Sound and Gramavision

Art58Koen's recent guest post about Ryko...

...got me thinking about other labels which hosted interesting artists and Gramavision came to mind. In fact, there's a direct connection between the two, as Ryko took over the label in 1994.

So, who was on Gramavision?

Like Ryko, its artist roster was very eclectic and included acts as diverse as Terry Riley, Robert Wyatt, Taj Mahal, Klaus Schultze, Kitaro, the Kronos Quartet, the JBs and Bernie Worrel. It was also the label where I managed to find albums by a couple of guitarists to whom I'd been introduced by the flexi-discs that used to be included every month by "Guitar Player" magazine in the 1980s - John Scofield and Kazumi Watanabe. Totally coincidentally, the latter of these links to another of Koen's posts, as Watanabe played on one of Ryuichi Sakamoto's Gruppo Musicale albums.

John Scofield came to prominence in the early 1980s when he was in Miles Davis' band and the Gramavision album of his that I've selected for this screed was released just after he left. "Blue Matter" was produced by Steve Swallow and features Sco with Dennis Chambers on drums, Gary Grainger on bass, Mitchel Forman on keys, Don Alias on percussion and also fellow guitarist Hiram Bullock on a few tracks. It's quite a funky album and the guitar is very bluesy in places, although Scofield has chops aplenty to go way outside the pentatonic boxes. Stand out track for me is "The Nag" which has a relentless (nagging?) backdrop as the guitarist plays repetitive figures which tug as if trying to get free. It's also the most Milesish track and would have fitted well in the trumpeter's repertoire of the mid 1980s.

Another link to one of Art58Koen's posts, in this instance to some of the dub artists he mentions, appears in the credits for Kazumi Watanabe's "Mobo I & II" Gramavision release. Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare help out, as well as Omar Hakim, Marcus Miller, Don Grolnick, Michael Brecker and Steve Jordan. Watanabe & Co take a lively approach to what might otherwise have been just another jazz rock album and there's quite a pronounced dub vibe going on at times. A certain playfulness often creeps into the compositions and arrangements so that the whole album avoids being too cerebral, although there's no shortage of technically stunning playing. "Half Blood", in particular, really boots along and Watanabe's improvisatory flair shines through. There's a lot of emphasis on groove, and some tracks feature two drummers and two bassists which keeps things interesting on the rhythm front. "Shang-Hi" could almost be a mid-1980s Miles Davis track, which never occurred to me until I started choosing the music for this screed. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated Miles' influence on people at that time! 

Just like Ryko, Gramavision released samplers but I've only managed to track one of them down - "Alternate Currents". It focuses on some of the more jazz-based artists in their catalogue and there are a few familiar names here - John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Medeski Martin & Wood, Charlie Haden and Bobby Previte. However, it's the last track, "On a Country Road", which really stands out for me. Clarinettist and leader John Carter plays a strange kind of trilling line over a sort of blues which gets a little New Orleans'ish with a cornet solo towards the end and then the track very gradually dies away after a harmonica comes in. It's a quite remarkable track - very rootsy and rhythmic but somehow cool and understated at the same time. I think I'll have to try and hear more by Carter...

I'm so out of touch with the current state of the music business that I really have no idea of what labels exist today, who's on them and who owns them. Gone is that instant recognition factor - "Ooh, that's an Island label record!" and, ditto, the curiosity - "I wonder who it's by?"

There'll be a question in the comments below if you want to win this Gramavision stuff!