Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Marion Brown: Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited

Marion Brown: Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited

By Chris May
June 3, 2021
View read count

Marion Brown: Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited

Alto saxophonist

Marion Brown

saxophone, alto
1931 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Marion Brown was part of the band on

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's Ascension (Impulse, 1965), though you would not guess it from Why Not (ESP, 1968). Like fellow Ascension alumnus, tenor saxophonist

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders' contemporaneous Tauhid (Impulse, 1967), Brown's album inhabited an intensely melodic section of the 1960s' New Thing.

As were Sanders' own-name releases from 1967 onwards, Brown's work was deeply lyrical and embraced South Asian, Maghrebi and West African instruments and constructs. As bandleaders, the two players operated at the far end of the New Thing spectrum to the so-called "energy" saxophonists who followed, lamely, in

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler's wake.

Why Not was recorded in late October 1966, Tauhid just three weeks later. Their points of contact are particularly marked on the opening tracks. Brown's "La Sorella" and Sanders' "Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt" employ similar arrangements and both project uplifting, mellifluous vibes, roughed up around the edges with vocalized tones and broken notes. Both are bedded on quietly insistent grooves. Brown's pianist

Stanley Cowell

piano
1941 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Stanley Cowell and Sanders' pianist

Dave Burrell

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Burrell essay slightly trippy intros before the leaders take things out.

This reissue of Why Not in ezz-thetics' Revisited series is coupled with Porto Novo (Polydor, 1969), which Brown recorded in The Netherlands with Dutch bassist Maarten Van Regeteren Altena and drummer

Han Bennink

drums
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Han Bennink. That album is pretty much as sublime as Why Not and the pairing is testament to ezz-thetics' founder Werner X. Uehlinger's curatorial touch. Another harmonious pairing is Brown's Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee Revisited (ezz-thetics, 2019), which packages all but four minutes of Marion Brown Quartet (ESP, 1966), made with a pianoless quartet including trumpeter

Alan Shorter

flugelhorn

" data-original-title="" title="">Alan Shorter, with side two of the septet album Juba-Lee (Fontana, 1967), made with Shorter, trombonist

Grachan Moncur III

trombone
1937 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Grachan Moncur III and tenor saxophonist

Bennie Maupin

woodwinds
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Bennie Maupin (the pianist is Dave Burrell from the aforementioned Tauhid).

Both Revisited albums have been sensitively remastered. As many of us have learnt to our cost, a remaster may not always be an improvement on the original edition.

Rudy Van Gelder

various
1924 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Rudy Van Gelder's digital-age remasters of his work for Prestige and Blue Note demonstrate the extent to which a gifted engineer can enhance audio quality. Peter Pfister's ezz-thetics remasters are of the same order of efficacy. The Revisited series is solid gold; avant-garde treasures from the 1960s are in safe hands.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

La Sorella; Fortunato; Why Not; Homecoming; Similar Limits; Sound Structure; Improvisation; QBIC; Porto Novo.

Personnel

Marion Brown

saxophone, alto

Stanley Cowell

piano

Sirone

bass, acoustic

Maarten Altena

bass, acoustic

Rashied Ali

drums

Han Bennink

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Marion Brown: alto saxophone; Stanley Cowell: piano (1-4); Norris ��Sirone�� Jones: double bass (1-4); Maarten Van Regteren Altena: double bass (5-9); Rashied Ali: drums (1-4); Han Bennink: drums (5-9).

Album information

Title: Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Ezz-thetics

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Clifford Brown��s Trumpet and One S...
< Previous

Touch Me
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.