Hamiet Bluiett Dangerously Suite

Hamiet Bluiett - Im/possible to Keep (1977) {2CD Set India Navigation IN1072CD rel 1996}
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© 1977, 1996 India Navigation | IN 1072 CD
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

This double-CD, released for the first time in 1996, has the 37½-minute performance "Sobra Una Nube" that was originally released as the LP S.O.S., plus five other previously unreleased selections (two of which are quite lengthy) from the same engagement. Recorded at a small club during the now-legendary loft period in New York City, baritonist Hamiet Bluiett (who also plays some effective clarinet and flute) is featured with pianist Don Pullen (who was really coming into his own during this era), bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer/percussionist Don Moye.

Hamiet Bluiett Sextet - Young Warrior, Old Warrior (1995) {Mapleshade MS 02932}
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© 1995 Mapleshade Productions | MS 02932
Jazz / Post Bop / Jazz Blues / Bop / Baritone Saxophone

Just heard the sad news. Rest in Peace Hamiet Bluiett. Although an adventurous improviser always associated with the avant-garde, baritonist Hamiet Bluiett shows throughout this intriguing CD that he can also play blues and bop quite effectively. In fact, "Blues in F and G" is a straight-ahead duet by Bluiett with bassist Keter Betts. Some of the other songs feature the other musicians stretching themselves in Bluiett's direction, including a fairly free duet that he has with drummer Jimmy Cobb ("Jimmy and Me"). The music – which is interpreted by a sextet also including trumpeter Jack Walrath, tenor saxophonist Mark Shim, and pianist Larry Willis – certainly keeps one constantly guessing and has no slow moments.

Hamiet Bluiett & Concept - Live At Carlos I: Another Night (1986) {Just A Memory Records JAM 9136-2 rel 1997}
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© 1986, 1997 Just A Memory Records | JAM 9136-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

The quintet on this CD (baritonist Hamiet Bluiett, pianist Don Pullen, bassist Fred Hopkins, drummer Idris Muhammad, and Chief Bay on African percussion) was only together for a week, but three CDs resulted from their engagement at the Carlos I club in New York; Mulgrew Miller is in Pullen's place on one of the two other discs. This is a particularly intriguing setting for the great baritonist Bluiett, for even though he is an avant-gardist, he is heard here playing such numbers as "I'll Close My Eyes" (which becomes so romantic at one point that it seems satirical), "Autumn Leaves," and Bluiett's blues "John."

Hamiet Bluiett - Bluiett's Barbeque Band (1996) {Mapleshade 04032}
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© 1996 Mapleshade Productions | 04032
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Gospel Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

This outing by baritonist Hamiet Bluiett is quite a mixed bag. The music ranges from electric funk to gospel vocals by Amba Hawthorne and a poetry reading by Shirley LeFlore. The performances certainly keep one guessing with Bluiett seeming to operate more as an instigator than necessarily the lead voice. Listeners expecting to hear avant-garde explorations will be disappointed although the leader's baritone solos are often quite adventurous. The most satisfying selection is the closer, a version of "Body and Soul" that has Bluiett playing bass sax with surprising fluency. Otherwise the music is a bit erratic but certainly stimulating and heartfelt.

Hamiet Bluiett - With Eyes Wide Open (2000) {Justin Time JUST138-2 rec 1999}
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© 2000 Justin Time Records | JUST 138-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

The esteemed baritone saxophonist and distinguished member of the World Saxophone Quartet previously known as Hamiet Bluiett has apparently dropped his first name, which is indicated on the title and credits of this 2000 solo release. Yet whatever the circumstances, Bluiett's quartet serves up a tasty brew consisting of soulful ballads, calypso rhythms, and hardcore swing on this affable effort featuring guitarist Ed Cherry, bassist Jaribu Shahid, and drummer Nasheet Waits. Essentially, Bluiett balances a steely edged attack with fluid swinging lines and an altogether impressive faculty for enhancing the proceedings with his seemingly impossible ability to hit those high notes, which is uncommon or perhaps unattainable for most baritone saxophonists.

