Charles Tyler - Mid Western Drifter

I posted the Folly Fun Magic Music a little while ago and the one following, this one, was to be his last. In contrast to the former, here we're down to a trio, just sax, piano and bass, It' a low key affair, subdued, no flashes, a touch of melancholy to the proceedings. . All in all, a record of intimate beauty, even infinite beauty. We have a mix of standards, some select tunes from the Tyler repertoire, even my fave from the second ESP album, dedicated to Chris McGregor. Did they know each other or meet? Both had settled in France by the 1980s.

This record is a musical documention of a travelogue, so what better to cite the poem that starts off the record:

It was a return to the east
as in the children's music march
like the flight of the Surf ravin
on a voyage From jericho
they were happy sad hip folks
who knew of Cadiz of the west kentucky woods
they knew not, of the dark blue depths,
pale blue planet
lucifer got uptight
as he gazed upon the wasteland
of uptown manhattan puerto-rico
he came as a space traveller
to play his role in the warlock mystery drama
little did he know that the adventures of the ode to lady
day stand so strong
it was a saga of the outlaws
versus The legend of the lawman
you see
I was only a mid western drifter
in search of the route
from saint-louis to kansas-city by
way of Chicago
as I told the tale of bari red
a man alone
who could twing twang twiddle all night along
with a song, A tale of bari red
I was just a mid western drifter

To quote Thom Jurek again from the Allmusic review, he left the best for last.

Tracks:

1. Mid-western drifter
2. Life can be so beautiful
3. There was a flower near Napoli
4. Photo of Cecil Tyler and Jimmy Lyons
5. Blue Monk
6. Man alone (for Chris McGregor)
7. 'Round midnight

Charles Tyler - alto sax, voice, arrangments
Curtis Clark - piano
Didier Levallet - double bass

All compositions by Charles Tyler, except 5, 7 by Thelonius Monk
Recorded in France 30-31 March 1992
Died 28 June 1992