El Reza

Highly Recommended

2009-12-02T12:31:00.002Z

Make sure you ask Santa for this one

Anyone have this

2009-12-02T12:29:00.001Z

McCoy Tyner :: Song For My Lady 1972

2009-11-30T16:28:00.004Z

McCoy Tyner (piano, percussion); Michael White (violin); Sonny Fortune (flute, saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Charles Tolliver (flugelhorn) Alphonse Mouzon (drums); Mtume (congas, percussion)

Somehow passed this by on its release, maybe it was the naff cover but what an album and what a line up. Here's a clip of the title track to wet your appetite

John Mayer : Dhammapada

2009-11-21T19:49:00.001Z

Dhammapada is a John Mayer work that was commissioned by EMI in 1976 but remained unreleased for 30 years. His work with Joe Harriott on Indo-Jazz Suite and Indo-Jazz Fusions is justifiably lauded, but Dhammapada expands on his East-West fusion by adding instrumentation not just from India (sitar, sarod, tabla) but also from Japan and China

Cellula Quintet : Pietoso

2009-11-13T13:38:00.001Z

Cellula's first album 1969
Laco Deczi trumpet, Petr Kral tenor sax, Karel Ruzicka piano
Pavel Greifoner double bass, Laco Tropp drums

Cossi Anatz PALM VENDEMIAIRE LABEL

2009-10-23T13:00:00.007+01:00

Help please :: anyone have a copy of this for sale or perhaps could send a cdr or an upload just leave a comment thank you

The Record Box ...

2009-09-18T11:34:00.006+01:00

the creator is so far out - phill musra
the inner cry - opa
between the devil and the blue horizon - hans dulfer
afrasia - les hooper
taj- nat adderley
king kong - full moon ensemble
lester bowie - for fela
maha samana - john mayer
music for nita and bert - banten

bout time I posted something, mix collaboration with greg
one for hector maybe

Download

Huseyin Ertrunc Trio ~ Musiki

2009-07-12T12:30:00.005+01:00

Led by drummer Ertunc, with Michael Cosmic (as, cl, fl, bcl, sop, piccolo, organ, perc.) & Phil Musra (ts, ss, fl, zurna, cl, perc.) Musiki is a document of the free jazz recorded in the mid-70s rec in Cambridge Mass.
Phil Musra also performed on the incredible World's Experience Orchestra - Beginning of a New Birth [below]
Not a figure who’s well-known in the jazz (or even avant-garde) community, though his work in the 1970s with his brother, multi-instrumentalist Michael Cosmic, Turkish-born drummer Huseyin Ertunc, and bassist-composer John Jamyll Jones is the stuff of curiosity and possibly legend. Part of what has made their music – available on a small scattering of privately-pressed LPs – so interesting is that it does not sound like anything else. I recently characterized the trio music (without Jones) as something like a collision between the AACM and Alan Sondheim’s Ritual 770 or another, similar wild-and-woolly artists’ collective. The group was based in Boston at the time and also worked with pianist Gene Ashton (now known as Cooper-Moore) and poet-vocalist Ntozake Shange, among others. Apparently Musra and Cosmic also spent time in Chicago studying with AACM musicians (From Clifford Allen)

Read more on Clifford Allen's excellent blog HERE

Umoja Mixes

2009-04-18T19:49:00.008+01:00

Regarding mixes don't miss out on any of these, it just doesn't get any better than this. All from my friend Greg over @ Black Classical , click on the mix titles

Umojity

Kain: Clouds Brother Ah Sound Awareness: Love Piece Diom Futa: Black Snow Piano Choir: Almoravids Jayne Cortez: I am New York City Oneness of Ju-Ju: Introduction Gill Scott Heron: Peace Go with you Brother George Russell: Events [i ii iii iv v vi vii] Earth Wind and Fire: Energy Muriel Winston: Song for Daddy Build an Ark: Key to the Universe - Vocal (7") Diom Futa: Diom Futa Akira Miyazawa: Bull Trout Brother Ah Sound Awareness: Beyond Yourself Heath Brothers: Smilin' Billy Suite Heath Brothers: Maimouna Sarah Webster Fabio: I Would Be for You Rain Cecil McBee: A Feeling Cecil McBee Cecil McBee: Voice of the 7th Angel Shamek Farrah: Umoja Suite Muriel Winston: Childrens Trilogy
That's it children, what does it all mean?

