Power Tools - Bill Frisell Melvin Gibbs Ronald Shannon Jackson - The Bottom Line, NYC Sept. 10, 1988

This was one of the more unlikely bands to have made a record and toured. When you think Ronald Shannon Jackson and Melvin Gibbs, the Decoding Society is what comes to mind, next generation extensions of Ornette Coleman's harmolodics. But Bill Frisell??? This power trio was genius to have been conceived, and the unusual pairing worked really well, largely because all three players have (or had in the case of Jackson) really large ears and a sense of adventure (recall that Jackson held down the rhythm in Last Exit, the Brotzmann/Laswell/Sharrock/Jackson experiment in extreme noise).

Frisell got to let his freak flag fly in this trio, with lots of his 1980s Electro-Harmonix Memory Man loopiness (see in particular Unscientific Americans 1:04:53), distortion and near-feedback, while being propelled by Jackson's polyrhythmic jackhammer drumming and Gibbs's aggressive avant-funk bass lines. In my mind Jackson isn't nearly as well-known as he should be. Apart from his Decoding Society recordings, Last Exit and Power Tools, Jackson has the distinction of having played in the bands of so many legendary jazz artists, including Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, etc.

As far as I know, this is the only US performance by this band. All other live recordings I have seen were from a European tour that they did this same year. Power Tools did 2 shows this night. This is the late show. A friend of mine recorded the early show, which I have and may upload in the future.

A few more notes:
1. The encore is the old Righteous Brothers' hit Unchained Melody. This is a few years before that song was brought back into popular consciousness with its extensive use in the film Ghost (starring Whoopi Goldberg). An unlikely choice of tune for this band but it works (is there any tune that Frisell can't make sound great?).
2. The Schalmei song revolves around Jackson's playing a schalmei, which is an unusual three-horned instrument that was popularized by the German communist party in the 1920s.
3. Be sure to check out Gibbs's A Song Is Not Enough, a beautiful composition that was a great vehicle for Frisell's melodic improvisation.
4. This is the last show I ever recorded. My short three-year venture as a bootlegger came to an end as a result of greater responsibilities in my life. With this upload, I have achieved my goal of putting all of my recordings from many decades ago on YouTube for the world to enjoy. That doesn't mean I am done sharing old recordings with the world. I have many more recordings from the late 20th century that I will continue to upload, but they are tapes I acquired from others.

Ronald Shannon Jackson -drums
Bill Frisell - guitar
Melvin Gibbs - bass

00:00 Wadmalaw Island (M Gibbs)
10:06 Blame and Shame (RS Jackson)
21:57 In Sheep's Clothing (RS Jackson)
35:40 Schalmei Song (RS Jackson)
51:35 Bass solo/A Song Is Not Enough (M Gibbs)
58:02 Strange Meeting (B Frisell)
1:03:46 banter
1:04:53 Unscientific Americans (B Frisell)
1:11:44 Unchained Melody (A North / H Zaret)

Recorded with a Sony Walkman Pro D6C with Sony ECM-102 stereo microphone. Uploaded solely for educational purposes and historical interest. Enjoy.