Horace Tapscott - 1978 - Flight 17

Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra Conductor Horace Tapscott

1978

Flight 17

01. Flight 17 15:53

02. Breeze 3:09

03. Horacio 6:01

04. Clarisse 6:27

05. Maui 7:21

cd bonus

06. Coltrane Medley 8:00

07. Village Dance Revisited 10:55

Alto Clarinet – Herbert Callies

Alto Saxophone – Michael Session

Bass – David Bryant, Kamonta Lawrence Polk

Cello – Louis Spears

Conductor – Horace Tapscott

Drums – Everett Brown Jr.

Drums, Percussion – William Madison

Flute – Kafi Larry Roberts

Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute [Bamboo] – Jesse Sharps

Piano – Linda Hill

Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – James Andrews

Trombone – Archie Johnson, Lester Robertson

Tuba – Red Callendar

Vocals, Flute – Adele Sebastian

One of the most ambitious albums ever from pianist Horace Tapscott – a double-length set that has him working with a large lineup of underground musicians from the 70s Los Angeles scene – all united in spirit and power as the Pan-African Peoples Arkestra! Tapscott's piano directs the group strongly – as an extension of the vision that he brought to the late 60s Sonny's Dream album by Sonny Criss – but the music is freer, more spiritual, and often graced with bursts of ensemble energy, balanced by some really tremendous solos from other musicians too! 

Other than half an album cut in 1969 for Flying Dutchman (which was shared with the John Carter/Bobby Bradford group), this release was pianist Horace Tapscott's recording debut as a leader. Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (consisting of two pianos, six reeds, two trombones, Red Callender on tuba, cello, two basses, a drummer, and a percussionist) had an unusual sound and made three records during 1978-1979. The band performs five group originals; surprisingly none were written by the leader. While there are some individual solos (particularly by Tapscott), it is the dense and frequently exciting ensembles that are most notable in this avant-garde but rhythmic music.

This isn't really representative of Tapscott's own music. All the compositions are from members of the Arkestra and are generally odd. The music is unpredictable. The album starts with Tapscott playing piano by himself for almost 5 minutes, which keeps you guessing when the hell the group is going to do something. They finally jump in and "Flight 17" ends up splitting up the band. Some members play Free-Jazz while the others set up a recurring beat. Its kind of funny: not funny "ha ha" but funny-weird. That sort of hard-to-put-your-finger-on feeling applies for the whole recording. The Arkestra mixes so many styles of music from different cultures that the music is interesting but hard to completely enjoy. It's all very experimental, like Sun Ra meets Alice Coltrane. That sense of "under construction"...

Not your typical Tapscott fare. It reminds me a bit of some of Yusef Lateef's work with the "world music" influences. The only downside to this CD is that it is a needle drop, and though they found a pretty clean copy there are still a few ticks audible in quieter sections.

Horace Tapscott’s Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (P.A.P.A.) was one of the most transformative, forward-thinking and straight-up heavy big bands to have played jazz in the 1960s and 1970s. If P.A.P.A. doesn’t have the interstellar rep of that other famous Arkestra, and if the name Tapscott doesn’t ring bells like Monk or Tyner, there’s a reason why: in an industry dominated by record labels, a band that doesn’t record doesn’t count. And the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra didn’t record for nearly twenty years. But recording success was never their concern — they weren’t about that. First formed as the Underground Musicians Association in the early 1960s, Tapscott always wanted his group to be a community project.

From their base in Watts, UGMA got down at the grassroots. The group was renamed the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in 1971, and soon after they established a monthly residency at the Immanuel United Church of Christ which ran for over a decade, while still playing all over LA and beyond. But they never released a note of music. It was the intervention of fan Tom Albach that finally got them on wax. Determined that their work should be documented, Albach founded Nimbus Records specifically to release the music of Tapscott, the Arkestra, and the individuals that comprised it. The first recording sessions in early 1978 yielded enough material for two albums, and the first release was Flight 17. The album commences with the magnificent title track. It is effectively in three parts. It begins with unaccompanied pianos. Then the ensemble embark on a dense, circular and mechanical movement, a platform for horns and pianos to swoop and dive. We return to Earth with a beautiful solitary flute. The second track, the piano-centric, ‘Breeze’ is different to ‘Flight 17’ in intensity and also brevity but it is quietly as daring as the title track. It concludes with a moving lush wash from the full Arkestra, which sound almost like strings only more substantial. These first two tracks take full advantage of the texture of the unusual mix of the various instruments. Next though, it’s a significant change with ‘Horacio’, which is an exuberant Latin infused jingle. It’s unlike anything else on the album. I like to think it was named after the conductor’s Cuban alter-ego! ‘Clarisse’ gracefully switches between slow blues and bop and is bookended with a grand vaguely East Asian theme. The busy bass line introduces ‘Maui’. As with the previous track, it moves between a number of contrasting melody lines and rhythms but there’s still space for a tuneful sax solo.

This is a must-have album. I think the first two tracks on their own make this release essential.