Name: Nine Rivers
Brand: John Blum

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

ESP5062CD

Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2024-03-22

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0825481506229

Total Cap

Artist

John Blum

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

ESP Disk

New York based experimental, avant-garde, and free-jazz label ESP Disk was founded in 1963 by Bernard Stollman. Originally known as Esperanto-Disk, the name was shortened to ESP-Disk'. Although it faced financial challenges in the US, the label gained recognition in Europe and Japan through licensing agreements. In 1992, Stollman licensed the catalog to German label ZYX Music for reissues on CD. The Japanese label Venus Records also licensed a number of titles. Subsequently, there were brief licensing agreements with Dutch label Calibre and Italian label Abraxas. Since 2005, ESP Disk of New York has resumed manufacturing and is releasing reissues, previously unreleased material, and new releases.

The label had several addresses over the years: 
<ul>
<li>180 Riverside Drive (1964-1966)</li>
<li>5 Riverside Drive (inbetween addresses)</li>
<li>156 Fifth Avenue (1966-1969)</li>
<li>300 W. 55 (1970)</li>
<li>Acorn Hill House, Krumville (1969-1972)</li>
<li>290 West End Ave (1973-1975)</li></ul>

ESP Disk's discography includes numerous notable releases spanning from ESP-1002 to ESP-3021.

Newest Listed Items

The most well-informed aficionados of NYC’s jazz avant-garde speak of pianist John Blum with reverential respect, yet his discography is shockingly small for someone with a three-decade career: five albums as a leader, four as a sideman. Blum studied piano with seminal avant-gardist Cecil Taylor and ambidextrous master Borah Bergman, and it shows, yet his style at its most intense is more thickly textured than even theirs, and fully individualistic. Blum’s left hand recalls James P. Johnson: energy, power, rock-solid rhythm driver of the improvisation’s engine. And speaking of engines, some of Jimmy Yancey’s locomotive motion is there as well. Blum is actually a very melodic player, but the melodies are short and fast and may not be repeated more than once, so that’s not the quality that the average listener might take away from the experience. Nonetheless, in a 20-minute solo improvisation, he creates enough catchy motivic material that a dozen or more songs could be woven from it. Another of Blum’s teachers was Milford Graves; they share the sense of music as a journey to a higher understanding and a life-altering and life-enhancing practice. Blum looks more like an athlete than a musician, but then, the way he plays piano is athletic and requires a lot of muscle and stamina. The power of the concert performance on this album (performed collaboratively with video) is a revelation.

Nine Rivers 

Music GB

Discover Nine Rivers by John Blum. A powerful and individualistic jazz avant-garde album from the pianist with a three-decade career. Label: ESP Disk.