hemphill, Doc
Cheatham, Marc Ribot, David Murray,
Hamiet Bluiett, Matthew Shipp (on
a Farfisa organ!), and Roswell Rudd
(who turns in a spectacular solo on
“Louis’ Pennies” from a 1994 concert)
to play his compositions. Yet he did—
for a long time.
Some of what’s documented here
has been plucked from Lowe’s earlier
records. Most of this, however, com-
prises new-ish and previously unis-
sued material. There are garage tapes
from 1980, Knitting Factory concert
tracks from the ’90s, and home
recordings from the past decade.
Several long suites were laid down as
recently as last year. And much of it is
politically pointed or at least socially
aware, with titles like “Black Brown
and Beige, Yellow, Trans and Queer:
My Country ’Tis of This” and “Hymn
for the White Folks” (aimed squarely
at Trump’s supporters). Musically it’s
all over the map, with shades of Louis
Armstrong’s earliest work, electric
guitar-driven avant-garde, and ev-
erything in between—sometimes in
the same song. At times his aesthetic
is in line with Henry Threadgill; at
others he seems to channel early
Sun Ra. Then he throws a curveball
and sounds like Nels Cline (who, of
course, appears here).
As you might expect from the set’s
punning title, Mingus’ shadow hangs
over a decent chunk of Jews & Roots.
That’s especially true on the suites
that constitute the fourth disc, whose
music was written after the 2016 elec-
tion and whose titles show it: “Fables
of Fascism,” “Border Crossing.” Lowe
dips into early West Coast jazz on
tunes like “Strollin’ With Helen” and
goes back further, to hot jazz and King
Oliver territory, on “Rhythm Thing”
and “Mental Strain at Dawn.” Then he
leaps forward to atonal electric shred-REVIEWS ALBUMS
a middle finger to convention. Now,
at age 65, he’s put out an eight-CD
career-spanning survey called Jews
& Roots—on ESP-Disk’, the home of
Albert Ayler reissues and Sun Ra box
sets, no less—that gathers his favorite
moments from 40 years of a financial-
ly unrewarding career.
Few people are going to buy this
$75 set, and that’s too bad. Unlike
much of what’s labeled avant-garde
or “out jazz” these days, Lowe’s work
is largely accessible. It’s melodic and
rhythmic; you can tap your feet to it
and hum its themes. But, as the col-Editor’s PickPETER ELDRIDGE AND KENNY WERNER
Somewhere
RosebudIntentionally or not, the opening track of Somewhere is a bit of misdirection. Sound-
ing like a suave supper-club crooner, Peter Eldridge eases into Cindy Walker’s “You
Don’t Know Me” buoyed by pianist Kenny Werner’s pillowy string arrangement.
Eldridge sounds resigned rather than devastated at his anonymity, and he doesn’t
come close to prying the song away from Ray Charles. (Who could?) But rather than
introducing an easy-listening program of standards, the tune is an anomaly on a
ballad-centric project that brims with exceptional originals.
Eldridge and Werner co-wrote a single song, the sumptuous seasonal ode
“Autumn in Three,” but one or the other is credited on just about every other
piece. Eldridge wrote the words and music for the graceful, exacting portrait of a
romance on the rocks, “Difficult,” a song in search of a Sondheim musical. Werner
is solely responsible for the dreamy “Untitled Lament,” which also features his most
elaborate arrangement. And what arrangements! Understated and blithely sophis-
ticated, his string charts sound utterly integral to the music and expertly tailored to
Eldridge’s pleasingly rounded baritone and his own scintillating piano work.
Werner’s career is studded with rewarding collaborations with singular vocalists,
from Brazilian-born Claudia Villela and Joyce Moreno to Broadway star Betty Buck-
ley and jazz vocalist Roseanna Vitro. Now add
Eldridge to the list. The highlights are manifold,
including the medley of the Sondheim/Bernstein
title track with Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis
Webster’s “A Time for Love.” Just about every
player on the project is affiliated with Berklee,
including cellist Eugene Friesen, who conducts
the 20-piece string orchestra. Given Eldridge’s
track record with New York Voices, his slim but
highly regarded solo discography, and his wide-
spread influence as an educator, it’s surprising
he still seems to fly under the radar. The man
doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. Maybe “You
Don’t Know Me” is more personal than it first
appears. If so, Somewhere serves as a striking
(re)introduction. ANDREW GILBERT
“Pleasingly rounded”: Peter Eldridge
HOLY^ SMOKE^PHOTOGRAPHY