Jefferson Pilot: Spirit of '77

 

Jefferson Pilot's newest EP, Spirit of '77, is a melancholy, beautiful meditation on absence and return--or is it the hopeful rejuvenation of a lost love? Spirit of '77 is a three-part suite similar in tone and spirit to 2023's Sad Magazine as well as the imaginary sound explorations of "Slow Divide" and "Chimney Line (abridged)" on 2021's The Hopeless News. The mournful Klaxon horn in "Returned from Space" is echoed by the plaintive sax sounds in "Reentry/Girl on a Swing." The mood captures the feeling of awakening from a dream, as details slip away, leaving  only an aurally imprinted sense of loss. Despite the positive soulfulness of the harmony vocals singing "Baby I'm back," in the overall sonic landscape of the suite, things are ambiguous, and questions are unanswered: Has the return from space actually occurred? Has he really been gone, or (as he thought) was he only dreaming? Have you seen my blazer? 

New Release from Jefferson Pilot: Recordeo

Recordeo is the new release from Jefferson Pilot (aka my brother). It's a suite, a collection of interconnected songs typical in its mixture of "lo-fi" rock and pop tinged with atonal effects, found sounds, and unusual voicings, and untypical in its interwoven themes and topics. Recordeo deals with ornithology: not with the Charlie Parker type of bird, but with the characteristics of birds in flight, birds being watched, the act of flying, and our family. I say the latter because the suite features our mom on piano, playing a hauntingly beautiful piece from the 1920s (laced with occasional cymbal flourishes and mysterious embellishments) on "Recital," and our dad, recorded in 1941 (using the Recordio) when he was 10 or 11, his voice high and unbroken, coming down through the years and providing the foundation for a exotica-tinged percussion piece.

There are also appearances by "J. Pilot" reading his poetry, first with avant-garde backing (by the Troubled Youth Orchestra?) and then by himself, saying to the audience, "Thank you both for staying on." The poetry itself speaks of falling skies, flying birds, and men in flight (tiny astronauts). The music reflects this in its tonal shifting and in the subtle changes of sonic atmosphere and voice manipulation heard throughout the suite. Like so much of Jefferson Pilot's music, the slower songs create moods never experienced before, all in service of the theme. We even get an ode to the rufous-sided towhee, with the use of a loping cockeyed Sun Ra-esque drum machine/synth line (think "Constellation" on Media Dreams) supplied by Lucas & Corey, and backing vocals reminiscent of John and Paul's on the Stones' "We Love You." 

I can't pretend to be unbiased on this, but I love this album. I think it's one of Jefferson Pilot's strongest efforts: great tunes, tribal drums, a flowing concept, and subtly psychedelic touches--it's a gas to listen to. 

Playlist, Week of 2023-10-29

Jefferson Pilot has put out another strange, unsetlling but beautiful release, the EP Sad Magazine... disembodied voices float in and out, along with mellotron, banjo, tinkling percussion, loopy sax lines, and recorder beeps... all put in the service of strange aural territories that sound like nothing I've ever visited before... places I enjoy returning to... kudos to my brother on another original recording!

Playlist 2023-10-30:

*AACM Great Black Music Ensemble: Umbria Jazz 2009, Perugia, Italy (CDR) (disc 2)

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Levels and Degrees of Light

*Air: Air Time

*Marshall Allen/Roscoe Mitchell/Milford Graves/Scott Robinson: Flow States

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1980-10-17 Washington DC (CDR) (discs 1, 2)

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1982-03-23 Copenhagen (CDR) (disc 1)

*Beach Boys: Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions

*Anthony Braxton: For Trio (side 1)

*Anthony Braxton: Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003 "Comp. 327 (12tet)"

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (FRM) 2007 (disc 2)

*John Coltrane: The Prestige Recordings (disc 3)

*John Coltrane: One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note (disc 1)

*Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (disc 5) "What I Say"

*Grateful Dead: 1972-04-17 Copenhagen (disc 3)

*Grateful Dead: 1972-04-21 Bremen, West Germany (CDR)

*Grateful Dead: 1972-05-04 Paris (CDR) (discs 1, 2)

*Hatfield and the North: Hatitude 

*Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (disc 5)

*Jefferson Pilot: Sad Magazine

*Roscoe Mitchell Sextet: Sound

*New Ting: 2022-07-19 Orbital Music Park, Richmond VA (wav)

*Prince: The Slaughterhouse

*Tyshawn Sorey: Alloy "Movement"

*Sparks: Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra: God Is More than Love Can Ever Be!

