About this product

Product Identifiers

Record LabelHat Hut Records

UPC7619925611326

eBay Product ID (ePID)26050149185

Product Key Features

EditionLive

FormatCD

Release Year1979

GenreJazz

Run Time56 Mins 41 Seconds

ArtistOliver Lake

Release TitleZaki

Additional Product Features

DistributionBayside Record Dist.

Number of Discs1

Country/Region of ManufactureSwitzerland

EngineerPeter Pfister

Additional informationPersonnel: Oliver Lake (alto, tenor & soprano saxophones); Michael Gregory Jackson (electric guitar); Pheer-oan AkLaff (drums). Recorded live on September 1, 1979. Includes liner notes by Jurg Solothurnmann. This 1970 European concert recording, made at the Willisau Jazz Festival, captures free-jazz alto saxman Oliver Lake performing with electric guitarist Michael Gregory Jackson and drummer Pheer-oan AkLaff. The lack of a bassist gives the ensemble a distinctively open sound that heightens Lake's restless, searching compositions. Of the five pieces performed, only two are under 10 minutes, and the title track--a dense, surging exploration that alternates between frantic stutters and subtle, conversational exchanges--clocks in at nearly 25 minutes. But the songs on ZAKI are not your typical, soloist stretch-out sessions; the ensemble plays almost solely as a tight-knit unit. Lake's group rarely builds a wall of sound. Instead, they use space, dynamics, and contrasting textures to generate and release dramatic tension. The rapport between Lake (who alternates alto, tenor, and soprano saxophone here) and guitarist Jackson is particularly remarkable, with Jackson's wiry, nimble lines intersecting with Lake's playing, then weaving off at a welter of angles. AkLaff's kit work, dense but never overbearing, spins a web around the two lead voices. In instrumentation, arrangement, and approach, this is a unique and compelling free-jazz date.

Number of Audio ChannelsStereo