Roswell Rudd (album)
Roswell Rudd is a live album by the trombonist Roswell Rudd, the first recording under his name. It was recorded in November 1965 in Hilversum, Netherlands, and was released by America Records in 1971. On the album, Rudd is joined by saxophonist John Tchicai, bassist Finn Von Eyben, and drummer Louis Moholo. In the fall of 1965, Tchicai lined up dates for the New York Art Quartet, a group that he co-led with Rudd, in Copenhagen, Gothenburg (Sweden), Hilversum (Holland), and Amsterdam (where they opened for Ornette Coleman's group), with Von Eyben and Moholo substituting  for band members Reggie Workman and Milford Graves, who were unable to make the trip. The NYAQ album "Old Stuff", featuring these four players, was recorded in Copenhagen in October, while the album "Roswell Rudd" was recorded for a radio broadcast while the group was in Hilversum in November. (The date listed on the album jacket, February 1965, is incorrect.) The French label America Records released the album in 1971 without Rudd's consent. Reception. In a review for AllMusic, Matt Collar wrote: "Fans of Rudd will immediately recognize his peculiar slide-heavy and note-bending style. While the album  is primarily a free jazz effort, tracks such as 'Old Stuff' and 'Respects' do belie a quasi-boppish influence not dissimilar to the work of avant-garde icon saxophonist Ornette Coleman." The authors of the "Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings" called the album "a tight, intensely swinging record, best heard as bop with freeish elements," and described Moholo's drumming as "a revelation." A writer for All About Jazz commented: "Rudd embellishes free expressions with an unflappable empathy... 'Sweet Smells'... is introspective in its opening repeated bass and horn lines, though a real thrust and underlying swing carry the tune ... bassist Finn Von Eyben and... drummer Louis Moholo allow the horns to play anything at any given juncture, without a single gratuitous moment... Moholo's loping beats, unique timing, and Elvin Jones-influenced polyrhythms push both horns with a subtlety of slowing then speeding up the meter, which takes 'Sweet Smells' out in an unaccompanied break that will make you want to replay its last thirty seconds. Closing the session is Monk's ever-familiar 'Pannonica', a densely packed three minutes by the group which proves that their spontaneous creations run parallel to a compositional grounding." Roswell Rudd (album) Roswell