''Fire in the Valley'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before s ...

, which was recorded live at the Fire in the Valley Festival in 1996 and released on the

Eremite A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

label. He leads a trio with bassist John Voigt and drummer Laurence Cook, the same lineup as the previous studio album ''

Tri-P-Let ''Tri-P-Let'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded in 1996 and became the first release on the Eremite label. It was Moondoc's first recording since 1985. He leads a trio with two Boston based musicians: bassi ...

''.''Fire in the Valley''
at Eremite

Reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Thom Jurek notes about Moondoc "Unlike many free jazzers who try to blow the guts out of the horn each and every time they improvise, he digs deep into the jazz tradition for his material... His tone is more reminiscent of Jackie McLean's while his playing style comes from the same place that

Charles Tyler Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, GCB (1760 – 28 September 1835) was a naval officer in the British Royal Navy who gained fame during the Napoleonic Wars as a naval captain that fought at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) and Battle of Trafalgar, beco ...

's does." '' The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' says that the album "is a tough, often abrasive and, to be honest, slightly unrelieved set which doesn't benefit from a recording which makes no effort to buff up the blunter edges." The All About Jazz review by Derek Taylor states "Cook and Voigt bustle back and forth between volcanic eruptions and quieter dispersions, and Moondoc’s sound is similarly varied between raw, raucous honks and elongated, emotionally charged lines."Taylor, Derek
''Fire in the Valley'' review
at All About Jazz

Track listing

:''All compositions by Jemeel Moondoc'' #"Fire in the Valley" - 39:51 #"Encore" - 1:28

Personnel

- alto sax *Laurence Cook -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*John Voigt -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

References

{{Authority control 1997 live albums Jemeel Moondoc live albums Eremite Records live albums