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Rootless Cosmopolitans was guitarist Marc Ribot's early and quixotic stab at commercial semi-success, a quasi-rock band filtered through free jazz and noise. Clarinetist Don Byron shares the lead instrumental work with Ribot and the two, backed by the imaginative keyboards of Anthony Coleman, certainly make for a unique ensemble sound, far more thorny than your standard rock fare. They do include covers of a couple of boomer classics, Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" (featuring a harsh backing of Ribot's disaffected vocals) and a solo Ribot rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Indeed, harshness, even a certain sourness, is one of the abiding qualities of this disc. Fans who know Ribot from the beautiful surf-inspired tones he generates in his work with John Zorn on both the latter's soundtracks and in the Bar Kokhba ensemble won't find such dulcet sounds here. Some cuts, like "The Cocktail Party," get into a bit of a Captain Beefheart-ian mode, others are reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time groups. Led by Coleman's spacy organ, the group gels in a pleasantly incoherent manner on "Nature Abhors a Vacuum Cleaner" and Byron, on bass clarinet, leads them through a tender reading of "Mood Indigo." There is a decent amount of enjoyable music here, but it's hit and miss, very much a grab-bag affair. All of the musicians involved went on to do finer work later in their careers, though, so what value Rootless Cosmopolitans retains tends toward the historical.
© Brian Olewnick /TiVo
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Sammy Cahn, ComposerLyricist - Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Weston, ComposerLyricist - Axel Stordahl, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Melvin Gibbs, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Bass Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Michael Blair, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Jimi Hendrix, ComposerLyricist - Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Melvin Gibbs, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - ARTO LINDSAY, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Samples, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Roy Nathanson, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Michael Blair, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Roy Nathanson, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Curtis Fowlkes, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Melvin Gibbs, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Roy Nathanson, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - ARTO LINDSAY, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
GEORGE HARRISON, ComposerLyricist - Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Roy Nathanson, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Curtis Fowlkes, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Organ, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer - David Sardi, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Barney Bigard, Composer - Duke Ellington, Composer - Irving Mills, ComposerLyricist - Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Bass Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Samples, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Marc Ribot, Producer, Guitar, Additional Producer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Hugo Dwyer, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BRAD JONES, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Roy Nathanson, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Don Byron, Clarinet, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Coleman, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Richie Schwarz, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Beckman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Artie Moorhead, Producer
℗ 1990 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
Rootless Cosmopolitans was guitarist Marc Ribot's early and quixotic stab at commercial semi-success, a quasi-rock band filtered through free jazz and noise. Clarinetist Don Byron shares the lead instrumental work with Ribot and the two, backed by the imaginative keyboards of Anthony Coleman, certainly make for a unique ensemble sound, far more thorny than your standard rock fare. They do include covers of a couple of boomer classics, Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" (featuring a harsh backing of Ribot's disaffected vocals) and a solo Ribot rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Indeed, harshness, even a certain sourness, is one of the abiding qualities of this disc. Fans who know Ribot from the beautiful surf-inspired tones he generates in his work with John Zorn on both the latter's soundtracks and in the Bar Kokhba ensemble won't find such dulcet sounds here. Some cuts, like "The Cocktail Party," get into a bit of a Captain Beefheart-ian mode, others are reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time groups. Led by Coleman's spacy organ, the group gels in a pleasantly incoherent manner on "Nature Abhors a Vacuum Cleaner" and Byron, on bass clarinet, leads them through a tender reading of "Mood Indigo." There is a decent amount of enjoyable music here, but it's hit and miss, very much a grab-bag affair. All of the musicians involved went on to do finer work later in their careers, though, so what value Rootless Cosmopolitans retains tends toward the historical.
© Brian Olewnick /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:46:43
- Main artists: Marc Ribot
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Universal-Island Records Ltd.
- Genre: Jazz
© 1990 Universal Island Records Ltd. A Universal Music Company. ℗ 1990 Universal Island Records Ltd. A Universal Music Company.
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