UNITY means Umoja mix Part ii

Tanka II: Art Ensemble of Chicago Les petits Chevaux: Brigitte Fontaine Spacespy: Grachan Moncur III Lifeforce: Kalaparush Maurice Mcintyre Humility in the Lifeforce of the Creator [i]: Joseph Jarman and Don Moye Humility in the Lifeforce of the Creator [ii]: Kalaparush Maurice Mcintyre Had No Beginning, Has No End; Simply Is: Natural Essence Chromo: Sarah Webster Fabio Black Woman: Sonny Sharrock To Turn from Love: Sarah Webster Fabio Nina Giving Mr. Backlash the Blues: Sarah Webster Fabio Dialogue between two messengers of peace: Sarah Webster Fabio And then they Danced: Marion Brown / Gunter Hampel Black Paladins: Joseph Jarman and Don Moye Constipated Monkey: Kain Transfiguration: Brother Ah Ode to the Birds: Kanai Hideo Consciousness: Wendell Harrison Mary had an Abortion: Wendell Harrison Kupenda na Kuhitaji: Oracy Karins Mode: Karin Krog Psalm of an Addict: Ralph Carmichcheal Song of Will: Eddie Gale Look At Teyonda: Eddie Gale Echos: Black Artists Group Suns of Africa Part ii: Sunny Murray Saudia: Larry Young The Brothers: Nancy Dupree Moves: Doug Hammond Alkebu-Lan Land of the Blacks: Jimmy Heath Invocation: Mtume Tropic Suns: Doug Carn

Umoja means UNITY mix

Black Artists Group: Sweet Street Song
Joseph Jarman / Don Moye: Enu-Igwe (Egwu-Yesi Kipaleta)
Henry Franklin: Erics Tune
Umum Quartet: Encounter By
New Life Trio: Empty Streets
Jarman/Moye: Black Paladins Mama Marimba
Sarah Webster Fabio: Soul Aint; Soul is
Milton Marsh: Monism
Joseph Jarman: Sunbound
World Experience Orchestra: Beginning of a new Birth
Sarah Webster Fabio: Black World
Joseph Jarman: As if it were the seasons Sunbound
Ginger Baker: Coda
Doug Hammond: Space II and Space I
Joseph Jarman: Humility In The Light Of The Creator
Kain: Silly Shit
Doug Hammond: Fidalgo Detour
Claude Delcloo: Africanasia Parts i and ii (edits)
Sun ra meet Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band: Watusi
Last Poets: Two Little Boys
Claude Delcloo: Africanasia Part iii
Sun Ra: Possibility of an Altered Destiny
Ola Butterfly: If We Do Nothing
Shirley Horn: Consequences of a Drug Addict Role
Doris: You’ll Never Come Closer
Art Ensemble of Chicago: Proverbes (ii)
Art Ensemble of Chicago: Theme de YoYo
Eddie Gale: Fulton Street
David Shire Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 Soundtrack: Dolenz gets killed
Jayne Cortez: Lexington_96 Street Stop
Bever Harris and the 360 Degree Experience: Round Trip part ii
Dee Dee Bridgewater Love from the Sun
Eddie Gale The Rain

April Jazz Mix

2009-04-09T12:44:00.003+01:00

01) Mr. RC
Mike selesia - Flavor
02) Musication
Fitz Gore - Sound Musication
03) The age of adlolecence
Seven Ages Of Man Self titled
04) De Lunes A Vierne
Frank Quintero - Despues De la Tormenta
05) Eso Guede
Marius Cultier - The Way ...
06) Priscilla
Bobby Hamilton Quintet - Dream Queen
07) While there's time
Tom Harrell - Aurora
08) Glenford Crescent
Charlie Mariano - Reflections
09) Prime Element
Elvin Jones - At this point in Time

Click on piccy for link

blog closed till further notice

2008-10-14T19:25:00.010+01:00

2008-09-20T14:31:00.007+01:00

Wara Katsu is at it again, giving us yet another superb album

David Wertman's Sun Ensemble - Wide Eye Culture

1. Forest Dance
2. Camel
3. Flute Song
4. New Earth
5. Sing My Love Song
6. Dance Of The Mid-East Madness
7. Summer Heat

The album I have been after for some time from David Wertman (below) was also kindly posted here buy Arkadin, this version features Weasel Walter doing drum overdubs, the original was from 1981 and the overdubs were recorded in 2005.
Its a pretty good album but would still like the original if anyone can help
EDIT : Pepdrum has just posted the original, link in the comments THANK YOU

David Wertman - Kara Suite

1. Kara
2. Sunshine
3. Sharataar
4. Devotion

Make sure to leave a comment to thank them both
Also do check in the latest "Wants & Contributions" comments where Arkadin has also posted a couple of albums from The Visitors and Wara Katsu has just posted Articulation by Rodney Jones