*Sun Ra: Strange Celestial Road "I'll Wait for You"

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Prophet (side 1)

*Craig Taborn: Shadow Plays

*Cecil Taylor: Unit Structures (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series) (side 2)

*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 4)

*John Zorn/Incerto: 2023-09-02 San Francisco (CDR)

*John Zorn New Electric Masada: 2023-09-03 San Francisco (CDR)

New Jefferson Pilot Album: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra

 

The Troubled Youth Orchestra is back with a vengeance. On The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra,  Jefferson Pilot's new release, the TYO is presented as a collaborator, or alter ego, of the artist. Making its first appearance on a single track of The Optimist Field, here the TYO is featured, in a big way, with a two-minute prelude and a fourteen-minute extravaganza. Strange percussive effects, offbeat and sinuous saxophone lines, and dissonant harmonica effects all swirl together in a mélange of effort. These conflicting textures evoke a jagged landscape of sonic possibilities and disorienting psychedelia.

That psychedelic underpinning extends to the whole album. After "Intro," the songs settle into the slightly more familiar territory of slow majesty that informs much of Jefferson Pilot's recent work--songs that, with their Ringo-esque drumming, Robert Wyatt-influenced vocals, and mellotron textures, evoke a Canterbury-like feel that also shares a lot with the pianistic sensibility of Dennis Wilson and structural modularity of Smile-era Brian Wilson. A strong release for Jefferson Pilot that rivals his earlier releases in its ingenuity, flow, and experimentation.

(Full disclosure: Jefferson Pilot's my brother.)

New Jefferson Pilot Release: "Long Distance"

Long Distance, Jefferson Pilot's newest EP-length release, eases in with the melodica-soaked "Imperial Pint," and the mood it creates is sustained throughout the album's four pieces. The mood is ethereal and evocative, with a haziness and sense of brooding mystery that is enhanced by half-hidden voices and other more unidentifiable sounds. It's not creepy in the Halloween sense; it's more of a layering of insinuations of the unknown just lurking beyond the edge of realization. "Night Game" continues this experiment with strange percussive sounds and Robert Wyatt-esque vocalizing, further enhanced by the keyboard drone until a separate, more "musical" theme appears and then slowly dissipates in a layered, painterly fashion into a beautiful reverie before morphing into a percussive electronic soundscape. "Warehouse Dream" is a layered concoction of bells, chimes, and music-box keyboard sounds eventually overlaid by a fragmented vocal melody again insinuating more than meets the ear. "Point of Rocks" begins with a hint of "Close to the Edge"-intro style nature sounds as the piece continues to give a sense of almost-realized presences from other worlds, emphasized by the almost-angelic, chopped up vocalizing and by the disembodied questions posed as the piece unfolds and comes to a haunting end.

Long Distance has quickly become among my top favorites of Jefferson Pilot's work, largely because of its suite-like quality and its sustained mood. He has constructed a lovely soundscape of quietly epic proportions-- definitely one for the headphones.

(Full disclosure: Jefferson Pilot's my brother.)

 

Playlist, Week of 2021-04-04

The Hopeless News, the new EP from my brother Jefferson Pilot, is both a logical stylistic extension from his last release (Shadow Hobby, with which Hopeless shares part of one track) and a radical departure... The almost elegiac (and not quite morose) moods and melodies are carried over here, but there's also a new use of found sounds, noise, and ambient experimentation that's quite unlike anything I've heard before, except from him... (granted, I don't get out much these days, but what else these days sounds like the loopy sax, backwards fragments, and mystified vocals of "Hello Mother Wilson"?)... the whole thing is a psychedelic mélange from a disoriented dreamscape, as sound events come and go, subsiding into the  night-drenched synth-scape of "Garry Was Right" until the last track "LUV," which is a reworking of an older funk tune he'd done years ago... this one is a cubistic rearrangement of many of its elements, but ending with the same great anthemic power-pop refrain: "I've got to have your love..." You got it!

