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Never Too Late But Always Too Early
Live album by
Peter Brötzmann, William Parker, and Hamid Drake
Released2003
RecordedApril 10, 2001
Venue Casa del Popolo, Montréal
Genre Free jazz
Label Eremite
MTE037/38
ProducerMichael Ehlers, Peter Brötzmann

Never Too Late But Always Too Early is a two-CD live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in April 2001 at Casa del Popolo in Montréal, and was released in 2003 by Eremite Records. The album is dedicated to Peter Kowald. [1] [2]

The Brötzmann / Parker / Drake group has been known as the "Die Like a Dog Trio" since recording the album Die Like a Dog: Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler with trumpeter Toshinori Kondo in 1993. [3] [4] An April 24, 2001, concert in Houston, Texas was described as "an electrifying performance that left the crowd drained but begging for more." [5] Tad Hendrickson of CMJ New Music Report wrote that the trio "operates at a level of intuitive musicianship seldom achieved by others." [6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz [8]
Pitchfork [9]

The album was included in The Wire's 2003 Rewind, [10] and was listed as the year's #1 jazz recording. [2]

In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "Brötzmann, Parker, and Drake reveal in depth here just how they have gelled as a trio... the intensity level is high from the jump." [7]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, stating that it "catches the trio in magnificent form... Two long sets have very little in the way of treading water." [8]

A reviewer for Pitchfork commented: "This is a pernicious, pummeling disarray, like all of Brötzmann's albums, and he still makes time for some significant innovations... The instruments are still gloriously combusting all over this show, but there's a more melancholy lyricism affixed to them. This is the first Brötzmann album... that got stuck in my head hours after it had ended." [9]

Bill Shoemaker, writing for Jazz Times, stated: "whenever Brotzmann plays with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, there is a palpable aura of spirits unleashed, furiously seeking right... the cathartic power of this album makes for a fitting tribute to Kowald." [11]

In an article for Dusted Magazine, Jason Bivins wrote: "It's a marathon ride, and from Brötz's opening shrieks on tarogato you know that seatbelts should remain firmly fastened. The trio cycles through most of its moods, registers, and instrumentations throughout the long and rewarding sets: crushing funk, rolling free expressionism, muscular swing, and the occasional dark textural mood... both discs are filled with the nice, harsh lyricism that distinguishes this band." [12]

The Free Jazz Collective's Stuart Broomer noted the album's "searing, visceral pull," and called Brötzmann "one of the great existential improvisers of free jazz, in that his intensity does not seem to move toward transcendence but instead speaks of expanding passion." [13]

Track listing

Disc One

  1. "Never Run but Go I" – 19:19
  2. "Never Run but Go II" – 4:47
  3. "Never Run but Go III" – 9:31
  4. "Never Run but Go IV" – 9:51
  5. "The Heart and the Bones" – 18:26

Disc Two

  1. "Never Too Late but Always Too Early I" – 16:51
  2. "Never Too Late but Always Too Early II" – 11:02
  3. "Never Too Late but Always Too Early III" – 17:22
  4. "Half-Hearted Beast" – 7:41

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "Peter Brötzmann: Never Too Late But Always Too Early". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Peter Brötzmann/Hamid Drake/William Parker: Never Too Late But Always Too Early". Eremite Records. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  3. ^ Ratliff, Ben (May 2, 2003). "Pop and Jazz Guide". New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  4. ^ "FMP CD64 Die like a dog; fragments of music, life and death of Albert Ayler". EFI Group. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Rubolino, Frank (September 2001). "Peter Brötzmann Die Like a Dog Trio, Houston TX, 24 April 2001". One Final Note. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  6. ^ Hendrickson, Tad (May 26, 2003). "Live: Die Like a Dog at Tonic, NYC". CMJ New Music Report. p. 26.
  7. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Peter Brötzmann: Never Too Late But Always Too Early". AllMusic. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 178.
  9. ^ a b "Never Too Late But Always Too Early". Pitchfork. August 21, 2003. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "50 Records Of The Year plus specialist charts". The Wire. December 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  11. ^ Shoemaker, Bill (September 1, 2003). "Peter Brötzmann/William Parker/Hamid Drake: Never Too Late but Always Too Early". Jazz Times. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  12. ^ Bivins, Jason (July 29, 2003). "Peter Brötzmann/William Parker/Hamid Drake - Never Too Late but Always Too Early". Dusted Magazine. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  13. ^ Broomer, Stuart (July 4, 2023). "Peter Brötzmann Tribute (Day 2 of 3)". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
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