Jazz — All Formats  

A brilliant portrait of the mid 70s NYC improvisation scene by the Music Ensemble – a collective featuring Billy Bang on violin, William Parker on bass, Roger Baird on drums, percussion and flute, Malik Baraka on trumpet and Daniel Carter tenor, alto, flute and percussion! The pieces generally start with a roomy, measured dynamic and grow in intensity, never really getting too intense, and showcasing the intuitive interplay with the players. As Chicago residents, we can really feel the genesis of the later sounds of this city's improv scene, but the style casts a pretty wide net of influence. Baird's archival tapes supplied the material for this CD, and the tracks includes 2 long pieces – the 31+ minute "Stance Dance (Courage)" recorded in April of 1974 at Kingsborough College in Brooklyn with bass by Herb Kahn, and the 18+ minute "Arithmetical Mystic" from a February 1975 date at NYC's Holy Name School Auditorium. The other pieces, "Echoes Wind Transpire" and "Radiatory Fineness", a from the February '75 date.

A great little album of short groovy cuts from Dizzy – and actually quite hard to find on vinyl! Despite a title that sounds a bit flowery, the grooves are nice and hard – and Dizzy's playing here with a combo that includes James Moody, Kenny Barron, Billy Butler, and Candido. The sound isn't as funky as the records that Dizzy would later cut for Perception, but it's getting pretty close at times – especially on the tunes that have a nice Latin soul feel. Titles include "Summer Samba", "Bang Bang", "Mas Que Nada", "Tequila", "Winter Samba", and "Get That Money Blues".

A brilliant return from the Hot 8 Brass Band – a New Orleans combo who take tradition into some great funky new territory! As you'd guess from their name, the instrumentation is heavy on brass – played with a gritty, soulful edge – in the way you'd find during some street performance in a corner far from the mainstream Quarter – sometimes accompanied by ensemble vocals, and almost always driven by these great rhythms at the bottom – more than funky enough to set even the heaviest horns on fire with their energy. Titles include "Bingo Bango", "Fine Tuner", "Steamin Blues", "Can't Hide From The Truth", "New Orleans (After The City)", and a nice remake of The Specials' "Ghost Town".

A killer little set from Les McCann – one of his greatest records of the 60s, thanks to a fair bit of Latin Soul influences! The album's got a groove that's much grittier than Les' other work – a solid, soulful emphasis on bottom rhythms – which are mostly in a boogaloo and shing-a-ling mode – clearly McCann's nod to the Spanish Harlem scene at the time! The backings here are a bit fuller than usual for Les too – and his trio with Leroy Vinnegar is augmented with lots of added percussion, plus vibes from Lynn Blessing, sax and flute from Plas Johnson, and trumpet from Lee Katzman. The whole thing's wonderful – a non-stop party that rivals similar boogaloo jazz sets of the time – and titles include "Fakeout", "Boo Go Loo", "Hey Leroy", "Bang Bang", "La Brea", and "Music To Watch Girls By".

A killer little set from Les McCann – one of his greatest records of the 60s, thanks to a fair bit of Latin Soul influences! The album's got a groove that's much grittier than Les' other work – a solid, soulful emphasis on bottom rhythms – which are mostly in a boogaloo and shing-a-ling mode – clearly McCann's nod to the Spanish Harlem scene at the time! The backings here are a bit fuller than usual for Les too – and his trio with Leroy Vinnegar is augmented with lots of added percussion, plus vibes from Lynn Blessing, sax and flute from Plas Johnson, and trumpet from Lee Katzman. The whole thing's wonderful – a non-stop party that rivals similar boogaloo jazz sets of the time – and titles include "Fakeout", "Boo Go Loo", "Hey Leroy", "Bang Bang", "La Brea", and "Music To Watch Girls By".

A pretty darn important album for Wes – as it was his first session with the sort of larger arrangements that would later make him huge! Although Montgomery was mostly recording for Riverside in small combos, this session has him playing in front of larger backings by Jimmy Jones – not as sublime as later work by Don Sebesky or Gil Evans, but done in a way that definitely shows that Wes can do a lot with the guitar when freed from the need to stick with the rhythm strongly. Titles include "All The Way", "Pretty Blue", "Somewhere", "God Bless The Child", "Tune Up", and "Baubles Bangles & Beads".

A hip Finnish take on soul jazz – headed up by drummer Matti Oiling! The groove here is tight and very straightforward – almost an amped-up European groove based on American soul jazz of the 60s – similar to some of Charly Antolini's excellent work for Saba/MPS! Instrumentation includes some nice trumpet and sax passages – often tightly arranged, but in ways that work with the drums in a cool sort of soundtrack funk feel – usually leaving Matti plenty of room to open up on the kit. Titles do a good job of summing up the energy of the record – with cuts that include "Boom Bang Basch", "Soul Rock", "Chicken Nerve", "Road Runner's Waltz", and "Steam Train".

An amazing funky record cut by the American tenor player Hal Singer while he was living in exile in Paris! Although the bulk of Singer's other work is more traditional R&B sax material, this LP has a very good raw funky feel, with some nice tight guitar and organ grooves that spur Singer on to new heights. Manu Dibango sits in on the session on organ and tenor, and the set includes a huge number of funky classics like "Saturday Night In Watts, Act One", "Paris Soul Food", "Malcolm X", and more!

A really surprising turn for reedman Manu Dibango – a shift away from his familiar Afro Funk mode, into the realm of trad jazz for this loving tribute to American saxophonist Sidney Bechet! Given that both Bechet and Dibango reached some of their heights on the Parisian scene, the tribute really makes some great sense at the core – and it's wonderful to hear Manu's sharp-edged alto sax in such a setting – as it creates a very different feel than some of the sweeter tones of Bechet, in styles that still echo some of Manu's earlier styles too. Instrumentation includes vibes, banjo, and piano – and titles include "In A Georgia Cabin", "Dans Les Rues D'Antibes", "Petite Fleur", "Strutting With Some Barbecue", "Careless Love", "Royal Garden Blues", and "Cousin Bechet Blues". Also comes with a bonus DVD of performance too!

A pretty darn important album for Wes – as it was his first session with the sort of larger arrangements that would later make him huge! Although Montgomery was mostly recording for Riverside in small combos, this session has him playing in front of larger backings by Jimmy Jones – not as sublime as later work by Don Sebesky or Gil Evans, but done in a way that definitely shows that Wes can do a lot with the guitar when freed from the need to stick with the rhythm strongly. Titles include "All The Way", "Pretty Blue", "Somewhere", "God Bless The Child", "Tune Up", and "Baubles Bangles & Beads".

A classic from the more spiritual side of the Swedish scene in the 70s – and a record that's been a favorite of ours for many years! Rena Rama have a really unique feel here – an approach that initiates in some of the more freewheeling European work of the period, but which also has a lot stronger spiritual elements too – none of the rockish fusion that you'd hear from some of their contemporaries, and instead some of the warmer undercurrents that you'd get in some of Don Cherry's experiments on the Scandinavian scene. The group's an all-star quartet – with Bobo Stenson on piano and Fender Rhodes, Lennar Aberg on soprano sax and tenor, Palle Danielsson on bass, and Bengt Berger on drums – and the album's lot more soulful than you'd expect, and with some beautiful lyrical moments. Tracks include "Test", "Just In Case", "Pow Wow", "De Fem Arstiderna", and "Batiali". CD features lots of bonus tracks from a 1979 album – "Banguana Song", "Inside Outside", "Silhuett", "Pa Hal Is", and "Lisa's Piano".