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Album of the Day: Soundmusication - Fitz Gore

 

Soundmusication (1980) - Fitz Gore

I first heard Fitz Gore on Jazzman's Spiritual Jazz 5: Worldwide (2014), a crucial compilation of rare gems from popular scenes across the globe. It contains not only Gore's ultra rare 7-inch, "Gisela (Lion Rock)", but also London Experimental Jazz Quartet's "Destroy the Nihilist Picnic." What a stellar name, and what a stellar track. Both are worth the price of admission alone. Everything else is a bonus.

Gore put out three records in his lifetime, all reissued on Sonorama, a label which, like Jazzman, pulls gorgeous lost music seemingly out of the ether. Soundmusication representative of their mission. It's one of the best spiritual jazz records you've never heard.

What's most striking is that nothing here sounds spiritual exactly--at least not at first. The first track, "Musication (The Talisman) (2)"  is a funky cut with a dance-able groove. "Revival Time (Nella's Farewell)" hits the pocket better and fits nicely alongside Coltrane's "A Love Supreme, Pt. 2: Resolution".

And then comes "The Very Thought of You." Gore sings the standard over a sparse piano, and immediately brings to mind Paul Robeson, whom Gore greatly admired. Unlike Robeson, Gore's slow drone here is truly bizarre and sticks out like a sore thumb. Afterwards, when "Musication (The Talismen) (2)" hits again after, you feel pulled back into reality with a palate cleanser. We get soulful on "Nora (Soul-O)." We get an intoxicating, meditative intertwining of the haunting organ with Gore's saxophone on "Pelatiah (Sealed and Signed)". Finally, we get "Gisela (Lion Rock)", which Sonorama appended to this release. Not part of the original set list, the song blows everything that came before it out of the water--and everything up to it is well worth listening to. But "Gisela" lives on a different plane. It's something filled with love and life. Something you feel blessed to hear, and so few have had the opportunity to hear it up until this re-release, as Gore self-released his records.

Gore, like so many so-called spiritual jazz musicians, believed music could change the world. Perhaps that's the best definition of spiritual jazz, a term that describes nothing while describing everything. The point here is to commune, to not understand the reasoning behind any of what is presented to you. Don't overthink it, but feel it deep in your bones.

Label: GorBra Records (Reissued 2022 via Sonorama)

Track for monthly playlist: "Gisela (Lion Rock)"

Listen/Purchase: https://sonoramarecords.bandcamp.com/album/soundmusication
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