Midweek pick, May 29th, 2024: Karen Borca finally gets her debut album
Karen Borca Trio, Quartet & Quintet: Good News Blues: Live at the Vision Festival 1998 & 2005 (NoBusiness Records)
Karen Borca: bassoon
Rob Brown: alto saxophone
William Parker: double bass
Reggie Workman: double bass
Todd Nicholson: double bass
Paul Murphy: drums
Susie Ibarra: drums
Newman Taylor-Baker: drums
Karen Borca is something as rare as a bassoonists who has chosen free jazz as her field of expression. In case you are unfamiliar with Borca, who turns 76 this September, she is perhaps best known for her work with her husband, alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, appearing prominently on several recordings with Lyons as leader, such as Wee Sneezawee, a personal favorite.
Although Borca’s career dates back to the late 1970’s, and also includes sessions and live performances with Cecil Taylor and Bill Dixon, she has never released a recording under her own name. That is, until now. The Lithuanian label NoBusiness Records have collected four recorded pieces from two of her appearances leading different star studded groups at the Vision Festival, one in 1998 and one in 2005, and are releasing them together as Good News Blues.
The album kicks off with the title piece, a trio performance from the 1998 concert with William Parker on bass and Paul Murphy on drums, two other veterans of Lyons’ Wee Sneezawee-group. The piece kicks off at full throttle and thrillingly keeps things cooking for 8 or so minutes, William Parker’s unmistakable bass playing making sure the trio never goes below the boiling point, while Borca’s plays red hot.
The second piece, “Something”, adds Rob Brown on alto saxophone, and is markedly slower paced. It has a bluesy feel, if still loose and with plenty of heat. On “Cambiar”, the groups explores a middle ground between the fire of the opener and the richness of the second track.