Karl Evangelista’s Apura

John O’Gallagher
Ancestral
Whirlwind Recordings WR 4080S

At the ages of 86 (Andrew Cyrille) and 85 (Billy Hart), these drum masters show no sign of slowing down. Cyrille worked on and off with Cecil Taylor for 15 years and afterwards a who’s who of musicians most notably Oliver Lake and Reggie Workman; while Hart is best-known for his association with Herbie Hancock. Meanwhile and Dave Liebman, has recorded with everyone from Sonny Fortune to Evan Parker.

Both these discs feature a guitarist, saxophones and percussion, but they’re almost the antithesis of one another. Recorded on opposite sides of the U.S., Bukas is a Bay Area sextet date by Filipino-American guitarist Karl Evangelista’s Apura group in which Cyrille guests. An impassioned blend of free verse poetry and almost free form playing, the guitarist, who has worked with everyone from Bobby Bradford to Alexander Hawkins, is joined by tenor saxophonist Francis Wong, poet/alto saxophonist Lewis Jordan, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and Rei Scampavia on keyboards and electronics. Situated firmly in the straight-ahead realm, the New Jersey-recorded Ancestral preserves the first time Cyrille and Hart have recorded on the same date. Leader, tenor saxophonist John O’Gallagher, an American who now lives in Lisbon, has played with everyone from Tyshawn Sorey to Mike Gibbs. Added is guitarist Ben Monder who also has a wide range of associates.

Bukas which means tomorrow in Tagalog has an exploratory instrumental side, as well as four tracks where Jordan or Evangelista voice angry, proto-political aphorisms. While the criticisms and clarifications are universal and suffused with the decisions to oppose those repressing freedom and music itself, the playing is of a high enough quality that it really doesn’t need to be puffed up with socio-political statements.

Amplified with Mezzacapp’s thick and sonorous pulsations, Cyrille’s rim shots, cymbal echoes and patterning, the in sync intertwining of saxophones tones and Scampavia’s dynamic electronic modifications use keyboard tropes that range from widening organ-like tremolos to light celeste-like tinkling to move forward. Evangelista too has ample space for guitar explorations. His movements which can range from warm riffs to clenched pressure are most imposing when nestled within lengthier narratives among the others’ interpolations.

During the final “Anti” for instance drum shuffles, ascending saxophone splatters and a careful double bass line introduce Jordan’s vocalized musings on suffering and power and how a man’s sound means one knows that man. His arguments culminate in a stated desire to be a force for good. Meanwhile paced bass lines, and wide slithering tone splatters from Wong join with Evangelista’s ascending flanges and echoing keyboard swooshes to construct a horizontal instrumental response to Jordan’s verbal challenges.

Some of the tunes fragment into duos between Mezzacappa’s stentorian pulses and Cyrille’s relaxed drum pats. Wavering vamps from the saxophonists are emphasized on others. Then there are instances of intense and clever finger-picking from the guitarist that move higher and higher up the scale without constriction.

A distinct instance of this conflict and resolution also occurs on “Confirm the Truth” where Evangelista swiftly ranges over Scampavia’s calliope-like keyboard swells with blurred fingering that includes a descending collection of frails and an ascending group of twangs. Meantime the saxophonists squeal and project guttural tones as they circle around one another.

There are guitar flanges and echoing saxophone smears on Ancestral, but no vocals. Also for a session featuring two percussion masters there are no frenetic drum battles either. Cyrille and Hart rarely move from the background, instead adding to group evolution with concise and sometimes distant hollow pumps, clicks and clanks and bass drum slaps.

Instead emphasis is on O’Gallagher, who seems to be in the midst of creating a personal adaptation of John Coltrane’s playing, the subject of his doctoral research. Although Coltrane never recorded with a guitarist, this CD’s thesis resolves around the saxophonist’s interaction with Monder. Tunes such as “Profess” find the saxophonist moving forward and upwards with timbres suffused with Tranesque elegance, until the guitarist uses multiple fingering and string sweeps to pulls the line out still further.

While O’Gallagher PhD thesis focused on late period Trane, here he seems more comfortable approaching the saxophonist’s mid-period. Performances are straight-ahead with most themes  uncomplicated and “Under the Wire” positively jolly, with the drum patterning and reed bites eventually joining with Jim Hall-like plinks from Monder.

“Altar of the Ancestors” is probably the most outside track as the saxophonist bases his exposition on pinched slurs and wide cascades, with the tongue stops and extensions allowing him to pile note upon note and tone upon tone. Reminiscent of when Rashied Ali and Elvin Jones both played with Trane, Cyrille’s and Hart’s drum distinctions are at their most far reaching with one splashing around cymbal textures and the other ruffs and rebounds. These glimpses of idiophone idiosyncrasies are also heard on some other tracks, with distinct differences in cadences and syncopation.

Still the session’s definition in less Ancestral, and more au courant, with the four players creating sounds that make instrumental sophistication paired with tradition variations the focal point. Bukas aims for more advanced improvisations and experiments and treads a fine line to flourish more often than it flounders. Regarding the general angry tone of the words and some of the music recorded in 2023, one wonders how Apura is reacting now that Donald Trump and his followers are heading the US into full-fledged fascism.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Bukas: 1. For Good# 2. What I Am Concerned About Now 3. Midas* 4. High Temperature 5. Confirm The Truth 6. Ghost Captain* 7. Walking Ayler In Tarzana 8. Balikbayan Box 9. Anti#

Personnel: Bukas: Lewis Jordan (alto saxophone, voice#); Francis Wong (tenor saxophone); Rei Scampavia (keys, electronics); Karl Evangelista (guitar, voice*); Lisa Mezzacappa (bass) and Andrew Cyrille (drums)

Track Listing: Ancestral: 1. Awakening 2. Under the Wire 3. Contact 4. Tug 5. Profess 6. Altar of the Ancestors 7. Quixotica 8. Postscript

Personnel: Ancestral: John O’Gallagher (alto saxophone); Ben Monder (guitar); Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart (drums)