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Gary Hassay, William Parker, and
Toshi Makihara, collectively known as Ye Ren, offer their generally calm and reflective
free music on Another Shining Path. Altoist Hassay has a fluid and richly-toned
sound. His unhurried pacing sets the emotional tone for this music, one of high
seriousness and commitment. The music has brief bursts of furious intensity, but
even at his most hard blowing moments, Hassay usually retains an appealing warmth to his
tone. The deeply grounded woody sound of William Parker's bass is known to all fans
of the avant-garde; his tone is very will captured here in an all-digital recording.
Makihara stays on brushes a lot and keeps a light touch at the drum kit, with quickly
responsive accents and punctuation plus a variety of bells and chimes to set the
atmosphere. The pieces unfold with an almost ritualistic demeanor, no surprise when
you read that all three performers work extensively with dancers. Demanding
listening, but worth the effort. |
IAJRC
Journal,
Summer 2000 Stuart
Kremsky |
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The three musicians who make up Ye Ren have made their
names in improvisational music.
Garry Hassay has been performing since the late
‘70s, with various groups; most notably “Dr. Vincent Sadkeeda’s Attack
Ensemble."
William Parker is considered by many to be the greatest
bassist ever to have played avant garde jazz. His
name mentioned as much as say Dave Holland, Charlie Hayden, etc.
Toshi Makihara has been promoting live improvisational
music in Philadelphia around ten years. Although
he has performed with many ensembles, this release represents the first electronic capture
of the live improvisational experience he has followed throughout his musical career.
Hassay and Parker have performed together many times,
but this CD is the first time their music has been documented in a studio.
Another Shining Path is somewhat minimalistic
but “documents the new American Jazz sound; rooted in the blues yet vibrant, free and
continually moving forward.” |
The Improvisor
Robin Taylor |
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At times evoking late Coltrane, at others
the Art Ensemble of Chicago, improvisational trio Ye Ran does much to vitalize spontaneous
music making. Their work is as much a dialog as anything else. Saxophonist Gary Hassay
throws out a topic of discussion and he and bassist William Parker and percussionist
Thoshi Makihara chew it over, savoring each implication and nuance. Track separations seem
almost arbitrary here. I think the album should be seen as a whole -- certainly ideas
initially spawned in earlier tracks are put back on the table for further examination in
later ones. It's is a fine example of well-crafted, literate improvised music. If I have
one complaint it's in the general impenetrability of the liner notes, which read as
stilted poetry or a poorly written master's thesis. Stick to the music, though, and you
won't be disappointed. |
Spendid eZine
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Hassay plays alto saxophone, and is
reportedly a pillar of the Allentown, PA creative music scene. Makihara is a drummer from
Philadelphia, who has also recorded with Thurston Moore. Parker is, by comparison, an
international superstar. As a trio, they aim for utter democracy, but as a practical
matter, while Hassay and Makihara play impressively, they leave Parker a lot of space, and
work around him carefully, which is what makes this such a good showcase for Parker's art.
Only problem is the deliberate pace. |
StaticMultiMedia
Tom
Hull |
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Parker is at the center of Another
Shining Path, the highly recommended debut by the group Ye Ren, in which he is
flanked by Gary Hassay on alto and Toshi Makihara on percussion. You can't go too
far wrong with Parker underpinning proceedings, but there's much else to admire
here. Hassay is a thoughtful improvisor, convincing in lyric and abstract modes,
with a fine sense of shape, texture, and development, and a clear firm incisive tone in
all registers. Makihara is an attentive, responsive, and meticulous percussionist, a
couple more steps down the post-Murray road. His deft contributions fill out the
sound picture of these carefully constructed improvisations. In Improv terms, Another
Shining Path is just that. |
The Wire,
October, 1999 Barry
Wittmerden |
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Alto saxophonist Gary Hassay leads a
stellar trio called Ye Ren (a name with 'no real meaning,' according to Hassay) for its
debut recording. The eight tracks are distinguished for their sensitive interplay,
synergy, and unique style. With all-star bassist William Parker and sparkling
Philadelphia percussionist Toshi Makihara as the other partners, the group achieves
something special on almost every cut. Hassay boasts a lyrical, often subdued,
self-effacing approach, which puts him in an attractive light. Eschewing some of the
postmodern techniques embraced by other freestyle saxophonists, Hassay instead forges a
different path, relying on a dry tone, clipped phrases, and short, thoughtful excursions.
