The Mahavishnu Orchestra - 1971 [1998] "The Inner Mounting Flame"

The Inner Mounting Flame is the debut studio album by American jazz-rock fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Conceptually, The Mahavishnu Orchestra was largely a continuation of drummer Tony Williams’ jazz-rock band Lifetime, in which McLaughlin had played with bassist Jack Bruce. The Mahavishnu Orchestra continued in the Lifetime vein, playing raw and upbeat jazz rock with a predominantly rock dominating over jazz.

For the Mahavisnu Orchestra, McLaughlin assembled a truly multinational cast. McLaughlin’s first recruit was supposed to be American bassist Tony Levin, but after Levin declined the honour, Irishman Rick Laird (1941-2021) was chosen to lead the quartet. The drums were filled by the vigorous Panamanian Billy Cobham (b.1944), the keyboards by the Czechoslovakian Jan Hammer (b.1948) and, after Jean Luc Ponty’s entry into the band fell through due to visa problems, the violinist was the American Jerry Goodman (b.1949).

The Inner Mounting Flame is a sovereign combination of hard-rock-like crackling ferocity and jazz virtuosic agility. The album can be considered one of the first jazz-rock records that really rocks like a beast.

Indeed, the band’s rough rock sound is one of the album’s greatest strengths: although the music is full of almost superhuman performances, it still feels edgy and dangerous throughout. The album has not been polished to a sterile flawlessness, but the sound is jagged and the listener is constantly in a kind of fear that the musicians are really playing at the limits of their abilities and there is a possibility that the whole thing could crash to the rocks at any moment. Well, of course that never happens.

McLauglin’s compositions on The Inner Mounting Flame are relatively simple in structure, although the individual sections are challenging due to irregular time signatures, exotic scales and very fast tempos. The band’s unison riffing is also often very impressive to listen to.

And as impressive as the band as a whole is, it is the guitar hero himself, John McLaughlin, who is the main protagonist. McLaughlin’s super-fast guitar playing was something that had never been heard before. McLaughlin was like Jimi Hendrix to the power of two. Or maybe more like a combination of Hendrix and John Coltrane on saxophone. McLaughlin has often said that in his youth he was impressed by saxophones, not guitarists, who he felt in the 60s were nowhere near the skill of the best wind players. McLaughlin’s million-note-per-minute strumming on this album has inspired a huge number of guitarists from fusion jazz, prog and heavy metal. And not always with flattering results. But by this time it was a recent phenomenon, and McLaughlin’s playing, even on the fastest runs, is far more refined than that of almost any guitarist who followed in his footsteps.

One track on the album is ”Noonward Race”, driven by Cobham’s manic drumming. Bassist Rick Laird prevents the song from going completely off the rails by bringing a hypnotic bass groove to the table and letting the four (yep, this band has a solo drummer!) soloists rip it up really tasty. Goodman kicks off the solos with a nice earthy, gruff violin sound, then Hammer gets going with a really exciting, metallically resonant ring-modulated Fender Rhodes sound. One of the most interesting aspects of the album for me is Jan Hammer’s excitingly shrill keyboard sounds. There is still something futuristic, alien and fascinating about his sounds. After Hammer, McLaughlin plays another impressive and super-fast guitar solo, on top of which Cobham forges a solid drum solo. Whoah! No notes are spared in this song. The song is like an exploding volcano that destroys everything in its path. It’s really easy to imagine how impressive the song must have sounded in 1971.

Along with ”Noonward Race”, another key track on the album is ”The Dance Of Maya” which starts with ominous chords reminiscent of King Crimson and after a few minutes turns into irregularly paced blues-rock.

The album also has its quieter aspects, the best example of which is the mainly acoustic ”A Lotus on Irish Streams” which, although it too, moves forward at times with the lightning-fast note claps that McLaughlin creates from his acoustic guitar, and then again calms down to a more lyrical mood, especially with Hammer’s beautiful piano playing. Goodman’s violin also gets a nice space in the song.

Apart from the quieter moments mentioned above, I still miss a bit more subtlety and polish in The Inner Mounting Flame’s compositions. On the other hand, the energetic and fiery jazz-rock of the album, with its virtuoso playing, is a truly moving experience to listen to from time to time.

The Inner Mounting Flame was a strong start for The Mahavishnu Orchestra and the band immediately established themselves as the most popular jazz rock band of the 70s with the only real challengers in terms of popularity being Weather Report and Return To Forever. The band also inspired numerous rock bands, and the likes of Yes and King Crimson have acknowledged their debt to The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s furious jazz-rock.

One is struck by the grandiose reach of the quintet that dared to call itself an orchestra. Pieces like "Meeting of the Spirits" and the fragile, acoustic "A Lotus on Irish Streams" are like classically-inspired suites in miniature. But it was numbers like "Noonward Race", "Vital Transformation" and especially "Awakening", fueled by Cobham’s smoldering intensity on the kit and McLaughlin’s raging, distortion-soaked guitar lines, that really grabbed rock crowds. More ethereal pieces like "The Dance of Maya", with its odd time signatures and arpeggios, and the haunting "You Know, You Know", a drum feature for Cobham, helped to create a kind of mystique about the Mahavishnu Orchestra that was wholly unprecedented for its time.

This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement. Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin's post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman's flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. These still sound genuinely thrilling today on CD, as McLaughlin and Goodman battle Jan Hammer's keyboards, Rick Laird's bass, and especially Billy Cobham's hard-charging drums, whose jazz-trained technique pushed the envelope for all rock drummers. What doesn't date so well are the composed medium- and high-velocity unison passages that are played in such tight lockstep that they can't breathe. There is also time out for quieter, reflective numbers that are drenched in studied spirituality ("A Lotus on Irish Streams") or irony ("You Know You Know"); McLaughlin was to do better in that department with less-driven colleagues elsewhere in his career. Aimed with absolute precision at young rock fans, this record was wildly popular in its day, and it may have been the cause of more blown-out home amplifiers than any other record this side of Deep Purple.

Track listing:

1. Meeting Of The Spirits 6:50

2. Dawn 5:15

3. The Noonward Race 6:27

4. A Lotus On Irish Streams 5:41

5. Vital Transformation 6:14

6. The Dance Of Maya 7:15

7. You Know You Know 5:06

8. Awakening 3:30

Personnel:

John McLaughlin – guitar

Rick Laird – bass

Billy Cobham – drums, percussion

Jan Hammer – keyboards, organ

Jerry Goodman – violin

Santana - 1974 "Borboletta"

Borboletta is the sixth studio album by the American Latin rock band Santana. It is one of their jazz-funk-fusion oriented albums, along with Caravanserai (1972), and Welcome (1973). Non-band albums by Carlos Santana in this style also include Love Devotion Surrender (1973) with John McLaughlin and Illuminations (1974) with Alice Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette and Jules Broussard. The guitarist leaves much room to percussion, saxophone and keyboards to set moods ("Spring Manifestations"), as well as lengthy solos by himself ("Promise of a Fisherman") and vocals ("Give and Take", a funky guitar-led song). The record was released in a metallic blue sleeve displaying a butterfly, an allusion to the album Butterfly Dreams (1973) by Brazilian musician Flora Purim and her husband Airto Moreira, whose contributions deeply influenced the sound of Borboletta. In Portuguese, borboleta means "butterfly".

This album is unfortunately too often over looked, but represents yet another highlight in the group's discography and a shot at equalling (but not really close) Caravanserai's perfection. Named (I think) on a rare blue Central American butterfly (the background shot is a close-up of its wing's structure), this album is all too discreet for its own good.

Starting on the same birdsong and sheep herd landscapes than its inspiration (but written by jazz-rock great Airto Moreira), you just know you will be in for another superb Santana ride as right after the intro, the first few mid-eastern scales of Canto De Flores directly lead you to heaven. As usual with Santana albums, happiness radiates from every pore of the vinyl record groove and Life Is Anew and Give And Take (both sung and hyper positive) are some of the better sung jazz-rock (I am usually not really a fan of that "thing"), and the vocals do help setting its own feel as opposed to its inspiration. On a lesser level, One With The Sun, while still lovely, is maybe one sung-track too many in a row, but I might be just a bit over-nitpicky. 

Aspirations quickly repairs this slight flaw with its splendidly cosmic calmness. After the great Practice What You Preach instrumental, one more sung tracks (I must say that Leon Patillo's voice is quite pleasing) the excellent Mirage, the impressive Here and Now is quite a departure from what Santana had us used to and segues into the highly fusional Flor De Canela, before the album climaxes in the lengthy Promise Of A Fisherman, which is not lying in its promise to the listener: although nothing never heard before, we are dealing with one of the last truly great lengthy Santana instrumental here. The closing Airto Moreira-penned track is rather anecdotical, but does close the album in the same intriguing manner it openned.

One of the thngs that differentiates this album from the ultimacy (if you'll allow the creation of a new word for that album) of Caravanserai is Greg Rollie's absence >> both his organs and his voice are aptly replaced and almost equalled. But really, this album has very few to envy to it either, so I will round up its rating to the upper unit, making it also a five star.

Original bassist David Brown returned to replace Doug Rauch and vocalist/keyboardist Leon Patillo joined. After the album's completion, drummer Michael Shrieve left, to be replaced by Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, who had guested on parts of the album.

