Worship At the Altar of Number 9






















[UK Fontana, 1970]


This one was featured on Church Number Nine back in May, but the link was removed a couple months ago. I want to dedicate this post to them, because I most likely wouldn't have been exposed to Ric Colbeck if they hadn't posted it. Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth proclaims this as #5 on his top 10 from the Free Jazz underground list, and I can definitely see why.


"Aphrodite" starts with a frenzied drum solo right out the gates that stands up to Rashied Ali's dynamic work on Coltrane's "Interstellar Space". The drums continue this erratic tempo throughout the entire song but are joined by flurries of intense blowing from Mike Osborne on Alto Sax and Ric Colbeck on trumpet. There are some electrifying parts around the ten minute mark of the song where Ric's trumpet and Mike's alto sax combine for a dissonant mind-melting excursion. Towards the end of the track, a bass solo slows down the tempo and then the original theme is reintroduced to close this epic song. "Subdued" has an amazing melody which is reminiscent of a New Orleans marching band playing at a dirge-like funereal pace. The title track starts off with a short bass intro with brassy trumpet paving the way for a cacophony of sax and trumpet slash and burn histrionics. "Lowlands" is the slowest track on the record, but it maintains an amazing slow-burn intensity throughout, evoking a soundtrack for the imaginary film that flickers in our minds. Enjoy!


Your comments are always appreciated!

Comments

Holland Oats said…
much thanks (for this and zebby, i LOVE the zebby) -- what else is on thurston's list?

h.o.

http://djpancake.blogspot.com/
Holland Oats said…
found it >

http://www.geocities.com/jahsonic/FreeJazz.html
Kevin said…
Holland Oats:

Thanks for leaving a comment for the Ric Colbeck. It hasn't really generated the kind of response I was expecting from a rare free jazz gem. It has had fewer downloads and you are the only one who has taken the time to comment. It looks like you found the Thurston Moore top 10 list. I recently found a site that has most of that list available to download through Mediafire. I will post it here in the comments when I find out who it was.

Thanks for commenting!

Best, Kevin
Anonymous said…
Dont you realise that its reposts from the incredible church number nine blog, where THEY felt they no longer wished their dl links to be available (read their last post) is the reason that fantastic blog shut down
You have yourself to blame, respect another bloggers integrity
Surely you dont need the credit for the post

All of our loss, sad, come on
Kevin said…
Dear pissed off:

I was a regular vistor at Church Number Nine and I always thanked them for the wonderful posts. Atanase regularly visited my blog and commented about several posts. Besides, I gave them credit by saying "Worship at the Altar of Church Number Nine"

Please understand that I am not trying to capitalize on The Church's hard work. They generally would remove a link after a certain amount of time and only those who were lucky enough to download during that time could hear it. I just wanted more people to be able to listen to this who might not have had the chance to download it from the Church. If you notice my post from last week, I dedicated a section to celebrating the Church and all they have shared with the blogging community. I have nothing but admiration and respect for them and would never cross them. I have also noticed that other blogs have been dedicating posts to the Church by posting something they downloaded from the Church

I think that you are taking this way too seriously. We are all providing music for free so that more people can enjoy the tunes. I'm not in this to exploit anyone or to take credit for something that wasn't mine. However, who is to say what can be shared or not shared. There is an ongoing discussion about whether sharing music is ethical or not. I feel that as long as someone doesn't copy the writing from my posts and not give me credit, it's all free game. I don't own a copyright on these records as I am just sharing them with people.

As I understand it, the Church has closed down because they don't have their heart in it anymore as well as dealing with the daily ethics of sharing things in the first place. I will personally ask Atanase if he has a problem with me sharing some of the gems from his site that are no longer available. If he says no, then I will respect this and refrain from doing so. Please understand that I have no bad intentions here. I just merely want more people to hear good music that is otherwise unavailable.

Best, Kevin
Anonymous said…
Poor answer , I know Atanase and Fluxus as well and if you read what was stated at church number nine as to why the pulled dl links you may understand their true feelings as to why i.e. that they had no control over other bloggers ...

If you get an answer from them posted HERE I will obviously eat my words but I dont think you will
You have to answer the question , why did they choose to delete this dl link and why did you choose to repost it ?
I am not on about the ethics of blogging and its everyones music and who cares blah blah but purely the fact that you have contributed to the downfall of one of the true gems in the blogworld which was church number nine

Whatever your answer its all of our loss
atanase said…
okay, i'm trying to understand what this is all about, but i must admit i can't seem to get a grip. what exactly seems to be a problem, again?

if it helps i may attempt to difuse this situation a bit by making 2 statements and a suggestion:

#1: personally i have no issues whatsoever about anybody posting anything that he or she may or may not have obtained at church number nine or any other place for that matter.

#2: church number nine closed down because its number came up. no individual visitor or contributor is responsible for this. if there's an overwhelming need to find a single person responsible for it it would be me. it was a team decision but i really pushed for it. i have already apologized for the inconvenience caused and hereby am doing this again: sorry about this!

...and a suggestion: throw in some babi music, followed by, bongo fury, and master musicians of jajouka... and play it loud. that should sort things out

i hope this helped
Anonymous said…
Atanase ...ta for your input

I read at your blog that you were "concerned as to the validity/ethics of givng dl links" to some of the albums posted on your blog and to the fact that you had no control as to other readers posting dl links in the comments and re posting your links, that you felt that you would withdraw the dl link i.e. this one ?

I come in your defense , perhaps you can explain why this and several other links were deleted at church number nine and yet you dont mind them being posted elsewhere then ?

Anyway its down to you . I dont wish to make mountains , purely to say I felt that this re post went against what I beleived to be your opinions

Sorry if I got it wrong .....
Maybe like you say need to turn the music up louder :)
atanase said…
i see what you mean... well, like i said c#9 is closed and it's a thing of the past now. let's just not worry about it too much. there are much more important things out there than jazz, free or otherwise. take care.
Unknown said…
Thanks for posting this Kevin-I missed out when it was at C#9.
Anonymous said…
Thanks! I've wanted to hear this for years.
Anonymous said…
this absolutely made my week--also missed it at the Church and had two cuts from the wfmu blog and one from destination out

thanks atanase for everything and kevin for the reup for us church-less infidels
Anonymous said…
Kevin,

Thank you so much for the Ric Colbeck!!! The mediafire link at A Great Work Of Fiction blog is dead.

If anyone knows where to get the Brotzmann stuff that was posted (then removed) at Church Number 9, I'd be grateful for your guidance.

I missed of the Brotzmann at CN9.

Cheers.
Anonymous said…
Well it's all the way through to Feb 08 as I write this, so you've had this up for more than 4 months now..
For which I'd just like to say Thank You Thank You Thank you !!
I too "recently found a site that has most of that (Mr Moore's)list available to download through Mediafire"
- then I carelessly lost it........
Anyway, many thanks again for this.
Cellar said…
I would also like to see that brotzmann material appear again somewhere! Nothing can replace C#9
Thanks kevin for this though, absolutely classic..
bluebird said…
Hi - surprised to find this still here and live.
Thank you - the legendary Ric Colbeck. Never heard this so looking forward to some hard (maybe?) listening.

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