Hamiet Bluiett - Resolution (1977) {Black Saint 120014-2 rel 1994}
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© 1977, 1994 Black Saint | 120 014-2
Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone / Clarinet

I took a bit of a nap on Hamiet! Not all his material is maniac, so I think I was deterred by a straighter outing in an earlier examination, as I reverse-devour in depth the Avant-Jazz lineage with unthwarted esurience. It’s always majorly thrilling to find “someone else” & start cruising through their releases & history. The Bluiett epiphany came about with probably the best inadvertent recommendation ever from an anonymous NY Jazz body who told me he had to stop taking lessons from Bluiett cos’ he was “too crazy”! So a Southern saxophonist playing Off-Raod squall, with a reputation for being “too crazy”?…could it possibly be better? & thus I pick out this album, Resolution from 1977 that pleasingly is still in print.

Hamiet Bluiett - Makin' Whoopee: A Tribute to the King Cole Trio (1997) {Mapleshade MS04832 rec 1996}
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© 1997 Mapleshade Productions | MS 04832
Jazz / Jazz Blues / Baritone Sax

This thoroughly enjoyable album is baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett's tribute to the music of the Nat King Cole Trio. Using the same spare backing of just guitar and bass as the Cole Trio, Bluiett covers familiar material from the Cole repertoire like "Sweet Lorraine," "Paper Moon," "Straighten Up and Fly Right," and even that Yuletide chestnut "Christmas Song." A rousing and inventive version of "Route 66" is augmented with percussion and improvised comic narration. This is a relaxed, unhurried effort in which the musicians take their time to explore the songs fully. Along with Keter Betts on bass and Rodney Jones and Ed Cherry on guitar, Bluiett captures the warmth and elegant simplicity of these classic Cole tunes

Hamiet Bluiett - Same Space (1998) {Justin Time JUST109-2 rec 1997}
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© 1998 Justin Time Records | JUST 109-2
Jazz / Afro-Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

Baritone saxophonist and World Saxophone Quartet cofounder Hamiet Bluiett teamed up with Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based pianist D.D. Jackson and Senegalese percussion master Mor Thiam to create Same Space, their first release for the Canadian label Justin Time. This is an exciting but surprisingly accessible trek through a fusion of jazz/world originals. Accessibility is not normally associated with the music of Bluiett or Jackson, which typically leans toward the avant-garde.

Hamiet Bluiett - If You Have To Ask (1991) {Tutu CD888128}
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© 1991 Tutu Records | CD 888 128
Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

The title referes to a celebrated riposte of Louis Armstrong's when asked by a white lady what jazz really was. In the context of that his quotation of the celebrated waltz theme at the beginning of "Black Danube," a tune described by drummer Carvin as "James Brown in 3/4 time," has to be seen as slightly ironic in the context of Bluiett's now thoroughly Africanized approach to jazz performance. The rhythmic base, whether by Carvin or Asante, is in most cases the essence of the piece, over which Bluiett improvises with considerabl freedom.

Hamiet Bluiett - The Clarinet Family (1984) {Black Saint 120 097-2 rel 1987}
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© 1984, 1987 Black Saint | 120 097-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Clarinet

Recorded live in November, 1984 - an acoustical concert with no amplification except for a bass amplifier on For Macho - during the "Berliner Festspiele", at Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin. The clarinet was once one of the leading voices of jazz. During the Swing era clarinet players like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw were Kings, but more recently the instrument has been all but forgotten in jazz circles. We should therefore thank World Saxophone Quartet member Hamiet Bluiett for his personal attempt at a revival with "The Clarinet Family." Recorded for the Black Saint label during a live performance in Berlin in November 1984, Bluiett trades in his trademark baritone sax for the alto clarinet, and joins forces with fellow clarinetists Don Byron, Dwight Andrews, Gene Ghee, John Purcell, J.D. Parran, Sir Kidd Jordan and even the great Buddy Collette on this eclectic tribute to the instrument.