Makihara continues to impress as an upcoming giant, and fans of Parker will not be
disappointed. (3 1/2 Stars) |
All-Music Guide
October, 1999 Steven
Loewy |
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Having never heard, much less heard of
Gary Hassay, Another Shining Path is a revelation. To identify Hassay as
the leader of Ye Ren would be to undermine the vision of this group, for this is truly a
trio devoid of a soloist and rhythm section mentality. Instead, what this
aggregation has in mind is stellar, free-floating, collective interplay. The
inclusion of bassist William Parker virtually guarantees a solid recording, but on this he
still manages to surprise and delight as he wedges himself between his two colleagues with
some of his most demonstrative playing to date (which is no small undertaking).
Producer Wayne Becker has done an impeccable service to this music, giving each player an
equal slice of the sonic pie, allowing for a mix that is equal in clarity to the music
itself. Percussionist Toshi Makihara is an amazingly subtle colorist and the
delicacy of his approach would surely be lost on an inferior recording. Luckily,
there is no such difficulty here, as Makihara's brushwork give the music considerable
space in addition to wide dynamic range, especially when entangled with the buzz of
Parker's grainy arco. For the most part, Hassay swoops and soars within the group
fibers without being dogmatic. His tone is arid, and his attack is incredibly laid
back, sounding cautious not to crowd the mix without playing tentatively. While this
groups tend to favor reflective, often stealthily exploratory modes of expression, it can
still turn the heat up when it needs to without resorting to a squealing assault.
While other trios have previously gone down this path, kudos should go out to Ye Ren for
really adding their own twist and producing a stirring debut. |
Signal To
Noise
Sept/Oct 1999
Jon Morgan |
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The sound is slow, evolving,
and never predictable: the notes call it 'an untethered sphere, continually moving but not
simply forward.' You hear that at once, on A Fork In the Road, William
Parker mournfully bows, a thick alto drifts notes that cry. The drums, sparse and
quiet, play apart from the others; Toshi Makihara gets more active when Parker starts
plucking. Gary Hassay is constant, a calm voice when others would go
elsewhere. A fork, all right.
7th Street Prowl is more aggressive, Hassay sounding peeved.
Parker whips through a dissonant scrape; the drums start racing. Hassay turns to
squawking, a clarinet belligerence over deep rhythm. The silences are tense, the
fury thick while it lasts. A great rusty yelp is replaced by tiny warbles, and
delicate plinks come after bowed static. Like a cat, it goes where it wants. Night
Train is rickety and loud, ratchets and bells, busy bows and raucous honks.
This is not the Jimmy Forrest tune, you knew that. It belongs to the rhythm:
mechanical string figures and great metallic clanks.
A picture in sound: Northern Lights opens
with tiny bells, and the faintest groan from afar: a factory whistle on a distant shore,
Parker grinds low, the reluctant performance of ancient machinery. Hassay jumps in:
high wails, then rusted howls. The groans ebb and flow, joined by loose metal, or a
whiff of harmonica. A great crashing fury, and then nothing: Parker walking away on
a most uneasy morning.
Rich's Race brings some quiet: as Parker
walks, Hassay has a look around, a smooth tone and a nice vibrato. Makihara storms
(the cymbals are really nice) but all is well. Some dissent at the end: Parker makes
like the creaking of a weathervane. But the mood remains; free, but not wild. Ante
Up smells of the tough street: persistent drums, a rapid skip from Parker, and Hassay
turns gritty. He honks, but not all the time; he's soft, but with strength.
'Don't mess with my turf,' it says, and you pay attention ---it's the best here.
