Daily jazz blog, Marlbank

Bobby Few has died

French media are reporting the death at the age of 85 of pianist Bobby Few. From Cleveland, Ohio, Few made the move to Paris at the end of the 1960s. Rooted in free-jazz, out of the century-changing Cecil Taylor sound, Few knew Albert Ayler at …

Published: 8 Jan 2021. Updated: 3 years.

French media are reporting the death at the age of 85 of pianist Bobby Few.

From Cleveland, Ohio, Few made the move to Paris at the end of the 1960s. Rooted in free-jazz, out of the century-changing Cecil Taylor sound, Few knew Albert Ayler at high school and later played on Ayler's records Music is the Healing Force of the Universe and The Last Album.

Associated with Noah Howard and Frank Wright as the 60s spooled into the 70s Few later became heavily identified with saxophonist Steve Lacy and appeared with Lacy on records throughout the 1980s and 90s for such labels as HatArt and Soul Note among a range of others. RIP.

See the leading French left wing daily Libération for more

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Francisco Mela fires us up with call-to-listen appeal of 'Calipso'

Run that lockdown voodoo down with this gem, the lead-off track from Francisco Mela's MPT Trio Volume 1. I'll definitely forgive the dusty ''vol. 1'' bit because there's nothing at all dusty about this record. To be frank I'm not that familiar …

Published: 7 Jan 2021. Updated: 3 years.

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Run that lockdown voodoo down with this gem, the lead-off track from Francisco Mela's MPT Trio Volume 1. I'll definitely forgive the dusty ''vol. 1'' bit because there's nothing at all dusty about this record.

To be frank I'm not that familiar with drummer leader Mela, although happily dredging the memory banks I managed to catch him live as one of two drummers in the Joe Lovano organisation of the day in Ronnie Scott's when Us5 made a spectacular Frith Street debut back in 2009, Esperanza Spalding also in the band at that time.

On Brooklyn label 577, whose recent records include in some astute A&R-ing fiery UK player Rachel Musson, Mela's record is a trio affair with tenorist Hery Paz and guitarist Juanma Trujillo joining him. The label description of Trujillo tune opener 'Calipso' streaming ahead of next week's release explains that the track ''features distinctive steel drums reminiscent of Caribbean calypsos.''

The track begins with Mela calling us to listen, and a raw street style readying us for who knows what. Then there's a gutsy tenor and guitar line, sort of in a watered down Albert Ayler style, a reluctant theme teased out that Mela fattens up rolling out a carpet of sounds behind. Paz takes us further with Trujillo riffing contrapuntally against him and when he eventually comes into his own paints it bluesy and jagged all over. What a trip.

Release date for MPT Trio Volume 1 is Friday 15 January