Juba-Lee

Juba-Lee is an album by American saxophonist Marion Brown. It was recorded in November 1966 in New York City, and was released in 1967 on the Fontana label. The album features Brown on alto saxophone, Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone, Alan Shorter on trumpet and flugelhorn, Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Dave Burrell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums.^[1] The album was recorded roughly a month prior to Brown's Impulse! debut, Three for Shepp. The tracks "Juba-Lee" and "Iditus" also appear on the 2019 ezz-thetics (Hat Hut) album Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee Revisited.

The tune "Juba Lee" is featured on the 2007 Marion Brown tribute album Sweet Earth Flower by the band His Name Is Alive.

In a review for AllMusic, Brandon Burke wrote: "It should go without saying that any free jazz session featuring either Shorter or Moncur is going to be heavy. Both men, as soloists and as composers, tend to dramatically alter any recording upon which they appear... Unfortunately, this would be the only session upon which the two appeared together, making the historical relevance of this date even more pronounced... Highly recommended."^[2]

Regarding Shorter's "Iditus", David Grundy, in an article for Point of Departure, stated: "The piece is constructed not so much on one chord as on one note, relentlessly restated by Burrell and bassist Reggie Johnson, and seeming to half-lope, half-march, half-creep through endless shadows. Shorter is the first to solo... Exploiting the instrument's timbral ambiguity, it's not immediately clear which horn has entered: as his solo continues, Shorter, like Moncur, exploits the particular effect of straining within those lower registers, so that those notes become pinched. Phrases trail away into a breathy, upper register, or into silence: a question half-asked, an answer cut off, half-way through the telling. Rather than the well-rounded statement, the operative principle is that of the fragment, of sound in a constant dialogue with silence, which is both void (silencing) and potential."^[4]

En un artículo para Jazz Right Now , Christopher Forbes comentó: «"Juba Lee" tiene momentos que recuerdan a los últimos grupos de Ayler en el Village Vanguard, repletos de sonidos de las primeras bandas de metales de Nueva Orleans y cantos bautistas primitivos. Monchur aporta un excelente solo que abarca desde la tonalidad principal hasta diversas tonalidades y emociones secundarias. "Iditus" de Shorter... tiene un aire ominoso que estalla en una amenaza directa a medida que avanzan los solos. Shorter, en particular, realiza una maravillosa progresión gradual en su solo». ^{[ 5 ]}

En un artículo sobre la reedición de 2019, John Litweiler calificó la grabación de "históricamente importante" y elogió la interpretación de Shorter en "Iditus", escribiendo: "Una y otra vez, sus solos escapan de la tiranía rítmica del tempo, el compás y las composiciones de un solo acorde (no armónicamente libres). Le gustan las notas largas y las octavas medias, y, cuando toca el fliscorno, suena como si hubiera sido inventado específicamente para él... La creciente tensión de los solos de Shorter contrasta con Brown, quien rebosa de entusiasmo. Sus melodías se reinventan constantemente. Incluso más que Shorter, el saxofonista alto se toma libertades rítmicas que representan un avance respecto a Ornette-Cherry." ^{[ 6 ]}

Pistas 1–3 de Marion Brown. Pista 4 de Alan Shorter.

1. "512e12" – 15:37
2. "El Visitante" – 9:13
3. "Juba-Lee" – 12:31
4. "Iditus" – 12:15

Grabado en noviembre de 1966 en la ciudad de Nueva York.

• Marion Brown – saxofón alto
• Bennie Maupin – saxofón tenor
• Alan Shorter – trompeta y fliscorno
• Grachan Moncur III – trombón
• Dave Burrell – piano
• Reggie Johnson – bajo
• Beaver Harris – batería