David Liebman: First Visit (1973)

An excellent introduction to the modal, post-bop and free jazz fancies of David Liebman.

Kronomyth 1: Sax & drums & bop & modal.

A meeting of Miles Davis alums (David Liebman, Jack DeJohnette, David Holland) plus pianist Richard Beirach for a varied session featuring modal, post-bop and free jazz, pretty much in that order. If you tuned in for Joe Farrell Quartet, you’ll have an idea of what to expect on First Visit, as Joe Farrell and Liebman share a similar resume and rhythm section. The opening Man-Child is an exotic number that centers on a few modal shifts and provides a lush musical landscape for the senses that reminded me of Chick Corea’s early Return to Forever recordings. David Holland’s Vedana is post-bop jazz that features Liebman on flute but otherwise generates the same luxuriant vibe. Side one makes a great first impression. The second side starts out promising enough with a thoughtful rendition of Thelonius Monk’s Round About Midnight with just Beirach and Liebman on tenor sax. The next two tracks are free jazz experiments: Tommy’s Hut is a trio of bass, drums and soprano sax that generates a lot of noise but little interest, Lonnie’s Song is just bass and soprano sax recorded with a lot of echo. If those two tracks represent what’s worst about free jazz, First Visit represents what’s best about it. Here, Liebman (now on tenor) and DeJohnette explore the wild fringes of jazz with explosive playing for almost nine straight minutes. It’s exhausting and exhilarating stuff that will have you placing DeJohnette at the top of your drummers’ list before it’s done. In full transparency, I haven’t heard most of Liebman’s solo works, but I’ll definitely be coming back for more after this initial visit.

Original elpee version

A1. Man-Child (Richard Beirach) (12:15)
A2. Vedana (David Holland) (10:07)
B1. Round About Midnight (Thelonius Monk/Cootie Williams/Bernie Hanighen)
B2. Tommy’s Hut (David Liebman) (3:31)
B3. Lonnie’s Song (David Liebman) (3:00)
B4. First Visit (David Liebman) (8:52)

The Players

David Liebman (soprano sax, tenor sax, flute), Richard Beirach (piano), Jack DeJohnette (drums), David Holland (bass).

The Plastic

Released on elpee in 1973 in Japan (Philips, RJ-5101) with gatefold cover.

1. Re-issued on compact disc in 1991 in Germany (West Wind) with different cover.