''Ketchaoua'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer

Clifford Thornton Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s. Career Clifford was born in Philadelphia. ...

. It was recorded in August 1969 at Studio Saravah in Paris, and was released by the Actuel label later that year. On the album, Thornton is heard on cornet, and is joined by saxophonists Arthur Jones and

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 ...

, trombonist

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 gran ...

, pianist Dave Burrell, bassists

Beb Guérin Bernard "Beb" Guérin (December 22, 1941 in La Rochelle – November 14, 1980 in Paris) was a French jazz double-bassist. Beb Guérin first began playing bass at age 23, working in the 1960s with Sonny Criss, Jacques Coursil, François Tusques, Ala ...

and

Earl Freeman Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, and drummers Sunny Murray and Claude Delcloo. The album was recorded shortly after Thornton, as a member of Archie Shepp's group, visited Algiers and participated in the recording of '' Live at the Pan-African Festival'', which featured Shepp's ensemble supplemented by several North African musicians. ''Ketchaoua'' is named after the district in Algiers where the musicians performed. The recording took place as part of a marathon week-long BYG session during which Shepp also recorded ''

Yasmina, a Black Woman ''Yasmina, a Black Woman'' is a jazz album by Archie Shepp, recorded in 1969 in Paris for BYG Actuel. It features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The first track, giving its title to the album, is a long free jazz piece by an 11-piece ...

'', '' Poem for Malcolm'', and ''

Blasé Blasé may refer to: * ''Blasé'' (album), an album by Archie Shepp * "Blasé" (song), a 2015 song by Ty Dolla Sign {{disambiguation ...

'', and which also yielded albums by artists such as Sunny Murray (''

Homage to Africa ''Homage to Africa'' (also released as ''Hommage to Africa'') is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Records, BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined ...

'' and '' Sunshine''), the

Art Ensemble Of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

(''

Message to Our Folks ''Message to Our Folks'' is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for the French BYG Actuel label.Reese and the Smooth Ones ''Reese and the Smooth Ones'' is a 1969 album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for the French BYG Actuel label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Malachi Favors Maghostut. Reception The ...

''), Grachan Moncur III ('' New Africa''),

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an United States of America, American free jazz double bassist and Keyboard instrument, keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azores, Azorean/Portug ...

(''

Luna Surface ''Luna Surface'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva, recorded on August 17, 1969 and released later that year on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Silva on violin along with a la ...

''), Dave Burrell (''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

''),

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer ...

(''

What About? ''What About?'' is a solo percussion album by drummer Andrew Cyrille, his first recording under his own name. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label later that year. The album was recorded as part of a marath ...

''), and

Jimmy Lyons Jimmy Lyons (December 1, 1931 – May 19, 1986) was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor never ...

(''

Other Afternoons ''Other Afternoons'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, recorded in 1969 and released in 1970 on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Lyons on alto saxophone along with trumpe ...

''). The album was reissued by Ezz-Thetics, an imprint of Hat Hut Records, as part of the 2023 compilation ''Clifford Thornton Ketchaoua Revisited'', paired with the 1971 Arthur Jones album Scorpio.

Reception

In a 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 databa ...

, Brandon Burke wrote: "This is some very free music and, save for a handful of scored passages, almost wholly improvised. A number of the scene's top players make appearances here in different groups... At times the ensemble pieces sound like a Pan-African Morton Feldman, and at others, hazy, psychedelic post bop. Fans of brooding and contemplative improvised music will find a great deal to enjoy here. In fact, many would argue that this is the best LP under Thornton's leadership." Writing for '' Black World/Negro Digest'', Ron Welburn stated: "this music is like the old jam sessions, and is at the same time a celebration of the festival, best conveyed on 'Pan African Festival' through Burrell's piano vamps and Murray's unmatched rhythmic freshness and chanting. With the bassist, the cornetist creates a tone poem mood for 'Speak With Your Echo (And Call This Dialogue)'".

Track listing

All compositions by Clifford Thornton. # "Ketchaoua" – 12:35 # "Pan African Festival" – 7:50 # "Brotherhood" – 10:40 # "Speak With Your Echo (And Call This Dialogue)" – 9:15

Personnel

– cornet, congas *

– soprano saxophone (tracks 1 and 2) * Arthur Jones – alto saxophone (tracks 1–3) *

– trombone (tracks 1 and 2) * Dave Burrell – piano, bells (tracks 1 and 2) *

– bass *

– congas, gong, percussion (track 1), bass (tracks 2–4) * Sunny Murray – drums (tracks 1 and 2) * Claude Delcloo – drums (track 3)

References

{{authority control 1969 albums Clifford Thornton albums BYG Actuel albums