New Africa / One Morning I Woke Up Very Early

iTunes Review

Following a brilliant tenure with Blue Note that saw him direct Jackie McLean’s quintet during the saxophonist’s most adventurous years as well as release several stunning albums under his own name, trombonist Grachan Moncur finally found the freedom he’d been searching for on these two 1969 releases for French label BYG Actuel. New Africa travels on the same waves as similarly minded works by Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but Moncur remains as dedicated to jazz arrangement as he does to spiritual exorcism. “New Africa” is a tidal groove that conjures feelings from the pit of one’s soul, but there are also “Exploration” and “When,” each with harmonic tricks and unpredictable melodies that call to mind Duke Ellington as much as Albert Ayler. The companion album One Morning I Woke Up Very Early finds Moncur branching into Latin forms. From the morning prayer of “Aco Dei de Madrugada” to the open-ended rumba of “Tony Temper,” Moncur’s meditations are not to be missed. Following a brilliant tenure with Blue Note that saw him direct Jackie McLean’s quintet during the saxophonist’s most adventurous years as well as release several stunning albums under his own name, trombonist Grachan Moncur finally found the freedom he’d been searching for on these two 1969 releases for French label BYG Actuel. New Africa travels on the same waves as similarly minded works by Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but Moncur remains as dedicated to jazz arrangement as he does to spiritual exorcism. “New Africa” is a tidal groove that conjures feelings from the pit of one’s soul, but there are also “Exploration” and “When,” each with harmonic tricks and unpredictable melodies that call to mind Duke Ellington as much as Albert Ayler. The companion album One Morning I Woke Up Very Early finds Moncur branching into Latin forms. From the morning prayer of “Aco Dei de Madrugada” to the open-ended rumba of “Tony Temper,” Moncur’s meditations are not to be missed.