“The Most Pounce per Ounce”

1. Guesthouse

2. Carla's March

3. Portrait

4. Marco, The Volcano

5. Exciting Times

6. Sweet Pea (Mingus Dreams of Billy Strayhorn)

7. The Most Pounce per Ounce

8. Yarian Mi Tji

In 2018, sick with shame at our national disgrace, I felt that one antidote for these poisonous times was to reach beyond the geographic and cultural borders that some wanted to ossify and to make new sounds with members of the international community of musicians that have heard the message of jazz music. I have long been drawn to the free explorations of the South African exiles of the 1960s, who were no strangers to using music to save the soul in times of social and political trouble. I was fortunate that one of that scene’s most important creative forces, the drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, was still playing strong and involved with a mix of younger players in London. I was even more fortunate that he was willing to record with someone he had never met. It was a startlingly easy process to put this project together, thanks to the open and generous nature of the musicians and other creative people involved. I wrote some material for the date that I felt would make some starting points for anything-goes improvisation, and a handful of emails and a flight later, found myself in a studio on the other side of the world and taking the musical ride of a lifetime. Everything you hear on this record is a first or second take, with hardly any rehearsal or guidance needed, recorded live in studio with no edits. It was a moment of true musical honesty, and I’m very happy that I can share it.

Louis Moholo-Moholo’s adventure has been long and complex, from his days in the nascent South African jazz scene of the 1960s, his exile following the abuses of the Apartheid regime, the musical message he helped spread across Europe with the Blue Notes and Brotherhood of Breath, and all the decades of touring and recording that have followed. It is a well-documented history, too rich to be summarized here, and worth exploration by any listener new to his music. He is one of the most distinctive drummers in jazz, managing to be propulsive and energizing while always in complete dynamic and textural control. He plays from a big heart, apparent to both his bandmates and audiences. He embodies the ideals of this free music: the human needs for fluidity and improvisation, and the survival tools of spirit, integrity, and persistence.

Alexander Hawkins is a human dynamo. The kinetic force of his approach to the piano, the warmth and density of design in his improvisation, and the scope of orchestration that he keeps at his fingertips put him in a class of his own. His bond with Louis gives a musical feeling that risk is a joy- anything can be attempted, any leap can become a flight. Away from the instrument, he selflessly brings the same energy and imagination to his organization of musical projects. Scenes form and thrive because of people like him, and this recording could never have happened without his help and guidance.

I believe that musicians can be conduits for spiritual wisdom, across generations and continents. As a result, much of our composing and playing is some sort of tribute. In this album, those tributes are to Carla Bley, Marco Eneidi, Abdullah Ibrahim, Billy Strayhorn, Marilyn Crispell, and of course to Louis Moholo-Moholo.

Since this album was recorded, I have brought two children into the world, started and ended jobs, navigated the collapse of my music world during the worst of the Covid era, and watched with sadness as our wounded society has continued to injure itself. Through all of this, I struggled to find a moment in which I could dedicate myself to the business end of putting a record out. I am so grateful to Stephen Prutsman and Michael Hostetler of Phenotypic Records for giving this project the shove it needed to get over the finish line and for helping bring it to your ears. I also want to thank my friends Richard Sears, for lending his great listening skills and advice, and Michael Ehlers, for his invaluable insight into the world of this music, and his encouragement that I jump right in and make some of it myself.

And thank you, for listening.