Track listing:

01 Spring Manifestas (Sound Effects) 1:05

02 Canto De Las Flores 3:45

03 Life Is Anew 4:30

04 Give And Take 3:46

05 One With The Sun 4:20

06 Aspirations 5:12

07 Practice What You Preach 4:39

08 Mirage 4:43

09 Here And Now 3:01

10 Flora De Canelo 2:20

11 Promise Of A Fisherman 6:05

12 Borboletta 2:50

Total Time: 49:53

Personnel:

Carlos Santana – guitar (3-5, 7–11) percussion (2, 9), congas (7), gong (8), vocals (11), producer

Leon Patillo – vocals (3–5, 7, 8), piano (8), electric piano (3, 5), organ (4)

Flora Purim – vocals (1, 11)

Jules Broussard – soprano and tenor saxophones (4, 6, 9, 11)

Tom Coster – piano (4, 9), Hammond organ (7, 10, 11), electric piano, Fender Rhodes (2, 9–11), organ (3, 5, 6, 8), Moog synthesizer (4, 8), producer

Stanley Clarke – bass guitar (6, 9–11)

David Brown – bass guitar (2, 4, 5, 7, 8)

Michael Shrieve – drums (2–5, 7, 8), producer

Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums (6, 9)

Airto Moreira – drums (10, 11), percussion (12), sound effects (1), triangle (11), vocals (12)

Armando Peraza – percussion, congas (2, 4–6, 8, 11), bongos (3, 6, 11), soprano saxophone (10)

José Areas – timbales (4), congas (2, 3)

Michael Carpenter – echoplex (2)

Jack DeJohnette - 1980 [2008] "Special Edition"

Special Edition is an album by drummer and pianist Jack DeJohnette featuring tenor saxophonist David Murray, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe and bassist and cellist Slip Warren recorded in 1979 released on the ECM label in 1980. The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states, "The first (and mightiest) of Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition ensembles offered a sound that in many ways was revolutionary in modern contemporary and creative improvised music circa 1980... This CD deserves a definitive five-star rating for the lofty place it commands in the evolution of jazz headed toward new heights and horizons". A JazzTimes reviewer selected it in 2012 as one of DeJohnette's key albums.

The first (and mightiest) of Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition ensembles offered a sound that in many ways was revolutionary in modern contemporary and creative improvised music circa 1980. With firebrand alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe and enfant terrible tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray bobbing, weaving, and counterpunching, DeJohnette and bassist Peter Warren could have easily stood back in deference to these heavyweight pugilists. The result was a vehicle by which DeJohnette could power the two with his two-fisted drumming and play piano or melodica when the mood suited him, while Warren could simply establish a foundation for all to launch their witty, extroverted, oftentimes boisterous ideas into the stratosphere. 

The recording starts off very strong with two definitive tracks. "One for Eric," perfectly rendered in the spirit of Eric Dolphy, has Blythe and Murray's bass clarinet taking off, flying, and then soaring. Their contrasting tart and sweet sounds merge beautifully, and not without a smidgen of humor. "Zoot Suite" sports a great 4/4 bass groove with quirky accents, while Blythe's alto and Murray's tenor repeat a head-nodding line, then Murray's sax chortles like a cow, then they float over DeJohnette's melodica, and on the repeat line the drummer powers the band to the finish line. Both of these tracks are as complete, fully realized, and utterly unique as any in modern jazz, and deserve standards status. But John Coltrane's visage is not far behind on the peaceful "Central Park West," with DeJohnette again on the underlying melodica, while "India" has DeJohnette leading out on a playful Native and Eastern Indian motif via his piano playing. 

Blythe and Murray literally weep on the alto and bass clarinet. The finale, "Journey to the Twin Planet," is a free-based improvisation, with Blythe's squawky alto and Murray's long-toned tenor with overblown harmonics held in mezzo piano range, and DeJohnette's melodica evincing an electronic stance. A craggy, wild, and free bop idea provides a bridge (or maybe wormhole) to a calmer, supposed other planet. While there are no extra tracks on this recording -- and they would be welcome -- this first version of Special Edition stands alone as one of the most important and greatest assemblages of jazz musicians. This LP deserves a definitive five-star rating for the lofty place it commands in the evolution of jazz toward new heights and horizons.

Track listing:

All compositions by Jack DeJohnette except as indicated

"One for Eric" - 9:52

"Zoot Suite" - 11:29

"Central Park West" (John Coltrane) - 3:16

"India" (Coltrane) - 6:02

"Journey to the Twin Planet" - 8:42

Recorded at Generation Sound Studios, New York in March, 1979

Personnel:

Jack DeJohnette – drums, piano, melodica

David Murray – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Arthur Blythe – alto saxophone

Peter "Slip" Warren – bass, cello

Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane - 1958 [1987] "Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane"

Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane is a studio album of music performed by jazz musicians Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane. It was released on the New Jazz label in April 1963. The recording was made on March 7, 1958. It was reissued in 1967 on New Jazz's parent label Prestige, with a different cover and retitled The Kenny Burrell Quintet With John Coltrane.

For his final Prestige-related session as a sideman, John Coltrane (tenor sax) and Kenny Burrell (guitar) are supported by an all-star cast of Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), and Tommy Flanagan (piano). This short but sweet gathering cut their teeth on two Flanagan compositions, another two lifted from the Great American Songbook, and a Kenny Burrell original.

 Flanagan's tunes open and close the album, with the spirited "Freight Trane" getting the platter underway. While not one of Coltrane's most assured performances, he chases the groove right into the hands of Burrell. The guitarist spins sonic gold and seems to inspire similar contributions from Chambers' bowed bass and Coltrane alike. Especially as the participants pass fours (read: four bars) between them at the song's conclusion. The Gus Kahn/Ted Fio Rito standard "I Never Knew" frolics beneath Burrell's nimble fretwork. Once he passes the reins to Coltrane, the differences in their styles are more readily apparent, with Burrell organically emerging while Coltrane sounds comparatively farther out structurally.

 Much of the same can likewise be associated to Burrell's own "Lyresto," with the two co-leads gracefully trading and incorporating spontaneous ideas. While not as pronounced, the disparity in the way the performance is approached is a study in unifying and complementary contrasts. The delicate "Why Was I Born" is one for the ages as Burrell and Coltrane are captured in a once-in-a-lifetime duet. Together they weave an uncanny and revealing sonic tapestry that captures a pure and focused intimacy. This, thanks in part to the complete restraint of the ensemble, who take the proverbial "pause for the cause" and sit out.

 What remains is the best argument for the meeting of these two jazz giants. The performance can likewise be located on the various-artists Original Jazz Classics: The Prestige Sampler (1988) and Playboy Jazz After Dark (2002) and is worth checking out, regardless of where one might find it. In many ways the showpiece of the project is Flanagan's nearly quarter-hour "Big Paul." The pianist's lengthy intro establishes a laid-back bop-centric melody with his trademark stylish keyboards perfectly balancing Chambers and Cobb's rock-solid timekeeping. Coltrane's restraint is palpable as he traverses and examines his options with insightful double-time flurries that assert themselves then retreat into the larger extent of his solo. Those interested in charting the saxophonist's progression should make specific note of his work here.

Track listing:

"Freight Trane" (Tommy Flanagan) – 7:18

"I Never Knew" (Ted Fio Rito, Gus Kahn) – 7:04

"Lyresto" (Kenny Burrell) – 5:41

"Why Was I Born?" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 3:12

"Big Paul" (Tommy Flanagan) – 14:05

Personnel:

Kenny Burrell – guitar

John Coltrane – tenor saxophone

Tommy Flanagan – piano

Paul Chambers – bass

Jimmy Cobb – drums

Trio Beyond - 2006 "Saudades"

Saudades is the name of the debut double-disc album released by Trio Beyond in 2006 on ECM records. Saudades is a Portuguese word meaning sadness or longing for times past, or in a musical context, blues.

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars, stating, "Jack DeJohnette initiated a project to pay tribute to the late Tony Williams' Lifetime... The results on this double-disc album, Saudades, are explosive, dynamic, and utterly compelling... This is one of the finer moments in recent ECM history, and a fitting tribute to Williams and his contribution to a music that sharply divided "purists' (who still are a pain in the ass in trying to preserve jazz as a museum piece), and those more progressive thinking fans who were -- and are still -- looking for a music that could breathe, engage the culture, and continue to grow". A JazzTimes reviewer selected it in 2012 as one of DeJohnette's key albums, and wrote that it "might be his most incendiary showcase of sheer drumming prowess".

Looking back has become almost de rigeur lately, and with that the risk of putting legacy groups on a pedestal—being fervently imitative, rather than taking the music to new places. Saudades pays tribute to the late drummer Tony Williams' groundbreaking fusion group Lifetime, and Trio Beyond clearly has the right idea. The spirit and energy which defined Lifetime's brief existence is in full force on this live double-disc set, but Trio Beyond's ability to apply a modernistic bent to Lifetime's raw power makes Saudades more than just a heartfelt tribute. It's one of the best releases of 2006.

Drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John Scofield and keyboardist Larry Goldings ensure that Williams' revolutionary work is given a facelift that's reverent but speaks with its own voice. Culling material from Lifetime's Emergency! (Polydor, 1969) and Turn It Over (Polydor, 1970), and dipping into the repertoire of Lifetime organist Larry Young and iconic bandleader Miles Davis—who first brought Williams to prominence—Trio Beyond's purview is broader than Lifetime's ever was.

DeJohnette and Williams were contemporaries, so there's no denying that cross-pollination occurred. Williams swung hard, and here DeJohnette is as raucous as he's ever sounded, approaching John Coltrane's "Big Nick with a muscularity rarely heard from him these days. Always a malleable player, DeJohnette keeps the time profoundly elusive yet undeniably clear on the ballad "I Fall in Love Too Easily.

