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Don CherryThe Summer House SessionsBack to the record
Uncut
★★★★★

“These 1968 sessions are looser, aesthetically pan-global, embracing a nascent spirituality alongside a cartwheeling energy.”

John Daly

The Summer House Sessions uncovers previously unreleased recordings undertaken soon after Don Cherry relocated to Sweden with partner Moki. Recorded in a Kummelnäs summer house, the music here, with Cherry accompanied by musicians from Sweden, France and Turkey, marks a notable stylistic shift from the Blue Note albums that helped make his name. These 1968 sessions are looser, aesthetically pan-global, embracing a nascent spirituality alongside a cartwheeling energy. Even when the playing ascends into more furiously integrated free jazz, Cherry always brings the group back to melody heads and simple, affecting riffs and phrases, which ground everything.

Originally published by Uncut.Read it on Uncut

6 other reviews

The Quietus

“Most radical (and most indicative of Don’s nascent intentions) is the insistence that the music be communal and solo-free.”

Jazz Journal

“Capturing brilliant and organic improvisation, The Summer House Sessions offers a fascinating glimpse into Cherry’s world of musical research and experimentation.”

Point of Departure

“Ultimately this is a record of people at play.”

Jazz Magazine

“Car ces “Summer House Sessions” (magnifiquement) enregistrées par l’ingénieur du son Göran Freese n’ont absolument rien perdu de leur force libertaire, de leur inspiration rieuse et de leur invention mélodique.”

Free Jazz Blog

“The music demonstrates Cherry's aspiration for a universal language through music, incorporating many ideas and rhythms, all integrated in one joyous and communal interaction.”

Dusted

“It’s like a looser version of the music Cherry made for Blue Note in the 1960s, free and joyous, but the references to Anatolian folk music point it towards the music he would do with Okay Temiz and Johnny Dyani.”