It's a different kind of record --- no structure, but
persistent moods, dissonance used in a quiet way, and consistency amid
unpredictability. It's very peaceful for avant-garde, and if you're in the mood, you
might take this path. |
Green
Mountain Jazz Messenger, Vol. Three, No. One, Sept/Oct1999 John
Barrett, Jr. |
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Ballade of Surviving Sundry Genres
*
There's no shit like gig hunger
Nor a hot five in the Rust Belt
Nor anything like a guarantee with fed monies
Nor the smiles survivors share after some good time from some bad years
("Shitfire, mugwump, I heard you o.d.ed in Poughkeepsie!")
Nor learning how to play your alto sidewaysdown
Nor digging a blurry photo that gellies the wrinkles
("I heard cleaning the ears with a N0. 5 Rico Royal is an old
acupuncture
trick").
There's nothing as
feral as a saxist splitting his honks into
subliminal
grandkids
Nor gran'chilluns what can't hide their ferality under the head
("Wow, he plays that riff as mellow as - hey, put that thing down!")
Nor getting a great review by another struggling musician who's an
asswipe
Nor avoiding the local Mutual Admiration Society meetings
Nor avoiding Billy Joel jokes whilst forging a multiphonym for Allentown
Nor configuring just how sad a ballad can be played after a tour in a warzone
Nor catching that incoming round in the alto's bell, and letting it
sizzle
out.
**
There is no Hot Five in the Rust Belt, but a trio will work
Nor does a fucking Grammy nomination hurt anyone's career
Nor any viable reason why Gary, Wm. Parker and Toshi should not have
aced
their category but perfidy
Nor any way that a sombre melody can turn to fire but to burn you
Nor any amusement for the crowd unless you burn slowly
Nor anyone to play this music but the committed
Nor any way to hit Allentown whilst driving west except to pass through
"Bedlam"
Especially for when Gary plays Derek Bailey feedback lines from his alto,
William Parker, when not doing his Ten Thousand Fingers of Dr. P, invokes
Gary's alto in an arco wrench, and Toshi Makihara runs his sticks over
everything in the kitchen, save the sink.
How many new holes can you tear yourself?
As there is no joy nowhere, a gigue in Mudville
Sounds great if you haven't played out in a few months
Some sounds take more courage to torment themselves than others
And no noise as hideous as music
You can hold up a commuter train to Philly with that.
(apologies to François Villon's 'Ballade' [The Poems of François Villon, Signet
Classics, transl. Galway Kinnell]) |
opprobrium
Donald Miller |
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This trio's compelling rapport grows as their
dynamic program unfolds. During the slow free blues pulse of It Was Rich's Race,
bass maestro William Parker alternates between pizzicato and split-tone drone arco
passages with awesome ease. Drummer Toshi Makihara matches Parker for expressive range and
dramatic technique from delicate percussion fills in A Fork In the Road and Northern
Lights to the brash bite of Ante Up. Gary Hassay's vibrant alto sax
animates vital band performances from the free fractals of Night Train and
spacious minimalism of 7th Street Prowl to the intensifying aggression
of Circumambulate. |
Coda,
Issue 287,
Sept/Oct 1999
David Lewis |
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This is a semi-romantic, mostly
medium-tempo session of "out" improvisations. It's not as lush as, for
example, the recent Vinny Golia/Susan Allen duets on Nine Winds or some of the Maneria
family outings, but it's less sparse than many of the chamber, Feldman/Giuffre-inspired
recordings we've come to expect from certain British and German improvisers. The
music here does move forward in spots, though it never really intends to swing. When
he'd not engaging in extended sonorities, both Hassay's tone and his technique seem to
recall another, less anxious, era. His delayed vibrato, for example, is full almost
to bursting, and it gives several of the tunes a melancholy effect. He's a
pleasantly meandering improviser as well. As most listeners to contemporary
improvised music will know by now, William Parker is very good at post-Ornette-style
improv, and he here regularly provides long, arching designs to what might have otherwise
been attractive --- but essentially aimless --- noodling. His arco technique may not
be up there with Leandre's, Phillips', Dresser's, or Morris', but there's always a
satisfying meatiness to Parker's playing. In the end, content trumps form,
anyway. My only complaint about his contribution here is that it's occasionally a
little dim in the mix for my taste. Toshi Makihara is an industrious colorist, but
he sometimes seems too busy on this recording. His straight sixteenth note brushwork
on 7 Street Prowl is a case in point. Elsewhere, however, he shows himself
a good listener with fine technique. The two strong mid-disk improvs, Northern
Lights and Night Train, are good examples of how a high level bass player
can spin flax into silken thread with a little help from a group of solid jazz players who
are willing to listen and react sympathetically to interesting ideas. |
Cadence,
August, 1999
Walter Horne |
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Have you ever heard William Parker play
bass? If so, are you still unconvinced of his mastery? If Another Shining Path
won't convince you, your ears are tragically closed.
