Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Konstrukt & Joe McPhee: If You Have Time

Konstrukt & Joe McPhee: If You Have Time

By Mark Corroto
November 25, 2015
View read count

Konstrukt & Joe McPhee: If You Have Time

There was a time when free jazz was a mysteriously strange and exotic beast, a music that evoked the "what did I just hear?" response. Today's jazz snob may quote the motto of the rock band Jane's Addiction and tell you "nothing's shocking." And that may be true. That is, if one's ears are not open to the energy and intelligence of musicians like

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee and the Turkish improvising ensemble Konstrukt.

Konstrukt has performed and recorded multiple concerts with guests like

Marshall Allen

saxophone, alto
b.1924

" data-original-title="" title="">Marshall Allen,

Akira Sakata

saxophone, alto
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Akira Sakata,

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann,

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Evan Parker,

William Parker

bass
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">William Parker, and If You Have Time is their second release with the tenor saxophonist/pocket trumpet musician Joe McPhee. The previous being Babylon: The First Meeting Of Istanbul (Roaratorio, 2014), a live date made three days before this studio session.

While the live recordings capture the energy of the ensemble, this studio date is a superior listening experience.

The LP (yes, vinyl) opens with McPhee's short poem calling music a "love beast" and asking us to put our ears close to "hear....something." Indeed, it does. "In The Lair Of The Dried Rat Dog," a possible a reference to the 1994 duo recording by Peter Br?tzmann and

Hamid Drake

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamid Drake, opens with the retro-space sounds of theremin and Moog with ?z��n Usta's bowed bass animating the affair. McPhee's pocket trumpet slurs and skitters across the science fiction. Next up, "How Long Has 'Trane Been Gone (for James Baldwin)" continues with the unearthly theme. Organ and bass are accented by Korhan Arg��den's cymbal work until the piece is sliced open by the two-tenor attack of McPhee and Korhan Futac?. The title's reference to

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane (and his Meditations period) pushes the energy jazz buttons that would later be called on for the live recording.

"Frippe's Dream," is the band's tribute to Bengt "Frippe" Nordstrom, the Swedish free jazz (almost forgotten) legend and contemporary of

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler. If you are not familiar with Nordstr?m, Futac? and McPhee sound much like Ayler and

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders here. The lengthy piece opens with a cavalcade of horns, then Usta's bass and ?a?lar's guitar introduce us to Eastern sounds that serve as backdrop to the plaintive cries of saxophone.

The music revives that "what did I just hear?" feeling. Amen.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Something (poem); In The Lair Of The Dried Rat Dog; Tell Me, How Long Has ��Trane Been Gone (for James Baldwin); Frippe��s Dream.

Personnel

Konstrukt

various

Joe McPhee; tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet, voice; Korhan Futac?: tenor saxophone, theremin [Moog]; Umut ?a?lar: electric guitar, synthesizer [Moog], organ [Vermona]; ?z��n Usta: double bass; Korhan Arg��den: drums.

Album information

Title: If You Have Time | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Omlatt Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Made In Portland
< Previous

Aurora Coryellis
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.