FRANCISCO MORA CATLETT - WORLD TRADE MUSIC

2008-09-09T13:12:00.003+01:00

Review from AMG:
It's been nearly ten years since the release of this CD and twenty since Mora Catlett's first project ("Mora" on AACE.) In the interim the drummer/percussionist has worked with Max Roach's M'Boom, Sun Ra, and his own band Amigo around the Detroit area. For this recording he employs fellow Detroiters as bassist Rodney Whitaker and pianist Craig Taborn as a core trio. The bulk of the material is piano-bass-drums in a jazz context, though the first four selections are based on traditional Yoruban themes. The others are Mora Catlett originals with varying combinations of musicians, and two larger ensemble pieces. Mora himself is a steady drummer, showing occasional oubursts of power, and has a solid background in the Afro-Cuban rhythmic history, which he liberally sprinkles in. On the four Yoruban numbers Taborn shines. His avant Cecil Taylor-like tendencies are restrained, letting the pure beauty of his concept flower. "Iron Master" is a 6/8 melody with latter period repeated figure, "Hunter's Child" turns dramatic with a cha-cha-cha flavor, while "Baba" is a lilting line. The shimmering, prayer song "Vital Force" is quite reminiscent of Yusef Lateef's "Morning" with an Alice Coltrane-esque spirituality wrapped in a patient 4/4 swing, punctuated by a long drum solo. The larger combo recapitulates the piece from "Mora" "Cultural Warrior," an anthem for pianist Kenn Cox, who appears on the track along with tenor saxophonist Vincent Bowens, echoing in a dramatic, deliberate fashion Cox's undeniable spirit and soul. An even bigger group for "El Morro" provides a loping motif for Cox, Bowens, trumpet soloist Marcus Belgrave, bass clarinetist Alex Harding and flutist/trombonist Sherman Mitchell to collectively fete the leader while he directs this caravan step sound sculpture. The remaining pieces are snippets of piano, percussion or non-piano trio workouts, interludes or preludes. A completely free bash "Crossroads" with Mora and percussionist Andrew Daniels, Harding on baritone sax, Nik Pena on trumpet and Cass Richmond on alto sax, abstractly wails. Pena on sea shells and forest whistles, with Mora, concoct jungle sounds for the convincing "The Other Side Of The Mask." This music has a certain improvised content with Afro-Cuban inflections. Rather than latin jazz it is a true new music, borrowing from modern and ancient traditions, and is best heard as a complete work, more orchestral in nature than several suites or series of unrelated songs. "El Morro" really stands out, perhaps as a tribute to its fearless leader. Recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
320 cd rip-cd now deleted.

2008-09-04T11:20:00.003+01:00

Terumasa Hino Quintet - HI-NOLOGY
Recorded at Yamaha Hall Ginza 1969

Re upped for El Goog's Terumasa Hino Discography
Taken from the Denon/Nippon Columbia CD

1. Like Miles
2. Electric Zoo
3. Hi-Nology
4. Dupe

Terumasa Hino
Takeru Muracka
Hromasa Suzuki
Kunmitsu Inaba

2008-09-01T20:45:00.005+01:00

Stan Getz ~ Mickey One

Here's a great contribution from my friend Ennioman

A gem from 1965, the soundtrack to an Arthur Penn film starring Warren Beatty, an Americanized French art-film if you will, about a Polish comedian who changes his name to "Mickey One" as he's on the run from the Mob for indebtedness and hanging around with the wrong blonde. The music combines Stan Getz's amazing gift of melodic improvisation with the detailed colorful and eclectic compositions of Eddie Sauter

EDIT: Ennioman has just posted another excellent soundtrack which you can also find in the comments below

Hope you enjoy, please leave a comment and dont forget to thank Ennioman
BTW you can visit his blog HERE

ALBERTO FAVERO - SUITE TRANE (IN MEMORIAM JOHN COLTRANE)

2008-09-01T17:20:00.003+01:00

Liner notes:
One only had to listen to the tenor sax solo by John Coltrane in "Round about midnight" (by Thelonius: Miles Davis quintet, cover picture with dark red filter, trumpet, dark glasses, CBS Columbia, Miles, Trane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones: Help! . . . what a group!) to realize what this man was all about. Alberto Favero

Then Coltrane left this earthy dimension and departed, we can imagine where... we assumed his physical absence, the missing of his presence, I don't know: the news of that tour, of that other new release announced by "Downbeat" that we anxiously waited for... but, at the same time, when he died, we internalised his message of powerful lyricism in an even more profound manner: an unforgettable energy and "coltranean" musical poetry, if I'm allowed the expression.

Coltrane is dead, long live Coltrane.