A decade his junior, Scofield couldn't help but be influenced by Lifetime guitarist John McLaughlin's seemingly unschooled but, in reality, highly studied approach to aggressive jazz guitar. Scofield has rarely played with this level of energy and angularity, especially when the trio's take on McLaughlin's knotty "Spectrum breaks down mid-stream. With his own harmonic approach, Scofield applies a host of electronic processing to take his instrument to places McLaughlin simply couldn't have visited.

At 38, Larry Goldings is the same age as Young was when he died tragically in 1978. Young's more abstract modality figures more in Goldings' approach than the soul jazz of Jimmy Smith or Jack McDuff.

Reaching Lifetime's sonic levels on "Emergency and "Spectrum, Trio Beyond also shines in its reinvention of material Williams played during his tenure with Miles. "Seven Steps to Heaven opens with a powerful vamp that sets up the familiar theme, played with unexpectedly staggered time and an energy that leads into Scofield's hard-hitting solo, supported by an unrepentant DeJohnette and Goldings' in-the-stratosphere accompaniment.

While Trio Beyond demonstrates more finesse than Lifetime, it would be a mistake to consider this a more conventional group. There's nothing polite about it, and Saudades demonstrates that when you bring together three players with a common goal, the resultant chemistry can make for music that's both visceral and cerebral. With a European tour this year and dates lining up for 2007, it looks like Trio Beyond will be around for awhile—which is good news for those who want to hear three players at the absolute top of their game.

Track listing:

Disc One:

    "If" (Joe Henderson) - 10:07
    "As One" (Larry Goldings) - 4:36
    "Allah Be Praised" (Larry Young) - 0:43
    "Saudades" (Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Larry Goldings) - 10:46
    "Pee Wee" (Tony Williams) - 12:13
    "Spectrum" (John McLaughlin) - 16:11

Disc Two:

    "Seven Steps To Heaven" (Miles Davis, Victor Feldman) - 12:54
    "I Fall in Love Too Easily" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) - 10:13
    "Love In Blues" (DeJohnette, Goldings, Scofield) - 4:45
    "Big Nick" (John Coltrane) - 17:08
    "Emergency" (Williams) - 11:19

Personnel:

Jack DeJohnette: drums;
John Scofield: guitars;
Larry Goldings: Hammond organ, electric piano, sampler.

John Coltrane - 1965 [1992] "The Major Works of John Coltrane"

The Major Works of John Coltrane is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1992 by GRP Records. It features extended compositions, all recorded in 1965 with expanded ensembles, and originally released by Impulse! Records on Ascension, Om, Kulu Sé Mama, and Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things. Both editions of Ascension are included.

This two CD set brings together some very intense and transitional music recorded by John Coltrane in 1965. This was a fascinating period in his career, as his longtime quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums was in the process of dissolving, and his role as a mentor to the younger “New Thing" musicians led him to seek out new collaborators like Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and Rashied Ali.

On the recordings collected here, the quartet is joined by a rotating cast of additional musicians which allow for a larger palette to be used in the ambitious music Coltrane was working toward. The two takes of Coltrane's monumental “Ascension" dominate this collection. As a big band free jazz performance it was unique in the jazz canon at the time, akin to Ornette Coleman's “Free Jazz" but separate in its ambition and execution. Spiritual concerns were paramount to the final period of Coltrane's career, and it is possible to see “Ascension" as his musical impressions of a man's journey to the afterlife. But much like William Blake's spiritual poetry, it is a harrowing journey.

This is a transitory, experimental work and should be viewed as such. Allowing the music to wash over you with the ebbs and flows of the soloists and groups is one of the most intense experiences in jazz, and broke new ground for the likes of Peter Brotzmann and the ROVA Saxophone Quartet (who have recorded two of their own interpretations of “Ascension") to continue the exploration. “Om" is one of the most daunting performances in Coltrane's music for listeners to comprehend.

Over the course of two crucial discs, The Major Works of John Coltrane compiles the saxophonist's most important extended free jazz pieces from 1965. This is the material that made Coltrane a giant of the avant-garde, completely casting off the limits of melody, harmony, and tonality that he'd been straining against.

All the performances feature Coltrane's classic quartet augmented by Pharoah Sanders and several others, depending on the session. Literally and figuratively, the biggest piece here is of course "Ascension," the album-length, 11-piece free improvisation that finally picked up the gauntlet thrown down by the release of Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz four years earlier. Present in both of its two takes, it's among the most frightening jazz performances ever committed to tape, pairing Coltrane's search for spiritual transcendence with a screeching ferocity (courtesy of five saxophones) that never lets up.

Ascension was far more abrasive and visceral than Free Jazz, benefiting from four years of development in jazz's avant-garde, which helped make each individual player's voice more suited to this kind of chaotic, textural music. Not all of Coltrane's free work was this consistently extreme, but it did come close in isolated moments.

The incantatory "Om" expands on Ascension by contrasting the same sort of passionate, banshee-scream ensembles with eerie, meditative passages, bookending the piece with poetic recitations. "Kulu Se Mama," based on a song by percussionist/vocalist Juno Lewis, further explores the ritualistic dimension of "Om" with subtle hints of danceability and Creole/Caribbean flavor. "Selflessness" is the most conventional of the pieces, starting out like a standard Coltrane Quartet piece before moving into the large-ensemble explorations. There's a lot to digest here, but as an encapsulation of Coltrane's freest and most challenging music, there's no better place to turn.

Track listing:

Disc 1:

    "Ascension - Edition I" — 38:37
    "Om" — 28:49

Disc 2:

    "Ascension - Edition II" — 40:31
    "Kulu Se Mama" — 18:57
    "Selflessness" — 15:09

Personnel:

Recorded June 28 and October 1965.

    John Coltrane — tenor saxophone
    Pharoah Sanders — tenor saxophone
    Archie Shepp — tenor saxophone (disc 1: track 1, disc 2: track 1)
    Marion Brown — alto saxophone (disc 1: track 1, disc 2: track 1)
    John Tchicai — alto saxophone (disc 1: track 1, disc 2: track 1)
    Freddie Hubbard — trumpet (disc 1: track 1, disc 2: track 1)
    Dewey Johnson — trumpet (disc 1: track 1, disc 2: track 1)
    Joe Brazil — flute (disc 1: track 2)
    Donald Garrett — clarinet[nb 1]/bass (disc 1: track 2, disc 2: tracks 2,3)
    McCoy Tyner — piano
    Jimmy Garrison — bass
    Art Davis — bass (disc 1: track 1, disc 2: track 1)
    Elvin Jones — drums
    Frank Butler — drums (disc 2: tracks 2,3)
    Juno Lewis — percussion/vocals (disc 2: tracks 2,3)

Notes:

The credits on the album jacket state that Garrett played bass clarinet on the recording. However, the authors of The John Coltrane Reference, who occasionally present updates to the book on their website (http://wildmusic-jazz.com/jcr_index.htm), provided an update dated 2008 which states that Dutch musician Cornelis Hazevoet sent the following information via an email to author Yasuhiro Fujioka: "Over the years, in liners, books and lists, Don Garrett has been attributed with playing bass clarinet. This is wrong. The man only played bass and clarinet (the small and straight horn, that is)... In 1975, Garrett played in my band and I've specifically asked him about it (because I already felt something was wrong with it). He most specifically and pertinently told me that he never played bass clarinet in his entire life, only the small, straight horn (which he played in my band too)... Perhaps, the error originated from the fact that Garrett was listed somewhere as playing 'bass, clarinet', which subsequently evolved into 'bass clarinet'. Whatever is the case, Garrett did not play bass clarinet on any Coltrane record nor anywhere else.

Marc Johnson - 1986 [2008] "Bass Desires"

“Samurai Hee-Haw,” the opening track of Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires, is one of the most memorable cuts in the ECM catalogue and a signature one for this transient project. Yet beyond its leader’s deeply rooted bass and Peter Erskine’s key-to-lock drumming, the pairing of Bill Frisell and John Scofield is what truly sets this firecracker a-sparkle. Their combined forces are enough to make one dizzy, and more than once they slip past our expectations by the skin of their teeth. Perhaps nothing could bear the weight of this resounding call to electric arms more confidently than a movement lifted from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Hence “Resolution,” a groovy flower in which Erskine proves his own mettle with a tripped out solo against the metal string game being woven before him. The band turns the tables once more with the keening “Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair.” This Appalachian folk song of Scottish origin finds not new but old life in the stretch of sonic hallway down which it is led. Lest we fall too deeply into elegy, the title track counters with rip-roaring fun. Erskine and Johnson lay down plenty of traction to spare as the two pickers fry the ether with their song. Elmer Bernstein’s “A Wishing Doll” sports a dancing synth guitar that can’t help but put one in mind of Pat Metheny. Flip a switch, though, and suddenly we’re riding Johnson’s “Mojo Highway,” of which the reggae-ish beat and lumpy bass complement smoldering mood swings from guitars.

