WEBO, by Charles Gayle / Milford Graves / William Parker

WEBO

by Charles Gayle / Milford Graves / William Parker

supported by

Mr. Johnson Thank you Black Editions and the Graves Estate for making this legendary piece of history available to us. This trio is truly one of the most powerful group of musicians to take a stage.

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Pre-order of WEBO. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

Purchasable with gift card

releases June 21, 2024

$12 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Deluxe 3LP set housed in heavy tip-on box with pigment ink foil stamping, mounted film laminated cover painting by Jeff Schlanger, three printed inner sleeves with original notes by William Parker and Alan Licht, original concert flyer re-print and a five photograph portfolio in black envelope.

Includes digital pre-order of WEBO. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

shipping out on or around June 21, 2024

Purchasable with gift card

$60 USD or more

	1.	WEBO A1
	2.	WEBO B1
	3.	WEBO C1
	4.	WEBO C2
	5.	WEBO C3 08:58
	6.	WEBO D1
	7.	WEBO E1
	8.	WEBO E2
	9.	WEBO F1
	10.	WEBO F2
	11.	WEBO F3

about

A legendary concert by one of the great unrecorded bands in free jazz history is here at last. WEBO, the third installment in the Black Editions Archive series of previously unreleased recordings from Milford Graves' private tape library, roars into the station June 21, 2024. For the first time, Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker —three lions of the Black American jazz avant-garde— are finally heard together on record, presented here across three audiophile-quality LPs for two brutalizingly joyous hours of real ju-ju & musical mastery.

The trio of Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker gave only seven public performances between 1985 & 2013, & released no recordings. Their June 1991 two-night stand at the short-lived Lower East Side venue Webo, long referenced as a signal event in New York free jazz’s 1990s resurgence, has been a topic of discussion among close followers of the music for decades. In the uncompromising grassroots spirit of the 1970s New York Musicians Organization & loft jazz movements from which they had emerged, the band produced & promoted the Webo concerts themselves. Photography and audio recording were not allowed at the concerts, & this official recording, commissioned by the artists, was never released —until now.

So vivid was the lore surrounding Webo that it topped the list of recordings sought by Black Editions Archive from Graves’ private collection. The tapes maximally substantiate eyewitness accounts describing extra-sensory levels of communication within the band, & the extraordinary clarity & impact of their performance. From William Parker's liner notes: “Imagine a village or choir of drummers, horn players & strings. You can hear the bass & drums churning with a call & response, a melodic-rhythmic propulsion. In reality there is only one drummer, one bass, & one saxophone.”

Age 52 at the time of these concerts, Charles Gayle had only recently made his first recordings. To all but the most immediate insiders he was still more myth than reality. Milford Graves, two months out from his 50th birthday, was about halfway into his body of recorded work & had sanctioned just one appearance on a commercially released recording in the last 14 years (Pieces of Time by an all drummer quartet with Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, & Famoudou Don Moye). William Parker, the young man of the group at age 39, was a mere fifty entries into his discography, now 500+ entries & counting. All three musicians were at least a quarter century into passionately developing a personal & collective music rooted in the cultural values & radical aesthetics of the 1960s & ‘70s Black American avant-garde.

30+ years after the Webo concerts, Black Editions Archive is honored to make these historical recordings available to the public. The x3 LPs are presented in a heavy black, pigment-stamped box with mounted cover painting along with liner notes by William Parker, commentary from Alan Licht (witness to night one of the Webo concerts), a reproduction of the original concert flyer, & a set of 6x9 printed photos from the 2021 Webo reunion outside MoMA PS1, Queens, NY. Cover Painting by Jeff Schlanger / musicWitness, made June 8, 1991, at Webo during the band’s performance. Vinyl pressed at RTI, lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.
—Michael Ehlers, 2024

credits

releases June 21, 2024

Charles Gayle - Tenor Saxophone
Milford Graves – Drums, Vocals
William Parker – Bass

June 7 & 8, 1991 at Webo, New York City

Cover art and inner details: Jeff Schlanger,“Bond”
musicWitness® 40"×55" ink & acrylic on paper
made live at Webo June 8, 1991

Back cover photo: photographer unkown, from the collection of William Parker

Insert photos Charles Gayle & William Parker, 2021: Charlie Gross

Recording engineer unknown, from the collection of Milford Graves
Mastering Engineer: Joe Lizzi
Lacquers: Kevin Gray
Design: Rob Carmichael , SEEN
Produced by Peter Kolovos & Michael Ehlers

All music Gayle/Graves/Parker, Babi MG Music ASCAP/Centering Music BMI

Black Editions Archive, BEA-003

license

about

Milford Graves - Black Editions Archive image

Milford Graves - Black Editions Archive Queens, New York

contact / help

Contact Milford Graves - Black Editions Archive

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like WEBO, you may also like:

Sun Beans of Shimmering Light
by Wadada Leo Smith / Douglas R. Ewart / Mike Reed

supported by 35 fans who also own “WEBO”

Simply amazing to hear a new album with Wadada and Ewart!! ...And Reed rounds out this trio beautifully. Just gave it my first spin. Absolutely magical. jeffrey maurer
go to album
O Life, O Light, Vol. 1
by Zoh Amba featuring William Parker and Francisco Mela

supported by 32 fans who also own “WEBO”

This is wonderful! I look forward to Vol. 2. glancecyrus
go to album
The intellect given birth to here (eternity) is too young
by Peter Brötzmann / Keiji Haino Duo

supported by 32 fans who also own “WEBO”
go to album
First as Farce
by Hein Westgaard

The Hein Weingard Trio mix free improvisation and controlled composition, making music for avant-garde jazz adventurers. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 10, 2023
go to album
Pharoah
by Pharoah Sanders

featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 19, 2023
go to album
In The Beginning: 1963-1964
by Pharoah Sanders

featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 18, 2020
go to album
Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
by jaimie branch

supported by 31 fans who also own “WEBO”

Peerless "punk" jazz. I particularly love the sound of the drums & the trumpet. Sweet, intense, full of fervor. Griffyn Louis Denizard
go to album