We were very young in 1967 when it happened, but, since age has no bearing, his death moved us so deeply that, personally, I decided to render, in the best possible way, this tribute "in memoriam" to Coltrane; and all through those winter nights of '68, following the decision to "create" a posthumous homage in his memory, I composed and orchestrated in the utmost solitude. Obviously, this was not a definitive solitude but rather a feeling shared by musicians and followers, since the work (I called it Suite Trane) was first performed in August of '68 in the "Teatro del Globo" in Buenos Aires. It was performed with a truly "all star" orchestra, (an impressive assembly of talent shown on the credits) soloists and ensembles, who also, without any doubt, felt the need to pay homage to one of the most paradigmatic creators of the day....

I still hold my warmest feelings towards those great musicians from my country, for the faith and trust they bestowed upon my project and my person, given that, ultimately, I was personally responsible for the musical conception, orchestration and direction; in spite of my obvious youth these amazing musicians, many of them well established already and others about to be, collaborated and helped with all their support and talent in a completely selfless fashion.

Sometime later, a timely loan from the National Endowment for the Arts arrived, and the work firmly established itself in the recording world: it was taped in late '69 and the first edition was released by Trova (1970) in Argentina by Rodolfo Radoszinsky. Afterwards came the release in Uruguay (Ediciones Tacuabé / Ayuí / 1971) done by composer Coriún Aharonián who edited their catalog in the neighboring country, and finally the US edition: (Catalyst Records / Springboard International / 1977) which earned important awards as the most important work of the year (Fernando Alvarado, Diario La Prensa, Buenos Aires / 1968) and "Best International Jazz Work" (Monthly Jazz Magazine, London / UK, 1969).

What could have been the Mexican release in 1975 was sadly not to be. The master tape never arrived at its destination. It was destroyed in the still-to-be-explained plane crash that killed David (Doodie) Graiver (the banker and carrier of the master tape from Buenos Aires) somewhere in our continental geography. Another one of the losses the kind of which we got used to during the 70's.

And finally the moment has now arrived. After having received multiple suggestions in this respect and after having corroborated that the work still lingers in the minds of those who had heard it, we are finally re-releasing the album. This new edition by Whatmusic in London, UK, has been arranged through Fernando Gelbard (again), more than 30 years after the original release by Trova, with digital updating and re-mastered for CD (a must) naturally.

Since it is the first important work of my youth, and my very first recording production, it is almost obvious that this is also the first re-edition in my career as a musician. This is something that touches me deeply and for which I am thankful, again, to all the people that joined me in this effort, in its various stages of completion; but most pointedly to Coltrane and his/our Love Supreme. He knew how to inspire my spirit in such a way that I couldn't help but feel the dire and inescapable need to write and compose the work. It was like something born when the silent and profound voice that awakens from the absolute, sometime in 1967, so suggested it.

Also, and thanks to the generosity of this new digital technology medium, we have included three bonus tracks, that were part of a recording session done in the same period that Suite Trane was being written, maybe during early '68. We have added them with the intention that jazz lovers can "taste" somehow the interactive climate that prevailed at the Jam Sessions (we called them "pizzas") of the late 60's that were, definitely, the communication and experimentation grounds where we shared all our ideas and musical experiences. Where else?

The recording session was completely accidental and informal. In fact we had been invited that day to test a recording studio "Estudios Ion", of Buenos Aires, which had recently being acquired by our common friend Fernando Gelbard, who coincidentally engineered this session, almost a family affair. None of us suspected that this would be the same studio where, months later, we would record Suite Trane.

In this session we find Lapouble and González, as in the Suite; here I play the baritone sax (I can't recall why Gustavo Bergalli didn't arrive on time to the recording, since in those days we used to play together in a quartet without piano, like in Gerry Mulligan's quartets), and on the piano, so as its absence wouldn't be noticed, we secured the wonderful collaboration of "uncle" Santiago Giaccobe.

The bonus tracks are: (1) an original work by Baby López Fürst: "Hombre Amaestrado", (Domesticated Man) - he's probably blushing up in Heaven as he always did when someone paid him homage. (2) The Rodgers & Hammerstein standard "It might as well be spring" and (3) a blues that we improvised upon a tune that flowed spontaneously when I proposed it and that we called, with the connivance of my friend and columnist Lalo Panceira, "Blues de la calle 51" (51st St. Blues).

The name was in memory of the place where the jazz musicians in La Plata city used to meet up during the 50's and 60's: the block of 51st street between 7th and 8th. It had four well known joints crowded into a stretch little more than 40 feet long: "El Parlamento", "El Capitol", "El Tirol Shop" and "El Galeón". The musicians were inspired by our patriarch and teacher - Mingo Martino, undisputed dean of the "Grupo Contemporáneo de Jazz" (Contemporary Jazz Group of La Plata), and impassioned by the unequaled wit and certified journalism of Talero Pellegrini: radio-man, humorist and jazzman. Isa!! Yahoo!