The pairing of electric guitarists Bill Frisell and John Scofield had to be one of the most auspicious since John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana. Acoustic bassist Marc Johnson's stroke of genius in bringing the two together on Bass Desires resulted in a sound that demonstrated both compatibility between the guitarists and the distinctiveness of the two when heard in combination. Add drummer Peter Erskine and you had a bona fide supergroup, albeit in retrospect a short-lived one, before Frisell and Scofield would establish their own substantial careers as leaders. The guitarists revealed symmetry, spaciousness, and a soaring stance, buoyed by the simplicity of their rhythm mates. This is immediately achieved on the introductory track, "Samurai Hee-Haw," as hummable, head-swimming, and memorable a melody as there ever has been, and a definite signature sound. A perfect country & eastern fusion, the guitarists lope along on wafting white clouds of resonant twang, singing to themselves while also playing stinging notes, supported by the insistent two-note funk of Johnson and the rolling thunder of Erskine. The title track is a one-note ostinato from the bassist with a popping, driven drum rhythm and the guitars more unified in their lines, but broadening their individualistic voices. The light reggae funk of "Mojo Highway" sounds more conversational and jam-like, while "Thanks Again" is a relaxed, unforced waltz, again eschewing Asian-Missouri folkloric alchemy fired by Frisell's wah-wah and Scofield's stairstep strums. Ethereal and effusive sky church inflections lead to loose associations, especially from Frisell's moon-walking guitar synthesizer on "A Wishing Doll." There are three covers: a take on Elmer Bernstein's "A Wishing Doll;" "Resolution," the second movement from John Coltrane's A Love Supreme suite, with a more spiky bass and spacy lead melody played only once; and the standard "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," floating and eerie, held together by silk and lace threads. One of two Bass Desires albums, this debut has stood the test of time -- it is priceless, timeless, and still far from being dated.

This is a must for any ECM lover’s collection and ranks among the best of the Touchstones series. Like the title of Scofield’s “Thanks Again” that ends it, it holds up as a sprawling love letter to those on either end of the musical stick.

Track listing:

Samurai Hee-Haw    7:43
Resolution    10:28
Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair    7:07
Bass Desires    6:08
A Wishing Doll    6:13
Mojo Highway    8:42
Thanks Again    7:15

Personnel:

Marc Johnson - Bass
John Scofield - Guitar
Bill Frisell - Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer
Peter Erskine - Drums

John Coltrane - 1965-1970 [1993] "Transition"

 

Transition is an album of music by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded in 1965 but released posthumously only in 1970. As its title indicates, Transition was a bridge between classic quartet recordings like A Love Supreme and the more experimental works of Coltrane's last years.

Coltrane's playing alternates between blues idioms and the free jazz that would dominate his final work. Of the four musicians on this album, pianist McCoy Tyner was still the most grounded in traditional jazz. Bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones were finding new ways to approach their instruments, while Coltrane took the lead with a newfound musical freedom.

Transition's title track is a fifteen-minute modified blues, whilst "Dear Lord" is a ballad featuring Roy Haynes substituting for Jones on drums. "Welcome," which replaces "Dear Lord" on the album's compact disc release, is a five-minute ballad with a theme pitched high in the tenor saxophone's altissimo register and making extensive use of multiphonics. The closing "Suite" is a twenty-minute performance, covering a variety of moods. "Vigil", which concludes the CD release of the album, is a fiery duet between Coltrane and Jones.

Recorded in June of 1965 and released posthumously in 1970, Transition acts as a neat perforation mark between Coltrane's classic quartet and the cosmic explorations that would follow until Trane's passing in 1967. Recorded seven months after the standard-setting A Love Supreme, Transition's first half bears much in common with that groundbreaking set. Spiritually reaching and burningly intense, the quartet is playing at full steam, but still shy of the total free exploration that would follow mere months later on records like Sun Ship and the mystical atonal darkness that came in the fall of that same year with Om. McCoy Tyner's gloriously roaming piano chord clusters add depth and counterpoint to Coltrane's ferocious lyrical runs on the five-part suite that makes up the album's second half. In particular on "Peace and After," Tyner matches Trane's range of expression. The angelically floating "Dear Lord," a meditative pause in the album's center, holds true to the straddling of the line between modes of thinking and playing that define Transition, not quite as staid as the balladry of Trane's earlier hard bop days, but nowhere near the lucid dreaming that followed. Only nearing the end of "Vigil" does the quartet hint at the fury of complete freedom it would achieve later in the year on Sun Ship, or even more, provide a precursory look at terrain Coltrane would explore in duets with drummer Rashied Ali on Interstellar Space in 1967. [The omission of "Dear Lord” on some issues is replaced with the similarly subtle "Welcome" and still other issues include bonus album closer "Vigil"]

Three months after this recording, Coltrane's quartet moved further into experimental territory with the album Sun Ship.

Track listing:

1. "Transition" – 15:31
2. "Welcome" – 5:34
3. "Suite" (Prayer and Meditation: Day, Peace and After, Prayer and Meditation: Evening, Affirmation, Prayer and Meditation: 4 A.M.) – 21:20
4. "Vigil" – 9:51

Personnel:

    John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
    McCoy Tyner – piano
    Jimmy Garrison – double bass
    Elvin Jones – drums

Ornette Coleman - 1960 "Free Jazz"

 

Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is the sixth album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released on Atlantic Records in 1961, his fourth for the label. Its title established the name of the then-nascent free jazz movement. The recording session took place on December 21, 1960, at A&R Studios in New York City. The sole outtake from the album session, "First Take," was later released on the 1971 compilation Twins.

The music is a continuous free improvisation with only a few brief pre-determined sections. The music was recorded in one single “take” with no overdubbing or editing.

The album features what Coleman called a “double quartet,” i.e., two self-contained jazz quartets, each with two wind instruments and each with a rhythm section consisting of bass and drums. The two quartets are heard in separate channels with Coleman’s regular group in the left channel and the second quartet in the right.

The two quartets play simultaneously with the two rhythm sections providing a dense rhythmic foundation over which the wind players either solo or provide freeform commentaries that often turn into full-scale collective improvisation interspersed with pre-determined composed passages. The composed thematic material can be considered a series of brief, dissonant fanfares for the horns which serve as interludes between solos. Not least among the album's achievements was that it was the first album-length improvisation, nearly forty minutes, which was unheard of at the time.

The original LP package incorporated Jackson Pollock's 1954 painting The White Light.[10] The cover was a gatefold with a cutout window in the lower right corner allowing a glimpse of the painting; opening the cover revealed the full artwork, along with liner notes by critic Martin Williams. Coleman was a fan of Pollock as well as a painter, and his 1966 LP The Empty Foxhole features Coleman's own artwork.

In the January 18, 1962 issue of Down Beat magazine, in a special review titled "Double View of a Double Quartet," Pete Welding awarded the album Five Stars while John A. Tynan rated it No Stars.

The album was identified by Chris Kelsey in his Allmusic essay "Free Jazz: A Subjective History" as one of the 20 Essential Free Jazz albums. It served as the blueprint for later large-ensemble free jazz recordings such as Ascension by John Coltrane and Machine Gun by Peter Brötzmann.

On March 3, 1998, Free Jazz was reissued on compact disc by Rhino Records as part of its Atlantic 50 series. The "Free Jazz" track, split into two sections for each side of the LP, appeared here in continuous uninterrupted form, along with a bonus track of the previously issued "First Take."

Track Listing:

1 Free Jazz 31:07
2 First Take 17:03

Personnel:

Left channel

    Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone
    Don Cherry – pocket trumpet
    Scott LaFaro – bass
    Billy Higgins – drums

Right channel

    Eric Dolphy – bass clarinet
    Freddie Hubbard – trumpet
    Charlie Haden – bass
    Ed Blackwell – drums

Pat Martino - 2003 "Think Tank"

 

Guitarist Pat Martino has tempered his serpentine, machine-gun improvisational style over the years into a soft-focus, graph paper stencil. His playing, at once mathematically dense and puritanical in its economy, can impress with long bursts of harmonic complexity and stylistic flourishes that cross rockabilly-esque chicken scratch with ECM-style repetition. All of this is on display on his cerebral, blues-tinged 2003 album Think Tank. His third album for Blue Note since 1997's All Sides Now, it finds him paired with the equally protean talents of saxophonist Joe Lovano, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Lewis Nash. Together, they play with a thoughtful intensity that's both meditative and exploding with improvisational ideas. Lovano is an especially intuitive foil for the guitarist with a floating, kinetic style that's well-suited to these flowing compositions. They both spiral through the title song, an intriguing scientific theorem of a tune that Martino built out of the letters in John Coltrane's name. The track, as with much of Think Tank, finds them dancing around drummer Lewis Nash's ever-present swinging groove and bassist Christian McBride's funky drones. Equally engaging is the ballad "Sun on My Hands," in which pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Martino delicately play off each other in a kind of plaintive call-and-response that brings to mind Martino's dusky, reflective 1976 album We'll Be Together Again. Elsewhere, Martino offers up the sinister, Middle Eastern-tinged modality of "Africa," the driving post-bop exuberance of "Earthlings," and the sun-dappled haze of "Before You Ask." Think Tank is a deep album, but never cold.

In the sense that a think tank is a collection of bright thinkers, guitarist Pat Martino’s characterization for his new CD really does hold up for this one-off session. Martino shares the front line with tenorman Joe Lovano, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash to form a very strong mainstream band.

Since reemerging in 1994 after a brain aneurysm effectively made it necessary to relearn how to play his instrument, Pat Martino has found himself in a variety of recording situations. Most of his recent albums as a leader have been made for Blue Note, but even a brief survey of those reveals Martino as a restless spirit, constantly shifting styles and bandmates to pursue his ever-evolving muse. Recent years have seen the guitarist largely abandoning the slightly trippy modal workouts that informed his best Prestige LPs from the late ’60s in favor of getting back to his soul jazz roots, as on 2001’s Live at Yoshi’s and his guest spot on The Philadelphia Experiment project. For this reason alone, his new release Think Tank is likely to raise more than a few eyebrows, as it marks a return to the modal-flavored hard bop upon which his reputation is largely based.

