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New York Contemporary Five: Consequences Revisited

By Mark Corroto
June 27, 2020
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New York Contemporary Five: Consequences Revisited

This 2020 reissue of the New York Contemporary Five recordings from 1963-64 can't help but draw one's attention to the social unrest occurring in America in 2020. In 1964 the riots in Harlem and Philadelphia over police brutality were followed by similar riots a few years later in Watts, Newark, Detroit, etc. In the growing civil unrest these recordings were born. The New Thing was the equivalent to what Chuck D of Public Enemy claimed when he said rap music was the Black CNN.

Agree of disagree with the above statement, but there is no denying this is the musical equivalent of ripping a band-aid off a wound. Like most things revolutionary, this amazing ensemble lasted for just one year. Saxophonist

Archie Shepp

saxophone, tenor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Archie Shepp joined NWC5 as his partner trumpeter

Bill Dixon

trumpet
1925 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Dixon took time off from performing. Cornetist

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry left

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins' quartet after an apprentice with

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman and Danish saxophonist

John Tchicai

saxophone
1936 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">John Tchicai entered as a new ��migr�� to the New York scene. The changing rhythm sections finds bassist Don Moore and drummer J.C. Moses on the 1963 Consequences session and bassist

Ronnie Boykins

bass, acoustic
b.1935

" data-original-title="" title="">Ronnie Boykins and drummer

Sunny Murray

drums
1937 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Sunny Murray on the 1964 session.

The music is the quintessential time capsule of the era, pulling together the revolutions of Dixon, Coleman, Mingus, Rollins, and Monk and anticipating the coming of

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler and

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders. The title track (covered by both quintets) penned by Cherry pulls from his Coleman experience, but also dips heavily into bebop with Shepp quoting "We're In The Money" from 1933. The music is a stepping-off point from bebop into free music. Maybe Dixon's composition "Trio" is the best example of this transitional music. The thoroughly written piece eventually opens into levitating free solos by Cherry, Shepp and Tchicai. But then there is this beautiful unswerving take of

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's "Crepuscule With Nellie, " played with all due consideration to the composition. The addition of trumpeter

Ted Curson

trumpet
1935 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Ted Curson to the the final two tracks of 1964, "Like A Blessed Baby Lamb" and "Consequences," draws the music closer to that of

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus and the direction Shepp's music would take in the coming years. This reissue is a musical archeologist's dream.

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Track Listing

Sound Barrier; We We; Consequences; Rufus; Crepuscule With Nellie; Trio; Where Poppies Bloom (Where Poppies Blow); Like A Blessed Baby Lamb; Consequences.

Personnel

Archie Shepp

saxophone, tenor

Don Cherry

trumpet

John Tchicai

saxophone

Don Moore

bass, acoustic

J.C. Moore

Ted Curson

trumpet

Sunny Murray

drums

Ronnie Boykins

bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Consequences Revisited | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: ezz-thetics

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