(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Universal Congress were one of the most exceptional phenomena of ’80s hardcore: instead of drawing inspiration from the Ramones or the Sex Pistols, they looked to Ornette Coleman’s free jazz. In doing so, they invented a “punk-jazz” genre that fused punk violence with jazz improvisation.
After Saccharine Trust disbanded, in 1984 Baiza was invited by Ginn (Black Flag) to play on the fully improvised album of October Faction (Chuck Dukowski on bass, Bill Stevenson on drums, and Tom Troccoli on vocals), recorded live in 1984, ranging from funk tribalism (Todo Para Me), dissonant pieces (Trail Of Tears), Beefheartian bacchanals (Ten Hour Drive and It Don't Mean Shit), to long psychedelic jams (Bad Acid).
In that experience, and in the studio sessions for the subsequent The Second Factionalization, Baiza was able to develop his guitar style in a way even more strongly inspired by free jazz, but simultaneously shaped by his new passion: the blues. The idea for Worldbroken, the album recorded live by Saccharine Trust, actually came after Baiza had already experimented with October Faction (and that remains the record where Baiza and Brewer best express their extraordinary talents, regardless of the quality of the material).
After Saccharine Trust dissolved (November 1986), Baiza immediately formed Latino Baby Jesus with drummer Jason Kahn (ex-Leaving Train and ex-Cruel Fredrick, another jazz-punk combo), a bassist, and another guitarist. The album, dominated by the sprawling jam Certain Way, was nevertheless credited to Universal Congress Of (SST, 1987). Baiza and Kahn then recruited saxophonist Steve Moss (who had already played on Saccharine Trust’s last albums) and bassist Ralph Gorodetsky to form Universal Congress Of.
Prosperous And Qualified (1988) and the EP This Is Mecolodics highlight the influence of Ornette Coleman and his school of guitarists, such as James Ulmer and Ronald Shannon Jackson (see the violent Joey on the EP). Prosperous is at once complex and enjoyable, alternating comedic themes (almost a marching band on Dancing On Plato's Tomb, almost a circus orchestra on Love Camp) with intricate jamming (L.L.Kook). The roots are not just jazz (though that is the essence, from the wild bebop of Spreadin' The Malice to the incendiary jazz-rock of Stepback), but also blues, present in sleepy (Stovetop) and neurotic (Igor's Blues) forms.
The definitive maturation was consecrated by The Sad And Tragic Demise (Enemy, 1990), an album decidedly jazz-oriented, as much as the masters who inspire Baiza: with a renewed rhythm section, the guitarist shines even where (as usual) the material is weak, and even when he cannot resist the temptation to sing. Tracks like Freight Train and Uh-Huh clearly showcase the counterpoint between the leader’s lucid yet deviant guitar work and the rhythm-and-blues and funky saxophone interventions. Unlike John Lurie, another rock renegade who embraced jazz, Baiza retains his hardcore edge even when speaking in other musical languages, as heard on Pickled Bullhorn, a ramshackle quadrille with Elliott Sharp on the other guitar. The album is infinitely less brilliant than Prosperous And Qualified, but it is a true delight for discerning listeners.
The Eleventh Hour Shine On (Enemy, 1992), featuring a third rhythm section across as many albums, confirmed the state of grace of Joe Baiza (guitar) and Steve Moss (saxophone), with that increasingly vibrant and sunny jazz-punk hybrid, far removed from the gray, anemic atmospheres of the New York avant-garde. The scrappy spirit of punk injects new life into a genre that white musicians had drained dry with free jazz. On this album, the two leaders abandon radical postures in favor of a lean, full-bodied sound. Moreover, their debts to jazz classics have increased, from Charlie Mingus (the Ambition Blues) to Ornette Coleman (the joyful fanfares of Baby X and Instigators). Funk and hip-hop rhythms are absorbed effortlessly (Full-Bodied Naked Hug).
Baiza and Moss’s new strength, however, lies especially in melodic themes: while Gaetasaurus and 3 And 4 are rooted in swing tradition, Mad With Pride and Gold Tooth Girl incorporate diverse influences and sound like ideal film soundtracks. Even in the conceptual moments (such as the anemic, nocturnal bebop of 11th Hour Shine-On), the quartet delivers pleasing music that is never difficult.
Baiza’s music became increasingly challenging and harder to categorize from a purely rock perspective. Without Brewer, he is freer to roam harmonically, but at the same time he does not seem able to compensate for the absence of a composer, and not surprisingly he often turns to others’ compositions.