Playlist 2021-04-05:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Think All, Focus One
*Noël Akchoté: Compositions 322 (Plays Anthony Braxton)
*Noël Akchoté: Compositions 347 & 360 (Plays Anthony Braxton)
*Booker T. & the MGs: Union Extended
*Boston Spaceships: The Planets Are Blasted
*John Coltrane: Ascension (Edition I)
*Duke Ellington: The Indispensable Duke Ellington Volumes 5/6 1940 (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Great Ellington Units
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 19 (disc 1) (selections)
*Duke Ellington: Masterpieces by Ellington
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Happy Birthday Duke! Vol. 4
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Happy Birthday Duke! Vol. 5
*Duke Ellington: All Star Road Band (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: At the Alhambra
*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder
*Duke Ellington: Unknown Session
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Featuring Paul Gonsalves
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Plays with the Original Motion Picture Score Mary Poppins
*Duke Ellington: Cool Rock
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Yale Concert
*Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: The Conny Plank Session
*Exploding Star Orchestra: Stars Have Shapes "Ascension Ghost Impression #2"
*Grant Green: Street of Dreams
*Jimi Hendrix: Valleys of Neptune
*Vijay Iyer/Craig Taborn: The Transitory Poems
*Jefferson Pilot: Shadow Hobby (3rd. version)
*Jefferson Pilot: The Hopeless News
*Leroy Jenkins/Jazz Composer's Orchestra: For Players Only "For Players Only [Part 1]"
*Byard Lancaster: My Pure Joy
*Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (disc 2)
*Peggy Lee: The Capitol Collectors Series (Volume 1, The Early Years)
*Tony Oxley Quintet: The Baptised Traveller "Stone Garden"
*Sonny Rollins: Rollins in Holland (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity
*Sun Ra All Stars: Milan, Zürich, West Berlin, Paris (discs 1, 4)
*Sun Ra: Blue Delight
*Cecil Taylor: 1998-12-06 Yoshi's, Oakland (CDR) (disc 3)
*Lewis Taylor: Stoned- Part I
*Lewis Taylor: Stoned- Part II
*Thumbscrew: The Anthony Braxton Project
*Various artists: The Birth of the Third Stream
*Various artists: Money No Be Sand (1960's Afro-Lypso/Pidgin Highlife/Afro-Rock/Afro-Soul)

"Shadow Hobby:" New Jefferson Pilot

Shadow Hobby, the new EP-length release from Jefferson Pilot is overall more subdued than The Optimist Field, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot of energy here... as with all his work, each song is established with its own sonic identity... lots of manipulation of voices, lots of overlaying of vocals, several '70s Beach Boys-inundated feels... Jeff includes his wife Sarah on vocals on three cuts, and she blends in wonderfully, adding a new dimension... her voice has appeared in his work before, but never quite so prominently... really nice... great cover photo from Alan Duffy... "Our Country Ways" is an entirely new song over the same backing track as Optimist's "Poor Dead Soldier," complete with Ringo-esque drumming... the surrealistic sax of "The Movie's About to Begin" closes out the album proper, then comes "Denny"... I don't know what the hell's going on there... many beautiful, catchy songs here! Highly recommended...

