Like the New York Art Quartet had done two decades before, Phalanx came and went in the mid-1980s, an ad-hoc supergroup that thrived and disappeared. Original Phalanx captures the quartet in a rumbling, springy glory, alight through James "Blood" Ulmer's craftily detuned guitar and the build-it-and-wobble-it rhythmic playing of bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali. The star, though, is the late George Adams. His playing is inspired, swinging so hard and high that the musical registers turn to blurs. The band's tunes are vaguely Ornette Coleman-ish, in that they build off quick, melodic statements that sound at times like four-way solos. Then the band's off, Ulmer and Adams pursuing solo logic on one plane, the rhythm section on another. They peak on Adams's "Playground," which rings with poignancy and punch-it-up power. But Sirone's minor-key, episodic "Free Spirit" is likewise a work of genius, achieving a stellar balance of passion, intellect, and gusto. --Andrew Bartlett
Original Phalanx,Phalanx,Diw Records,Avant-Garde,Avant-Garde Jazz,Free Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop
Jazz Music:
- Pete's Beat
- Quiet Land
- Romantic Warrior [Original recording remastered] [Import]
- She Turns Me On
- She Turns Me On
- Solo Quartet
- Soultrane
- Sound of Jazz
- Sound of Jazz, Vol. 19: Angel Eyes
- Speak Your Truth
Jazz Music
Elvis at the International [Live] [Import]
Music: Awake The Machines Vol. 4 [Explicit Lyrics]
Holding Back the River [Import]
Gregorian Chants From Hungary 3: Xmas
Greatest Hits [Cast Recording]
Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, Vol. 3