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AkLaff, Pheeroan - House of Spirit: Mirth
SKU 05-US 036
I've long known the great drummer Pheeroan AkLaff for his work with Anthony Davis' mind-blowingly great Episteme group in the 80s, as well as many other ensembles and projects of 30 years ago and more recent ones as well, and now with Wadada Leo Smith in the Golden Quartet and Organic. This is his first album as a leader and it's one that I didn't even know existed until this reissue!

"Drummer and composer Pheeroan AkLaff's House of Spirit:Mirth featured in Soul Jazz Record's recent revolutionary jazz covers book compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records). This album was originally released in 1979 on the composer Oliver Lake's bespoke private-press label Passin Thru' Inc., a not for profit label 'dedicated to fostering, promoting and advancing the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the arts.' Consequently House of Spirit remains one of the most elusive deep jazz releases of its time to collectors. Aklaff was an original of the Detroit jazz scene of the early 70s alongside musicians of the Tribe (Wendell Harrison, Phil Ranelin, Doug Hammond) and Strata collective (Kenny Cox and Charles Moore) and local luminaries such as Travis Biggs before moving to New York in the mid-1970s to work at the centre of the vibrant loft/radical jazz scene. Here he worked and recorded with original greats such as Oliver Lake, Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Davis (with numerous releases on India Navigation and other radical NY avant-jazz labels). At this time Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali became mentor to AkLaff , with Aklaff practically living at Ali's legendary club/live space 'Ali's Alley'. House of Spirit: Mirth is one of the most radical of deep jazz releases of its time. Avant-garde beyond a doubt but with an Afro-centric rhythmical intensity hard to find in the myriad of independent free/loft jazz recorded in New York at the time. This bespoke perfect replica reissue comes in a limited edition hardback box-case CD edition.

The Wire on the 10 best grooves of all time
http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/442/

Cecil Taylor with Henry Grimes and Pheeroan akLaff


Cecil Taylor took the stage with his New AHA 3 trio consisting of drummer Pheeroan akLaff and bassist Henry Grimes, who was reunited with the great pianist after a 40-year hiatus (Grimes played on Taylor's groundbreaking 1966 Blue Note album, Conquistador!). The 78-year-old avant-garde icon entered to a standing ovation, then stood at his piano reciting cryptic poetry while accompanying himself on shaker. akLaff engaged Cecil with a djembe drum and with fingers on the snare while Grimes picked up a violin, which he bowed with legit technique, if poor intonation. akLaff switched to brushes against the tide of Taylor's piano playing and as the music built to a more turbulent peak, Grimes discarded the violin, picked up Olive Oyl (his green upright bass, given to him by William Parker) and away they went. akLaff matched Cecil's explosively percussive attack on the keyboard with some whirlwind intensity of his own on the kit, heavy on the toms with an overt African influence in his playing. While most drummers over time--including Max Roach and Elvin Jones--have deferred to Cecil's power, Pheeroan rose to the occasion with thunderous drumming, going toe-to-toe with the master. And while at times his muscular playing on the kit threatened to drown out the piano, Taylor seemed to enjoy the fire that akLaff lit under him throughout this powerhouse high-octane set of music. For sheer bombast, decibel level and visceral appeal, The Bad Plus can't touch this. Though akLaff does bring the energy and slamming authority of an explosive fusion drummer to bear on Cecil's music (think Billy Cobham, Alphonse Mouzon or Tony Williams with Lifetime), he also is a great listener with a remarkable capacity to suit the surroundings. Throughout this volatile set he shaped and enhanced the proceedings with his skillful use of dynamics and an intuitive sense of orchestrating from behind the kit. At one point, he switched to playing strictly cymbals to allow Grimes' brilliant pizzicato playing to cut through in the mix. At other times, in the midst of particularly rhapsodic passages by Cecil, Pheeroan would underscore the music with sparse mallet work or by playing the drum shells and rims or using sticks on his djembe drum. A sensitive colorist, he leaves holes in the music for gems to shine through. And more so than other drummers who have worked with Cecil Taylor over the past 40 years, akLaff brings the funk. Rather than being busy on top, his flurries come from the bass drum and work their way up. And he deals more forcefully and effectively with the tom toms than most other Cecil drummers, putting some real meat in the music. A player of almost super human intensity, he's an athlete on the drums who also dances behind his kit. And Cecil's signature two-fisted clusters and ferocious forearm smashes to the keys don't sound quite so jarring with this kind of bombast underneath it. akLaff makes Cecil's turbulent music groove. I mean, when was the last time you saw heads bobbing in unison at a Cecil concert? "Aha" is an exclamation one makes. It's the sound of discovery. It's also an apt name for this triumvirate of creative spirits and courageous explorers. Bill Milkowski

Slagwerk (Holland) - Hugo Pinksterboer interview January 2012

Jazz ( España) - Jorge Luiz Gureñu interviiew Autumn 2010

Hot House Magazine cover article Paul Blair interview April 2004

Coda Magazine cover article July/August 1997

Signature Magazine Japan, Dr. Tekemura interview April 1996

The Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Jordan interview, January 1996

The Villager, interview New York, N.Y. February 1996

Modern Drummer, Noah Howard interview 12/95,

Drums Magazine Japan, Interview 1991

Marie Claire Japan, CD review 1990,

Jazz Podium, Germany 1989

Musician Magazine Ted Drozdowski interview June 1989

RYTMI Magazine Finland #9-10 interview November1987

Modern Drummer, Chip Stern interview May 1984

Midday Times Bombay, India interview January 1984

Coda Magazine Canada#186 interview January 1982

Ivoire Dimanche Magazine Ivory Coast#537 J.S. Bakiono interview June 1981

Ophelia Magazine Nigeria Volume 2 Frank Fairfax interview January 1981

Stages

Hollis King's photo;live in NY

Wesleyan students; Plaza and Middleton who considered it a must to see me with Geri Allen

Lady Lester band at Manhattan Theater Club 1981 - Michael Gregory, Fred Hopkins, Anthony Davis, David Murray

Sao Paolo 2010

Henry Brant's Dormant Craters percussion concerto.

Dormant Craters by Heny Brant conducted by Neely Bruce at Lincoln Center photo Charles Martin

rehearsal with St. Shindy orchestra Nara,Japan

Pheeroan with Max Roach at Wesleyan 1999 - Abraham Ahdzenia, Jay Hoggard, Boogsie Sharp, Kwaku Obeng

Forum on Art and Spirituality at mountain temple with Father Raimund, Robert,Peter, Wolfgang, and Ferdinand