TWOFR: Orange x John Ellis

Orange

In the Midst of Chaos

(De Stijl, 2008)

More likely than not, if  Paul Flaherty didn’t play on this disc, it wouldn’t have been re-released. That, though, is a moot point – he did. Originally recorded at the tail end of the ‘70s, the disc finds Flaherty engaged in a musical discourse with, most notably, guitarist Barry Greika. Greika would not continue on to become a ubiquitous name in free-jazz/improv like Flaherty, but on this session the guitarist’s performance makes up for any structural short comings in the music.

The sound Greika’s guitar emits recalls ECM tonalities, but at times becomes more inimical than any player tied to that label. Much of Greika’s time is spent interacting with Flaherty’s sax, birthing an eastern influenced free jazz, not unlike passages offered by Pharaoh Sanders.

The comparison to Sanders may not be the most appropriate – there’s little chanting here and no Afro-centric tracks coming from this group who lived in the northeast. Orange does though indulge in polyrhythmic percussion, even having two of Flaherty’s brothers sit in on a few tracks to engorge the ensemble with drumming.

Even as these players are added, much of the music here seems unfinished. Perhaps that’s due to the level of advancement some of the players were at – although Flaherty was around thirty by the time of this session. There generally seems to be very little structured chording and while the intangible groove is reached in a number of places, only brief stretches of brilliance call out.

“Peace,” really in many ways, encapsulates this entire slab of music. The track seems underdeveloped, clocking in at less than two minutes. But in those two minutes the ambient music runs through a great deal of modern jazz history. Unfortunately, the later half of the album – subsequent to “Peace” – was the only point where Orange fully integrates effects and the studio process to change to direction of its music. For an anachronistic Connecticut recording to achieve what In the Midst of Chaos reached is unquestionably a comment on not just the developing talent Flaherty, but of Greika’s unrealized potential.John Ellis

Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow

(Hyena, 2008)

While this is ostensibly an organ trio, regardless of the inclusion of the sousaphone, the glaring lack of low end detracts even from some of the strongest moments on this disc. Other groups, like Soulive for example, are able to pull off bass-less ensembles with a bit more panache and perhaps that can be credited to Neal Evans. Not to detract from the skill and passionate performance turned in from Gary Versace on keys, but a more prevalent bass figure in most of the compositions here, especially the lead off “All Up in the Aisles”, would have propelled this album past standard soul-jazz fare.

What Ellis and his group do is use NOLA concepts within a danceable, more cosmopolitan voicing. There’s a hint of lounge, but the eerie organ pulls that back a bit. You really do know what this album is headed for immediately. It’s re-stated every six or seven minutes and not too difficult to determine. That being said, what makes this album a good soul-jazz disc is the fact that Ellis was raised in the church. The soul and elegance that he brings to his quartet is indicative of playing sacred music at one point. By no means is the Holy Spirit invoked – this is mostly a party album, but there is a sadness as evidenced during Ellis’ fondly recalling a friend on “I Miss You Molly”. Attempting a bit of adventure, the group synthesis varied styles, but on “Three-Legged Tango in Jackson Square”, “Tattooed Teen Waltzes with Grandma” and “Zydeco Clowns on the Lamb” occasionally awkward tempo shifts explain why that isn’t always a successful endeavor.

If one owns a handful of MMW, Galactic or Soulive discs, this may be a bit disposable, but it shouldn’t be written off – there is certainly a great deal of enthusiastic, if not innovative playing on here. The sheer audacity of the instrumentation points to the inventive thought exerted in summoning these compositions.