Sean Trane
For those into Sun Ra music, Eddie Gale is not unknown, but by the time he started to take matters into his own hands, it was the late 60’s and the jazz scene was changing quickly. Although his first solo career only lasted two albums (he would return as solo/leader in the 90’s), it’s an understatement to say that his works were certainly groundbreaking and unfortunately all too obscure to the mainstream for his Ghetto Music and the follow-up Black Rhythm Happening) sank more or less without a trace, despite both of them being released on the Blue Note label and were recorded with RVG.
The line-up is an ambitious sextet, with two drummers and two bass players and Lyle and Gale on winds. Furthermore, he embarked an 11-person vocal/choir section under the guidance of wife Joan and Elaine Beiner. The musical concept took on another dimension live, since the stage was also a bit theatrical and representing Gale’s life experience and made to transport you.
Opening on the astounding The Rain, which opens on Brit/Celtic folk ambiances with a crystalline voice (that of Mrs Gale), once the band kicks in , we’re on a totally different dimension, where the singers’ choirs vocals are chilling on a dramatic background double-drum and stupendous sax and trumpet interventions. This is absolutely grandiose, and I can only shudder to think what this would’ve given on stage. The following Fulton Street (not the Frisco avenue) is a very different ballgame, opening on drums and winds rolls and blows, then going totally frantic and tense and slightly dissonant with Gale’s trumpet and Lyle’s sax. Obviously life was restless in the streets, and it’s not the two basses and two drums solos coming later in that will make it any easier, despite some chants. A much more sombre affair with the sad Understanding, where Gale’s trumpet is almost sinister and Lyle’s sax is grieving just as bad, and male lower voices of the voice section only accentuate this.
On the flipside, the opening Walk With thee opens on a martial (almost bolero-like) beat with some spiritual chants and heavy brass sonics. Once the groove settled, Gale goes slightly dissonant. There is some joy and exuberance in this piece and the feel is slightly gypsy/circus-like at times. The album’s 13-mins+ highlight is Coming of Gwilu (that’s Joann and Eddie’s baby), and the opening savannah’s sounds pricks your attention. Past the intro, the two drums then a bass ostinato build up the piece, but we remain on the black continent and Beiner’s lead vocals being answered by the choirs over wild percussions is quite poignant. The piece takes a few minutes before reaching its nucleus when the song announces through Beinner’s voice the happy event (Gwilu’s birth) to the village and Gale’s solemn trumpet blows the hatch roofs from the huts. I don’t know if Gale ever went to Africa, but it certainly feels like I did after listening to such breathtaking evasion and soundscapes .
I’m not exactly sure how come this album is still an obscure gem, but maybe the fact that Blue Note label enthusiasts prefer albums from Herbie, Wayne or Miles might occult the exposure of Gale. No doubt that this kind of outstanding and groundbreaking explorations of Gale might have found more exposure with the Impulse “New Thing” , just like Tyner Africans adventures two years later like Assante or Expansions might have found another echo. Definitely worth exploring, but be aware that this kind of “jazz thing” could turn you away from your old standard classics. When listening to his music, it’s little wonder Gale came from Sun Ra’s galaxy.