How you like it...
A. H. W. Sphar | brooklyn, baltimore | 07/30/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, D.C.'s trumpet does not sound a huge part in every song, but somehow I doubt that he would have let his name be on the album if he didn't feel that he had put a piece of himself into the album... If you have followed D.C's career and understood the progression and the vision expressed in his music, then this is not such a huge departure - always exploring, always expanding... definitely a more progressive album than even his Ornette catalog but I think it's worth a listen... and I'm not just talking a 30second per track, amazon sample listen, like some reviewers do..."
A highly unusual piece.
Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 11/17/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"A highly unusual album-- "Human Music" pairs jazz/world trumpet legend Don Cherry with electronic musician Jon Appleton in a recording from 1970. I have to confess, I'm totally unfamiliar with Appleton's work, but Cherry is a personal favorite of mine. Having said that, this album may be the most challenging of virtually anything in Cherry's catalog.
Essentially, Cherry pits his pocket trumpet, flutes and various percussions against a synthesizer and studio fray from Appleton. But with Cherry best known for frantic energy at this point in his career, it's somewhat shocking to find that the music here is remarkably tame and laid back. And while I'm inclined to listen to everything from ambient to free jazz to the occasional death metal record and in between, I found this one remarkably undigestable. It lacks any general formation of melody of rhythmic motion, instead deferring largely brief passages of performance by Cherry interspersed, effected, and twisted, with electronic noise. On a couple rare occasions, something resembling a more concrete statement comes out, with Cherry actually stating a melody on "Oba", but by and large this is it.
I will note that the album sounds fantastic, it could have been recorded yesterday courtesy no doubt of a fine remastering job, it's been augmented by a pair of brief bonus tracks, and features a nice essay about the sessions in the liner notes.
To be fair, I've only had the record for a few days, and it's entirely possible that I'm likely to revise my opinion of it after some more listening, but as of right now, this one doesn't work for me. It feels incomplete."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1