Posts

Showing posts from February, 2008

HAMPTON HAWES - PLAYIN' IN THE YARD

Image
Hampton Hawes for Prestige from 1973. Hampton Hawes-Electric/Acoustic Piano;Bob Cranshaw-Electric Bass;Kenny Clarke-Drums Hampton Hawes live at Montreux produced by Orrin Keepnews.Here's a very underwhelming review by you know who at amg: This live LP mostly features Hampton Hawes on electric piano, performing at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival in a trio with electric bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Kenny Clarke. Hawes interprets three of his originals, Sonny Rollins' catchy "Playin' In the Yard," and "Stella By Starlight." Although well-played, little memorable occurs, and Hawes never did sound as distinctive on keyboards as he did on acoustic piano. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide 320 rip from the 2003 Fantasy cd reissue.

RAY BARRETTO - LATINO CON SOUL

Image
Ray Barretto for West Side Latino from 1967. Descarga steamrollers,proto salsa mambos , boogaloo , Latino con Soul says it all - this one's got the lot! Firmly in the boogaloo (Latin soul) era, Latino con Soul would be Barretto at his hippest -- except for the pernicious strings. "Eras" is remade with a sappier, poppier sound; this time vocals are by Adalberto Santiago and Pete Bonet. Of the two fine boogaloo tracks, DJs are likely to find "Do You Dig It?" more useful. Otherwise, all are solid Latin, Latin jazz, and percussion tracks, two-thirds of them originals. Henry Jerome's production ensures that the horns are prominent, especially on "Trompeta y Trombon." ~ Tony Wilds, All Music Guide Ripped @320 from the long deleted Polydor cd issue in 1994.

HAROLD LAND - XOCIA'S DANCE

Image
Harold Land for Muse from 1981. Harold Land (ts); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); George Cables (p); Oscar Brashear (tp); John Heard (b); Billy Higgins (d); Ray Armando (perc) Maybe best known for his 1959 Contemporary album The Fox, tenor saxophonist Harold Land spent the '50s and '60s rebuking the stereotype of the West Coast sound being all wafer-thin with his robust and intense work as both a solo artist and sideman. And while he slowed down a bit in the '70s, Land came roaring back with this exceptional effort from 1981. Both the playing and the songs are all top notch. To help out, Land enlists the fine talents of drummer Billy Higgins, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist George Cables, trumpeter Oscar Brashear, and bassist John Heard. Highly recommended. ~ Stephen Cook, All Music Guide Ripped from original vinyl @320.

BILLY HARPER - CAPRA BLACK

Image
Billy Harper for Strata East from 1973. First posted here in late 2006-seems a timely juncture to repost this cracker. This great group of players are joined by a quintet of voices including Eugene McDaniels on a couple of tracks who sing behind the jazz players in an uplifting spiritual mode that cries out with the new soul jazz freedom of the 70s. More info on this here from KFJC : Texas-born saxophonist Billy Harper had played with many of the greats (Gil Evans, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones) before recording this first album as a leader in 1973. Influenced heavily by Coltrane, Harper was part of the “black consciousness” movement in jazz, which fueled such artist-owned labels as Strata-East in New York, Tribe Records in Detroit, and Black Jazz in Chicago. This session for Strata-East features an all-star cast, including George Cables (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), Julian Priester (trombone), Billy Cobham (drums), and more, including a special appearance by drummer Elvin Jones on the tr

