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Recorded
Music
Reviews of new releases from Derek Bailey
and Nas.
While Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas are considered by many to be the
greatest MCs of the current era, Nas has always been the illest
of the three because he's a poet, not a bitin' ass MC like
Jay-Z. His first album, Illmatic, was a classic, but
the poppy It Was Written caused headz to scratch their
domes and wonder if Nas would stay stuck in the thug alias
Nas Escobar or if he would return to the quality lyrical substance
of Nasty Nas. i am... serves up the dope shit as Nas
blends the two flawlessly. Nas snags the listener's attention
with well-written hooks, especially the pocket-riding political
chant, "I want to talk to the mayor or the governor/To the
muthafuckin' president" ("I Want to Talk To You"). Though
his collabo with Scarface ("Favor for a Favor") is so-so and
his experiment with speed rap ("Big Things") turns out to
be as wack as a food critic posing as a hip-hop writer, the
remaining tracks are on hit as the music goes from moody to
jaunty to hip-pop. L.E.S. and Track Masters handle most of
the album's production, with dope contributions from Premier,
Nashiem Myrick, Carlos Broady, Timbaland and Pretty Boy. The
booming rhythm of "Hate Me Now," with Puff Daddy screaming
in the background, has cats spazzing out on the dance floor
on the right coast. The return of Nas is a blessing, maintaining
a place on heavy rotation--at least until the brother Tony
Starks drops this summer.
H.V. Claytor Jr.
1978--The same year Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks hit the
charts with "Whenever I Call You Friend," Derek Bailey, already
an established force on the improvised-music scene, brought
his sprawling free-form guitar playing to Japan. There he
hooked up with three of that country's finer free-music advocates:
saxophonist Kaoru Abe, bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa and trumpet
player Toshinori Kondo. Aida's Call, an unedited live
performance released just this year, finally reveals the beauty
of this great collaboration. Bailey's droning, non-linear
electric-guitar sound shimmers as if underwater and weaves
between the more organic free jazz of his Japanese accompanists.
The ensemble plays with a great deal of thoughtful restraint,
using quick, skittish, non-melodic motifs. When the musicians
finally give in to their improvisational urges and go for
the spastic and visceral explosion, the result is overwhelming.
Fast forward to 1999. Kenny Loggins hasn't had a significant
hit since "Danger Zone." Bailey, on the other hand, is still
an active force in the world of free music, as his many
solo records have made clear. But the peculiar Playbacks
clearly testifies to Bailey's continuing ability to function
as a part of a group project. It's a collection of long-distance
collaborations between Bailey and 12 contributors; Henry
Kaiser, Bundy K. Brown, John Oswald and others submitted
"rhythm" tracks for Bailey to play guitar over. His sputtering
guitar wails in miraculous tandem with tracks that range
from electronica-based jungle beats (Darryl Moore's submission)
to spacious, pulsed guitar (that of Loren MazzaCane Connors).
Though overdubbing onto prerecorded submissions may not
be the standard mode of ensemble playing, Bailey's inspired
approach to the project turned out a set of musical interactions
that sound just as focused and inspired as Aida's Call,
the live performance of more than two decades ago.
Jeff Fuccillo
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 28,
1999
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