Captain of the Deep is an album by the American jazz drummer Denis Charles, which was recorded live in 1991 at the Zuid-Nederlands Jazz Festival and released in 1998 on the Eremite label.[1]
The album was issued to the public on the day Charles died.[2]
The album was listed as Cadence Magazine's reviewers' choice best recording, and also appeared in the JazzIz critics list of top ten recordings for 1998.[5]
In his review for AllMusic, Steve Loewy wrote, "With a sound often approximating the work of early Ornette Coleman, the two horns spurt attractively dissonant themes, after which the four players turn out repeatedly fascinating solos and interactive lines."[3]
Amiri Baraka called Charles's solos "hip, self-contained, quirky links and carriers of the whole," and noted that "behind Ayler-blunt melodies, straight-ahead
timbre, the unique daring simplicity of Charles's rhythmic motive force, Deep has lovely moments."[6]
