30 July 2008

Charles Tyler at WKCR


This is a fairly brief set of Charles Tyler tunes recorded at the WKCR Studios, NY, NY, arguably the best jazz radio station anywhere.


Four tracks in all - total time 39:23


Track 1 recorded 12-8-74
Charles Tyler Alto Sax
Earl Cross Trumpet
Ken Hudson Bass
Steve Reid Drums


Tracks 2,3 recorded 3-14-77
Charles Tyler Baritone Sax, Alto Sax,Voice
Phillip Wilson Drums Voice


Track 4 interview at time of rebroadcast in 1983


The first track features the key players of Earl Cross and Steve Reid which in July of the same year recorded the wonderful "Voyage from Jericho" with Ronnie Boykins stepping in on bass and with Arthur Blythe making a guest appearance on a couple of tracks. Reid was also on next year's "Live in Europe", both rereleased on the Bleu Regard label out of France, but becoming very scarce these days, I believe. Both are very good, but the Jericho is essential. Also look out for the extensive "Saga of the Outlaws" on the Nessa label.


The second and third tracks are playful, improvisational duos (theatrics and dramatics) with Philip Wilson (who also made a very fine duo record with Lester Bowie at about this time, briefly mentioned in the interview snippet at the end of this collection).


Tyler would often alternate between alto and baritone. Personally I prefer his alto sax, which better brings out the sweet melancholy of his tone, but the gruffness of the baritone does not hide it completely.


This is another Dime download/seed, but, oddly enough, no takers, so I'm hoping for a little more responsiveness here. Tyler deserves it.

19 comments:

  1. mp3s

    http://tinyurl.com/5w2vso

    flacs

    http://tinyurl.com/6hylcy
    http://tinyurl.com/5rqkue
    http://tinyurl.com/6ywnaz

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  2. I enjoyed this. Certainly two very different sessions. I presume there were more parts to the interview; didn't they get posted?

    Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Wonderful stuff! Thanks for the upload!

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  4. definitely impressive.
    there's a fluidity coming out of those sequences of notes by Charles Tyler.
    a great incentive for me, and I suppose for many others, to look back and check his available work.
    great great great!
    thanks for sharing, kinabalu.

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  5. I recorded this some 25 years ago, I used to run a reel-to-reel on WKCR every afternoon and especially mondays when they'd have live musicians. Then I'd edit it down to just the unreleased music and whatever interview segments supported it, and dub it to cassette. The reels are long gone so this is all that remains of the interview

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  6. punkjazz,

    any idea about the title of the first tune? I've gone through my Tyler 60s and 70s records, but couldn't recognise it on any of those. If it was unreleased at the time, that would make sense, but perhaps it was officially released later?

    And thanks for making this available in the first place. Anything more from the WKCR vaults?

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  7. This is another Dime download/seed, but, oddly enough, no takers

    love those guys for putting stuff like this up despite their lack of taste in getting it

    k--thanks from us torrent-disabled folks

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  8. many thanks - it's phillip wilson appreciation week around here.

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  9. so often going into the archives is such a tease..

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  10. Oy, kinabalu - thanks for the re-up of these mesmerizing performances, absolutely thrilling! I wish the interview would be a bit longer...

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  11. hi kinabalu & everybody,
    i read again the comments and tried to find more info on this charles tyler sessions at wkcr and this is what i found. the track no. 1 has the title "wake up ladies (ode to lady day)". during the session on dec. 8, 1974 there were 6 tracks recorded, altogether over 71 minutes of music. 5 tracks (excluding "wake up ladies") were released on 2-lp set in the huge edition of 66 or 99 copies :-)
    more info at :
    http://www.discogs.com/Charles-Tyler-Quintet-At-WKCR/release/5762480
    you can listen to the whole concert at :
    http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/audio/by/album/wkcr_archives
    the music is great, there is a quintet there with arthur blythe on 2 tracks + tyler, cross, hudson & reid. however i don't know how to copy this music for myself... maybe somebody could help me with it. thanks in advance.
    best regards.
    paul w.

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  12. Thanks for the additional info, Paul.

    This link will take you straight to the files:

    http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/archives/Jazz%20Archive/artist/Charles%20Tyler

    I'm not sure whether you can download these files for offline consumption, but you can always record the files off the computer, using special software. I've been using Total Recorder for that purpose, but it's possible that you can also use Adobe Audition. I haven't tried that option yet, but I could give it a go. I'll let you know later.

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  13. many thanks kinabalu for the info on total recorder and adobe audition. i checked total recorder and it's perfect to record any sound being played on the computer. however i got so far only trial version of total recorder and using it you get loud noise for a few seconds every minute of recorded music, so i can't use it :-)
    when i checked adobe audition, it seemed that it cannot record music
    being played on computer, but maybe i am wrong.
    best regards.

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  14. Thanks kinabalu! Link still works.

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  15. amazing!...link's still ON...
    belated BIG THX!...

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