Obscuro: Say What? Five of Jazz's Most Surprising Albums

"Jazz is the sound of surprise"
--Jazz critic Whitney Balliett, 1926-2007

Sometimes you think you know a musician and his tendencies, or that he's always played the kind of music you've known him to play. Over the course of pursuing my curiosity about certain artists, I've stumbled upon some rather peculiar recordings that went totally against my preconceptions of the artist involved. For that reason alone, such records are a real trip to listen to—even if they're not particularly good (and not all the records I am listing below are those I'd recommend).

Nonetheless, inquisitive minds want to know about the hidden, sometimes dark, past of a well-known or favorite celebrity. For music lovers, this means musicians' left field entries in their discographies can be the subject of intrigue and sometimes, scorn. So what are some of the more notable hidden surprises coming from jazz musicians? Here are five such releases I will haul out of the closet, in chronological order of original release:

Bob James - Explosions (1965)
Mr. James of Fourplay fame has long been the Jazz-Pop King since his 1978 hit "Angela," written as the theme for the long running tv sitcom Taxi. But he got his start at the beginning of the sixties with 1962's Bold Conceptions, a straight ahead session of acoustic trio jazz, which ironically was produced by another crossover giant of a later time, Quincy Jones. (Sure, James churned a couple of respectable, bop-oriented releases in recent years, but by then his notoriety was cast in stone and a nod or two to the jazz tradition wasn't going to change that.) Those facts alone would merit inclusion of James' 1962 debut on this list were it not for his extremely bold follow-up three years later.

Explosions was described by Allmusic.com's Gene Tyranny as "probably the first recording of improvised jazz combined with electronic music." That may or may not be true, but it's interesting to note that it's the same year a much more dauntless Roland Kirk also first fiddled around with such a discordant mix (Rip, Rig and Panic). Young Bobby didn't stop there, though, he made random sounds on the inside and outside of his piano, too, like as if some six year old was goofing around on it. I don't think even Cecil Taylor ever got that wiggy.

Maybe the extreme blandness of most of his later work was all part of some grand ying and yang equilibrium scheme. Whatever it was, Explosions is one record only the extremely curious would ever want to listen to.

Gato Barbieri - In Search of the Mystery (1967)
When you think about it, Gato's first record is more like the Gato you would expect if you knew nothing more about him than the volatile, husky skronk of his tenor and his apprenticeship under such a major avant garde figure as trumpeter Don Cherry.

Released under ESP, the same label who introduced much of the world to Albert Ayler, In Search of the Mystery certainly sounded like it belonged in that catalog. The Argentinian wails throughout (come to think of it, he wailed a lot even after he stopped playing whack jazz), but there's no hint of the Latin in his music here that was to come later. For his debut, he leads an unusual quartet consisting of bass, cello, and drums.

As you might anticipate at this point, the music is indeed tumultuous, but unlike James' Explosions, it at least sounds somewhat purposeful. Consisting of a handful of twenty minute long tracks, this record would wear out its welcome quickly with most of the Caliente fans, but it's pretty darned respectable free jazz.

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