Alberto Favero, Madrid, January 2005

www.albertofavero.com.ar
www.autores.org.ar/afavero

Alberto Favero was born in La Plata, Argentina, in 1944, at a musicians home. His father, Fermín Valentín Favero, a well known music teacher, founded the first music academy specialising in popular music forms and instruments in Argentina, which grew eventually to 17 branches countrywide and reached hundreds of pupils. His mother was also a singer and music instructor. They were his first teachers.

In 1961, at seventeen, he received the "New Figure Prize", awarded by the "Centre for Specialised Studies in Jazz" of Buenos Aires, directed by Walter Thiers.

In 1963 he graduated with a "Special Bachelors Degree in Music" from the Superior School of Fine Arts of the National University of La Plata.

In 1968 he obtained a degree as Piano Professor and in 1973 as Composition Professor, both from the Department of Arts and Audio-visual Media from the National University of La Plata.

His teachers, among others, were Luis Gianneo, Wilhem Graetzer, Alicia Terzián, Carlos Berardi, Nidia Berardi de Aragón, Ljerko Spiller, Earnest Epstein, Valdo Sciamarella, Enrique Gerardi, Edgar Willems and Marguerite Croptier.

Suite Trane

suite in 5 movements for jazz orchestra and soloists (in memoriam John Coltrane) (1968)
composed, arranged and conducted by Alberto Favero

1 1st Movement (Opening) (Alberto Favero) 7:49
2 2nd Movement (Quintet) (Alberto Favero) 6:46
3 3rd Movement (Soprano) (Alberto Favero) 6:47
4 4th Movement (Requiem) (Alberto Favero) 7:39
5 5th Movement (Finale) (Alberto Favero) 6:14

Bonus tracks

6 Hombre Amaestrado (Domesticated Man) (Baby López Fürst) 5:43
7 It might as well be spring (Rodgers- Hammerstein) 8:52
8 Blues de la calle 51 (51st Street Blues) (Alberto Favero) 4:35
(track 7 does not appear on the LP)

recorded in Estudios Ion SA Buenos Aires in December 1969.
Sponsored by the "Fondo Nacional de las Artes"
Recording technicians: Osvaldo Acedo y Juan Carlos Manojas.
Master mixed at Estudios Audión Buenos Aires
Mixing technician: Nelo Villagra
Re-mixed and digital processing: Tim Barron (USA) y Pablo López Ruiz (AR)
Produced by Alberto Favero.

Bonus tracks recorded in Estudios Ion SA Buenos Aires in April 1968
recording technician: Fernando Gelbard.
Processing and digital re-mixing: Micky Hearne y Pablo López Ruiz (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Orchestra for Suite Trane
trumpets: José Granata, Tomás Lepere (in the 1st, 3rd and 5th movements), Rubén Barbieri (in the 4th movement), Emilio Martino, Roberto Fats Fernández, Gustavo Bergalli (soloist/ also in flüegelhorn)
horns: Domingo Garrefa (soloist), Armando Izzi
trombones: Abel La Rosa, Jorge Ramírez, Christian Kellens (soloist)
tuba: Jorge Rodríguez
saxes: Luis Chachi Ferreira (soloist alto sax), Santiago Bo (alto sax), Horacio Chivo Borraro (soloist tenor sax), Oscar Tissera (tenor sax), Mariano Grisiglione (baritone sax),
Bernardo Baraj (soloist soprano sax)
bass: Jorge González (soloist), Raúl Curi
piano: Alberto Favero (soloist)
drums: Pocho Lapouble, Mingo Martino
percussion: Ernesto Ringer

