AMALGAM — Prayer for Peace (review)

AMALGAM — Prayer for Peace album cover Album · 1969 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Sean Trane
An amazing first album for this Amalgamated quartet (well a trio really, since the second bassist only plays on the closing title track), a project lead by saxman Trevor Watts, PFP might seem a tad psychedelic due to the strongly artistic late-60’s artwork, but it’s quite misleading, because the music is firmly entrenched in the jazz realm, somewhere between free-form and traditional jazz. It might be a little misleading to label the present album as avant-garde, but we’re not that far away from Impulse!’s New Thing.

What can be said of a sax-lead trio, as the possibilities are rather limited and everything that could be done has been said in the sidelong Tales Of Sadness opening the FPF album. Watts’ sax does go sometimes beyond the dissonance barrier, but it’s nothing shocking to open trad-jazzheads. The soundscapes are a tad more extreme or free in the three-part Judy’s Smile (actually three improvisations on the original theme) that fills most of the flipside, but again nothing too screechy or dissonant, as all three remain gentle both rhythmically and harmonically. The closing title has Barry Guy on the bowed-contrabass, but while I generally like this, in this case, I find it a miss. So, while PFP is certainly worthy of a listen (or five), I wouldn’t say that it is haunting or fascinating and certainly won’t rivet you to the edge of your seat.

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

About (or On)First Visit Avant-Garde Jazz
ELLERY ESKELIN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Noah Kaplan Quartet : Out Of The Hole Avant-Garde Jazz
NOAH KAPLAN
Buy this album from MMA partners
To Walk On Eggshells Avant-Garde Jazz
RUSS JOHNSON
Buy this album from MMA partners
Snakeoil : Snakeoil Ok Avant-Garde Jazz
TIM BERNE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Poetry of Place (from the exhibit by painter Karen Allen) Jazz Related Improv/Composition
CHRIS DINGMAN
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio Dream a Dream
SATOKO FUJII
js· 1 day ago
Nitty Gritty
RUSS SPIEGEL
js· 4 days ago
Never in a 100.000.000 Dreams
SUPERSISTER
js· 5 days ago
Love is a Fire that Burns Unseen
PETER MADSEN
js· 5 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us