{"product_id":"noah-howard-the-black-ark-lp","title":"NOAH HOWARD - The Black Ark LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the pantheon of classic free jazz, \u003cstrong\u003eNoah Howard\u003c\/strong\u003e's \u003cem\u003eThe Black Ark\u003c\/em\u003e looms large. Recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City in 1969 - just prior to the alto saxophonist's relocation to Europe - the album was eventually released in 1972 on \u003cstrong\u003eAlan Bates\u003c\/strong\u003e's Freedom label, and has since acquired near-mythical status among collectors and devotees of the music. Now, Superior Viaduct presents the definitive remastered edition on vinyl, restoring this landmark to the visibility it has always deserved. Born in New Orleans in 1943, Howard grew up saturated in gospel and the deep traditions of the Crescent City before making his way west to Los Angeles, where he studied with \u003cstrong\u003eDewey Johnson\u003c\/strong\u003e, and eventually to New York, where he fell into the orbit of \u003cstrong\u003eSun Ra\u003c\/strong\u003e. By the mid-1960s he had already cut two remarkable records for ESP-Disk - \u003cem\u003eNoah Howard Quartet\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAt Judson Hall\u003c\/em\u003e - but \u003cem\u003eThe Black Ark\u003c\/em\u003e was something else entirely: a quantum leap, the moment when everything locked into place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Black Ark\u003c\/em\u003e exhibits not only the power and imagination of \u003cstrong\u003eHoward\u003c\/strong\u003e's playing, but also his breadth as a composer and bandleader. Listeners expecting unrelenting blasts of \"energy music\" might be surprised to find a cohesion atypical of free jazz; amidst the wild, impassioned solos, \u003cstrong\u003eHoward\u003c\/strong\u003e weaves in Latin rhythms and fat-bottomed grooves. The first side, consisting of \u003cem\u003eDomiabra\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eOle Negro\u003c\/em\u003e, sets the album's tone - both tracks sound as if they could have appeared on some of Blue Note's proto-spiritual jazz, groove-heavy releases, evoking the likes of \u003cstrong\u003eHorace Silver\u003c\/strong\u003e or \u003cstrong\u003eBobby Hutcherson\u003c\/strong\u003e, before ceding the floor to the horn players' anarchic firepower. \u003cem\u003eMount Fuji\u003c\/em\u003e, the extended centerpiece, builds from a spare, almost Japanese-inflected melody into fifteen minutes of breathtaking interplay, while \u003cem\u003eQueen Anne\u003c\/em\u003e closes the record as a ballad of devastating lyricism - proof that \u003cstrong\u003eHoward\u003c\/strong\u003e's command of his alto was as refined in whisper as it was in fury.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ensemble \u003cstrong\u003eHoward\u003c\/strong\u003e assembled is nothing short of extraordinary. As \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Corbett\u003c\/strong\u003e writes in the liner notes: \"\u003cem\u003eTwo players stand out. Bassist \u003cstrong\u003eNorris Jones\u003c\/strong\u003e - who would soon consolidate his name into a one-word reversed amalgamation\/permutation of the two, \u003cstrong\u003eSirone\u003c\/strong\u003e - is given ample room, largely unaccompanied; his corporal approach foreshadows later work with the Revolutionary Ensemble. But the secret weapon on The Black Ark is \u003cstrong\u003eArthur Doyle\u003c\/strong\u003e. Straight from basement rehearsal sessions with \u003cstrong\u003eMilford Graves\u003c\/strong\u003e, whose ensemble he had joined and who remained a favorite of the drummer for decades, \u003cstrong\u003eDoyle\u003c\/strong\u003e is a human flamethrower.\"\u003c\/em\u003e Trumpeter \u003cstrong\u003eEarl Cross\u003c\/strong\u003e's guttural, vocal effects complement \u003cstrong\u003eDoyle\u003c\/strong\u003e's take-no-prisoners approach, while the estimable combination of \u003cstrong\u003eMuhammad Ali\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cstrong\u003eRashied\u003c\/strong\u003e's brother) on drums and \u003cstrong\u003eJuma Sultan\u003c\/strong\u003e on congas adds an ever-shifting propulsion. The septet is rounded out by the enigmatic pianist \u003cstrong\u003eLeslie Waldron\u003c\/strong\u003e, who anchors the group with imaginative accompaniment and occasional boppish flourishes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNoah Howard\u003c\/strong\u003e would go on to record prolifically through the 1970s and 80s, founding his own AltSax label and living between Paris, Nairobi, and Brussels before his death in 2010. But \u003cem\u003eThe Black Ark\u003c\/em\u003e remains the burning heart of his legacy - every bit worthy of its reputation as an \"out-jazz\" holy grail, a record that only sounds better with age. It remains the ideal album to convert the remaining free-jazz skeptics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Superior Viaduct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52933091623179,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0529\/3899\/7932\/files\/noahhoward.webp?v=1772106271","url":"https:\/\/bisaufsmesser.com\/products\/noah-howard-the-black-ark-lp","provider":"Bis Aufs Messer Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}