R.I.P. Burton Greene : June 14, 1937 – June 28, 2021
text by Takeshi Goda 剛田武
⇒日本語記事はこちら
Among the many unique albums on ESP Disk, "Burton Greene Quartet" (ESP 1024 / 1966), by acclaimed pianist Burton Greene, is one of my favorites.
I first encountered this album in 1982 at a used record sale at a university co-op. For some reason, there were a lot of free jazz and avant-garde rock records in the inexpensive 500 yen (US$5) section, and this album was one of the dozens of records I bought with great pleasure. I was fascinated by the dandy cover photo, and when I put the needle down, I was grabbed by the first track "Cluster Quartet", in which all musicians rushed forward in a cocooning manner. Having played the alto saxophone myself, I was only interested in saxophonists in the jazz field, but on this album, I was more interested in the Gary Cooper-like keyboard player than saxophonist Marion Brown. The piano is overlaid with strange metallic sounds, which suddenly turn into percussive blows and chain-dragging noises. I think my love of object noises may have started with this prepared piano. I also found the same pianist's name on "Patty Waters Sings" (ESP 1025 / 1966) by singer Patty Waters, which I bought at the same time. I shuddered at the gentleness of the piano that accompanied Patty's gasping "Black...Black...Black...Black," which occupied the entire B-side, like a spirit behind her.
Since then, the name Burton Greene has been on my version of the "NWW List," but the name has become even more deeply etched in my mind when I learned of the "The Burton Greene Affair", an episode I read about in an essay by Jin-ichi Uekusa. The poet and writer Amiri Baraka (then known as Leroi Jones), writing in Down Beat in 1966, described Greene's performance with Marion Brown and Pharaoh Sanders in 1964 as "overwhelmed by black musicians, self-loathing, and frustrated.
I couldn't believe that Greene, who played more powerfully than Marion Brown on the ESP records, had such a past. I later found out that the article was written from a racist point of view of a black supremacist, but it certainly ignited my enthusiasm for Greene, who continues to go above and beyond in his radical acts of expression, even in the face of slander.
"The Burton Greene Trio / On Tour" (ESP 1074 / 1968), the second leader album of ESP (you can hear a lot of his signature "piano harp" playing inside of piano. "Patty Waters / College Tour" (ESP 1055 / 1966) ; The Burton Greene Trio only appears on one track, but their performance is undoubtedly the highlight of the album), "Presenting Burton Greene" (Columbia CS 9784 / 1968) ;This was the first record to use the Moog synthesizer in improvised jazz. In the liner notes on the Japanese edition at the time, Music critic Yozo Iwanami subtly praised the album, saying, "Those who know the pain will make progress," referring to the Burton Greene affair, "Burton Greene Ensemble / Aquariana" (BYG 529.308 / 1969) ; a work of in which Burton's chanting of "Hare Krishna - Hare Rama" can be heard as his oriental taste in full bloom. However, records from the 1970s onward were hard to find in Japan, and I felt frustrated that I couldn't promote them even if I wanted to, so I ended up unfollowing him for a while.
It's been a long time since I've heard Burton Greene's name (20+ years?). Green (and bassist Tjitze Vogel) backed Patty Waters at Cafe Oto in December 2017. Unfortunately, a near miss prevented me from seeing the show, but the following year Cafe Oto digitally released the live album, "Patty Waters / 6.12.17" (OTOROKU 118 / 2018) [see Disc Review], and it was so amazing that Patty was, of course, very happy. But most of all, I regretted missing the opportunity to see Burton Greene live. I found out that Greene left the U.S. for Europe in 1969, settled on a houseboat in Amsterdam, and has been actively working there, releasing nearly 100 albums so far. In addition to jazz and improvised music, he has been active in contemporary music, synthesizer solo, East-West Trio with sitar player, and Klezmokum and Klez-Edge, a klezmer music ensemble. Not only in Japan, but probably in the U.S. as well, it must not be known that "that" Burton Greene continues to make such rich music. If he had released his works on famous labels such as ECM, or ICP based in Amsterdam he lived, the situation might have been different, but I am sure there are many fans like me who feel the chivalry and love for Green who did not do so.
Last year, in the midst of the first emergency declaration of the COVID-19 disaster in Japan, I suddenly decided to write "A Personal Essay on Burton Greene", and contacted Burton Greene himself via. Facebook. He told me story that Amiri Baraka had apologized directly for the racist portrayal of the "The Burton Greene Affair," the story about the Free Form Improvisation Ensemble he had formed with Alan Silva and others in 1964, and that he would burn a CDR and send it to me if I wanted the sound files (I was too modest to ask for it). All these episodes are detailed in his autobiography "Memoirs of a musical "pesty mystic": Or, from the ashcan to the ashram and back again" (Cadence Jazz Books) published in 2001, he said. I had planned to do a formal interview with him when his new album came out, but I somehow forgot to contact him after the new year, and more than half a year has passed since then. In the middle of August this year, I received a mail magazine from overseas and was surprised to read "Rest in peace Burton Greene and Sonny Simmons". I found out that Burton Greene had died in Amsterdam on June 28 at the age of 84. I was completely unaware of this. My deepest apologies for my injustice.
Sonny Simmons (sax, d. April 6, 2021), Milford Graves (ds, d. February 12, 2021), Giuseppi Logan (sax, fl, d. April 17, 2020) and Henry Grimes (b, d. April 15, 2020)...these ESP allies are waiting for him in heaven. In heaven, a superb version of Free Form Improvisation Ensemble with Burton Greene (p) may have been formed, and they may be playing ultra wildly. Couldn't we ask a psychic to listen to the performance? Couldn't I record it by ESP (extrasensory perception) and release it as a pirate record/CD? These are just a few of the chimeras - strange ideas that have been swelling in my mind.
Rest In Peace
Burton Greene
Forever
