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01. Joe Mcphee - Words
02. Joe Mcphee - When I Grow Up
03. Joe Mcphee - They Both Could Fly
04. Joe Mcphee - Guitar
05. Joe Mcphee - I'm Just Say'n
06. Joe Mcphee - NYC Nostalgia Redux
07. Joe Mcphee - The Dream Book
08. Joe Mcphee - Short Pieces
09. Joe Mcphee - Disco Death
10. Joe Mcphee - BYOBB
11. Joe Mcphee - Lune Rouge
ARTIST
TITLE
I'm Just Say'n
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
STSLJN 441LP STSLJN 441LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
3/28/2025

As a common ligature to the OG free jazz scene of '60s NYC, with formative binds to its European offshoots and the experimental avant garde, Joe McPhee is a true force of nature who has represented jazz at its freest over a remarkable lifetime. In duo with Swedish free jazz and noise standard bearer Mats Gustafson, he upends expectations with an astonishingly vivid and upfront example of his enduring contribution to freely improvised music. In 11 parts he variously reflects on everything from the neon sleaze and scuzz of NYC to contemporary US politicians and laugh out loud imitations of his previous sparring partners such as Peter Brötzmann, with a head-slapping immediacy that leaves you reeling, spellbound. McPhee's flow of rare, organic cadence, ranging from urgent to contemplative and dreamlike, is blessed with a unique turn-of-phrase that surely mirrors his decades of instrumental work. Gustafsson, meanwhile, dexterously takes up the mantle with a multi-instrumental spectrum of sounds, leaving McPhee unbound and able to float and sting on the mic. There's obvious wisdom in his perceptively penetrative observations, as derived from a rich cultural life well spent, but also a playful naivety and levity in his ability to veer from almost melodic speech to explosive aggression and a knowing, bathetic wit. It's perhaps hard to believe that McPhee only started incorporating and performing spoken word in his work in the past ten years, a half century since his declaration of "What Time Is It?" announced his arrival on a legendary debut Nation Time (1971), ushering in one of free jazz's most singular characters in the process. Oscillating between discordant reflections on life as a touring musician, set to Gustafsson's skronk and culminating in a snort-worthy imitation of Peter Brötzmann's gruff German accent, on "Short Pieces" or the glowering growl and noise exhortations of "Guitar," he evokes a more sweetly consonant calm in "When I Grow Up" and eerie threat of "The Dreams Book," and viscerality of "Disco Death," where Gustafson's tonal versatility comes into hugely mutable play, whilst McPhee's extraordinary, unaffected voice is a constant. It's perhaps McPhee's balance of cool measuredness and wellspring of barbed energies that allows listeners, at least, to get the most out of this one; not stifling with mannered or manicured enunciation that can trigger certain icks; keeping close to the nature of spoken word in a way that avoids cliche and becomes inherently critical of it within his purposeful, non-hesitant clarity and unflinching approach.