Recorded in 1965 with Milford Graves (percussion, drums), Gary Peacock (bass), Davidson (piano)." "This recording is the only one made by Lowell Davidson that is commercially available. The beauty of the music on this CD is only a snippet in a long career of beautiful music created by this great, but elusive artist... Jackie McLean once described Monk and Bud Powell as being 'in a state of grace'. That is how I would describe Lowell. He was extremely brilliant, his sincerity and commitment to creativity was profound. The rhetoric he used to describe his music was very rarefied and reflected his background in church music and science (and perhaps hallucinogens). He talked about the upper partials of a tone, his desire to manipulate them and their effect on the biochemisty of the brain. Lowell felt that if you could expand the consciousness of people with music it would have a molecular effect and cause their brain matter to evolve. He also described hallucinations he had as if they were real and seemed fearless about peering into the darkest parts of his own thoughts." -- Joe Morris
Ornette Coleman urged ESP to record this gifted pianist, who was then a graduate student in biochemistry at Harvard. Art Crist engineered the session at Bell Sound on July 27, 1965, in the afternoon. Lowell was a person of great warmth, modesty and charm. A terrible lab accident caused permanent injuries. He died at 50 |