BENNY MAUPIN - MOONSCAPES

Image
Benny Maupin for Mercury from 1978. Bennie Maupin : soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone,bass clarinet, flute, Eu synthesizer computone synthesizer winddriver,bass marimba, glockenspel Bobby Lyle : acoustic piano, electric piano, clavinet Harvey Mason : drums Michael Sembello : acoustic guitar, electric guitar Abraham Laboriel : bass Mingo Lewis : congas, miscellaneous percussion Onaje Allen Gumbs : electric piano (on 5,6) Beverly Bellows : harp (on 2) Patrick Gleeson : synthesizer programming Derrick Youman : vocal colors (on 4) Produced by Pat Gleeson All selections written by Bennie Maupin, except Track 5 written by Onaje Allen gumbs Arranged by Bennie Maupin, except track 5 by Onaje Allen Gumbs Tracks 3,4,6 co-arranged by Onaje Allen Gumbs Recorded at Conway Records, Inc., Los Angeles Mixed at Different Fur, San Francisco Recording Engineer : Steve Montoani / Additional Engineering : Seth Dworken Mastered at Kendun Recorders, Burbank / Mastering Engineer : Johnny Golden Phonogram/M

REZA RIDES AGAIN !

Image
El Reza's been resucitated and is now back in action hosting comps by the man himself and guest posters.Some magisterial jazz there already and more on the way-all killer no filler!!! Yours truly has been asked to contribute so watch out for a heavy duty special coming soon.

PHAROAH SANDERS - REJOICE

Image
Pharoah Sanders for Theresa from 1981. Side 1 & 2 here . Side 3 & 4 here . This was the first Pharoah Sanders album I bought way back in 1982 and I guess the rest is history.I snapped up most of his catalogue over the years (posting many of the harder to find Impule lps here)and have seen him play live on numerous occassions.I still rate this double vinyl set as much now as I did then so here it is ripped from the original Theresa vinyl @320.I can't find it posted anywhere else in Blogland which is surprising so another first at Orgy In Rhythm. Very Highly Recommended. Personnel: Pharoah Sanders (tenor saxophone, vocals, bells), B. Kazuko Ishida, George V. Johnson (vocals), Danny Moore (trumpet), Steve Turre (trombone), Lois Colin (harp), Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone), Joe Bonner (piano, background vocals), John Hicks (piano), Peter Fujii (guitar, background vocals), Jorge Pomar (bass, background vocals), Art Davis (bass), Babatunde (drums, percussion, background vocals), E

MATTI OILING - HAPPY JAZZ BAND

Image
Matti Oiling for Finleavy from 1970. Dusty Groove:A great bit of funky fusion from Finland -- recorded in 1970 by drummer Matti Oiling, one of the funkiest percussionists in Europe! The album kicks off with the amazing breakbeat track "Oiling Boiling" -- a monster number that no beathead should be without -- then rolls into a very tight batch of grooves played by a combo that includes organ, guitar, bass, and lots of funky saxes! The grooves are great -- a crossroads of 60s and 70s soul jazz expression, handled here with a quality level that sounds more like a record on a US indie than some overseas pressing. Here's the riginal sleeve notes: Can you imagine a lathe-hand who does lathing in his time off? Or a brick-layer who lays bricks for relaxation after his day's work? Hard to picture, isn't it? But I do know a number of professional musicians who relax by making music after a hard and sometimes quite exhausting session at the studio. But the difference lies i

PAUL HORN - ALTURA DO SOL

Image
Paul Horn for Epic from 1976. Produced by Teo Macero Dom Um Romão -Percussion;Robertinho Silva -Percussion, Drums;Dom Salvador -Piano (Electric) Roberto Silva -Percussion, Drums;Egberto Gismonti-Guitar (Acoustic), Flute, Guitar, Bambuzal, Piano;Paul Horn-Sax (Alto),Piccolo, Flute, Flute (Alto), Flute (Bass);Ron Carter-Bass Paul Horn joined forces with Egberto Gismonti and a staggering aray of Brazilian talent augmented by Ron Carter for this superb album penned in the main by Gismonti. Standout track for me is the furious batucada "Salvador" which is just breath-taking!But the rest of the album is excellent expertly blending Brazilian rhythms and Jazz into a homogeneous whole. Very highly recommended. Here's Paul Horn's notes from the rear of the lp sleeve: I first heard Egberto Gismonti's music last summer when a Toronto musician played me a cassette of a Brazilian release of his.It knocked me out!The music was refreshingly different,so vital and spirited,so exqu

NAT ADDERLEY SEPTET - DON'T LOOK BACK

Image
Nat Adderley for Steeplechase from 1976. Fernando Gumbs (bass) Onaje Allan Gumbs (piano) Nat Adderley (cornet) Ken McIntyre (alto sax, oboe, bassoon, flute, bass clarinet) John Stubblefield (tenor sax, soprano sax)Ira Buddy Williams (drums) Victor See Yuen (congas, percussion) From the slamming opener"Funny Funny" to the super funky "K High"to the great title track by Harold Vick this one swings like a mutha. All killer-No filler!

