Bobby Bradford Quintet - 10/3/09

My last night in NYC I took in the Bobby Bradford Quintet at the Jazz Standard. I extended my stay one day just to see this band: Bradford on cornet, Marty Ehrlich on alto sax and clarinet, David Murray on tenor sax, Mark Dresser on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums. If you're not familiar with this music it, just know that this is a lineup that is hard to beat.

Bradford is from LA and rarely makes it to NYC for a gig. This show was part of the "New Trumpet" festival that's been held at the Jazz Standard for the last few years. I think Bradford did make it out to one of the festivals a few years ago, though this was still a real treat for fans of improvised music in the city. Bradford is 75 now and has long been a central figure in the "outer" reaches of the jazz scene in Southern California. He played with Ornette Colemen in LA during the early 50's, prior to Don Cherry joining the quartet. He played again with Coleman in the early sixties in New York. Unfortunately, there are no recordings of Coleman with Bradford from this era.

Bradford moved back to LA where he eventually met and started working with reed player John Carter. This was to be the most important musical association of his career. He and Carter recorded a couple of fantastic albums for Flying Dutchmen in the late sixties, as well as a date for Revelation. These, like both Bradford and Carter, disappeared into obscurity, as Jazz as a marketable genre faded. Meanwhile, Bradford made a living as an educator and raised a family. Both he and Carter - along with Horace Tapscott- mentored a whole generation of players in Southern California. James Newton, and the above mentioned Murray and Dresser all count Carter and Bradford as their teachers. Bradford did, however, make it onto a few recordings in the 70's. A stay in London was prolific, resulting with a number of recordings with John Stevens. One of them, "Love's Dream", a quartet led by Bradford and featuring his compositions, has been reissued on the Enemem label. I'm still waiting for CD reissues of his recordings with Steven's Spontaneous Music Ensemble on Nessa. He also finally recorded with Ornette as part of the sessions Coleman did for Columbia that resulted in the albums "Science Fiction", "Twins", and "Broken Shadows."

It wasn't until the 80's when Carter - who by this time only played the clarinet - and Bradford started to get the attention they deserved with releases on the Moers, Black Saint and Gramavison labels. It's the four Gramavision records, released under Carter's name and featuring his music, that really gave both artists some level of popular and critical renown. I was fortunate to see a quartet of Carter, Bradford, Fred Hopkins and Cyrille in 1986, shortly after the first Gramavison LP , "Castles of Ghana", was released. This record took as its theme the castles on the coast of West Africa that were the embarkation points for African slaves being taken to the Americas. An octet - also including Marty Ehrlich - appeared on the LP, and Carter's music was beyond anything else I had heard before. Programmatic music usually leaves me cold, but this album, along with the other Octet albums on Black Saint and Gramavision, were inspiring and formative for me as a listener. The quartet I saw at the University of Virginia played some of the music from "Castles" and other pieces that Carter and Bradford had composed and played for years with their various groups in LA. It still counts as one of the most memorable performances I've experienced. Bradford and Carter went on to record an incredible live album for HatArt in 1989 and continued to work together until Carter's death in 1991. Since then, Bradford has recorded with David Murray, Vinnie Golia, Nels Cline and others, though I don't think there's been anything under his own name.

Bradford's cornet playing is earthy, full of slurs, and doesn't have the ringing, bell-like tone that's the typical signature of this horn. Armstrong is a clear influence, but Bradford is distinctly rooted in bebop and postbop. It's interesting to hear his playing alongside Don Cherry on the Coleman recordings. Bradford's grounded, focused solos contrast with the open, almost incantory playing of Cherry.

The other night all this was there on the stage - his unique voice and his deep knowledge and experience with this music. The band on stage was nonpareil. Murray's tone has become darker and more burnished over the years, though his Ayleresque flights at the height of his solo still bring an unearthly energy into the room. Ehrlich always sounds great, and he really dug into a great clarinet solo on "Woodsheditude." Dresser was the heart of this group and his playing was jaw dropping. Cyrille was, as usual, the perfect drummer for any situation. Bradford's stage presence was relaxed and funny. He's getting up there - "no spring chicken" in his words - but it was all really happening the other night.