More Nipples

Vanguard saxophonist Peter Brötzmann has continually insisted that a 1969 session he recorded for FMP with Evan Parker (saxophones), Derek Bailey (guitar), Fred Van Hove (piano), Buschi Niebergall (bass), and Han Bennink (drums) yielded more material than was originally issued. A CD version of Nipples was re-released by Atavistic in its amazing Unheard Music Series in 2000. In 2002, FMP founder Jost Gebers did indeed come across a reel of material, recorded by both the quartet (without Bailey and Parker) and sextet incarnations, in the FMP archive. That material, three long tracks, is issued here for the first time ever. And like the original session, it is fiery, woolly, and an absolutely perfect example of free jazz at its finest. The opener is an alternate take of "Nipples," entitled "More Nipples." At over 17 minutes, it clocks in as the longest piece here and is the only sextet collaboration. What is most stunning is how much more prominent Bailey's guitar is in the mix; not only can it be heard better, but it stands as pivotal in the development of the improvisation. His angular turns and strangled phrases cut across both Parker's soprano and Brötzmann's tenor dueling, to provide a bridge for the rhythm section to engage them both. The two quartet pieces, "Fiddle-Faddle" and "Fat Man Walks," are stunning examples of the kind of communication possibilities offered by free jazz in the 1960s. This is the kind of intensity one hears on John Coltrane's Meditations or Live in Seattle, or Pharoah Sanders' recordings with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. And while Brötzmann is well-known for his brand of gut-blowing intensity, he has never sounded so urgent and so completely commanding as he does here; it was if the saxophone held no bounds for his voice. More Nipples is certainly as essential for free jazz fans as its predecessor.