Take the very first track, A Fork in the Road. Listen to how
Parker weaves bass figures in and out and around the thoughtful alto of Gary Hassay.
Listen to how all three players create a new and free soundscape of lyrical depth, without
indulging in any of the clichés or tired screams of the now thirty-plus-year-old New
Thing.
Then see how the temperature slowly rises on 7th
Street Prowl. Note how Parker increases the tension, slackens it again, brings
matters to a boil, and supports Hassay as he returns again to calm and searching long
tones. Nor is even that the end of the ride. This trio shows here that it has the ability
to pack worlds, universes, into seven minutes thirteen.
Night Train continues this action in a
somewhat tenser mode, with Hassay fluttering in the high registers as Parker bows
mellifluously. Here for the first time Hassay approaches the flat-out horn technique of
Kidd Jordan, Charles Gayle, et al, but only briefly, and, with Parker's help, dramatic
coherence.
Circumambulate, It Was Rich's Race,
and Ante Up are as rich and multifaceted as the rest of the disc, with Hassay
particularly strong in the quietest passages.
Toshi Makihara is no slouch either. He is stentorian
and effective on Come What May (where Parker prods Hassay with powerful,
intermittent rhythmic figures) and is the prime architect of the delicate, ringing opening
to Northern Lights. All three players, however, (especially Parker and his
wonderfully whining bow) contribute a great deal to the crepuscular atmosphere of this
piece.
A lyrical, surprising, and superbly executed series of
performances. |
All About
Jazz,
July, 1999 Robert
Spencer |
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Another Shining Path features a
freely-improvised trio that unites alto saxophonist Gary Hassay with veteran bassist
William Parker and Sino/New York percussionist Toshi Makihara. Rippling, flowing
compositions move with an uncanny, of-the-moment logic that resembles free thought.
With this CD, the internet-only Drimala record label is staking a bold claim as one of the
most adventurous new music labels in the jazz community. |
CMJ,
April 26, 1999
James Lein |
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Ye Ren (Gary Hassay/William Parker/Toshi
Makihara) - ANOTHER SHINING PATH: 69 minutes of improv that will thrill those who
can’t deal with form. Hassay’s sax will be the “frosting on the
cake”. This material is deliberate, & (at times) a bit slow paced for blood
that’s used to improv that screeches along at rocket pace (one notable exception to
that rule is cut 7, Ante Up, which clips right along nicely).
OTOH, if you’re in a reflective mood, & want something that will help you sort
the wheat from the drivel, this is the right path for you. I’d advise the
listener to settle in somewhere comfortable with a good set of headphones.
Makihara’s percussion & drums are miked perfectly, as is Parker’s acoustic
bass. The players have a real sense of “team”, to the listener’s
benefit… no battles over who gets in front, very nicely blended & a great
mix! Comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those who want some skillfully played
contemplative improvisation. |
IMPROVIJAZZATION
NATION,
Issue #37 (April 1999)
Dick Metcalf |
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New from Drimala Records is the new CD by
Gary Hassay, William Parker and Toshi Makihara who are known collectively as "Ye
Ren". Drimala Records are available only from their website and the company is a
pioneer in this record marketing concept. I really don't feel qualified to review this
particular record but I'll give it a try anyway. This is free form jazz in its purest
form. Anyone familiar with the early recordings of the British free jazz legend, Joe
Harriot, will know what this CD is all about. Gary Hassay - saxes - has been performing
since the late '70s with various groups, both as a leader and sideman. His group,
"Dr. Vincent Sakeeda's Attack Ensemble" drew critical acclaim in 1979. William
Parker - bass - is a veteran of over 100 CDs and is noted for his musicianship with the
likes of Dave Holland, Charlie Haden and Barry Guy. Toshi Makihara - percussion - has been
in the forefront of promoting free improvisation around Philadelphia for a decade.
