Jimmy Lyons - 1969
The album “Other Afternoons” was recorded in 1969. Jimmy Lyons brought together Lester Bowie, Alan Silva and Andrew Cyrille for an essential example of “Collective Form” Jazz. This is a good entry point for anyone interested in this form.
As we discussed in the section on “Collective Forms” (Link), this approach often uses Collective and Incidental Polyphony; a mix of very open and very tight harmony (octaves, fifths and major and minor seconds); and an improvisational framework built on imitation and motifs. ‘Other Afternoons’ is a great example of how this works.
The heads function primarily as doorways to a particular improvisational area. They set up the tonal palette, pulse, feel and acoustics of the piece. The title track on “Other Afternoons” begins with a declarative series of Perfect Fifths topping out on a f-sharp. A “tumbling strain” (Link) begins an accelerating climb back up to the f-sharp and that is repeated. It all sets up a solid framework, full of ideas for collective improvisation: rhythmic, melodic, harmonic and textural.
Other motifs emerge as the piece unfolds (Example 1). It’s hard to tell if they were pre-arranged or spontaneous which is, of course, the whole point.
‘However’ is another piece on “Other Afternoons”. It begins with a Call and Response statement followed by a rising pattern similar to that found in ‘Other Afternoons’. Lyons improve is very lyrical with a traditional rhythmic and harmonic feel. When the head is repeated Alan Silva really leans into that ‘d’ pedal bass – another way this music can ground itself in a clear aural logic.
