Our Man Hamiett

Hamiet Bluiett
Im/Possible to Keep
(live at Axis, NYC, 1977)

I want to sit down and write a good long thing about Hamiet Bluiett because I think he's terrific and because I love this record (it's in my top 20). But I'm feeling lame and overworked so no, sorry, not today. If you've never heard of him (which is more than likely), in his younger days he played with one of Mingus's last good bands and he's also one of the four corners of the super World Saxophone Quartet. He plays baritone and gets a huge, deep tone out of the horn, but also somehow manages to occasionally play higher than an alto it seems. He gets tagged 'avant garde' a lot, but that's because lots of jazz fans are stupidly conservative. Mostly he's just a very bluesy player who takes the traditions to their logical extension. It's not very weird at all. This song is also one of the best arguments for really, really long-form jazz. It's forty minutes long and sounds continuously fresh and inventive the whole way through. Enjoy.

Hamiet Bluiett - Oasis / The Well (40:57)

Hamiet Bluett - baritone saxophone
Fred Hopkins - bass
Famoudou Don Moye - drums & percussion

(Don Pullen also plays piano & organ on the record, but not on this track)