Arthur Jones was a particular
kind of free jazz cat - think Alan Shorter, Ric Colbeck, Jacques Coursil, Don
Ayler - one whose almost chimerically brief moment of blazing creativity
flashed across the firmament before streaking off into the night sky, leaving
only faint traces and contrails. Jones came out of Cleveland, was schooled in
rock bands before being introduced to the New Thing, version 1.0, via Dolphy
and Coleman.
In the later 1960s he played
with, among others, Frank Wright, Sunny Murray, and Coursil, who escorted Jones
to Paris in 1969 to take in the whole BYG scene coalescing there in the wake of
the Pan-African festival in Algiers - not to mention the open revolt. It was in
Paris in the summer of 1969 that Jones recorded this date as a leader, one of
his very few, while also appearing around that time on discs with Archie Shepp,
Burton Greene, Clifford Thornton, Dave Burrell, etc. According to the
invaluable liner notes to the Jazzactuel box set, written by Thurston Moore and
Byron Coley, Jones died in New York in 1998.
Jones' sound is warm, almost
sweet, with hints of Johnny Hodges and Cannonball Adderley around the edges.
That said, the soaring opening of "B.T." reminds us of nothing other
than Coltrane’s "Afro Blue" from Live at Birdland. They both take
flight in the same manner, heading straight for the clouds with a determined whoop.
The trilling notes in the theme also recall "Afro Blue," if that
theme had been boiled down to a few resonant tremors - a sister tune to that
performance. There’s not much higher praise we can offer.
Jones' insistent and
incantatory tone throughout this track is spine-tingling, really; the rhythm
section breakdown just there to throw his playing into relief, so we can catch
our collective breath and better appreciate his second run at the melody. This
is so melodic and easy to follow, structured without ever being simple or
over-considered. It’s emotional without losing its complexity, or sense of
form. A total fucking bravura performance. Damn.
"C.R.M." is
storming in a different mode, with Jones throwing out cycles of notes, doing
frantic figure eights. Where you could feel his steadily beat upward in
"B.T.," Here he’s chasing himself in a circle, creating a whirlwind,
a gravitational pull - a cloud of sparrows massing from tree to tree.
There are also lovely ballads
on the album - one of which, "Brother B," can be heard on the
Jazzactuel collection. These showcase Jones’ range, his tenderness, his
romantic side; but these qualities can be heard here as well, in the midst of
some of the barn-burners. Needless to say, we find Scorpio to be a lost gem, an
overlooked album that features a super-strong alto voice that was ultimately
heard far too little. ~ Destination Out.
BYG/Actuel Records, 529.350, 1971
America Records, 30 AM 6112,
1971
P-Vine, PLP-6501, 1989
Recorded August, 1969 in
Paris, France
Musicians:
Arthur Jones - Alto Saxophone
Beb Guerin - Bass
Claude Delcloo - Drums
Tracks:
A1. C.R.M. {Arthur Jones}
(10:09)
A2. B.T. {Arthur Jones}
(8:00)
B1. Sad Eyes {Arthur Jones}
(13:05)
B2. Brother B. {Arthur Jones}
(7:19)
Credits:
Producer - Jean
Georgakarakos, Jean-Luc Young
Executive-Producer,
Photography - Jacques Bisceglia
Engineer - Daniel Vallencien
Sleeve Notes - Jean-Michel Max
