A Wonderful Niche - Dave Pike Set
-
Artist:
Hey All! My first post at MOG (what a great place!). I can't help but want to spread the word about The Dave Pike Set a bit more around here. This band fills an incredible gap between Psychedelic Rock and Jazz without being the least bit Fusion-y. The music exudes the feel of the late 60's with no doubt, yet with top shelf musicianship all around.
Pike came out of the Cal Tjader school of early/mid 60's Brazilian Jazz vibe playing, and really lept to another level when he formed his "Set." When I first bumped into this group's music, the phrase "Where have you been all my life?" rang in my head.
The fantastic 1969 album "Noisy Silence - Gentle Noise," (or the slightly more out there 1970 "Infra-Red") is sure to be a worthwhile listening exercise for any ear that loves adventurous instrumental 60's rock. The music goes from ballad-like peacefulness, to all out twisted psychedelic madness, to groovy Sunday afternoon smiles.
My question to the knowledgeable: Did any other groups hit this thin line between Jazz and Psychedelic Rock like The Dave Pike Set? It seems an awfully narrow bulls-eye to hit. Was there room for more than one artist there around 1969-1970? I'd love to find more of the same.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (8)
welcome...I have a bunch of Dave Pike,but not this album,so thanks for that tip..maybe somebody like Brian Auger..and I'd also mention early Ohio Players and Kool and the Gang or War prior to their more straight ahead funk offerings of the mid 70's. Some of the "spiritual jazz" cats like Gary Bartz (The two Harlem bush Music Albums) or the "Afro-Rock" of Cymande,Mandrill, Osibisa, Black Heat, Catalyst,or Demon Fuzz. You can find samples of most of the afro rock on my page. There's also a bunch of kraut rock and british stuff that might fit here, like maybe the Jack Bruce "Jazz" records, but without actually hearing this Dave Pike, I'm not absolutely sure. I have a comp that covers Set material from 69-72 on him and I'm checking it now I'd say the closest thing I know would be the afro-rock stuff and Brian Auger..Truth is though, when it comes to vibes playing in this style Dave Pike is the man..To me the vibes make it. On the guitar side, some Grant Green material might work as well. Here's something from Grant Green..Live at the club Mozambique-Farid.
I see you have a bunch of Roy Ayers..his ealry (post-Atlantic though) stuff might fit and I always liked what he did on Herbie Mann's Memphis Underground..And then for some psych/jazz I'd also make a bee line for David Axelrod material..solo and the Electric Prunes records he did. I do go on..sorry. Dug your collection.
Welcome, I see you've already met Cody, he gets rather excited at times but to share in his expertise of all things musical really can be a lot of fun.
I think you're going to like it here.
Mog
On
B42, thank you. So far this seems to be a place for the musically obsessed - perfect for me.
Cody, thanks for so many insightful suggestions. As an Afro-Funk, Afro-Beat fan, I will certainly look into your Afro-Rock suggestions. Though what I have of the early/mid 70's Afro-Funk/Beat genre (about 2.5 Gigs of MP3's), I don't intrinsically see a direct correlation to Dave Pike. None-the-less, I love new music suggestions. Thanks!
"Spiritual Jazz?" Awesome. As long as it isn't "free jazz" like, I bet I'll love the stuff. Funny how one can like so much stuff in this ball pack, but not dig things like free jazz or true early 70's fusion. I'm odd that way.
David Axelrod has been interesting to my ear. Grant Green doesn't quite hit the Pike Set thing as far as I've heard. Early Ohio Players and Cool & The Gang? Now *that's* something I've steered away from but will now seek out regardless of whether they hit the Dave Pike Set target.
Definitely seek out the Noisy Silence and Infra-Red albums. Well worth it.
What I call Afro-Rock (I think I made this genre up) mostly refers to late 60's - early 70's bands that were marketed as "African", perhaps explored African themes (Osibisa),but were usually from France, England,or the US, sometimes with Caribbean influence (Cymande)..
Sometimes the "spiritual jazz" (The Black Jazz Label, Tribe Records, The Pharoahs, those two gary Bartz records)cats brought a litte funk to the mix, but there was some free too...and I think the funk is what Dave Pike brought (certainly compared to his earlier records). But I 'spose I'd call what he was doing, groove jazz, the kind of stuff the early 90's Acid Jazz people were digging out of their crates. Dave Pike's Mathar was a big one for them..
At any rate I'm glad you are around and I see you dig some grooves, so if my suggestions aren't perfect Pike I understand. I will offer a guarantee of their funkiness though.
Don't hold out on those afro-beats too long.
Cheers
i was about to ask if you had any of their music to go along w/ the post because i'd never heard them...then i saw Cody's BIG red button. you know what they say, if it was a bear...i'd be dead meat! :) great jazzy blend.
I'm getting what looks like a 403 error when trying to upload a song to the original post. I'm new to MOG. Perhaps one can't add a song after the original post is published? Can't see how to add a tune here in comments. Sorry. I'll aim to add music moving forward. I didn't realize how easy it was (if it wasn't erroring, that is).
sometimes it's an easy answer, like make sure the song file is an mp3 type not mp4 or anything. that is my two cents. i don't know how to add songs in comments either.