MICHAEL WHITE - PNEUMA

Image
Michael White for Impulse from 1972. I first posted this back in August 2006 and the files have now been long gone so I thought I'd put it up again. This time I've ripped it @320 from the original vinyl. Here's some more info about it from Kosmigroove: I expect you're familiar with Michael White from John Handy's Quintet & The Fourth Way, both a-list ensembles. Pneuma's side-long title track's more on the cosmic/out side, starts out like an Art Ensemble record with small percussion, some nice inside-the-piano stuff from Ed Kelly, going on thru a series of encounters within the group (rhythm section's Ray Drummond, Kenneth Nash on percussion - strictly by hand). This whole side has more of an AACM feeling than a Miles kinda thing, but it is just *so* good. On the other side, "Ebony Plaza" is more inside, just over nine minutes of modal groove, Kelly doing his best McCoy Tyner impression in the background (he gets to do it in the foreground o

THE MOON PEOPLE / LOS ASTRONAUTAS - LAND OF LOVE

Image
The Moon People for Speed from 1968. Dusty Groove:One of the grooviest records ever recorded -- and pretty darn rare, too! The Moon People -- aka Los Astronautas -- were a Latin Soul studio band who played behind some of the other killer recordings on the Speed Label. They're best known for their sock-boogaloo instrumental "Land Of Love" -- a stone jammer which kicks off the album -- and their forte is blending together Latin rhythms, soul instrumentation, and kind of a mod 60s easy production style, handled here by maestro Morty Craft. The album's got a really really weird feel -- part Latin Soul, part 60s soundtrack -- almost as if Joe Cuba and Quincy Jones were hanging out together! There's a fascinating write up on this crew over at Spectropop so if you're a sample spotter or just wanna bit more background on this lp it's well worth a visit. 320 vinyl rip-reissue appears to be out of stock most places.

KAREL VELEBNY - NONET SHQ & WOODWINDS

Image
Karel Velebny for Saba from 1968. A beautiful album of European jazz from the Black Forest produced by Willi Fruth in the Villingen Saba-Tonstudio.Best known for the charming"Nude"-you'll find the rest of the lp is of the same high standard . Very highly recommended. Karel Velebny-Vibes;Jiri Stivin-Flute;Ludek Svabensky-Piano;Karel Vejvoda-Bass;Josef Vedjvoda-Drums;Vlastimil Kala-Oboe;Miroslav Krysl-Bass Clarinet;Milos Petr-French Horn;Pavel Zednick-Bassoon. Ripped @320 from the original vinyl.

GEORGE BRAITH - MUSART

George Braith for Prestige from 1967. Reposted but this time from a clean 3rd pressing which I recently picked up -its in good shape unlike the 1st press rip I originally posted: Here's a real rarity from the great George Braith which was cut for Prestige in 1967 .I knew nothing about this fantastic piece of wax until I came across this review at Waxidermy "One of the most unique & beautiful jazz albums I've ever heard! Sounds ranging from exotica with wordless female vocals, to free jazz - often all within the same track. Worlds away from the typical one dimensional soul jazz that Prestige was cranking out at the time, and from most jazz albums that came before it, or after it on any label. For those unfamiliar with Braith, he is most well know as one of the few horn players to embrace Roland Kirks' sticking a bunch of saxophones in your mouth technique. Far from having a large body of work (3 Blue Note lp's and one other on Prestige, if I'm not mistaken)