Revolutionary Ensemble (at some point, they eschewed the "the") was one of the very finest, most profound groups to emerge from the avant jazz scene in the 70s. The late Leroy Jenkins (violin), Sirone (née, Norris Jones, bass) and Jerome Cooper (percussion, keyboards and miscellaneous instruments) created a unique kind of sound, steeped in the blues yet extremely outer-directed, transparent and air-thin on the one hand, rich and gloriously muddy on the other. They recorded only a handful of albums before disbanding in the late 70s. In 2004, they reunited and to the extent that this live recording from Poland in May of 2005 is representative, it illustrates how difficult it can be for even master musicians to recapture the glow and creativity of an earlier era.
Their instrumental prowess doesn't appear noticeably diminished — Jenkins, who died in 2007, remains plaintive and heartfelt, Sirone establishes a bottom like few of his peers and Cooper's touch is as light, precise and musical as ever. But the pieces have a sluggish feel overall, lacking the crispness and even the occasional funk of yore. In their prime, a work might begin in meandering fashion, the listener wondering if the musicians were guilty of excessive noodling, only to lurch into some amazing groove, the preceding wanderings suddenly coming into focus as having been absolutely necessary. On Sirone's "Configuration", which opens this disc, there seems to be an attempt at that tack, his bass figure serving as a ground from which to expand, but the execution is routine rather than surprising, competent but uninspired. Each of the trio presents a composition of his own, Jenkins' "Usami" probably coming off the best, with the diminutive violinist (once humorously referred to in a JCOA catalog as, "pound for pound, the greatest violinist alive!") expounding and chittering away in an enjoyable manner, never forgetting the blues and recalling some of his fine work with the Creative Construction Company.
As was often the case in the 70s, it's Cooper's piece that's the most structurally ambitious. But whereas with a work of his like "Ponderous Planets" from the superb A&M record, "People's Republic", the parts of the suite blended into a seamless (though surprising) and exciting whole, here the sections feel disjointed and arbitrarily attached. Some cheesy electric keyboard work from Cooper doesn't help and when his favorite secondary axe, the chiramia comes into play, after brief piano and balaphone interludes, it sounds too much like he's simply cycling through his arsenal. The disc closes with two group improvisations of about ten minutes each which serve the ensemble relatively well, though the first aggravatingly cuts off just as the trio begins to seriously smoke. Only the last track, which features some surprisingly thick drumming from Cooper as well as a keening, heartbreaking display from Jenkins, hints at Revolutionary Ensemble's prior heights. It's tough to go home again.
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