Frank Wright - Unity

Cacophonic live set from 1974

Tenor saxophonist Frank Wright emerged in the mid-60s, the last big name in the atonal cloudburst of New York free jazz. Inspired to take up saxophone after hearing Albert Ayler, Wright had a background in R&B and the blues – though very little of those roots are in evidence here. This live set is all holy skronk and cosmos-minded cacophony: an hour-long instrumental crescendo. Unearthed by the recently-resuscitated ESP-Disk’ label, this 1974 German festival performance catches Wright with his longest-serving combo (a propulsive quartet with piano, bass and drums). The CD breaks the performance across two lengthy tracks, but it’s really one continuous piece, fading in fast with crashing cymbals, layering on cycling bass and chaotic splashes of piano, and closing about an hour later with an unexpected, freaked-out oompah-oompah coda. Even before Wright’s sharp-toned sax begins braying in all directions, the music sounds like a natural disaster – a flood, or the heart of a hurricane. Recognisable melodies surface only briefly, like flotsam. But despite a wide range of sounds – from bowed bass and plucked piano strings to Wright’s fervent vocal chanting – the music rarely relaxes from its sustained ecstatic pitch, and suffers slightly from a lack of dynamics.

ESP-Disk’ | ESP 4028

Reviewed by Michael Saltzman
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