Martino doesn’t pull any punches, either, as one look at the lineup he’s assembled for his journey quickly proves. The band is as close to all-star as it gets in jazz these days, featuring saxophonist Joe Lovano (himself a Blue Note regular), pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Lewis Nash. As is so often the case (Lakers fans, back me up here), putting together a collection of ringers doesn’t necessarily translate into the uncompromising brilliance that can be achieved by a working group, but the results of their meeting as collected on Think Tank are certainly worth checking out.

The band is at its most effective on a trilogy of spiritually inclined pieces: “Think Tank”, “Africa”, and “Quatessence”. According to Martino, the CD became sort of an unintentional tribute to John Coltrane, particularly after Martino composed the title track using a mathematical system based on the letters of the saxophonist’s name. Beyond its academic construction, though, it’s easily the disc’s highlight, balancing the guitarist’s jittery arpeggios, Nash’s exquisite snare work, and Lovano’s heated restraint to effectively capture the spirit of its tributee. Their take on Coltrane’s “Africa” is also worth mentioning, if only for the utter genius of Rubalcaba’s playing (which, incidentally, is on display throughout the CD). The pianist exposes himself as a highly adept accompanist, whether reserving himself with a spatial economy that’s the perfect antithesis to Martino’s voluminous runs, or striking the ideal combination of rhythm and harmony to bridge the soloist and rhythm section.

 Track listing:

1. The Phineas Trane     6:36
2. Think Tank     12:07
3. Dozen Down     7:54
4. Sun On My Hands     9:16
5. Africa     11:43
6. Quatessence     9:56
7. Before You Ask     6:51
8. Earthings     5:32

Personnel:

Guitar, Producer, Artwork By [Cover] – Pat Martino
Tenor Saxophone – Joe Lovano
Bass – Christian McBride
Drums – Lewis Nash
Piano – Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Liner Notes – Bela Fleck*

McCoy Tyner - 2008 "Guitars"

 

Guitars is an album by McCoy Tyner released on his McCoy Tyner Music (a subsidiary of Half Note Records) label in 2008. It was recorded in September 2006 and features performances by Tyner, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette with guitarists Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Béla Fleck, Derek Trucks, and Bill Frisell. The album also contains a DVD featuring video footage of the studio sessions.

This is McCoy Tyner's second release on his own label, and it is odd, to say the least. Around the fixed trio of the pianist, Ron Carter on drums and Jack DeJohnette on drums, one of today's leading guitarists is added to form a quartet : first Marc Ribot, then John Scofield, Belà Fleck, Steve Trucks and ending with Bill Frisell. All six guitarists are of course stylistically totally different, although they kind of accomodate McCoy here. The end result is at best entertaining, fun to hear, with great musicians showing some of their skills. But it's not great music, just good. The playing is good, the music a little boring. And at times it's even a little pathetic, like when Belà Fleck plays "My Favorite Things" on his banjo. It is all a little bit sad : it lacks musical vision and creativity, and I hate to say this about a musician for whom I've always had the greatest esteem. Yet if you like to hear jazz guitar in its many variations, you might like this, although it adds nothing to these musicians' already vast list of albums. Well, maybe. It's the first time I hear Ribot play in such a conventional jazzy fashion (on "500 Miles").

Ah, but McCoy had one more twist for this one-of-a-kind record: he let the guitarists themselves decide which two or three songs they wanted to play with Tyner’s trio. Tyner was clearly interested in getting his guest six string slingers firmly invested in his project.

These guitarists were also given a lot of lead parts, often being the ones who state the main melody instead of Tyner. So much so, that sometimes Tyner is virtually a sideman on his own record. However, few can play that supporting role as well he does, and his presence is always felt. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Tyner shows a somewhat lighter touch on the piano than what he’s normally known for.

As to each of the collaborations, they’ve all worked out reasonably well, but some better than others. John Scofield previously duet-ed with Tyner on a couple of tracks for Tyner’s otherwise solo piano record Things Ain’t What They Used To Be from 1989.

Scofield chose two classic compositions from Tyner’s sixties period. “Mr. P.C.” is one that is tied to Tyner via his stint with ‘Trane. Scofield does yeoman’s work, even if he sounds a little stiff at first, then loosens up nicely after a while. His other selection is a Tyner standard, “Blues On The Corner,” a great tune, but a it’s pretty pedestrian rendering.

Bela Fleck’s contributions stand out from the others, as expected, simply because he’s playing an instrument foreign to a jazz trio. However, Fleck chose some tunes that provided a good setting for both himself and the pianist. The first two are Fleck’s own compositions “Trade Winds” and “Amberjack,” and the Broadway song made famous by Coltrane, “My Favorite Things.” Both Tyner and Fleck play surprisingly well together, but Dejohnette’s outstanding kit work on the latter two that also got my attention. for his part, Fleck seems much at ease with Tyner and the two blended together their playing effectively.

The Allman Brothers’ Derek Trucks came to the session with Tyner’s “Slapback Blues,” which is a logical choice since Trucks comes to jazz via the blues and Tyner’s own conception of jazz is blues-based. Trucks is clearly in his element and shines on his solo turn. “Greensleeves” is performed in much the same way that “My Favorite Things” is, and Tyner puts in a particularly crisp solo.

Like Bela Fleck, Bill Frisell also came to the proceedings with a couple of his own tunes in hand: The mystical, rhythm-less “Boubacar” and “Baba Drame,” which with it’s extended world music groove evokes Tyner’s excellent early seventies Milestone work. But for the third piece, Frisell, like Scofield, digs up a superb selection from Tyner’s 1967 Blue Noter The Real McCoy, “Contemplation.” And once again, it’s solid but not exceptional. Frisell’s playing is subdued throughout, preferring to play a texturist role than a true lead part.

Bela Fleck notwithstanding, the most successful pairing overall was one I would have least expected: that experimental, John Zorn/Tom Waits kind of guy Marc Ribot. Ribot is more than those things, naturally, but while he suppressed his rough edges for this meeting, he was nonetheless the most creative and nonconformal of the lot.

The traditional piece “500 Miles” is made new again with Ribot’s arrangement, which isn’t too much unlike the way Coltrane might have handled it when Tyner was in his band. Subtly but effectively using pedal effects, Ribot’s guitar is both stinging and soulful. “Passion Dance” is worth listening to just to hear Ribot’s fuzz guitar pair up with Tyner’s forceful left hand. The guitarist’s rock solo sounds a bit out of place, but the backing trio is so muscular, they don’t get overwhelmed like most other acoustic backing units would.

Track listing

All compositions by McCoy Tyner except were indicated

    "Improvisation 2" (Marc Ribot, Tyner) – 1:34
    "Passion Dance" – 6:10
    "500 Miles" (Traditional) – 6:22
    "Mr. P.C." (John Coltrane) – 6:21
    "Blues on the Corner" – 6:07
    "Improvisation 1" (Ribot, Tyner) – 3:46
    "Trade Winds" (Bela Fleck) – 6:35
    "Amberjack" (Fleck) – 4:36
    "My Favorite Things" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) – 7:01
    "Slapback Blues" – 3:46
    "Greensleeves" (Traditional) – 6:15
    "Contemplation" – 7:55
    "Boubacar" (Bill Frisell) – 2:18
    "Baba Drame" (Boubacar Traoré) – 5:21

Personnel

    McCoy Tyner – piano
    Bill Frisell – guitar (tracks 12, 13 & 14)
    Marc Ribot – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 3 & 6)
    John Scofield – guitar (tracks 4 & 5)
    Derek Trucks – guitar (tracks 10 & 11)
    Béla Fleck – banjo (tracks 7, 8 & 9)
    Ron Carter – double bass
    Jack DeJohnette – drums

Soft Works - 2003 [2020] "Abracadabra In Osaka"

Many Holdsworth fans were not aware of Soft Machine’s long history prior to Bundles. As I’ve listened to these live tracks, I hear some parallels to an earlier, brilliant MoonJune archival live release — Soft Machine’s Floating World Live (2006), one the only two official live outing featuring the Bundles line-up.

With this two-disc set, Soft Works Abracadabra In Osaka, I’m struck by how they compare — and arguably in ways, surpass their studio recorded counterparts, given the spontaneity and live dynamics and atmospherics captured. This release features re-workings of early Soft Machine favorites such as “Kings and Queens”, “Facelift", nearly all the titles from Abracadabra. A previously unreleased Holdsworth composition, “Alphrazallan”, is featured here; it opens with a calming, haunting orchestral guitar chord progression (it wasn’t coincidence that the track’s title referenced the name of an anti-anxiety medication). What strikes me about the performances captured on these two discs is the how band’s dynamics had evolved since the initial recording session.

In 2003 Allan’s live performances were in peak form. Here fans will discover a markedly different experience from Allan’s own touring band. Hopper’s tribute to Coltrane, “First Trane” features a brilliant sax playing by Elton; its slow blues vamps mark a departure from the music heard at Holdsworth’s own live shows – here you’ll experience Allan’s reverence to one of his primary musical influences in a breathtaking solo. In these live recordings, you’ll hear Hugh, one of early progressive rock’s most inventive bassists, occasionally unleashing his trademark, innovative “fuzz bass” sound in ways which always realize focused and compelling ideas rather frenzied showers of notes. Elton contrasts with the rest of the band as the master jazz musician of the quartet; his own singular voice on alto sax and saxello takes flight. He also carves out inventive chord progressions and voicing on Fender Rhodes piano, over which Allan’s playing dances through fresh and transformative melodic tapestries.

