ibr
Private jazz recordings hype often exceeds the music within the grooves. That is most definitely not the case here. A very, very good record indeed.
Favorite track: Waltz For Barbara.
Ex-Friendly
Absolute class release on Frederiksberg (again!). How and why this remained so unknown for so long is another of those unfair mysteries but we can all enjoy this beauty now. Bravo Compass and Andreas :)
Favorite track: Bonus Track - Rain Dance.
When artsts self-releases their own recordings, they do so in the hopes that a hit might develop, or even better, a sphere of influence might form. In a lot of cases these records provide a stamp of existence and intent – a sonic business card showing what musicians were made of. Compass Rises (1973), the privately pressed sole LP by Oneonta, New York’s Compass, is both a sampling of versatility and a declaration of straight-ahead purpose.
Regularly active in upstate New York between 1969 and 1974, Compass was an acoustic-electric quartet that played original music and modern jazz standards. The group consisted of saxophonist and bass clarinetist Rick Lawn, keyboardist Joel Chase, bassist Tom Ives (doubling on flugelhorn), and drummer Al Colone. On the LP, percussion duties were shared across the band as well as an conguero, Ken Parmele.
Every song on Compass Rises, with the excep(on of the opener, is written and arranged by Lawn. The album is a nod to the post-Coltrane lineage of 1970’s jazz – even at its most spry there’s an undertow of workmanlike toughness, perhaps a reflection of the industrial-collegiate hybrid towns in New York where Compass plied their trade.
Ives’ “Cleanin’ Up” starts the proceedings, a modal groover that would not have sounded out of place on a Joe Henderson Milestone LP, coupled with a neat, funky turnaround in the head. “Sunflower” has a slight Latin flavor and while it’s not exactly Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower,” it does have a lilt that’s both sinewy and breezy, with Lawn’s huskily burnished tenor shimmying atop. Following the ballad “Waltz for Barbara,” a front line expanded with Ives’ flugelhorn opens up on the driving “Blues for Vito,” dry and cracking rhythm supporting a tough, metallic dance.
Side two begins with “Schizoid,” the nasally incision of Lawn’s soprano saxophone in spiraling turns against pummeling toms and Chase’s fuzzed-out intervallic sprawl. “Sour Cream” is a choppy bit of soul jazz, while the closing “Pharoah’s Thing” starts off on an elegiac plateau before unfurling with a piquant, minor-key bounce.
With its stark, somewhat gothic cover art and toothy, inspired playing and composing, Compass Rises deserves the critical examination that it likely didn’t have upon release.
Bonus track:
"Rain Dance" was recorded January 11th, 1974 at a concert at St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York. "We kept playing gigs as Compass after the release of our album in 1973. One of the songs we always wanted to record in a studio was Rain Dance, but it never happened. A few months after this concert, each of us changed focus towards other projects. It only exists as a live recording. When the band reunited in 2002 we frequently played Rain Dance and often by request until we retired the band after a 45 year history together. "
credits
released April 11, 2022
Congas – Ken Parmele
Cover Design – Barbara Lynch
Drums – Al Colone
Electric Bass, Flugelhorn – Tom Ives
Electric Piano – Joel Chase
Engineer – Jon Roper
Lacquer Cut By – DB
Liner Notes – Bill Lavorgna
Producer – Compass, Ken Parmele
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Percussion – Rick Lawn
Dedicated to our drummer Albert Colone, 1944-2021, “Mr. Glass Half-Full”
Reissue Credits:
Notes: Compass and Larissa Chace Smith
Remastering: Greg Reierson
Artwork restoration and design: Javi Bayo
Licensed from Compass
Photos courtesy of Compass
Frederiksberg Records was founded in New York in 2013 by Danish video journalist and music lover Andreas
Vingaard.
The idea for the label emerged when Andreas befriended renowned Jazz saxophonist, Carsten Meinert. Committed to telling the story of Meinert’s music the right way, Andreas resolved to take full ownership of the To You re-release (2015)....more
I was brought here after listening to a live performance of Makaya's on you tube. I instantly loved the song Holy Lands so much that I had to see if the album version was the same rendition as the live one. Then I listened to the whole album! Universal Beings is a just a groove... It's a mix of traditional and something new, very nice. pandr1900
I didn’t even know I was looking for this record, and then it found me. Holy cow, it’s so great. Drum machine and a variety of keyboards, the occasional overdubbed layers of understated vocals, and little skeletons of songs that sound terrific just the way they are. A minimalist odyssey for sure. Markly Morrison
This could’ve been my album of the year if I’d noticed it. Hell.
2020, feeling like shit and then this musical balm appears. Live recording on one mic. Just bass and harp. Awesome. It swings like a pendulum do!
Big shout out for Dezron’s love of coffee. I now have 2 of his albums and he’s proselytising on behalf of coffee on both. Damn right ☕️ Crinklechips