Jefferson Pilot: The Optimist Field

Jefferson Pilot's new CD The Optimist Field is both a snappy summary of what he's done so far (2013-2018) and a new comprehensive statement on its own. It mixes some of the best songs from his previous releases Hello Mississippi and Welcome Stranger with brand new ones. The older songs are remixed here, and they sound brighter and punchier as a result, and fit in seamlessly with the newer material. This is easily the best release from Jefferson Pilot so far. His explorations of noise sonics, subtle sampling, shifting textures, and avant-garde flavors in the context of rock, pop, funk, and country-flavored songs are truly distinct and original....and fun. Things are really mixed in good here, with songs taking left-, or, well, u-turns all over the place. The spirit of Ringo hovers all over the album, primarily and spiritually in Jeff's excellent drumming throughout (especially in "Poor Dead Soldier"), but also in a sampled drum beat and in "Little Ringo with Words," a heartfelt paean to the young Richard Starkey in his sickbed in Liverpool--a beautiful way to close this album of sonic treats.

This album isn't up on Bandcamp yet, but I understand it will be soon. Well worth checking out! (Full disclosure: proud to say that Jefferson Pilot is my brother. Rock on!)

Summer

Lots of great new music has been entering the World of Abstract Dreams this summer!  Here's a quick overview of some of the stuff that's been capturing my imagination for the last couple of months....

A Listener's Guide to Free Improvisation by John Corbett.
Corbett's writing is so persuasive and articulate that he does a great job explaining the value of free improvised music for listeners who are not familiar with it. In the opening section, he makes the point that we all grow up exposed to songs, and thus grow up used to their structure and grow to accept that that's what all music should sound like. "But for the purposes of  listening to improvised music, anticipating a song is actually a hindrance." And he goes on throughout the rest of the book to explain why. It makes sense to me, but then again I am prejudiced. I may not be the ideal reader for this book, since I am part of the choir. As a player deeply enmeshed in improvisation, I can say with absolute certainty that he nails it time and again. He understands improvising deeply, and he gives improvising musicians a wonderful guide and inspirational model. How useful would this book be for novices? Hard to say, but if friendly experiencers follow a tenth of his advice here they're in for a wonderful ride.

Sun Ra and His Astro Ihnfinity Arkestra: The Intergalactic Thing. This 2-LP set is a treasure trove of fourteen heretofore unknown Sun Ra compositions, plus a handful of familiar tunes in different guises. All of these tracks come from 1969 rehearsals, but unlike most of the other Ra rehearsal stuff I've heard (Oakland 1971, Untitled Recordings, etc.) these are completely formed run-throughs with little to no stopping or vocal directions from Ra. (At one point he does call out "Tyrone" for a trombone solo, attesting to the presence of Tyrone Hill, who is not credited on the sleeve). It's pretty amazing that even with all the available live recordings we're lucky to have that none of these seems to have shown up anywhere. Drums on only a few tracks, bass on only one, lots of percussion, pretty full horn sections. And wonderful, wonderful keyboard and horn lines and melodies! Only a couple of short Gilmore solos (the one on "Do the Intergalactic Thing" is a doozy!). Liner notes from Robert Campbell. An absolute must-have.



Rodger Coleman: Real Gone. Rodger has expanded his sonic palette considerably with new equipment like analogue synth, Moogerfoogers, etc. (detailed here and here), and he puts them all into service of beautifully crafted improvisations that are spacey and compelling. I can't wait to play with Rodger again to get my improvisational drum rocks off with this new sonic universe!


Jefferson Pilot: Soundtrack to Welcome Stranger. I'm not gonna say too much about this now since Jeff is still working on it, a musical project commissioned by artist Jim Nolan to accompany his installation in Dallas last spring.  Do check out the photos from Jim's work, it looks fabulous-- too bad it was all in Texas, so far away (from me, here, now). Anyway, this batch of tunes is mostly new work incorporating old family tapes, lots of backwards effects, groovy melodies, and a sense of fun and adventure that rivals Jefferson Pilot's Hello Mississippi.


