Sunken Treasure

I wish I knew enough about the sax to explain why it so appeals to me. If playing it is a complicated art, then so too is discussing its merits. As sounds go, it can be divisive. Its dynamic power makes it highly persuasive when played well, but it can come across as decidedly jarring in the wrong hands.

In Barney Wilen, however, we’re talking the right type of hands. Wilen was blessed with a golden touch. Great players invent their own palette and brush strokes to paint pictures anew. So it was with Wilen. There’s a deftness to his playing that allows him to pursue a single flowing line as opposed to moving through the gears. It’s an even trajectory. And then there is the warmth of his tone; when he blows, he sure does bring the heat.

Maybe this is what Miles Davis felt when he enlisted 20-year-old Wilen for his 1957 European tour. This was the spur to a prodigious early career. By 1960 he had recorded with Bud Powell, Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk.

By 1970 he had moved to Africa to pursue a path as an anthropological film-maker in tandem with his musical adventures. His recordings of native pygmy tribes was the original source material for the Moshi album (1972). The African rhythms and ambient sound effects are woven into a rich tapestry of styles that reference free jazz, American gospel, blues and soul.

Wilen pays no heed to conventional structure, assembling standout tracks such Africa Freak Out and Zombizar from spare parts and samples. It's an avant- garde world music fusion album with psychedelic rock threads.

Which brings me back to the original question: What is it about that sound?

Wilen’s style is all about that rare disarming quality that requires magical thinking to describe. It’s another glorious mystery.