Throughout these live tracks Allan is afforded vast open reaches to explore in a more open context than with his own bands, rekindling his explosive chemistry with John Marshall. Herein Holdsworth devotees can discover a contrast in a setting, where some of the most storied masters and innovators from the 60s and 70s generation forge new paths together. The combined power of this unique group’s voices, history, and the depth of their experience is stunning throughout this recording.

Recorded live at Namba Hatch, Osaka, Japan, August 11, 2003.
The original source: 2 CDRs with flat stereo-mix of the show.
Carefully restored, enhanced and mastered by Mark Wingfield.

Track listing:

CD 1
1. Seven Formerly     12:58
2. Alphrazallan     10:12
3. Elsewhere     7:12
4. Baker's Treat     8:47
5. Calyx     6:22
6. Kings & Queens     8:14

CD 2
1. Abracadabra     12:06
2. Madame Vintage Suite     8:58
3. Has Riff     9:38
4. First Trane     9:20
5. Facelift     13:22

Personnel:

ELTON DEAN - saxello, alto sax, Fender Rhodes
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH - guitar
HUGH HOPPER - bass guitar
JOHN MARSHALL - drums
 

Jaco Pastorius - 2017 "Truth, Liberty & Soul" - Live In NYC 1982

In the summer of 1982, Jaco Pastorius had just left Weather Report, and he was widely known as the best electric bassist in the world. He had a new large ensemble, the Word of Mouth Big Band (named after the 1981 Pastorius album that provided much of its repertoire). Collecting some of the best young figures in jazz and fusion, the group was a startling reminder of how broad Pastorius’ talents were: He was able to arrange his bubbling jazz-funk on a grand scale, using a rather traditional jazz band format (well, plus steel pan). “Truth, Liberty and Soul” comes from the band’s performance at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, during the Kool Jazz Festival that year. Some highlights don’t involve the full 22-piece band at all: Pastorius’s long, Hendrix-quoting solo on “Bass and Drum Improvisation”; and his duet with the harmonica player Toots Thielemans on Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady.”

In his short life, Jaco Pastorius revolutionised the bass guitar, and lifted the music of key jazz-fusioneers Pat Metheny and Weather Report in the 1970s – but his ambition was to form a big band. This previously unreleased live set captures a blistering two-hour gig from Pastorius’s soulful, swinging and very full-on Word of Mouth orchestra in 1982, with saxophonist Bob Mintzer, trumpeter Randy Brecker and harmonica maestro Toots Thielemans in the ranks. The riff-shouting, soul-jazzy Pastorius standby The Chicken is constantly stung by the leader’s springy, ever-changing basslines, the fast Charlie Parker bebop classic Donna Lee is implausibly and audaciously unfolded as a unison bass and tuba theme, Three Views of a Secret sets a lyrical Thielemans free over floating Gil Evans-like harmonies, the world-music of the slithery, simmering Reza turns into Coltrane’s Giant Steps, and three drummers including Peter Erskine and Don Alias are explosive and remarkably melodic by turns. This exhilarating set is a real find, for Jaco fans and left-field big-band followers alike.

Sonically, Truth, Liberty & Soul is also, hands down, the best-sounding Word of Mouth recording ever...and that includes the original (and not at all shabby-sounding) live albums Invitation (Warner Bros., 1983), the expanded two-volume, Japanese-only release of the full concert from which Invitation was culled (1999's Twins I & II: Live in Japan, from Warners Japan), and the posthumous 1995 release of The Birthday Concert (Warner Bros.), the first live performance of a series of big band charts that would go on to become the core repertoire of the Word of Mouth Big Band, recorded at the bassist's 30th birthday party in Fort Lauderdale, FL. This is music that literally leaps out of the speakers to fill the room, whether it's funkified soul; swinging, bop-informed improvisational forays; free improvisation passages of remarkable group synchronicity; beautiful, elegantly composed ballads; or contrastingly refined and thrilling looks at not just jazz chestnuts, but one reggae tune and, during Pastorius' shared "Bass and Drums Improvisation" with Erskine, references to Jimi Hendrix, the American National Anthem.

It’s curious that we don’t more directly associate electric jazz bass playing with Latin rhythms, given that the greatest practitioner on the instrument featured them so centrally in his sound. This newly unearthed document is a key sonic case in point. Here we have Jaco Pastorius with his Word of Mouth Big Band, live at NYC’s Avery Fisher Hall in the summer of 1982 for George Wein’s Kool Jazz Festival, regaling listeners with 130 minutes of music in which his ever-virtuosic bass work is neatly folded into a larger group dynamic. (The set is available as a three-LP box, two-CD package and digital download, including a 100-page book with contributions by Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, biographer Bill Milkowski and others.)

That this was an NPR recording means the sound is impeccable, no small detail in appreciating the full tonal display of Pastorius’ lines. On the opening “Invitation”—which functions as a musical epistle/beckoning to a damn good time—his notes are tightly clustered, like buzzy, motivic spirals that serve as fillips for the piece. Bob Mintzer’s tenor saxophone provides a lot of the solo-based forward motion, but it’s the Latin inflection—courtesy of Othello Molineaux’s steel drums—that makes this feel like work born of tropical climes and the jazz of New Orleans in all its wonderfully bonhomous hoodoo.

Pastorius never dominates, instead serving as facilitator for an ensemble of expert personnel like the bassist’s fellow Weather Report alumni Peter Erskine on drums and Don Alias on percussion, saxophonists Mintzer, Frank Wess and Howard Johnson and trumpeters Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff and Jon Faddis. Even when the leader solos and his bass becomes guitar-like, with a hint of trumpet and piano, he’s always in control, always economical. If his notes were drops of water they’d never overfill the bowl.

“Donna Lee” is a first-half highlight, the kettledrums contrasting with a Sun Ra-esque futuristic vibe in the refrains. “Soul Intro/The Chicken” features a fanfare straight from a 1980s late-night talk show as its intro, before the titular bird leaps into the fray to jitterbug. This is one brassy strut, a proper comfort-food piece, with a high feel-good quotient. Brecker plays his hindquarters off, ascending to Freddie Hubbard heights of hard-bop glory, but with the underpinning of a samba. Toots Thielemans turns up on harmonica on several numbers, but his contributions have mixed results. He’s more effective when he accompanies rather than spars, for this is Ellingtonian music—and a showcase for Pastorius the bandleader, the shaper of a series of jazz tone poems with symphonic qualities.

“Reza/Giants Steps” is akin to an electric bass concerto, something like those moments in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet when Tony Williams would simmer at his kit, keeping the music below a boil, his mates exploring the space around him. So it goes with Pastorius here, his fingers moving so fast you wonder if anyone could possibly transcribe this. It’s a bit like wondering how to take the temperature of a star. Better to just luxuriate in the light.

Newly-released live recording which documents a June 27, 1982 concert at Avery Fisher Hall (complete with a 100-page book). The performance was part of George Wein’s Kool Jazz Festival and a large portion was broadcast on National Public Radio’s Jazz Alive!, a program produced by Tim Owens and hosted by Dr. Billy Taylor that ran from 1977 to 1983. Owens and Zev Feldman of Resonance uncovered 40 minutes that weren’t played during the NPR show, and have released the entire 130-minute concert in its entirety with the help of Grammy-winning engineer Paul Blakemore, who worked the original performance at Lincoln Center.

Track listing:

CD 1
1. Invitation (13:04)
2. Soul Intro/The Chicken (9:10)
3. Donna Lee (13:18)
4. Three Views to a Secret (6:38)
5. Liberty City (10:10)
6. Sophisticated Lady (7:43)
7. Bluesette (5:31)

CD 2
1. I Shot the Sheriff (6:55)
2. Okonkolé y Trompa (15:07)
3. Reza/Giant Steps (Medley) (10:19)
4. Mr. Fonebone (10:37)
5. Bass and Drum Improvisation (14:05)
6. Twins (2:53)
7. Fannie Mae (5:55)

Personnel:

    Bass, Vocals – Jaco Pastorius
    Alto Saxophone – Bob Stein (4)
    Baritone Saxophone – Howard Johnson (3), Randy Emerick   
    Drums – Peter Erskine
    French Horn – John Clark (2), Peter Gordon (8)
    Harmonica [Special Guest] – Toots Thielemans (tracks: 1-4 to 2-1, 2-4, 2-7)
    Percussion – Don Alias
    Steel Drums – Othello Molineaux
    Tenor Saxophone – Frank Wess, Lou Marini
    Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Bob Mintzer
    Trombone – David Taylor, Jim Pugh, Wayne Andre
    Trumpet – Alan Rubin, Jon Faddis, Kenny Faulk*, Lew Soloff, Randy Brecker, Ron Tooley
    Tuba – David Bargeron*

Miles Davis - 1957 [2005] "Round About Midnight"

Miles Davis ‎– 'Round About Midnight
Recording sessions took place at Columbia Studio D on October 26 1955, and at Columbia's 30th Street Studio on June 5 and September 10 1956. 'Round About Midnight' is widely recognized by jazz critics as a landmark album in hard bop and one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.

With the release of the spectral title tune, and the efforts of the Columbia marketing and publicity departments behind him, a thirty-year old Miles Davis entered into a period of extraordinary artistic maturity and growth. And Miles instinctively knew how to cultivate his star quality. Looming behind those shades, was the diffident, sensitive anti-hero--proud and defiant--who only spoke to his audience through his horn, and turned his back on them when the other soloists were blowing.

The combination of attitude and intellect was irresistible. Beginning with ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT and proceeding through a remarkable succession of famous recordings over the next 30 years, Miles Davis became one of the greatest soloists, arrangers and talent scouts in the history of American music. People who didn't own a single jazz record came to know his name--Miles was a jazz icon.

