Review by Dawoud Kringle
Enduring a Long, Hard Gig. The Breath Courses Through Us.
Photo by Marylin Schwartz
A grainy, seemingly vintage film of a music aficionado thumbing through a stack of records, and pulling out an LP of the New York Art Quartet forms a silent, yet eloquent imagery. Putting the vinyl on a turntable, the sound of free jazz greets us. Flash forward to the present day. Older master jazz musicians set up their instruments, and begin playing a free form music over which a poetic voice declares, “Everything that you don’t understand is explained in art.”
Thus begins, and sets the tone for, the documentary The Breath Courses Through Us directed by Alan Roth.
The New York Art Quartet (Milford Graves on drums, John Tchicai on sax, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Reggie Workman on bass [who’d replaced original bassist Lewis Worrel}, and later, the poet Amiri Baraka) were a short lived project. In their two year history, they made three albums. Formed in 1964 by Tchicai and Graves from the remains of the New York Contemporary Five, they grew out of the musical phenomenon of free jazz / improvised music, that was founded by Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler, and made their own valid contributions to that unique tradition.
In the documentary – which focuses on the group’s 35-year reunion – each musician is given the opportunity to tell his story. The narrative of the chronological formation of the group was interspersed with clips both in live performance and personal interactions from the group in later years. The documentary shows the evolution of the group, and the evolution of the creative process. The videos of their live performances are marvelous; this is free jazz, sans ego, that shows master improvisers manifesting latent possibilities in music. It gives the viewer a very personal and intimate experience of the group as people, as opposed to being merely historical figures. In the jazz traditions, there is nothing unusual about this; it is, in fact, and integral and essential part of the essence of jazz.
A great deal of the documentary focuses on the creative process. This proves a fascinating narrative and witness of the inner thoughts of these master musicians. It’s a very human experience.
The revolution in music during the 60s that created this art form, and the years of resistance and/or apathy it endured was, to quote Baraka, “a hard gig.” All musicians know this. But, the music and the musicians endured; and like all real jazz, it’s the voice of the triumph of joy and dignity over suffering. This is the REAL Breath that goes through them; and through us all.
(PS: The U.S. premiere took place on January 31, 2014 at the Library of Congress in
Washington, D.C. with filmmaker Alan Roth and bassist Reggie Workman in attendance. The world premiere took place at the FIDMarseille-Festival International de Cinéma
(http://www.fidmarseille.org) in Marseille, France, in July 2013.)
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