320 rip

JAZZ BAND DE FREE - EGO

2008-08-18T18:29:00.002+01:00

320 CD Rip.
Review nicked from cdbaby

Buenos Aires, May 7th, 1972. A group of eight musicians (six Argentineans and two Uruguayans) gather at Estudios Ion, where so much good music has been put onto tape. What they create may be described as somewhat in between Ornette Coleman's and Miles Davis' ways of dealing with musical 'freedom'. Argentina was then going through hard times and a lot more hardships lay ahead.
To jazz musicians, though, time was also ripe for dreams of success: after all Lalo Schifrin and Gato Barbieri were making it on the international jazz scene. Not that they took themselves for geniuses, they simply thought local jazz needed some shock treatment and trying their hand at some avant-garde music would hurt no one. Furthermore, they ranked among the best jazz players in Argentina.
The two bassists in the group, Jorge López Ruiz and Jorge González, for instance, had both played with Gato Barbieri. López Ruiz had been the bassist of a legendary quintet led by Lalo Schifrin in 1956, whose saxophone player was Gato. González had been the bassist of Gato's regular rhythm section of the 1960s. Pocho Lapouble, the drummer, besides playing with the cream of Argentina's jazzmen, had been the percussionist of an (unrecorded) Astor Piazzolla sextet from 1968-1969 - the pianist and the guitarist in that group were jazz musicians too. Norberto Minichillo, percussionist in this record, but also an all-round drummer, was also playing avant-garde tango with a quintet that had Dino Saluzzi on bandonéon. Keyboardist Santiago Giacobbe had played many times with Gato Barbieri and was later to be the organist in Astor Piazzolla's 'Electric Group' of the mid-1970s. Fernando Gelbard, a well known jazzman, who had played with Gato and Chivo Borraro ('El Nuevo Sonido de Chivo Borraro', WMLP/CD-0027), appears here on Fender piano and flute. A bit younger than Giacobbe, Gelbard was at the time of this record asserting himself as a very capable musician and also a pioneer in the field of synthesizers, which were really newcomers to jazz in the early 1970s and a rarity in Argentina ('Didi', WMLP/CD-0020). Héctor Starc, the guitarist, was a young and inventive rock player. Eduardo 'Pestaña' Giovinazzo on trumpet and Jaime Prats on alto had moved from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Buenos Aires and they sure belonged in this group of high-calibre jazz musicians. Just listen to Giovinazzo's showcase 'Shhh... Bea Duerme'.
The four pieces in this album were composed by Pocho Lapouble, who was the driving force behind the project. One side of the original LP is taken by 'Ego, luego existen' ('Ego, therefore they exist') where everyone gets a chance to solo, 'Ego' is a long excursion which deserves some particular attention. The tune is quite Ornettish, the more so because it is stated by trumpet and alto in unison. Gelbard plays the first solo on Fender piano very much in one of the epochal trends: aggressively rooted in rhythm, searching, never relenting, then going into a dialogue with bassist López Ruiz, who takes over. Then we are lead into Starc's guitar solo, itself evolving in a discussion with López Ruiz's bass before letting Ruiz solo anew and sort of fade into a new Gelbard Fender piano solo. López Ruiz soloes once again, followed by Giacobbe's organ. An alto solo by Prats, relayed by Lapouble's drums, speaks with Minichillo's percussion, a conversation almost interrupted by Giacobbe's two handed solo: one of his hands plays the organ while the other one plays a Bluthner piano; then it's Giovinazzo's turn on trumpet. Throughout this piece the shifting and contrasting tempos and moods sound at one and the same time tightly controlled, yet spontaneous. The 6/8 tempo of the final part is a kind of 'tumbao' reminiscent of a related afro-argentinean folk rhythm, the 'chacarera'.
'Tema de Fatiga', stated in unison by the trumpet and the flute, is made up of successive solos by Giacobbe, Gelbard on flute and Starc. There you have gentle Giacobbe clearly showing his bop and hard bop roots, contrasting with Gelbard's Dolphy-oriented but open-minded flute solo. Gelbard's 'Dolphy-ness' is quite unusual for him, but reveals his avant-garde leanings at the time of this record. Starc follows with his rock-oriented free jazz rooted in the blues.
'Ambientex' is in two parts. The first one, titled 'Tema para Contraflaco', is a pun on contrabass - string bass - that could be translated into English as 'Theme for Contraskinny', López Ruiz's nickname being 'Flaco' (Skinny). The second part, 'Canción de Cuny', is given to solos by Prats, Gelbard and Giovinazzo. Let me now tell you how much I enjoyed listening to this album from the early 1970s. I wonder why we have been so forgetful of these - and other Argentinean jazz recorded testimonies - beauties sleeping in the vaults.
Most Argentine jazz musicians of the 1960s and 1970s were part of a middle class bourgeoisie that did not react against the 'establishment' and seemed to feel comfortable playing traditional jazz, swing or bebop. Their entrance into avant-garde and musical experimentation was a big risk within their conservative social environment. But they were right, for their music was accepted by jazz audiences and some of the incredible musical works of this avant-garde gang were fortunately recorded and more fortunately re-released in the 21st century by whatmusic.com.

