F. VATTEL CHERRY: For Those Who Heal

F. Vattel Cherry

For Those Who Heal

© 2000 Commercial Free Jazz (format: CD-R)

CD permanently out of stock. Sorry!

live in concert duo collaborations of free improvisation.

tracks

1 ideal/ordeal
2 countenance
3 supplication 2
4 supplication 3
5 divine martyrs
6 supplication
7 (walk of) our righteous servants
8 for those who heal

notes

For Those Who Heal is perhaps the definitive recorded statement from a young bassist who is clawing his way towards the heart of this music with a fugitive's urgency.

In a series of duos with Cherry, each artist contributes to a sound that is full and compelling.

Within the varied pairings are found new opportunites for musical language and spiritual repair.

This offering is exactly what this music is supposed to be about.

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[one final note]

issue #5
winter 2000 / 2001
F. Vattel Cherry
For Those Who Heal (Commercial Free Jazz)
review by Derek Taylor


Vattel Cherry is a bassist who believes in doing. With For Those Who Heal he puts this underlying belief into practice. In the year 2000 he engaged in a series of duets with fellow improvisers that were, thanks to his own fortitude, documented on a portable mini-disc recorder. Rather than waiting for the whims of record labels to mesh with his fecund creative output, he gathered these various meetings and released them on his own. While the presentation of the release is Spartan in the extreme, CD-R labeled with magic marker, the music isn't the least bit slipshod or cobbled together. These are cogent conversations between accomplished improvisers and Cherry's mahogany bass serves as the malleable crux.

First up is a meeting with John Dierker, a comrade from Cherry's stint in the now defunct KRILL collective (see review OFN #3). The fidelity is a little murky at points but Dierker's submarine reed is an intriguing compliment to Cherry's arco and pizzicato musings. "Countenance" meanders a bit in sections, but Peter Hickey is another sensitive partner to Cherry's designs, wisely chosen and brimming with bass-centric ideas. More exciting however is Cherry's coupling with the cantankerous alto of Blaise Siwula. Thus far Siwula hasn't been well served on record, taping a session at the Spirit Room for CIMP (Dialing Privileges), but little else. His interplay with Cherry here suggests that the poverty of his documented work will be a temporary condition if the right ears are listening. Again the sound is less than ideal, but the pair makes the most of their time together moving into some breathtaking shared spaces.

The two tracks with John Voigt take the template of twining basses in to another level. Voigt, first on amplified upright and later on bass guitar, creates a bulbous contrast to Cherry's higher pitched acoustic strings. Unidentified percussion elements presumably attached to Cherry's person further flesh out the shared soundscape. Two final cuts with Ras Chris are invested with the most overtly palpable grooves. Cherry's throbbing ostinato punctuated by stop-time slaps lopes beneath hollow blown flute on "Our Righteous Servants." A switch to spidery guitar by Ras Chris and the duo moves into Eastern-hued modalities. The title track is another loping improvisation tethered to a bass ostinato, but this time harmonica and guitar add chordal colorations. With this disc as definitive proof it's obvious that the year 2000 was a productive year for Cherry. His decision to take the matters of production and distribution into his own hands and share the various fruits of his journeys is something we as listeners should be thankful for.

Derek Taylor can be contacted at derekct@hotmail.com

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  • healing forces of sound and a convicted approach to his craft.
    author: Glenn Astarita

    For Those Who Heal is a self-produced live set brought to us by ex-Charles Gayle bassist, solo artist and altogether industrious modern jazz denizen, F. Vattel Cherry. A series of duets with fellow bassists Peter Hickey, John Voigt, alto saxophonist Blaise Siwula and guitarist, multi-instrumentalist Ras Chris, the music was recorded at various East Coast venues while at times, it seems as though the mic’s were placed a tad too far away from the musicians. Yet many of these improvisations do indeed sustain interest, although the twenty-minute bass duet between Cherry and Peter Hickey, while often captivating, may generate more appeal for either students of the bass or for those who can’t get enough of extended solo bass style opuses. Cherry’s truly captivating duet with the criminally under recognized alto saxophonist Blaise Siwula is pure improvisational magic as the saxophonist’s distinctive sound and endearing vibrato sets him apart from many of his peers. Here, the duo match wits via concisely executed linear lines, dashes of balladry, call and response and soulful ruminations amid sequences of heated commotion. Without a doubt, F. Vattel Cherry is an important modern jazz/improviser who has quite a bit to say. Here, the bassist exhibits his healing forces through sound and a convicted approach to his craft.

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