Originally issued on the small
Survival label and re-released by
Knit Classics in 2000,
Swift Are the Winds of Life represents one of the absolute finest examples of
Jenkins' violin playing outside of his
Revolutionary Ensemble and arguably one of
Rashied Ali's greatest recordings aside from
Interstellar Space, his legendary duo session with
John Coltrane. A violin/drums duo may strike some as strange and unwieldy, but these musicians pull it off so well one never even considers any "lack" of depth or richness.
Jenkins, more than any other violinist working in the
jazz avant-garde, retained the cry of the
blues even in his most abstract playing. In the title track, his plaintive, keening attack, from the delicate theme through its complex elaborations, is searing and supremely moving.
Ali, in the tradition of
Max Roach and
Ed Blackwell, draws out the deeply musical tones in his drums, sometimes providing accompaniment for
Jenkins, more often nestling in as equal partner. The compositions, all by
Jenkins, range from torrid and in-your-face (
"The Stomp") to bluesy to abstract, none of them especially difficult for the new listener. A very fine (if all too short) recording, one of the best to emerge from the New York City "loft
jazz" scene of the '70s. ~ Brian Olewnick
