Ira Sullivan is one of those artists who’s best known for
being unknown: praised by critics but never a big name. Sullivan, still going
strong at 84, is a multi-instrumentalist, playing tenor and soprano sax, flute,
trumpet and flugelhorn. He splits his time between Chicago and Miami, which, in
this Big Apple-centric music, may explain why he’s not a bigger name. He’s also not content to be pegged as an
adherent of a particular school. He played with Charlie Parker but also heard
and assimilated the sounds of John Coltrane and other free and spiritual players
of the 60s and 70s.
A case in point is Horizons,
recorded in 1967, a year full of non-Western musical ideas. Except for a fine interpretation
of the standard Everything Happens to Me, on which he plays trumpet, flugelhorn, as
well as tenor, Sullivan sticks mostly to tenor and soprano. He shows a lot of Coltrane influence on that
hard-to-play horn while still adding his own touches, as on Nineveh and Adah.
The title track has
that uplifting late 60s Blue Note sound, with Sullivan on tenor. E Flat Tuba G features some strong free
playing from all hands. Just to break things up, Oh, Gee!, a composition by trombonist Matthew Gee (I need to blog
about him one of these days), takes us back to the 50s for a bluesy bebop romp.
I’m not familiar with the rest of the band, but they make a
real contribution to the overall group sound. Pianist Dolph Castellano doubles
on electronic harpsichord on a couple of tracks, bassist William Fry provides
strong, individual lines, Lon Norman adds color and depth on trombone, and Jose
Cigno furnishes strong rhythmic support on drums and percussion.
A while back I blogged about Herbie
Mann’s Middle Eastern-tinged The Wailing Dervishes album, with a focus on
his version of Norwegian Wood. Sullivan’ version has that same feel. Check out
Fry’s bass intro and bass drone, Cigno’s polyrhythms, Castellano’s harpsichord,
and Sullivan’s passionate, grasping for the infinite solo. This is my kind of
music!
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