|
Jazz Review Richard
Bourcier |
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It is always nicer to be able to listen
to William Parker's fine bass work in settings in which larger amounts of his ideas make
it onto the tape. A recent example is his duets CD with the likewise underappreciated Joe
Morris (Invisible Weave, No More Records). Parker is perhaps best known as a
sideman for hard-blowing free jazzers, in which settings his presence, unfortunately,
often takes the form of a throbbing mass buried within the mix (I'll refrain from naming
examples). His expansive talents are often not put to their best use.
On the present disc, however, Parker is right up there in the mix,
where he needs to be. He is joined by relative newcomers (to these ears) Gary Hassay on
alto sax, and percussionist Toshi Makihara. As a group, Ye Ren, they offer us eight of
what sound like either open improvisations, or perhaps compositions that loosely structure
collective improvisations. The approach to improvisation they employ is closest to the
intense, fairly pointillistic, quieter approach of the U.K. constellation of players. To
be even more specific: Ye Ren do not have the do or die energy of the Evan Parker Trio,
nor ecstatic loopiness of Bevan/Kingston/Lewis, two other notable free improv trios;
instead they share the contemplativeness of Joe Maneri's excellent recent groups, as well
as some of the small versions of Spontaneous Music Ensemble.
Hassay has a deep, breathy alto tone, reminiscent of
many post-Hawkins tenorists' approaches in "normal" jazz. He uses mainly the
lower register in developing his lines, and keeps them uncluttered. He exhales relatively
long tones with palindromic (soft-loud-soft) dynamics. Even when the rhythm section clicks
into active mode (e.g. on 7th Street Prowl ), Hassay sticks with the staid
approach. The result is not inappropriate, nor particularly distracting, but it renders
his presence within the group sound rather spectral. Hassay is primarily and consistently
aware of what the other players are up to, instead of, for example, interpolating a
central idea, as a soloist might. This combination of elements, on Hassay's part, gives
many of the tunes here a genuine sense of drama and of unfolding.
Parker shows his ken for nailing what a group needs in
the lower register. He mainly uses a fat, round tone, with little treble, which gives the
group a nice forceful thump for momentum (imagine a variably tuned bass drum.) He is also
capable of brilliant virtuosic displays. Check out, for example, the lightning arco work
on the third piece, Night Train.
Makihara has a sculptural approach: he stacks layers
of timbres and registers together at once, but his attack is sparse enough to leave plenty
of sonic space. The effect in soundspace is analogous to a large tree in visual space: we
see it in much of the sky, yet it is easy to see what's behind it. Makihara's sound is
both shimmering and propelling. He shines in particular on Circumambulate. Here
he employs a more extended drumkit than elsewhere on the disc. He displays the skittering
playfulness of a Gerry Hemingway or John Stevens. This piece, in Makihara's hands,
however, makes the rest of the disc seem as though it were missing an element of
excitement. One wonders why the percussionist employed a more reserved tack elsewhere.
The group seems to struggle with its identity , a bit,
in Northern Lights. At first it seems to be a drone-based, raga-influenced, piece
of the sort that Pharoah Sanders is known for. Then a harmonica appears in the mix very
briefly, to no apparent aesthetic end. Surprisingly, toward the middle, Makihara goes
bombastic and sends the group into an apparently reluctant cacophonic wail. The
juxtapositions suggest that the group was attempting to forge new territory, which is
admirable; but, of course, the display searching attitude does not itself merit
documentation.
Northern Lights is the only clunker. Ye Ren
shows much promise here. They have a unique sound, and a tight focus that is rare for
newer groups. |
The Improvisor
November 1999 Wyman
Brantley |
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The Shennongjia mountain territory north
of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is historically renowned in Chinese history as a
veritable wellspring of herbal medicine. To this day, the area is well known for its
singularly unusual plant and animal life. Many sections of the region remain
uninhabited and unexplored. But the most legendary of the indigenous creatures to the
rocky, craggy terrain and steeply sloping valleys is the "ye ren" (“wild
man” or “night man”) which is also called “yeti”, or, in somewhat
vulgar English, “Chinese Bigfoot”. Like its Pacific Northwest
“cousin”, this large nocturnal primate has consistently been successful in
eluding would be captors. If it were not for the occasional sighting, unverifiable by any
means except for the memory of the individual sighting it, the ye ren would rapidly vanish
exclusively into the realm of the imagination.