His famous intro on the title tune is based on mentor Dizzy Gillespie's arrangement, and Miles' tone, always a strong point, has here matured into something deeply personal and unique. His provocative use of space and silence--matched only by Lester Young, Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk--sets up the famous release and Coltrane's agitated statement. Here and on the Prestige recordings, Coltrane found his voice as Miles' foil, while "The Rhythm Section" (pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones), became the most celebrated in jazz--capable of smooth, bouncy delicacy ("Dear Old Stockholm," "All Of You" and "Bye Bye Blackbird"), hard swing ("Tadd's Delight") and relentless complexity (Charlie Parker's contrapuntal "Ah-Leu-Ch"). A masterpiece.

At the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, Davis performed the song "'Round Midnight" as part of an all-star jam session, with the song's composer Thelonious Monk, along with Connie Kay and Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Zoot Sims, and Gerry Mulligan. Davis's solo received a positive reception from many jazz fans and critics. His response to this performance was typically laconic: "What are they talking about? I just played the way I always play." George Avakian of Columbia Records was in the audience, and his brother Aram persuaded him that he ought to sign Davis to the label.

Davis signed with Columbia and formed his "first great quintet" with John Coltrane on saxophone. 'Round About Midnight was his first album for the label. He was still under contract to Prestige, but he had an agreement that he could record material for Columbia to release after the expiration of his Prestige contract. Recording took place at Columbia studios; the first session was on October 26, 1955 at Studio D, during which the track "Ah-Leu-Cha" was recorded with three numbers that did not appear on the album. This is the first studio recording of the quintet. The remainder of the album was recorded during sessions on June 5, 1956 ("Dear Old Stockholm", "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Tadd's Delight") and September 10, 1956 ("All of You" and the titular "'Round Midnight") at Columbia's 30th Street Studio. During the same period, the Miles Davis Quintet was also recording sessions to fulfill its contract with Prestige.

These Miles Davis sessions for Columbia, from 1955 and 1956, are usually overshadowed by a quartet of albums (Relaxin', Workin', Steamin' and Cookin') Davis recorded for the Prestige label in the same period and with the same band.

Davis and a new quintet, including a then little-known saxophonist called John Coltrane, hastily cut those great discs to discharge their contractual obligations to Prestige before moving to Columbia. It turned out to be the most inspired period of work for one of the most inspired groups in jazz history. The spare and elliptical trumpet phrasing of Davis hypnotically contrasted with the striving ferocity of Coltrane's tenor sax, and a jazz rhythm section (this one included drummer Philly Joe Jones) had never before sounded so unerringly swinging and yet so effortlessly and provocatively flexible. Moreover, Davis was on his way to being unofficially elected the crown prince of cool. He had triumphantly returned to playing after a layoff to disentangle from heroin, and with his shades, sharp suits and imperious manner, he looked every inch a young man who had come back with the keys to the city for modern jazz.

What makes this Round About Midnight package different from earlier Columbia issues of the same material is that the six tracks from the original LP are now augmented, not only by bonus studio takes but by Miles Davis's famous duet with Thelonious Monk from the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, and previously unissued concert material from the quintet's tour early the following year.

The appearance at Newport, with Davis an informal guest, was the episode that restarted the trumpeter's stalled career. Playing on Monk's composition Round About Midnight, he curls slow notes around the pianist's hammer-and-anvil chords as an intro, plays a quick, dancing figure and then a long, arching sound to bring himself within range of the theme. He keeps sidestepping the melody and simultaneously hinting at it, with soft hovering sounds and shrugging upward slides, and typically balances sighing, suspended sounds with lightly blown double time. Monk, meanwhile, keeps threatening to bring the piece to a dead halt, with grumpy, full-stop chords and preoccupied, boogieing figures. It's a classic jazz collaboration, and after that performance everybody wanted to know the 29-year-old Miles Davis all over again. Recruiting his brilliant quintet soon followed.

The studio material also kicks off with the title track, this time featuring the trumpeter's famous muted sound in slow, weaving counterpoint with Coltrane. Charlie Parker's vivacious Ah-Leu-Cha is a dialogue between the horns and drums, Bye Bye Blackbird an object lesson in tantalising behind-the-beat timing, and a nimble Two Bass Hit and Bud Powell's boppish Budo are among the studio tracks added from the same period.

But it's the live material on the second disc that is the most absorbing. Apart from the Newport performance, six tracks from a 1956 concert in Pasadena catches the freshly ignited energy of this new group, with Davis often operating in the fast, twisting bebop-rooted style that preceded his more famous free-modal and fusion approaches of the decades to follow. The empathy of the whole group on theme statements and the driving presence of Jones is clear on an account of Walkin' in which Davis brilliantly deploys only a sparing selection of notes and pauses. There's a lovely ballad account of It Never Entered My Mind and a breakneck jitter through Dizzy Gillespie's Salt Peanuts. Impresario Gene Norman's short interview with Davis inadvertently sounds hilariously like an old Lenny Bruce sketch, which all adds to the period interest.

 Track listing:

CD 1
01     'Round Midnight     5:55
02     Ah-Leu-Cha     5:53
03     All Of You     7:01
04     Bye Bye Blackbird     7:53
05     Tadd's Delight     4:26
06     Dear Old Stockholm     7:49
07     Two Bass Hit     3:45
08     Little Melonae     7:18
09     Budo     4:14
10     Sweet Sue, Just You     3:39

CD 2
1     'Round Midnight     5:54
    All Selections Below Recorded Live 2/18/56
    All Previously Unreleased
2     Introduction By Gene Norman     1:37
3     Chance It (aka Max Is Making Wax)     4:34
4     Walkin'     9:24
5     Gene Norman & Miles Davis     1:06
6     It Never Entered My Mind     5:17
7     Woody 'N You     5:46
8     Salt Peanuts     4:35
9     The Theme     0:19

Personnel

    Miles Davis – trumpet
    John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
    Red Garland – piano
    Paul Chambers – double bass
    Philly Joe Jones – drumset

Newport personnel bonus disc track one

    Miles Davis – trumpet
    Zoot Sims – tenor saxophone
    Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone
    Thelonious Monk – piano
    Percy Heath – double bass
    Connie Kay – drumset

McCoy Tyner - 1973 [1990] "Enlightenment"

Enlightenment is a live album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Milestone label. It was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 7, 1973 and features Tyner in performance with Azar Lawrence, Joony Booth and Alphonse Mouzon.

This is one of the great McCoy Tyner recordings. The powerful, percussive, and highly influential pianist sounds quite inspired throughout his appearance at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. Azar Lawrence (on tenor and soprano) is also quite noteworthy and there is plenty of interplay with bassist Juney Booth and drummer Alphonse Mouzon. But Tyner is the main star, whether it be on his three-part "Enlightenment Suite," "Presence," "Nebula," or the 25-minute "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit."

Richard Cook and Brian Morton, authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz, opine that Enlightenment and the 1974 live album Atlantis are "two huge, sprawling concert recordings which will drain most listeners: Tyner's piano outpourings seem unstoppable, and Lawrence comes on as an even fierier spirit than [Sonny] Fortune, even if both are in thrall to Coltrane. The Enlightenment set, cut at Montreux, is marginally superior, if only for the pile-driving 'Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit."

Few musicians are able to make their music feel as urgent or sound as epic as McCoy Tyner was able to in his prime, and nowhere does he do it more definitively than on this live set recorded at the Montreaux Jazz festival In 1973, which captures the impassioned, cerebral majesty of his studio work and transfers it to the stage with full potency, particularly during the twenty-five minute closer "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit", which has since gone on to become Tyner's signature song. Absolutely mind-blowing in its intensity, I think it would be virtually impossible to find another live album that matches the sound and fury that these four musicians produced on this date.

By the time Enlightenment was released in 1973, McCoy Tyner had already been an integral part of the legendary John Coltrane Quartet, appeared on - as both a leader and sideman - a slew of classic Blue Note and Impulse! LPs and then in 1972 made the move to Milestone records where he remain for nearly a decade. With Milestone he would release a string of outstanding records, the earliest of which (including Enlightenment) would play an important part in cementing his status as one of the giants of jazz piano.

I've read that after leaving the Cotrane Quartet, Tyner supposedly struggled artistically for a few years, although I've never picked up on that from his Blue Note albums. Certainly he found a distinctive voice once he joined Milestone, with records like Sahara, Song For My Lady, Sama Layuca and Enlightenement standing out in the early '70s jazz landscape with their mix of modal, post bop and progressive jazz ideas blended together in fresh and exciting ways. Tyner and his bandmates are nearly fearless in their presentation during this period. The undeniable spiritual aspect to his recordings from this time only brings another level of complexity and emotion to the proceedings.

Steve Metaliz, writing for Down Beat, noted that:

    since the death of Coltrane, it's been the pianists who've been on the cutting edge of the music's development.... Enlightenment testifies to the brilliant sound of [Tyner's] endeavors. Tyner's inside the instrument, as Coltrane was with the sax, drawing from it colors, textures, and intensities unprecedented in jazz. No wonder the sidemen tend to get lost in the shuffle a bit. Tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence in particular sometimes seems overwhelmed by the energy emanating from the keyboard; but on the whole he acquits himself well in a role in which it was understandably difficult to retain a distinctive voice. Drummer Al Mouzon deserves special note; his crisp drumming is a good foil for Tyner's shattering polyphony. Enlightenment is a celebration of the epoch of the pianists and also of a musician who has never ceased to grow.

