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Album Reviews
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(166 reviews)
Date: February 1998
Release: Sony #67909
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Bill Laswell, a controversial maverick in the “remix scene”, stirs into his musical caldron the work of Miles Davis, concocting a new and fresh brew: Panthalassa. Laswell’s remix project judiciously employs state of the art studio technology to expand the radical break from the traditional jazz cannon that Miles spearheaded during his electric years between 1969 and 1974. Laswell interprets music from In A Silent Way, On The Corner, and Get Up With It to shape a dreamlike mosaic of Davis’ trumpet sweeping through Laswell’s ambiant soundscapes.
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Date: September, 1966
Release: RHINO R2 71746
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Recorded live at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966, Forest Flower was the jazz soundtrack of the Flower Power movement. Always accessible and majestic, the Charles Lloyd Quartet was recorded here at the peak of its powers. The title track, “Forest Flower,” actually is split into two parts, “Sunrise” and “Sunset,” which merge together seamlessly to form a single piece of astonishing unity, with Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee, and Jack DeJonette playing beyond the point of empathy. There is such sheer beauty and lyricism in the music that 30 years later it still gives goose bumps. It is almost impossible to be unmoved by “Forest Flower–Sunset,” particularly when Keith Jarrett reaches inside the piano to pound out extraordinary sounds.
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Date: November 17, 1961
Release: Rhino #1380
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If I were going to remix the CD release of At The Village Gate, I would add a faint track of a diamond needle hissing along a vinyl groove. There’s something about this recording that smells of cheap grass and whatever else Bleecker Street smelled like in 1961. You just wish you had an old hi-fi stereo system to play it on. Still, I’ve already ripped through three copies of At The Village Gate CD–I can imagine how many LPs I’d need.
This live disc was recorded before jazz clubs were like museums, before musicians were like curators. Listening to it, you feel the crowd at the Village Gate always evident behind the music, a low hum. The talkers in the club who came just to catch a drink on a felicitous night were welcome–their presence pulls you into the room.
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Date: 1968
Release: Atlantic AMCY-1240
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A funky, swirling, heady pair of side-long grooves from one of the most soulful jazzmen to ever record on the Atlantic label. Check out some of the assembled talent on this classic late-60s live date—Roy Ayers, Sonny Sharrock, Miroslav Vitous—whew!!! The chemistry was definitely happening with this super group. Both tracks stretch into a marathon of soul grinding funk, giving each of these energetic soloists room to run and run without anyone dropping the ball. Mann gives ample proof that he really was “The Man” when it came to getting down deep into the groove long before the 70s funk revolution made it the thing to do. Mann infuses each of these tasty tunes with his distinctly soulful sound, giving his compatriots plenty of heavy ideas to play with. Still, it is Sharrock’s mind-expanding guitar on “Philly Dog” that undeniably steals the show, demonstrating without a doubt that Jimi Hendrix actually had some real competition in 1968. Now for the bad news: this disc is only available on import, confirming once again the sad fact that some of the best jazz ever recorded in the States can only be found in Japan.
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Date: 1970
Release: WOUNDED BIRD
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A startlingly original departure from the trademark soul-jazz sound of Herbie Mann, this spacious and atmospheric 1970 recording flows within the vein of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew-era explorations. Throughout the record, Mann’s flute floats in and out over sparse string arrangements, a light and airy gust of psychedelic bliss. The album opens with the exotic Eastern sounds of “In Tangier,” arranged with unmistakable references to the original version recorded by 60s pop-icon Donovan on Hurdy Gurdy Man. Violins, viola and cello are all used to create a feeling of sailing through the celestial ether in a stoned state of mind.
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Date: June 11, 1968
Release: PRESTIGE OJC-355-2
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Adventurous fusions of Indian, psychedelic, rock, funk, and jazz music by one of the great risk-takers of the electric guitar. Baiyina features fluid guitars, exotic Indian percussion and drone instruments, unique time signatures, swirling flute and sax, deep grooving bass, and in-the-pocket drumming, making it one of the most unique acid-drenched albums to come out of the late 60s. As the album’s subtitle reads: “A psychedelic excursion through the magical mysteries of the Koran.” Indeed, each track takes its inspiration and name from different parts of the Koran.
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Date: July 1973 ( recording)
Release: Blue Thumb #BTS62
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Born and raised in the hell of South African apartheid, Hugh Masekela triumphed over oppression by wielding what Fela Kuti referred to as the weapon of the future–music. The young Masekela was first introduced to the trumpet (his future weapon) by anti-apartheid activist Father Trevor Huddleston. In a few short years, Masekela had developed into a raw but powerful player. Beginning in the mid-’50s, he was one of the most sought after musicians in all of Africa, partnering up with such luminaries as pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) and singer Miriam Makeba. Finding solidarity and a spirit of resistance in their music, Masekela and his contemporaries took inspiration from America’s more politically outspoken black artists, particularly Miles Davis and Paul Robeson.
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Date: 1971
Release: Rhino #79933
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Some artists did little more than play near-replicas of their studio tracks in concert. But, as we all know, live shows are the true measure of a musicians’ ability to improvise and create on the spot. Curtis, like his disciple Jimi Hendrix, certainly knew how to transform a tune into a vehicle for soul searing improvisation. Curtis knew how to take you higher when he took to the stage.
This gem of the early 70s is funky, jamming, political, and intimate. Playing to a small but incredibly in tune crowd at Greenwich Village’s Bitter End club, Curtis is given a chance to really stretch and expand. “We People Who Are Darker Than Blue,” Mayfield’s still relevant commentary on black on black violence and disunity, is a grooving political tract with power to rival Gil Scott-Heron‘s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”
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Date: June 1970
Release: Douglas Music #ADC 10
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Surprisingly, this acoustic album was recorded at the exact moment when John McLaughlin was a key player in Miles Davis’ rock-influenced electric jazz revolution. While McLaughlin plays unplugged here, none of his characteristic intensity is lost, as is apparent on the side-long pair of Indo-jazz fusions, “Peace One” and “Peace Two.” Infused with the entrancing throb and drone of Badal Roy’s tabla and Mahalakshmi’s tamboura, these two tracks meld the rhythms of India with the virtuosity of McLaughlin’s acoustic guitar leads, creating deeply moving music of startling originality. Joined by fellow Miles Davis’ veterans Dave Liebman, Billy Cobham, and Airto Moreira, McLaughlin consistently demonstrates his abilities as both a player and a leader throughout the album’s five original cuts, particularly on the fiery “Phillip Lane.”
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Date: July 13, 1960
Release: CD Atlantic #90532-2
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I took a very long detour one summer to visit Antibes in the south of France. Like a pilgrim, I was drawn to a place where a musical prophet had once shined a light. As I reclined on the white sand beaches of Antibes looking out across the warm Mediterranean, I understood how Charles Mingus and his band were able to flower so spectacularly in these fertile surroundings. It was in Antibes that Mingus and his disciples gathered one fabled summer night in 1960 to lay down a set of the most religiously joyous jazz-spirituals ever recorded. Mingus at Antibes is one of the few albums that reveals the healing potential of music, particularly Mingus’ music.
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