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The Jazz Doctors: Intensive Care / Prescriptions Filled

By Chris May
June 5, 2023
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The Jazz Doctors: Intensive Care / Prescriptions Filled

Beyond its initiates, the so-called New Thing which emerged in mainly, but not exclusively, Black US jazz in the 1960s/70s, was perceived so amorphously that prairie-wide distinctions between its practitioners went unregarded. Among the general jazz audience, the musicians were lumped together as a horde of crazed zombies who lacked all technique, and who had replaced creativity with noise and anger, and beauty with ugliness.

Tenor saxophonists were particularly prone to such dismissal and, given the number of untutored wannabe

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltranes who elbowed themselves forward, that was not altogether surprising. But often the perception was so wide of the mark that one wondered if the naysayer had actually heard the musician they were dismissing or was simply parroting something they had read by Leonard Feather or a.n.other establishment gatekeeper.

Frank Lowe

saxophone, tenor
1943 - 2003

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Lowe of The Jazz Doctors was one such tenor-playing target. In reality, Lowe prized technique highly, as highly as he valued melody and a well-defined tonal centre. Although he could shriek and scream on occasion (not on this album), he had nothing to do with untutored energy players. His style grew out of an older generation of tenor saxophonists, prominent among them

Coleman Hawkins

saxophone, tenor
1904 - 1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Coleman Hawkins and

Chu Berry

saxophone, tenor
1908 - 1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Chu Berry. The Doctors' nominal leader, violinist

Billy Bang

violin
1947 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Bang, a Vietnam veteran, was, politically speaking, perhaps more overtly fired up than Lowe, but musically he too was rooted in an earlier generation of players, notably

Stuff Smith

violin
1909 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Stuff Smith.

There was, in fact, little in either player's style to frighten all but the most skittish horses, and much in the rough-hewn elegance of their music to appeal to a wide audience. There was more than enough substance, too, to give their music lasting relevance and appeal.

All of which rather lengthy preamble is to commend to you Intensive Care: Prescriptions Filled. The 80-minute CD contains two albums, Intensive Care (Cadillac, 1984) and Prescriptions Filled, recorded in 1984 but never released. The two albums were recorded, in studios, during separate tours of Britain a year apart, hence the different bass and drums teams:

Don Rafael Garrett

bass, acoustic
b.1932

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Rafael Garrett and

Dennis Charles

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Dennis Charles on one,

Wilber Morris

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Wilber Morris and

Thurman Barker

drums
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Thurman Barker on the other.

The material includes originals by Bang (three) and Lowe (one). There are six covers, each delivered with a couture flourish:

Jackie McLean

saxophone, alto
1932 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae,"

Rashied Ali

drums
1935 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Rashied Ali's "Blood On The Cross,"

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" (check the YouTube below),

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's "I Mean You," John Coltrane's "Mr Syms" and

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins' "Pent Up Suite."

Prescription, indeed, filled. Patient making speedy recovery.

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Track Listing

Little Melonae; Ballad With One L; Spooning; Loweology; Blood On The Cross; Lonely Woman; Suite For Gamma Pt 1; Suite For Gamma Pt 2; I Mean You; Mr Syms; Pent Up Suite.

Personnel

Billy Bang

violin

Frank Lowe

saxophone, tenor

Don Rafael Garrett

bass, acoustic

Dennis Charles

drums

Wilber Morris

bass, acoustic

Thurman Barker

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Rafael Garrett: bass (1-6); Dennis Charles: drums (1-6); Wilber Morris: bass (7-11); Thurman Barker: drums (7-11), piano (7).

Album information

Title: Intensive Care / Prescriptions Filled | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Cadillac Records

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