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LP
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5JT185
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$28.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/17/2026
In late September and early October 1969, John Tchicai toured throughout Denmark with a special quintet. The international band was a notable one, bringing together musicians from Denmark and Holland whose conceptual differences were as important as the musical values they held in common. Tchicai and two of his closest Danish collaborators -- trumpeter Hugh Steinmetz and guitarist Pierre Dørge -- embraced an international perspective that incorporated far flung influences from African music, contemporary classical, and jazz into a cool, yet playful and joyous, modernity. In this quintet they worked with two pillars of the Dutch Instant Composer's Pool, pianist Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink. Ironic and subversive, they displayed a willingness, you might even say an eagerness, to disrupt accepted conventions of any kind. The music on this LP, recorded on October 9, 1969, at Danish Radio Studio 11 in Copenhagen, consists of compositions they'd played on the recently concluded tour plus a group improvisation. Of course, Tchicai's international collaborations extended beyond neighboring Holland. He was a most cosmopolitan musician, performing and recording with musicians in the U.S., Asia, Africa, and Europe. Perhaps surprisingly, one of his most sympathetic European partners was German bassist Peter Kowald. Tchicai did share some musical affinities with the German improvising scene. As Kowald and his compatriots, such as Peter Brötzmann and Alexander von Schlippenbach, took inspiration from the cathartic energy and the collective improvisation of free jazz, especially Albert Ayler. His appearance on John Coltrane's Ascension, would have also earned him respect among the hard-blowing Germans. Tchicai and Kowald mutual openness to the sounds of other cultures and free improvisation made them quite compatible, so it's something of a shock that this is the only documentation of their work together. The two improvisors found themselves in Japan in 1983, when they recorded the astonishing duet contained on the second side of this LP. Their improvisation in Kyoto is an amazingly resourceful conversation a kind of improvisation which remains far from "world music," and with new textures expanding their musical vocabularies and allowing them to develop new ideas; qualities that allowed Tchicai to flourish in so many different settings. Includes an insert with beautiful photos from the John Tchicai Quintet sessions with portraits of Tchicai, Bennink, Mengelberg, Steinmetz and Dørge as well as liner notes by Ed Hazell.
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