Or would it? Perhaps the imagination is the only place in which to capture
the uncapturable, to achieve a fix on a discrete moment in time and articulate on it even
as it slides by and vanishes, to give realizable form and substance to the unseeable and
unknowable. If so, then attempting to describe the music of Ye Ren, a freely
improvising trio consisting of alto saxophonist Gary Hassay, the ubiquitous bassist
William Parker, and percussionist Toshi Makihara is as hopeless as attempting to capture
it’s namesake (more on this in a moment). Ye Ren is essentially led by Mr. Hassay,
that is if anyone can truly claim to “lead” when creating music of this type
(i.e., requiring intense interaction and equal cooperation amongst all participants).
Although Mr. Hassay has been actively performing since
1979, ANOTHER SHINING PATH is only his second recording, the first being his solo cd A
SURVIVOR’S SMILE (1996, Dbops Music). According to his biography,
“interdisciplinary collaborations” have occupied his primary interest since
1985. Since that time, he has participated in numerous projects for dance and “action
painting”. During this time, Mr. Hassay has also found opportunity to perform with a
diverse range of musicians including Fred Frith, Tom Cora, George Cartwright, Andrew
Cyrille, Gerry Hemingway, Peter Broetzmann, Wadada Leo Smith, and Milford Graves. He is
also the President and founding member of improvisationalmusicco., inc. (improvco), a
not-for-profit corporation based in Allentown, PA and has received funding from Meet the
Composer, the PA Council on the Arts (Fellowship and Artist in Education) and the Painted
Bride (NEA regional interdisciplinary grant).
All of the performers in Ye Ren are obviously highly
skilled musicians and listeners. The music ebbs and flows, ideas linger, vanish, reappear,
all seemingly suspended in space and rotating about the coordinate axis for each of its
three dimensions.
The aforementioned interest in interdisciplinary
collaboration is abundantly evident in the music recorded here. Each of the musicians is
experienced in working with dancers. But perhaps this is where the music seems to lose its
grasp on this particular listener’s attention. There seems to be a visual or
other sensory aspect lacking. While all three musicians are communicating, they seem to be
describing forms and substances that only they can detect. Hence, it seems a private
conversation that the listener is merely eavesdropping on instead of participating in
(albeit not as a performer). The abstract and amorphous remain so, the listener is left
groping for an aural hold. Of course, the possibility exists that the musicians themselves
are attempting to seize hold of something that is eluding their collective grasp. In that
event, the listener could inevitably be trying to play catch up, tossed in the wake of
someone who themselves are in hot pursuit of a rapidly moving and evolving phenomenon.
This might seem to be a harsh condemnation but it
isn’t intended as such. It should be further emphasized that none of this is to imply
that ANOTHER SHINING PATH is a boring or bad outing. Fans of William Parker will
undoubtedly find much to cherish in this clean, uncluttered, and well engineered
recording.
So again, return to the name Ye Ren. In the liner
notes, Mr. Hassay states that the name has no real meaning and that its significance lies
in the way it sounds. Ultimately, that may be all that matters with freely improvised
music, namely the way it sounds. The listener must often find his or her own meaning and
consensus is unlikely. Beauty, enjoyment, or even 'entertainment' is purely of the moment
and resides entirely within the ears and imagination of the individual.
In conclusion, it must be noted that ANOTHER SHINING
PATH is also the first release on the Drimala Records label. From the liner notes: 'A
portion of all Drimala Records’ proceeds are given to bring a small measure of love
and hope to the homeless who but by an accident of birth could be you and I.' On the
basis of this sentiment alone, it is suggested that Drimala Records is a label that should
be closely watched and strongly supported. |
All About
Jazz,
July, 1999 Allen
Huotari
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