The genesis and background for this recording grew out of Odean’s May 24, 2006 recording (CIMP 353). Odean is an early riser and, like a handful of other artists whom we have recorded, likes to go outside and play in the fields, so to speak. Listening to his a cappella improvisations amidst the birds ‘n’ bugs that May morning, I found an emotional directness in Odean’s playing that touched me and felt the aural evidence, if all went well, could translate into a meaningful CD experience. Odean immediately took to the idea of recording solo outside, and Marc, after his outdoors recording experience years earlier with Joe McPhee and David Prentice (which resulted in the remarkable and unique Inside Out [CIMP 120], felt it could be engineered successfully.
This date was originally scheduled for a week earlier but forecasts of inclement weather and excessive heat and humidity necessitated a rescheduling. The outlook for these two days was not much better but I decided to take the chance that windows of acceptable weather would exist.
At 8 p.m. we began the evening session, amidst three colorful umbrellas: one over the mics and two over Odean to guard him and his instrument against the intermittent rain and mist, all the while trying to be as unobtrusive as possible yet at the same time let the human improvisations (including the occasional passing car) mix in a natural fashion with the improvisations of birds, bugs, rain, and wind. Odean opened with The Lord’s Prayer and over the next couple hours we recorded a number of single takes of which Wade in the Water, Morning Prayer, There Is a Balm in Gilead, Go Down Moses, Standin’ in the Need of Prayer appear on this release.
The plan for the next morning was to turn Odean loose, free to roam so to speak. I was supposed to wake Odean at 4:30 a.m. and we’d begin recording around 5 a.m. Instead, I awoke a bit after 4 a.m. to the sounds of Odean, already playing outside. Odean had been up since about 3:30 a.m. talking with Byard Lancaster, who had accompanied Odean on the trip. He then got up and began playing at 4 a.m. The rain began again at 5 a.m., just as we were about to begin recording. Marc scrambled and quickly set up a portable system (umbrella in one hand, mics in the other) that allowed him to follow Odean’s wanderings. I followed Odean with an umbrella in my hand, shielding a good part of him and all of his sax in an attempt to keep his pads dry.
Odean immediately launched into a reprise of Where We’ll Never Grow Old and I think the inspired performance speaks for itself. It occurred to me that the lighthouse concept was appropriate for Odean as a symbol for the decades of his teaching and mentoring of aspiring artists as well as his consistent and thoughtful music credibility which has produced a body of behavior and work that has served as a lighthouse for many in their search.
As I stood shielding Odean and sax from the rain and soaking up the sounds and vibrations of his muse, it occurred to me how key improvisation is to success, be it material or spiritual. One cannot change the moment. A month earlier I had been inspired by Odean as he wandered the grounds, playing with the birds on a cool, clear, and crisp morning. And here it was a warm (mid 70s), humid, overcast and rainy morning, but this was the moment and Odean responded to its stimuli; a different moment, different stimuli, and different responses. I have no doubt that under different conditions equal brilliance could emerge. Or not. But I have an equal certainty that to try to recapture or re-create a moment always would be less than successful and to work against the moment would be foolish.
It was quite a sight. Picture the engineer—barefooted, headphones on his ears, in one hand holding a brightly colored umbrella, recording equipment in the other—shadowing the saxophonist as he walked around the grounds. Following was the producer, his own brightly colored umbrella angled over Odean’s head and sax, trying to keep in sync with Odean’s movements. At times Odean stood still while at others he roamed at a reasonably brisk pace (considering he’s playing a sax at the same time), occasionally bobbing into a bucking motion between earth and sky. (Let me tell you, there’s more to this umbrella technique than meets the eye and it necessitated some quick on-the-job learning on my part.) At one point, as the rain began to increase, Odean brought a section to a close and I figured we would retreat to the cover of the house, but inexplicably he launched into The Star Spangled Banner (perhaps an editorial comment to the few notes of “Dixie” preceding it), a piece never even referenced or suggested in our conferences leading up to this date. Odean had mentioned “America the Beautiful,” but mindful of his wife’s suggestion that it would be hard to improve upon Ray Charles’ interpretation, he chose not to reference it.
The sky cleared during a break about 7 a.m. and Odean grabbed some bells and went back out. After making a verbal spiritual invocation he launched into an invention which eventually segued into I Shall Not Be Moved. It was around this time the occasional automobile sounds were in greater evidence as commuter traffic began, but even that crescendo and diminishing Doppler effect often seemed in concert with the whole.
It was during Kum Ba Ya/Hallelujah that Odean began to stroll further afield. In his extended strolls around the grounds, Odean occasionally would pivot at such a sharp angle it necessitated Marc’s maneuvering quickly over the flora in order to remain ahead/in front of Odean in the attempt to keep him “on mic.” At other times he had Marc (barefooted) walking backwards through puddles and over gravel.
The final set began around 8:15 a.m. with Odean doing a free form exploration. Then we were through and the rain resumed in greater strength.
Robert D. Rusch - June 27, 2006
During the post production of putting together this document, I realized how quickly the ambiance of the space changed. Unlike working in The Spirit Room or even in a club setting where the space is somewhat consistent, the natural outdoors with the irregularities of natural sound—birds, wind, rain, etc.—becomes very striking when segments are taken from the whole cloth. And because of that the whole of this project seems much more a series of individual segments and, compared to any other CIMP/CIMPol production prior to this issue, plays through as a less homogeneous program. Under close inspection, to try to artificially “blend” this would not work and would have defeated a large element of the objective. Marc instead suggested we increase the usual spacing between the tracks to lessen the audio changes. This also helps the listener contemplate the preceding track. There are a number of ways to approach this work but, bottom line is, the music’s emotional and intellectual elements are in place and offer much to satisfy.
RDR - July 22, 2006