Arthur Doyle Quartet: Live @ The Cooler

Live @ The Cooler is a nice follow-up to the Blue Humans album I posted previously. This time around, Arthur Doyle is in charge. The tunes are ones that are among Doyle's standards (to the extent that someone as obscure as Doyle can have songs considered standards) - especially "Flue Song" and "Noah Black Ark". The former features Doyle playing the flute; the latter is a homage to Noah Howard, who gave Doyle his first big break in the free-jazz realm on The Black Arc (the piece builds on that album's tune "Mount Fuji"). On the opening track, Doyle sounds like he's playing multiple reeds at once. For his part, Rudolph Grey's playing is as loud as ever, but the sound is more atmospheric. To these ears, 15 years allowed Doyle and Grey to become wiser, more skillful collaborators. It doesn't hurt that the rhythm section is up to the task of keeping up with those two.

Personnel:
Arthur Doyle (tenor sax, flute)
Rudolph Grey (electric guitar)
Wilbur Morris (bass)
Tom Surgal (drums)

Tracks:
1. Spiritual Healing
2. Flue Song
3. Noah Black Ark

All compositions by Arthur Doyle (BMI)
Photos: Simon Badger
Liner Notes: Sumner Crane
Recorded March 15, 1995

Released on The Lotus Sound in 1996

Download Live @ The Cooler

The Blue Humans: Live - N.Y. 1980

This album was my introduction to Arthur Doyle. The way that cat could hold his own with Rudolph Grey's guitar playing (with the amps turned all the way to 11) turned me into a believer. During the relatively quieter moments, Beaver Harris lays out this tribal groove that practically calls listeners to join the pit. These cats were playing some extra-loud free-form energy music at punk clubs in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which seems appropriate enough. Hell, we'll call it jazz you can mosh to. Free jazz buffs who dig on punk and no wave, and punks who can groove on jazz will want to play this one at stun volume.

Personnel:
Rudolph Grey (Electric Guitar)
Arthur Doyle (Tenor Saxophone, Flute)
Beaver Harris (Percussion)

Tracks:
1. Untitled
2. Untitled
3. Untitled
4. Untitled

Cover Photo: Ronald V. Williams
Cover Design: Rudolph Grey
Recording Engineer/Graphics Production: R. Bianca
Recorded at Hurrah, NYC March 12, 1980

Released on Audible Hiss in 1995.

Download Live - N.Y. 1980

Rudolph Grey: Transfixed

Transfixed was released in 1988 on New Alliance Records, catalogue # NAR 036. As far as I know this was never issued as a CD. "Ghosts" is mildly reminiscent of the work Doyle and Grey were doing back when they were together in The Blue Humans. "1,000 Luminous Flowers" and the title track are blasts of pure guitar energy with the amps cranked up to 11. Only "Whirl" provides anything close to relief, and even it, which I believes features Crane on piano, is extremely dissonant. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Performers:
Rudolph Grey
Arthur Doyle (track 1)
Sumner Crane

Tracks:
1. Ghosts
2. 1,000 Luminous Flowers
3. Whirl
4. Transfixed

Download Transfixed