EMERGENCY

Emergency was a short-lived jazz group centered in Paris in the early 1970s fronted by vanguard sax great Glenn Spearman. The band's one recording, a live set, was issued on the Parisian America Records label, and is one of those rare gems that not only marks its time and place in the history of the music perfectly, but also transcends it. Certainly this quintet, comprised of two Americans, two Japanese, and a Frenchman, was truly an international ensemble. Spearman and bassist Bob Reid were accompanied by pianist Takashi Kako, electric guitarist Boulou Ferre and drummer Sabu Toyozumi. The four pieces that make up this recording come out of the post-Coltrane modal aesthetic -- indeed Spearman and Kako are perfect foils for one another in the same way Trane and McCoy Tyner were -- but with the addition of an electric guitarist, moved out into other directions both texturally and harmonically. read more...