Search - Kip Hanrahan :: Coup de Tete

When It's Good.....

Gordon Danis | Eastchester, New York United States | 09/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I waited a long time to hear this on CD, and the sound is luscious. A track like "This Night Comes Out Of Both Of Us," is sung by Lisa Herman over a hot Afro-Cuban Groove. "Whatever I Want," and "No One Here Gets To Transcend Anything (Except Oil Company Executives)" feature poet Kip Hanrahan speech-singing in a Laurie Anderson style, but because his prose and the groove are so compelling, the tunes work.



Some other tracks delve deeply into Arto Lindsay's love of "skronk guitar" an obsession I do not share. However, just as it began on a high note, the CD ends with longtime Miles Davis producer Teo Macero's "Heart On My Sleeve," a slow burner with compelling solos by Orlando DiGoralamo on accordion, the composer and Chico Freeman on tenor sax, along with Dave Liebman on soprano (just to give you an idea of the wealth of talent on this CD, bass duties are capably shared by Jamaladeen Tacuma, Bill Laswell and Cecil McBee on electric and stand-up bass, and there are at least half a dozen percussionists.)



This is one of those early 80s, New York "downtown jazz" CDs that works best when when programmed according to taste. It grabs you when the percussion and vocals are grooving in tandem, and at those moments it is easy to get carried away by this difficult to find CD."