Horace Tapscott

• THE TAPSCOTT SESSIONS

These recordings on the Nimbus label (seven volume), feature a mixture of Tapscott's compositions, works by unknown composers in the Los Angeles area, and those of more noted writers. They give an intimate glimpse of the man and his musical mind and document the ebullient approach to improvising that characterized his work.

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THE TAPSCOTT SESSONS VOLUME 5 - JANUARY 1984

An experimental side of Tapscott emerges on Volume 5 (January 1984). He probes the inner components of his instrument by coaxing out eerie and mysterious tones from the piano strings on the appropriately titled "Stringeurisms". It is a rare chance to hear him in a fully liberated and freeform mode of expression where he allows the purity of the sound to take precedence over his intricate theme construction. This same expressiveness spills over to other songs on the recording, making it a more open and advanced set. Still, he does not abandon the rich melodic framework that characterizes his music, and those traits reappear on "Blues in Pirouette". In keeping with his determination to showcase Los Angeles Black composers, Tapscott tackles Samuel Browne's "Perfumes in the Night", and he portrays it in a nostalgic way with moody, pensive referrals to the lovely theme surrounded by his intricate diversionary tactics. The sad blues undercurrent returns on the highly resonant "Hy-Pockets' Swan Song", where the cascading left hand tonality of the Steinway competes aggressively with the theme-drenched right. Tapscott appears heavy of heart on this date, but then again, that trait often drove his best performances.

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Stringeurisms
• A2. I'll Have One When It's Over
• A3. Blues In Pirouette

• SIDE B
• 01. Perfumes in the Night
• 02.Hy-Pocket's Swan Song