Why has it taken 40-odd years for saxophonist Alan Braufman’s much-beloved debut and sole solo album to get the reissue treatment when flocks of talentless shitbirds are blessed with re-release campaigns every year?
Ultimately, you can wrestle with questions all you want; it’s answers that matter. And what’s IS REALLY IMPORTANT is that Braufman’s cacophonous Valley of Search is being reissued for the first time ever (remastered and with new liner notes) on Friday, June 28 by Valley of Search (a label set up for this release, but with future goodies expected).
The album is a must-have for anyone whose pulse quickens when hearing furious dissonance, honking volume, screeching high notes, and LOTS of clangor, bells, and wails. Recorded in a NYC loft-front at 501 Canal St. by Bob Cummins and issued on his India Navigation label in 1975, Valley of Search features one of many creams of the 1970s New York avant-garde crop in loose- but-elastic action.
With Braufman on alto saxophone, Cooper-Moore (then Gene Ashton) on piano and dulcimer, Cecil McBee on bass, David Lee on drums, and Ralph Williams on wild percussion; Valley of Search is not simply a document of the West Side free jazz scene and spirit in the mid-70s — it’s also a record of the incredible playing by this selfless team of musicians in an extremely sympathetic setting. Check out the trailer and tracklisting below before searching out the DL and LP of Valley of Search here.
A very special one-off show at National Sawdust in Brooklyn featuring Braufman and Cooper-Moore with a full band playing Valley of Search and more is also happening on August 3. Infos for that are here.
Valley of Search tracklisting:
01. Rainbow Warriors
02. Chant
03. Thankfulness
04. Love Is for Real
05. Forshadow
06. Miracles
07. Ark of Salvation
08. Little Nabil’s March
09. Destiny
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