Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams
Recorded live in 1980, 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' is a rare document of Mexico's first free jazz ensemble Atrás del Cosmos, an inventive, surreal and spiritual session that's a must-hear for fans of Cecil Taylor or Don Cherry.
Atrás del Cosmos was founded way back in 1975 by pianist Ana Ruiz, saxophonist Henry West and percussionist Evry Mann, named after the space where they lived and rehearsed: a building behind (atrás) the Cosmos cinema in Mexico City. They performed weekly, inviting various local artists to collaborate and mentoring fascinated young improvisers, but although they were a legendary presence in Mexico whose influence can still be felt, the band recorded infrequently, only releasing a single tape before they splintered in 1983. 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' catches the band at their peak, with double-bassist Claudio Enriquez joining the core trio to run through a suite of original tracks, trad standards and smartly-picked covers.
Impassioned versions of Ornette Coleman's 'What Reason', Kenny Wheeler's 'Baba' and Dave Liebman's 'M.D' straddle vertiginous compositions that show off the group's prodigious talents. Ruiz shines on opening track 'Cold Drinks', turning frantic runs into hypnotic, blues-laced minimalism while West adds dextrous, curvaceous horn improvisations. And on Mann's own 'Clapping Hand II' he plays a bewitching solo on balafon, a gourd-resonated West African xylophone, that sounds utterly singular. Why it's taken four decades for this material to reach the wider world is beyond us - Atrás del Cosmos are the real deal.
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Recorded live in 1980, 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' is a rare document of Mexico's first free jazz ensemble Atrás del Cosmos, an inventive, surreal and spiritual session that's a must-hear for fans of Cecil Taylor or Don Cherry.
Atrás del Cosmos was founded way back in 1975 by pianist Ana Ruiz, saxophonist Henry West and percussionist Evry Mann, named after the space where they lived and rehearsed: a building behind (atrás) the Cosmos cinema in Mexico City. They performed weekly, inviting various local artists to collaborate and mentoring fascinated young improvisers, but although they were a legendary presence in Mexico whose influence can still be felt, the band recorded infrequently, only releasing a single tape before they splintered in 1983. 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' catches the band at their peak, with double-bassist Claudio Enriquez joining the core trio to run through a suite of original tracks, trad standards and smartly-picked covers.
Impassioned versions of Ornette Coleman's 'What Reason', Kenny Wheeler's 'Baba' and Dave Liebman's 'M.D' straddle vertiginous compositions that show off the group's prodigious talents. Ruiz shines on opening track 'Cold Drinks', turning frantic runs into hypnotic, blues-laced minimalism while West adds dextrous, curvaceous horn improvisations. And on Mann's own 'Clapping Hand II' he plays a bewitching solo on balafon, a gourd-resonated West African xylophone, that sounds utterly singular. Why it's taken four decades for this material to reach the wider world is beyond us - Atrás del Cosmos are the real deal.
Recorded live in 1980, 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' is a rare document of Mexico's first free jazz ensemble Atrás del Cosmos, an inventive, surreal and spiritual session that's a must-hear for fans of Cecil Taylor or Don Cherry.
Atrás del Cosmos was founded way back in 1975 by pianist Ana Ruiz, saxophonist Henry West and percussionist Evry Mann, named after the space where they lived and rehearsed: a building behind (atrás) the Cosmos cinema in Mexico City. They performed weekly, inviting various local artists to collaborate and mentoring fascinated young improvisers, but although they were a legendary presence in Mexico whose influence can still be felt, the band recorded infrequently, only releasing a single tape before they splintered in 1983. 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' catches the band at their peak, with double-bassist Claudio Enriquez joining the core trio to run through a suite of original tracks, trad standards and smartly-picked covers.
Impassioned versions of Ornette Coleman's 'What Reason', Kenny Wheeler's 'Baba' and Dave Liebman's 'M.D' straddle vertiginous compositions that show off the group's prodigious talents. Ruiz shines on opening track 'Cold Drinks', turning frantic runs into hypnotic, blues-laced minimalism while West adds dextrous, curvaceous horn improvisations. And on Mann's own 'Clapping Hand II' he plays a bewitching solo on balafon, a gourd-resonated West African xylophone, that sounds utterly singular. Why it's taken four decades for this material to reach the wider world is beyond us - Atrás del Cosmos are the real deal.
Recorded live in 1980, 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' is a rare document of Mexico's first free jazz ensemble Atrás del Cosmos, an inventive, surreal and spiritual session that's a must-hear for fans of Cecil Taylor or Don Cherry.
Atrás del Cosmos was founded way back in 1975 by pianist Ana Ruiz, saxophonist Henry West and percussionist Evry Mann, named after the space where they lived and rehearsed: a building behind (atrás) the Cosmos cinema in Mexico City. They performed weekly, inviting various local artists to collaborate and mentoring fascinated young improvisers, but although they were a legendary presence in Mexico whose influence can still be felt, the band recorded infrequently, only releasing a single tape before they splintered in 1983. 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' catches the band at their peak, with double-bassist Claudio Enriquez joining the core trio to run through a suite of original tracks, trad standards and smartly-picked covers.
Impassioned versions of Ornette Coleman's 'What Reason', Kenny Wheeler's 'Baba' and Dave Liebman's 'M.D' straddle vertiginous compositions that show off the group's prodigious talents. Ruiz shines on opening track 'Cold Drinks', turning frantic runs into hypnotic, blues-laced minimalism while West adds dextrous, curvaceous horn improvisations. And on Mann's own 'Clapping Hand II' he plays a bewitching solo on balafon, a gourd-resonated West African xylophone, that sounds utterly singular. Why it's taken four decades for this material to reach the wider world is beyond us - Atrás del Cosmos are the real deal.
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Recorded live in 1980, 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' is a rare document of Mexico's first free jazz ensemble Atrás del Cosmos, an inventive, surreal and spiritual session that's a must-hear for fans of Cecil Taylor or Don Cherry.
Atrás del Cosmos was founded way back in 1975 by pianist Ana Ruiz, saxophonist Henry West and percussionist Evry Mann, named after the space where they lived and rehearsed: a building behind (atrás) the Cosmos cinema in Mexico City. They performed weekly, inviting various local artists to collaborate and mentoring fascinated young improvisers, but although they were a legendary presence in Mexico whose influence can still be felt, the band recorded infrequently, only releasing a single tape before they splintered in 1983. 'Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams' catches the band at their peak, with double-bassist Claudio Enriquez joining the core trio to run through a suite of original tracks, trad standards and smartly-picked covers.
Impassioned versions of Ornette Coleman's 'What Reason', Kenny Wheeler's 'Baba' and Dave Liebman's 'M.D' straddle vertiginous compositions that show off the group's prodigious talents. Ruiz shines on opening track 'Cold Drinks', turning frantic runs into hypnotic, blues-laced minimalism while West adds dextrous, curvaceous horn improvisations. And on Mann's own 'Clapping Hand II' he plays a bewitching solo on balafon, a gourd-resonated West African xylophone, that sounds utterly singular. Why it's taken four decades for this material to reach the wider world is beyond us - Atrás del Cosmos are the real deal.