Herbie Mann - The Wailing Dervishes (mono) (Atlantic, 1967)

As I had suggested in my post on Brute Force, wading through Herbie Mann's oeuvre can be a frustrating experience. Let's be honest - the guy released a lot of schlocky records in his lifetime, mostly due to poor judgment, bad taste, and a never-ending attempt to keep up with the latest musical trends, regardless of their artistic merits. Even though he averaged only one decent album for every four or five mediocre or bad ones, his more intriguing efforts were often outstanding, although not necessarily because of his own contributions. Indeed, even on these, his flute blowing often proves to be the least compelling part of the performances. It's the work of his sidemen that provides the majority of the musical pleasures on such albums. And like I said, exposure to these titles can lead to frustration for the record collector, who is left to wonder why more of Mann's LPs couldn't be as worthwhile.

MANN AND FLUTE

Among the flautist's best LPs is this live recording from 1967, The Wailing Dervishes, which is in some respects a follow-up to the previous year's Impressions of the Middle East and continues his experiments in fusing music from this part of the world with jazz and pop sounds. However, this is the more adventurous of the two albums since the in-concert setting allows the musicians more room to stretch out. John Berberian and bands like the Devil's Anvil and Kaleidoscope are correctly identified as trailblazers in wedding Middle Eastern music with rock 'n' roll. Unfortunately, Mann is often left out of such discussions. Since he was known to jump from style to style, perhaps some people questioned the sincerity of his interest in Middle Eastern music, leading to the relative obscurity of this album. Nevertheless, The Wailing Dervishes deserves mention for helping expose American audiences to sounds from Armenia, Turkey, and the Arab world and for presenting them in a context more suited for Western ears.


Recorded at the Village Theater in New York City (which would become the Fillmore East in 1968), this LP features five tracks, four of which are extended numbers that clock in at least seven minutes in length. For my money, the star of these proceedings is Charles "Chick" Ganimian, a criminally underrated Armenian-American oudist-vocalist and one of the first artists of his kind to incorporate progressive elements into his repertory of traditional music from his homeland. His oud solos throughout the album are absolutely brilliant and even better than his work on the aforementioned Impressions of the Middle East. Mann clearly held him in high regard, and rightfully so. The bandleader also recruited the superb dumbeg player Moulay "Ali" Hafid for this project, and his percussion work is quite simply amazing. Add Roy Ayers on vibraphone, Reggie Workman on bass, and Bruno Carr on drums, and you have one hell of a unique group, as demonstrated on the title track and "In the Medina." I'll admit that I'm not the biggest Beatles fan in the world, but I often like hearing covers of their songs by other artists. The ten-minute instrumental interpretation of "Norwegian Wood" really cooks and takes the composition in directions probably never envisioned by Lennon and McCartney. Guest musicians on this track include Hachig Kazarian on clarinet, Esber Koprucu on kanun, and Steve Knight (who was also a member of the Devil's Anvil and Mountain) on Fender bass. Ayers and the jazz rhythm section are absent from the beautiful traditional piece "Armenian Lullaby," which seems to be based on the same tune that John Berberian recorded as "Tranquility" on Middle Eastern Rock. As good as it is, the one cut that really doesn't seem to fit here is jazz bagpipist Rufus Harley's "Flute Bag," which must have been recorded at a different show entirely as it features Harley, Mann (as usual) on flute, Ayers on vibes, Oliver Collins on piano, James Glenn on bass, and Billy Abner on drums. Although the bagpipes add something of an exotic touch, there is nothing remotely Middle Eastern about this performance, and I'm not quite sure why it was included in the first place.

CHICK GANIMIAN CIRCA 1984

And for those of you who care about such things, this is a fairly scarce mono pressing of The Wailing Dervishes, so take note accordingly.

1. The Wailing Dervishes
2. Norwegian Wood
3. Flute Bag
4. In the Medina
5. Armenian Lullaby