David S. Ware Quartet Godspelized (DIW, 1996)
Reviewed by Micah Holmquist
May 3, 2000

David S. Ware (tenor saxophone),
Susie Ibarra (drums),
William Parker (bass),
Matthew Shipp (piano)

It is no more than slight hyperbole to say that the title track, which opens Godspelized, is one of the most beautiful recordings ever. David S. Ware begins by copping an immediately apparent gospel riff with his tenor sax and then expanding on it for a little less than the first half of this nearly 16 minute long piece. What makes this performance by Ware, who wrote this and all abut one of the other six tracks on this disc, especially impressive is that he never loses sight of the blues tinged spiritual motif even as he makes his noodles and squeaks. This isn’t an example of a player using a conventional theme and then expanding on it wildly because Ware never leaves aside the theme. He is always integrating it into the sound.

The three backing musicians —Susie Ibarra, William Parker, and Matthew Shipp- all show well on "Godspelized" as well as the rest of the disc. Ibarra creates her signature sound, which owes as much to indigenous percussion patterns as it does to standard jazz drumming. The piano work of Shipp displays his usual mix of classical, avant, and mainstream jazz influences while Parker is generally content to stay in the background with his bass. This is no knock on his work, however, as Parker is often at his best when he playing behind others.

Still there should be little doubt that this is Ware’s show. On these recordings, done in New York City studio on May 3 and 4, 1996, he plays all over the map and dictates the pace and mood of each piece. On "Inner Temple", for instance, it is his sound that the other players react to and his pace that they follow. The result is an impressive free sax workout that never loses sight of some of the more "standard" elements of jazz that are more associated with people like Ware’s mentor Sonny Rollins than they are with Ware himself.

Godspelized closes just as it began with the quartet playing the title track. The second version lasts less than 5 minutes but has all of the major themes found in the first. It appears as if at any moment that Ware could just walk away from convention but he doesn’t he stays disciplined and the results are wonderful.

Return to Digital Pudding/Writings on Music
Return to The International Home of Micah Holmquist