In the mid-‘60s golden age of free jazz, a group of sonic adventurers came together under the name of
the New York Art Quartet, and though they didn't stick around long enough to burn their names into history to the same extent as peers like
Ornette Coleman, or even the more "underground" stalwarts like
Bill Dixon, the few artifacts they left behind are as bold and inspiring as nearly anything else from that era.
Dixon, in fact, was the common connection for trombonist
Roswell Rudd and alto sax man
John Tchicai, who had both played with the trumpeter before forming
the Art Quartet in 1964 with bassist Don Moore and drummer
J.C. Moses. The rhythm section would go through a couple of changes during the group's brief lifespan, but
Tchicai and
Rudd were at the helm for both of the quartet's studio recordings. In 1965, Danish expat
Tchicai went back to Copenhagen, soon summoning
Rudd to reassemble the group for a couple of concerts. This time around, they tapped Danish bassist
Finn von Eyben and nabbed South African émigré
Louis Moholo on drums. Finally seeing legitimate release 45 years later, the band's two Copenhagen gigs find them firing on all cylinders. Only a couple of tunes (
Rudd's barnburner "Rosmosis" and his more lyrical "Sweet V") are reprised from the studio albums, but
Rudd and
Tchicai brought a hot batch of new pieces with them, as well as an artful deconstruction of
Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica."
Rudd's forceful, searching lines move in and around the darting, visceral sax stings of
Tchicai in a dance that's both elegant and explosive, suggesting how much more they could have done if they had remained a team.
Moholo and
von Eyben bring a new feeling to the group, with the latter alternating between perky walking lines and in-your-face flurries of frenzied notes as the moment demands, and
Moholo displaying the coloristic skills that would make him a legend of U.K. jazz in the years to come. Barring a one-off reunion decades later, these would be
the New York Art Quartet's last recordings, as they went their separate ways shortly after the Denmark stint, but
Old Stuff illuminates a whole new chapter in
the Art Quartet's story, a chapter most folks never knew existed. ~ J. Allen