Track listing:

1     Presenting The McCoy Tyner Quartet     1:19
2     Enlightenment Suite, Part 1: Genesis     10:02
3     Enlightenment Suite, Part 2: The Offering (Solo Piano)     4:00
4     Enlightenment Suite, Part 3: Inner Glimpse     10:04
5     Presence     10:35
6     Nebula     9:39
D     Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit     24:05

Personnel:

    Bass – Joony Booth*
    Drums – Alphonse Mouzon
    Piano, Percussion – McCoy Tyner
    Saxophone – Azar Lawrence

McCoy Tyner - 1974 [2001] "Sama Layuca"

Sama Layuca is a studio album by American jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, released in 1974 by Milestone Records. It was recorded on March 26, 27, and 28, 1974, with sidemen John Stubblefield, Gary Bartz, Azar Lawrence, Bobby Hutcherson, Buster Williams, Billy Hart, Guilherme Franco and Mtume.

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1974, Robert Christgau said the album's best music "breathes with a lushness and lyricism that never cloys". He found the melodies, harmonies, and polyrhythms to be "sensuous without coming on about it" and felt that Tyner's minor flaws as a pianist, including "Tatumesque flourishes", are "less egregious in an ensemble setting like this one."

Pianist McCoy Tyner is heard at the height of his powers throughout this rewarding set. He contributed all five compositions and has a colorful and diverse group of major players at his disposal to interpret them: vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, altoist Gary Bartz, Azar Lawrence on tenor and soprano, John Stubblefield doubling on oboe and flute, bassist Buster Williams, drummer Billy Hart and both Mtume and Guillerme Franco on percussion. The results (which include a brief Tyner-Hutcherson duet on "Above the Rainbow") are quite rewarding and serve as a strong example of McCoy Tyner's music.

Sama Layuca dates from 1974, and sees Tyner in an octet format, teaming up with Lawrence, old duet partner vibist Bobby Hutcherson, Gary Bartz, John Stubblefield and a monster rhythm section of Buster Williams, Billy Hart and percussionists Mtume and Guilherme Franco.

The results are exhilarating; Tyner's compositions are unsurprisingly modal excursions, topped off with faintly exotic horn themes and driven by insistent,afro-latin rhythms. Lawrence (on tenor and soprano) and altoist Bartz are clearly at home; Lawrence'sfruity, robusttenor and airy soprano blends Coltrane's fiery yearning with a floating attack worthy of Wayne Shorter, while Bartz is typically wondrous, full of surprise and fire (check his questing solo on the closing "Paradox").Both players provide an abject lesson in getting the mostout of soloing over one or two chords.

Hutcherson was possibly the only vibist around who could survive in the heat generated by such a lineup. His crystalline voicings are showcased on the two lower key numbers; the impressionistic "Above the Rainbow" (a duet with the leader), and the stately "Desert Cry". Switching to marimba on the hyperspeed latin groove of "La Cubana", Hutcherson more than holds his own, firing off rhythmically twisty, harmonically probing lines before playing call and response with Franco's cowbells.

Tyner's playing walks his usual line between tough and tender, from the swelling, limpid arpeggios of "Above the Rainbow" to the percussive splash and dark intervals of his solo on "La Cubana". The expanded lineup holds the pianists's tendency to overcook his solos in check; despite the length of some of the pieces ("Paradox" clocks in at over 16 minutes) this isn't the testosterone fuelled sprawling solofest you might expect. Solos are kept short and sweet, and the frequent shifts in texture and instrumental combinations keep things interesting.

Most of all it's Tyner's rhythmic sense and his powerhouse left hand that provide the excitement when locking with the irresistible grooves that Williams, Hart, Mtume and Franco whip up. I bet there were a few sore fingers after this session, but the music here won't leave your ears sore. Recommended.

https://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot.com/search?q=McCoy+Tyner

Track listing

All songs composed by McCoy Tyner.

1.    "Sama Layuca" - 8:37
2.    "Above the Rainbow" - 3:02
3.    "La Cubaña" - 10:26
4.    "Desert Cry" - 4:57
5.    "Paradox" - 16:27

Personnel

    McCoy Tyner: piano
    John Stubblefield: oboe, flute
    Gary Bartz: alto saxophone
    Azar Lawrence: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
    Bobby Hutcherson: vibes, marimba
    Buster Williams: bass
    Billy Hart: drums
    Guilherme Franco: percussion
    James Mtume: percussion

Charles Mingus - 1959 [1998] "Mingus Ah Um"

Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, released in October 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD calls this album "an extended tribute to ancestors" (and awards it one of their rare crowns), and Mingus's musical forebears figure largely throughout. "Better Git It In Your Soul" is inspired by gospel singing and preaching of the sort that Mingus would have heard as a child growing up in Watts, Los Angeles, California, while "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a reference (by way of his favored headgear) to saxophonist Lester Young (who had died shortly before the album was recorded). The origin and nature of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is self-explanatory: a twelve-bar blues with four themes and a boogie bass backing that passes from stop time to shuffle and back.

"Self-Portrait in Three Colors" was originally written for John Cassavetes' first film as director, Shadows, but was never used (for budgetary reasons). "Open Letter to Duke" is a tribute to Duke Ellington, and draws on three of Mingus's earlier pieces ("Nouroog", "Duke's Choice", and "Slippers"). "Jelly Roll" is a reference to jazz pioneer and pianist Jelly Roll Morton and features a quote of Sonny Rollins' "Sonnymoon for Two" during Horace Parlan's piano solo. "Bird Calls", in Mingus's own words, was not a reference to bebop saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker: "It wasn't supposed to sound like Charlie Parker. It was supposed to sound like birds – the first part."

"Fables of Faubus" is named after Orval E. Faubus (1910–1994), the Governor of Arkansas infamous for his 1957 stand against integration of Little Rock, Arkansas schools in defiance of U.S. Supreme Court rulings (forcing President Eisenhower to send in the National Guard). It is sometimes claimed that Columbia refused to allow the lyrics to be included on this album, though the liner notes to the 1998 reissue of the album state that the piece started life as an instrumental, and only gained the lyrics later (as can be heard on the 1960 release Presents Charles Mingus).

Charles Mingus' debut for Columbia, Mingus Ah Um is a stunning summation of the bassist's talents and probably the best reference point for beginners. While there's also a strong case for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady as his best work overall, it lacks Ah Um's immediate accessibility and brilliantly sculpted individual tunes. Mingus' compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith on Mingus Ah Um.

The band includes longtime Mingus stalwarts already well versed in his music, like saxophonists John Handy, Shafi Hadi, and Booker Ervin; trombonists Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis; pianist Horace Parlan; and drummer Dannie Richmond. Their razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus' greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions. At least three became instant classics, starting with the irrepressible spiritual exuberance of signature tune "Better Get It in Your Soul," taken in a hard-charging 6/8 and punctuated by joyous gospel shouts. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a slow, graceful elegy for Lester Young, who died not long before the sessions.

The sharply contrasting "Fables of Faubus" is a savage mockery of segregationist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, portrayed musically as a bumbling vaudeville clown (the scathing lyrics, censored by skittish executives, can be heard on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus). The underrated "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is bursting with aggressive swing, and elsewhere there are tributes to Mingus' most revered influences: "Open Letter to Duke" is inspired by Duke Ellington and "Jelly Roll" is an idiosyncratic yet affectionate nod to jazz's first great composer, Jelly Roll Morton. It simply isn't possible to single out one Mingus album as definitive, but Mingus Ah Um comes the closest.

Poor big-bellied, cigar-loving, temperamental, insecure, misogynistic Charles Mingus. While routinely placed on best-of-genre lists and talked about as one of the preeminent bassists and bandleaders in jazz, his best albums never clump comfortably with anyone else's, or with any particular subset of casual jazz listeners. They're too spirited for cocktail hour, too rough and moody for listeners who revel in crafstmanship, and not radical enough for daredevils.

Then again, Mingus' music never seemed comfortable outside its own world, either. At the dawn of both modal and free jazz, he kept solos short and music composed (even if, as with 1959's Atlantic recording Blues and Roots, the players didn't see the charts before the studio date). In an era where big bands were left behind for small combos or reimagined entirely (as with, say, John Coltrane's late albums), Mingus was a Duke Ellington acolyte who approached his pieces with the formality of an orchestral composer.

Mingus Ah Um was one of fifty recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2003.

Track listing:

All songs composed by Charles Mingus, except 12, composed by Sunny Clapp. Original LP song lengths are given within parentheses.

    "Better Git It in Your Soul" – 7:23
    "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" – 5:44 (4:46)
    "Boogie Stop Shuffle" – 5:02 (3:41)
    "Self-Portrait in Three Colors" – 3:10
    "Open Letter to Duke" – 5:51 (4:56)
    "Bird Calls" – 6:17 (3:12)
    "Fables of Faubus" – 8:13
    "Pussy Cat Dues" – 9:14 (6:27)
    "Jelly Roll" – 6:17 (4:01)

Bonus tracks on later reissues

    "Pedal Point Blues" – 6:30
    "GG Train" – 4:39
    "Girl of My Dreams" – 4:08

Personnel:

    John Handy – alto sax (1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12), clarinet (8), tenor sax (2)[13]
    Booker Ervin – tenor sax
    Shafi Hadi – tenor sax (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10), alto sax (1, 5, 6, 9, 12)
    Willie Dennis – trombone (3, 4, 5, 12)
    Jimmy Knepper – trombone (1, 7, 8, 9, 10)
    Horace Parlan – piano
    Charles Mingus – bass, piano (with Parlan on track 10)
    Dannie Richmond – drums