Jazz Beat (Part 32)

Infinite Spirit Music - Live Without Fear



Recorded May 31, 1979

Bass– Mchaka Uba
Congas– Ibo
Congas, Vocals– Kahil El'Zabar
Percussion– Aye Aton
Piano– Soji Adebayo
Saxophone– 'Light' Henry Huff
Vocals– Ka T' Etta Aton

This is the new Japanese release of this 1979 album, never before on CD I believe. Pretty interesting mix of avant/cosmic/spiritual jazz. Dig it!!!

 

Bill Evans Trio - Live at Shelly's Manne-Hole

 

Dexter Gordon: Homecoming

Vinyl






I love late Dexter Gordon; his sound is more flexible, behind the beat, and really channels his poignant, Lester Young roots.

 

That is a great price and I would be tempted but I would sell the U.S. box if I preferred it. I already have a few lps that I have duplicates of but I don't want to start that with box sets too. I don't have that kind of space unless I get divorced.
FWIW I do find the U.S. box a little on the bright side at times but it certainly isn't off putting. I feel lucky just owning any version of that box set. It's one of my favorite if not the number one favorite box set of Miles' output.


NP Charles Brackeen - Rhythm X (Strata East)
W/Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell and Don Cherry.

 

Shigeharu Mukai - Spacing Out

 

I didn't know about this though I'm sure I saw the add for the performance when it happened. I've seen a few jazz shows
At Grace Cathedral, Yusef Latiff, Dewey Redman, Ann Dyer and maybe one more that escapes my retrieval system at the moment. The exceptionally long echo makes for an interesting twist in an artist's usual approach. For those able to slow down and "play" the room as well as their instrument can have some real fun with it. When I saw Dewey he entered the room unexpectedly from the back of the church on the second floor. He just started playing and slowly made his way downstairs and to the stage. It was very moving/cool.

 

Eric Kloss - Sky Shadows (Prestige) Green label
W/ Jaki Byard, Pat Martino, Bob Cranshaw and Jack DeJohnette from 1968.

 

Jay Hoggard - Riverside Dance (India Navigation) DMM
One of the few DMM lps I own and this one sounds pretty decent.

 

Roscoe Mitchell - Nonaah

 

I'm back

Freddie Redd - Redd's Blues (Connoisseur Series)

 

David Weiss & Point of Departure – Snuck Out (Sunnyside)
— With J.D. Allen, Nir Felder, Matt Clohesy, Jamire Williams; tunes by Weiss, Shorter, Tolliver and two by Charles Moore

 

I often find that I don't want to listen to both CDs of a two-CD set in the same listening session. A lot of these seem to end up forgotten in a pile on an out-of-the-way shelf and I never get around to the second CD. I've decided to make a concerted effort to pull these out. First up is one of my favorites from back in my vinyl days:

Cecil Taylor – Nefertitti, the Beautiful One Has Come — Live at the Café Montmartre, Copenhagen, 1962 - CD 2 (Revenant—Arista/Freedom)
— With Jimmy Lyons, Sunny Murray


CD 2 has a twenty minute alternate take of "D Trad, That's What". My LP copy has this cover:

 

(CD Uptown UPCD27692770) - replaying this excellent reissue which features on CD1 both Frank Wess and Johnny Coles in top form and as additional bonus a superb rhythm section consisting of Kenny Barron+Reggie Johnson+Kenny Washington (recorded in 1983).....hilarious cover picture too....

 

(CD Debut Original Jazz Classics OJCCD-625-2)

 

Long one of my very favorite jazz recordings (the studio side), an absolute gem.

 

I'd started needle dropping this set several weeks ago, then my amp went on the blink, and then it got busy...now returning to the task, currently on Side 8 of 12. The consistently high level of the playing across so many tracks recorded over such a relatively short period of time is just staggering - Hodges was in absolute prime form during this era and he surrounded himself with quality players (among them Harry Carney - king of the baritone sax in my opinion). Also interesting (for audiophiles) is to hear the improvements in recording fidelity as the set progresses; not that the early sides don't sound pretty darn good, but it's interesting to trace how the ambiance and "breath of life" ratchet up several levels later in the set, just gorgeous mono sound. That early to mid-1950s period saw a pretty rapid rise in recording quality. Rudy Van Gelder himself did the LP mastering for this set, and he hit a home run.

 

Extra points for correct pronunciation of the album title.

 

I wish I had that set on CD. Pity Mosaic was not allowed to release it on CD as well at the time.

 

Out of curiosity, was Mosaic issuing cd sets at the time of that Hodges box? Was Mosaic or the label(s) dictating format?

 

NP Sonny Rollins - There Will Never Be Another You (MCA/Impulse) green label.
I'm not sure I've ever seen this lp before, recorded at the NY MOMA in 1965 and this lp has 1978 printed on the back cover. I have two other performances from the same venue (Milt Jackson and Art Farmer). He's got a solid band.
Tommy Flanagan
Bob Cranshaw
Billy Higgins
Mickey Roker

Not sure about the two drummers unless one of them left and had a fill in.

 

Mosaic released some of their sets on CD almost right from the beginning, the first one being the second set (Gerry Mulligan with Chet Baker). The licensing labels were dictating the formats.

http://www.mosaicrecords.com/outofprint.asp