JORGE LOPEZ RUIZ 5 - DE PREPO

2008-08-14T22:56:00.004+01:00

320 vinyl rip.
Review swiped from cdbaby :
In May 1972, Jorge López Ruiz, Fernando Gelbard and 'Pocho' Lapouble had been part of an ensemble gathered around a project of Lapouble's and released under the name of 'Ego' by Jazz Band de Free (WMLP/CD-0080). The music in that record may be described as a 'fusion' of Ornette Coleman's and Miles Davis' electric propositions on what 'free' jazz might be, as seen from Buenos Aires by musicians deeply rooted in bop and hard bop. Four recording sessions in October 1972 brought the three musicians together again on a project of López Ruiz's and based on a more meditative but full-of-energy approach, stemming from Davis and his alumni, Weather Report. One of the tunes in 'De Prepo' is titled 'Mirosbass', an homage to Miroslav Vitous, bassist with the first Weather Report. A pun on his name, 'Mirosbass' is ethereal, but not wholly so; the Jorge López Ruiz 5 have almost no rock flavour, the bop roots of all concerned show clearly, and they have found their own very melodic way of dealing with freedom. So here we are confronted with a musical daydream, sweet and energetically propulsive in equal measure, if I may say so. Let me be contradictory perhaps, but the music in this album strikes me very much in the aforementioned way. Allow yourself to be rocked into a daydream-like haze and be open to the music as it is: highly enjoyable. Times were pretty hard in Argentina by 1972, and would get dangerously tougher still; the jazz musicians involved in this record reflected this, wanting the music to sound risky and pushy. Yet thirty years later the music is perceived as quite soothing. This view changes nothing as to the quality of their effort named 'De Prepo' ('Forcing Your Hand'), it only shows they found original ways to overcome hardships, fears and frustrations; for as John Keats very charmingly said: 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever'. Escapism? No, definitely not. Rather art in a very effective way.
Take a look at three of the titles: 'Homenaje a la Muerte' ('Homage to Death'), 'Puntos de Partida' ('Points of Departure') and 'Todo Fluye' ('Everything Flows'). Don't they show real philosophical, albeit metaphysical, preoccupations associated with the music? Then 'Homenaje a la Muerte' ('Homage To Death') is followed by the very much alive 'Mirosbass', as 'Todo Fluye' ('Everything Flows') precedes the tender 'Oda Para Mi Niña' ('Ode For My Little Girl'); the final title is 'Más De Prepo Que Nunca' ('Forcing Your Hand More Than Ever'), a way of saying 'we're more alive than ever before and this is our way of forcing your hand, actually not even forcing your ear: our music speaks for itself'. Don't forget they are in Argentina, it is late 1972 and circumstances in Argentina are forcing them to become aggressively pushy. But they just want you to listen to a thing of beauty that is a joy forever. 'Homenaje...' sounds possibly too restrained today, retrospectively juxtaposed against the terrible wave of violence Argentina was to live through until the fall of the military dictatorship in 1983, but in its own quiet way it expresses the deep respect and concern the group had for life. A feeling that would become inexorably mired in personal insecurity and deep trouble under the rule of men who never spoke literally, but acted out: 'Long live death!'
They knew very well they belonged to the cream of jazzmen in their country and time has confirmed their view. Only then, the local scene was extremely conservative, with a majority of musicians, critics and media people dead against avant-garde jazz. Traditional and mainstream jazz seemed to be what most attracted the public; more modern jazz had only a moderate appeal. So the fact that some of the better-known modern jazzmen were ready for the challenge of free and avant-garde jazz, was almost intolerable to the rest of the musicians and the opinion makers. Then the listeners had their say and they responded positively to the challenging music this avant-garde minority was producing, much to the astonishment of everyone involved. This middle-class group of musicians, reacting in their own artistic way to the many challenges of the epoch, opened new ground for music development in Argentina. And their very gentleness in so doing might imply also that the anger and aggressiveness in much north american and european music of the late 1960s and early 1970s was apparently excessive.
Who are they? Jorge López Ruiz, a highly respected arranger, composer and bassist (on this album also playing electric bass, cello and piano), had played with a legendary quintet led by Lalo Schifrin in 1956-1957; the featured saxophonist was Gato Barbieri. López Ruiz had also been Schifrin's big band bassist along with Gato. López Ruiz always played with the best in argentinean jazz. For this particular project he was surrounded by musicians of the same level: Hugo Pierre, here on soprano and clarinet, but a superb alto and tenor saxophonist too. Somewhat younger are Fernando Gelbard on Fender piano and flute, and drummer-percussionist Carlos 'Pocho' Lapouble. Gelbard was a pianist very much involved with the flute or perhaps vice versa; and also a pioneer in electronics applied to jazz, for electronic instruments were new to the jazz scene in the early 1970s and a rarity in Argentina. He had also played with Gato Barbieri and another great tenor from Argentina, Chivo Borraro. Long before that, as a teenager pianist at the time of Schifrin's quintet of 1956, Gelbard had played once for Lalo who gave him some advice: 'Kid, you sound too much like Brubeck, you should listen to Horace Silver'. Which he did - witness two other whatmusic.com reissues: 'Didi' (WMLP/CD-0020) and 'El Nuevo Sonido Del Chivo Borraro' (WMLP/CD-0027). Lapouble has always been someone as full of talent as of ebullience, so it didn't take long for him to be counted among the best argentinean jazzists. A bit younger, percussionist Miguel 'Chino' Rossi does a very creative job here.
'De Prepo' is an extremely convincing testimony of high musicality, purpose and dynamism. Be a witness to a musical experience that points to the then-unknown, based on a sound knowledge of jazz roots. It is perhaps due to Buenos Aires' special jazz scene: not many great jazz names from the States or Europe used to visit, musicians had to rely on records, travel, hearsay and personal enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is probably what it boils down to. And the joy of creating beauty under duress: the tragic circumstances of Argentina's history transmuted into musical creativeness.