Anthony Braxton: 3 Compositions (EEMHM) 2011. This new phase of Braxton's, called Echo Echo Mirror House Music, is some of his most sonically challenging yet: each musician comes equipped with an iPod loaded with nothing but older Braxton recordings, which they play along with their instruments. I'm not explaining it very well, but the overall effect is a dense maelstrom of sound, with no beginning and no end, like being dropped into a whirlpool of Braxton sound, very fluid, very abstract. This 3-CD set marks the first studio recording of this new direction (there is an earlier-released live set of EEMHM on Victo, recorded around the same time, and there are also audience recordings of shows from Wesleyan). Paradoxically, I think I prefer the effect when the sound is not so clear; to my ears the overall sonic density is intensified when it's harder to identify the sources--so I think the Victo live CD and the various Wesleyan shows convey better the sense of total, floating immersion Braxton is after here. The performers in the studio recordings also seem to go for the same samples in all three CDs--but I don't know if that's because of a limitation of samples available, or because the choices are dictated by the score (based on the sample score images included in the booklet, I'd say not, but what do I know?). All I know is with the wide spectrum of Braxton's oeuvre available, why focus on an applause segment in all three sets? The first time it comes up, it's fun and exciting (applause, after all, has almost always been present on Braxton's live recordings), and the band seems to play along with it, but the second and third time you hear it it's not as interesting. Same goes for the "greatest hits" aspect of the chosen samples. But don't get me wrong--this is heady, exhilarating stuff, extremely advanced and worthy of multiple listens. I've been scratching my head over it with Rodger via email, and I'm sure I'll continue to grapple with for years to come. I love it. For a much better sense of the importance and vitality of this new direction in Braxton's work, see the excellent review by Alexander Hawkins.

 

Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Buoyancy.
Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief.
I continue to be amazed by the brilliant playing of drummer Tom Rainey, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, and guitarist Mary Halvorson. Hotel Grief, the trio's first live recording, is full of surprises, wonderful moods, and ferocious explorations. Buoyancy, a studio duo album, was recorded at the end of a live tour in 2015. Improvisation of the highest order.


Deerhoof: The Magic.
I'm still absorbing this, but I can say without a doubt this is another fantastic gem of an album from this always unique and inventive band. They're definitely on a role for the last, oh, five, six, or seven albums, especially since they added the second guitarist Ed Rodriguez, and each new album has been brilliant  and original in its own quirky, individualistic way. Standout track: "Nurse Me."


Photograph: Barbara Woike/AP, used in the Guardian

Finally, Cecil Taylor: live recordings from his Whitney Museum residency.  Rather than try to describe these, I'll just point you to these two excellent reviews by Hank Shteamer. Let me just say that Taylor's playing here is sublime.

So, that's it! Hope your summer listening has been as exciting as mine has so far!

Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi!

I want to bring your attention to a wonderful new album by Jefferson Pilot, Hello Mississippi!. (Full disclosure: Jefferson Pilot is my brother, Jeff Byrd.) Over the last few years, Jeff has been writing, playing drums and keyboards, and singing in a trio, Dark Carpet. In addition to duo projects with each of the other members of Dark Carpet (Lassie with Colin, Blackman with Tracy), he has been working on solo material under the name Jefferson Pilot. Hello Mississippi! is his first full-length solo album, and it's a humdinger of a release: wonderful, (sometimes) warped, and (sometimes) beautiful rock, pop, funk, and experimental songs.  Each song is its own unique sound universe, with lots of little aural events in each one, and the sum total is an extravaganza of sounds and tunes. Lots of voice effects, unexpected twists and turns, strangely catchy melodies, imaginative and driving drum beats: there's a lot going on here, but the overall effect is not busy or cluttered--it's invigorating and exciting. Except for bass and guitar on a couple of tracks (played by Colin), Jeff is playing everything here, including lots of overdubbed vocals. Jefferson Pilot has taken the lo-fi aesthetic of Guided By Voices and combined it with the play-it-all aesthetic of Todd Rundgren and the play-anything aesthetic of the Residents. Those aren't direct referents or influences by any means here, but just my feeble attempt to describe the soundscapes here. I have too many favorite songs to single any out (and they keep changing), but I will note that the album opens with the voice of our father, taken from a road trip in 1969, and closes with a unique take on a mysterious found tape of an unknown band's painful studio rehearsal. This album is aural gold, and I couldn't be prouder of Jeff's accomplishment. I encourage anyone reading this to get over to Bandcamp and download or stream the album and see what you think!