''Echo'' is a
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
released by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
Dave Burrell
Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell (born September 10, 1940) is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.
Biography
Born in Middletown, Ohio, United Sta ...
. It was recorded on August 13, 1969, and first released as an
LP album
The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...
by
BYG Actuel
BYG Records was a French record label known for the Actuel series specializing in free jazz. However, the label released a handful of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Terry Riley, Freedom and Gong.
History
BYG Reco ...
. It was re-released twice, first again on LP by Get Back Records in 2001 before finding its way to
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
in 2004 via Sunspots Records.
Burrell had been part of an
all-star
An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry.
Sports
"All-star" as a sport ...
group led by
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
Biography Early life
Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
that played during the 1969
Pan-African Festival in
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
. While there,
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
journalists from
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
were on hand and mentioned to Burrell the possibility recording in the city. Deciding on such a venture, Burrell remarked that he "remembered the sound of the ambulances and the police cars in Algiers and that unstable interval of an
augmented fourth
Augment or augmentation may refer to:
Language
*Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages
* Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns ...
and thought that was the interval that I wanted to put into 'Echo'." The recording was Burrell's way of honouring the group, since all were involved in the album.
It has been said that the album as a whole "is
monster of an LP" and "a curiously
schizophrenic
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
set."
['']The Penguin Guide to Jazz
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...
'' by Richard Cook, Brian Morton, et al. pg 189.
Reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
marvels at the talented
ensemble whose members are each "simply blowing or pounding his respective brains out" in the first track that "becomes pleasantly numbing after a while." They even say that "if ''Echo'' isn't the noisiest jazz song in the world, it's damned close."
''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...
'' remarks that ''Echo'' is "a swirling, all-in blast that palls very quickly."
Both sources mention that the second track is more structured and is welcomed after the first song's barrage. Still, ''The Penguin Guide'' says that "this is a historical document, hard to listen to now."
In response, Burrell has mentioned in interviews that "The French did not know how to record the music, nor did anybody else. The dials were going wild and nobody really knew how to mix it back then."
Track listing
All tracks by Dave Burrell
Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell (born September 10, 1940) is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.
Biography
Born in Middletown, Ohio, United Sta ...
#"Echo" — 20:21
#"Peace" — 22:04
Personnel
Band:
*
Dave Burrell
Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell (born September 10, 1940) is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.
Biography
Born in Middletown, Ohio, United Sta ...
— piano, arranger, liner notes
*
Arthur Jones — saxophone (
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
)
*
Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III (June 3, 1937 – June 3, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.
Biography
Born in New York City, United States, (his paternal gra ...
—
trombone
The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
*
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.
Biography
Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...
— bass,
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
s
*
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
Biography Early life
Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
—
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
(
tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
)
*
Alan Silva
Alan Lee da Silva (born 22 January 1939, in Bermuda) is an American free jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known as a double bassist. He has recorded on keyboards, violin, cello and trumpet among other instruments.
Biography
Silva was born a ...
—
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*
Clifford Thornton
Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, political activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s.
Career
Clifford was born in Phil ...
—
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
Production:
*Jacques Bisceglia — coordination
*Claude Delcloo — executive producer
*Claude Jauvert — engineer
*Philippe Gras — photography
*Jean Luc Young, Jean Georgakarakos — producers
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1969 albums
Post-bop albums
Free jazz albums
Avant-garde jazz albums
Dave Burrell albums
BYG Actuel albums