Joe McPhee Straight up, Without Wings, The Musical Flight of Joe McPhee

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In Straight Up, Without Wings, Joe McPhee surveys sixty years in creative music. Starting with his trumpeter-father's influence and formative years in the U.S. Army, McPhee recounts experiences as a Black-hippy-cum-budding-musician based in upstate New York, perched at an ideal distance from Manhattan’s free jazz demimonde of the 1960s and its loft scene of the 1970s. A natural storyteller, revealing never-told tales and reveling in the joys of noise, McPhee puts the influence of – and encounters with – Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Albert Ayler into the context of an independently-minded young player, ravenous for experience, dealing with the crucible of racism, seeking to break out beyond the bounds of a regional Hudson Valley scene that he knows like the back of his hand. The memoir draws forward through thrilling passages in Europe and across the United States, as McPhee gains momentum, as his music becomes the impetus for multiple record labels, as he collaborates with figures from Peter Brötzmann to Pauline Oliveros, and as he eventually goes on to inspire musicians far and wide. Written as an oral history, deftly conducted by Mike Faloon to preserve McPhee’s unique narrative voice, Straight Up, Without Wings includes “reflections” by eight musicians from across the protagonist’s rich history.

Special thanks to Ken Taylor,

J.C. Gabel, Robert Bielecki,

Steven Eckler, Scott Nielsen,

Moor Mother, Fred Moten,

and Žiga Koritnik.

Design: Michael Dyer/Remake

Printing: Musumeci, Italy

Paper: Magno Natural 240 gsm, Arena Bulk Natural 90 gsm

Type: Martina Plantijn

Photography: Žiga Koritnik (cover, pp. 2–3), Ken Brunton (pp. 10–11, 157, 161), John Corbett (p. 167)

First printing, edition of 1000

ISBN: 978-1-7378470-4-5

CvsD0126