Marion's Afternoon

There are reasons why I love music. Some of it is pure emotion and some of it is just the great talent that is out there. To me the music of some artist is just a love for whatever they create is just priceless and magical. The first time I hear some of these artist I know for a fact that I will be a fan for life. I listen to Jazz people like Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and I know that these people are quite gifted and are above the par of anyone else. Sometimes I hear them and realize that what they do is very creative and always wonder when is a good time to reflect on how their genius works.

Marion Brown was part of a lot of circles. His saxophone reached many different Jazz worlds. Some of it was Post Bop, other times it was Avant-Garde and other times it was Free Jazz. He may not be up there with the people I mentioned above but he was quite revolutionary. To me Marion was a genius just like those Jazz musicians. His music had the heart and soul of anyone out there. He will be missed and his music should and will be talked about forever.

Difficult as it may be for younger listeners to believe, there was a time when ECM released adventurous improvised music. Back near its inception in the early '70s, the label issued a wide variety and decent number of challenging avant-garde recordings that represented some of the most forward-looking musical thinkers of the time. Marion was one of those forward thinkers and this album includes other who thought the same way he did. The group of people on this album are wonderful musicians in there own right and do contribute music that is fresh and the reason ECM gets the recognition that they deserve. ECM was famous for this wonderful and fresh music just like Impulse, ESP or Atlantic. There are reasons why my obsession with ECM is so deep. They made some great stuff.

Marion's album is a benchmark of why ECM is so damn great. There are only two tracks on the CD, but each has it's own identity and meaning. While the first and title track is more percussive, the second is traditional and ahead of it's time. The second does more exploring then the first, but that's where Marion shows his maturity as a musician and that in turn has the people backing him act the same way. The effect is more eerie and spiritually infused than the preceding piece, with keening, bowed cymbals and deep pulses from the lower clarinet family. It gradually builds to something of a frenzy, but in an unforced manner that shows it to be merely another approach to the territory explored earlier.

Marion will be missed, but not his music. The man's genius is in most of the music that is out there. Listen for yourself and you will understand the passion and the gift that Marion had for his music. This music was a gift for us, not only to listen to, but for people to understand how great some of this music really is. The other day I put two of his CD's in my car and really understood how great this music should be talked about and listened with new ears. Take a chance yourself and I am sure you will feel the same.