2008-08-08T12:44:00.003+01:00

Takehiro Honda ~ Earthian Air

1. Flyer's Land
2. Earthian Air
3. Ra-Mu
4. Dark And Mellow
5. Sea Road
6. Sun Shower
7. Cool Eyes

TAKEHIRO HONDA-p
YOSHIO SUZUKI-b
MOTOHIKO HINO-ds

2008-08-04T16:27:00.001+01:00

SHINTARO QUINTET
(Shintaro Nakamura with Shunzo Ohno)
EVOLUTION
Ultra Vybe, 1984

Shintaro Nakamura (bass)
Shunzo Ohno (trumpet)
Robert Kenmotsu (tenor saxophone)
Jeff Jenkins (piano)
Fukushi Tainaka (drums)

2008-08-01T12:32:00.002+01:00

All you old jazz bloggers will remember El Swami Hermitus, well the good news is he's back HERE So go grab some music and say hello !!

2008-07-26T12:48:00.003+01:00

THE MAYOR AND THE PEOPLE ~ CARL B. STOKES
A BLACK SUITE FOR STRING QUARTET & JAZZ ORCHESTRA BY OLIVER NELSON

In 1967 Carl B. Stokes was the first elected black mayor of an American city, Cleveland, Ohio. The first side of this album features a highly political press conference that touches on issues of the time, The Black Panthers, genocide and racism.
On the second side is a beautiful seven-movement suite of poetry and spirituals featuring narration again from Carl B. Stokes
This album is not unlike another of my personal favorites from Oliver Nelson, The Kennedy Dream

Side A
The mayor and The people press coference

Side B
A Black Suite for String Quartet and Jazz Orchestra (Oliver Nelson)

a. Take This Hammer
b. Precious Lord
c. Sit Down
d. Mother To Son (Langston Hughes)
e. I Too Sing America (Langston Hughes)
f. I Dream A World (Langston Hughes)
g. Paint It Black (Gil Scott Heron)

2008-07-23T08:25:00.002+01:00

Charlie Mariano ~ Reflections 1974

Re upped as a request for Quique

1. Glenford Crescent
2. Naima
3. Brother Muthaiah
4. Spanish Dance No 2
5. Blue In Green
6. Thiruvarankulam
7. Chile
8. Ramblin

Charlie Mariano
Eero Koivistoinen
Olli Ahvelahti
Pekka Sarmanto
Reino Laine
Sabu Martinez

2008-07-22T04:13:00.002+01:00

JOHN HANDY
Recorded Live At Monterey Jazz Festival

Live At Monterey:
1. If We Only Knew 27:29
2. Spanish Lady 19:31

Recorded September 18, 1965

John Handy - Alto saxophone
Michael White - Violin
Jerry Hahn - Guitar
Don Thompson - Bass
Terry Clarke - Drums

Track 3. Tears Of Ole Miss (Anatomy Of A Riot) 31:09

John Handy - Alto Sax
Pat Martino - Guitar
Bobby Hutcherson - Vibes
Albert Stinson - Bass
Doug Sides - Drums

Recorded At Village Gate, NY, June 28, 1967

2008-07-19T12:03:00.003+01:00

Staffan Abeleen Quintets - Sweet Alva (1974)

This one wins hands down for the naffest cover going but don't judge a book ...
The first track was featured on the excellent Crippled Dick Hot Wax comp, Between Or Beyond The Northern Lights, Rare Fusion from Scandinavia 1967-1978

Bass - Björn Alke
Drums - Frederic Norén
Piano - Staffan Abeleen
Saxophone [Soprano] - Tommy Koverhult
Trumpet, Synthesizer [Moog] - Bertil Löfgren

01 - Mr. Minor (Bertil Lövgren)
02 - Sweet Alva (Staffan Abeleen)
03 - Bröllop Ett (Lars Färnlöf)
04 - Snabba Samban (Bertil Lövgren)
05 - Approximativ Moral (Staffan Abeleen)
06 - Turnelivets Vedermödor (Bertil Lövgren)