Jimmy Lyons, Sunny Murray - Jump Up (Hat Hut, 1981)

 This post is by Dan

Jimmy Lyons (as); John Lindberg (b); Sunny Murray (d)

Recorded August 30, 1980

There is, perhaps, no purer context for jazz than a concert stage set for three instrumentalists committed to free improvisation. Jazz Festival Willisau in Switzerland has a long commitment to providing a platform for groups such as the one Jimmy Lyons brought to the festival in 1980. Teamed with drummer Sunny Murray and bassist John Lindberg, Lyons assembled the essential elements to produce long, intense, yet very musical statements. This recording captures jazz in the making as few others have.

Lyons was the alto player in the Cecil Taylor Unit, which recorded for Blue Note in the late 1960s. As such, he was no stranger to the avant garde. His searingly clear tone glides over the busily shifting polyrhythms behind him at Willisau. The album begins with two 20-plus-minute workouts that showcase the altoist but leave ample room for solos from all three players. Three shorter tunes follow.

Many free jazz performances lack attention to sonic details. Willisau consistently gets the sound right, and the producers at Hat Hut ensure a very clearly rendered sonic experience. This provides for the listener the fascination of hearing Lindberg and Murray "converse" with the sax and also with each other during their solos. 

Jump Up is another example of American musicians receiving time and space in Europe to record their music, seemingly without concern for its commercial appeal. 

For this concert, I prefer the Hat Hut reissue artwork for CD better than the original vinyl or the hatOLOGY CD reissue (which seems rather dreadful).