Jazz ist unübersichtliches Gelände – leicht kann man da Bedeutendes übersehen. Hans-Jürgen Schaal präsentiert unbesungene Höhepunkte der Jazzgeschichte.
Diese Platte dürfte es eigentlich gar nicht geben. In der offiziellen Jazzgeschichte spielt sie praktisch keine Rolle, auch Gerry Mulligan übersprang sie in Interviews meistens. Am 27. August 1951 sind die Aufnahmen entstanden, in Hackensack, New Jersey. Der junge Rudy Van Gelder warfare der Toningenieur, zu einer Zeit, als man beim Label Blue Note noch gar nichts von ihm wusste. Neben dem Wohnzimmer seiner Eltern hatte er sich einen kleinen Kontrollraum eingerichtet, alles warfare noch provisorisch und experimentell. Auch die Musiker, die an diesem Tag zu Besuch kamen, experimentierten noch. In diesem Sommer probten sie manchmal am Seeufer im Central Park – bis die Polizei sie vertrieb.
Der Saxofonist Gerry Mulligan hatte bis dahin vor allem in Bigbands mitgespielt, auch ein paar Arrangements geschrieben. Seine bedeutendste Leistung warfare die Mitarbeit in Miles Davis’ Capitol Orchestra (1949/50) – da bildete Mulligan zusammen mit Miles Davis und Gil Evans den innersten Kern. Drei Stücke schrieb er für Miles’ Nonett und arrangierte drei weitere. Doch nur wenige dieser Aufnahmen wurden zeitnah veröffentlicht (auf 78er-Scheiben). Erst 1957 sollten elf der zwölf Stücke auf einer LP erscheinen, die dann den angemessenen Titel Birth Of The Cool erhielt.
1951 warfare die historische Bedeutung des Capitol Orchestra noch nicht erkennbar. Aber Mulligan verfolgte die Ideen, die er mit Miles Davis und Gil Evans entwickelt hatte, weiter: die entspannten Tempi, den weichen Sechs-Bläser-Klang, die melodischen Linien – Dinge, die die Seele des Cool Jazz ausmachen sollten. Bei Rudy Van Gelder tauchte Mulligan mit einem eigenen Nonett auf, zum Tentett ergänzt durch Gail Madden, Mulligans damalige Freundin, an den Maracas. Sechs Stücke hatten die Musiker vorbereitet – typische Mulligan-Themen, die überwiegend relaxt dahinschlendern, zum Mitsummen oder Mitpfeifen einladen, eingängige Melodien, kontrapunktisch ausgearbeitet. Im Zentrum steht ein sonorer Holzklang: ein Tenorsaxofon und zwei Baritonsaxofone. Die beiden Baritons eröffnen das erste Stück („Funhouse“) ohne Rhythmusbegleitung – schon das warfare ziemlich unerhört.
Die sechs Stücke erschienen damals auf einer 10-Inch-Scheibe, einem ganz neuen Tonträgerformat. Es warfare Gerry Mulligans Debütalbum: Zum ersten Mal hörte man den damals 24-Jährigen ausführlich auf dem Baritonsax improvisieren, in dieser ungekünstelt-hemdsärmeligen Art, die er Lester Young abgelauscht hatte: leichte, flüssige Linien, jede Phrase eine Melodie. Der zweite Hauptsolist, Allen Eager am Tenorsaxofon, ist bei diesen Aufnahmen in der Form seines Lebens. Als die Platte später als 12-Inch wiederveröffentlicht wurde, packte man auf die B-Seite eine Blues-Jam („Mulligan, Too“) vom gleichen Tag: nur Mulligan, Eager und die Rhythmusgruppe. Eine 17-Minuten-Improvisation ohne Thema – eine Pioniertat.
Wenige Monate nach diesen Aufnahmen zog Mulligan nach Kalifornien. Dort gründete er seine erste offizielle Band, das Quartett mit Chet Baker, das zum Startschuss des Westcoast-Jazz wurde. Doch im Grunde begann der Westcoast-Jazz am 27. August 1951 in Hackensack. Das Sechs-Bläser-Format wurde dann ein Standard in Kaliforniens kühler Szene.
In June 1969, Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors Maghostut, and Joseph Jarman traveled to Paris and, assuming the identify Art Ensemble of Chicago, garnered performing and recording alternatives and a level of acclaim that they had by no means skilled at residence within the United States. By the time they returned to Chicago in 1971, that they had added Famoudou Don Moye, and for the subsequent 28 years, till the loss of life of Bowie in 1999, they bolstered their standing as crucial and influential longstanding group in avant-garde jazz, or what they referred to as “Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future.” The Sixth Decade captures the newest iteration of the Art Ensemble in live performance in early 2020 at Sons d’hiver, a competition held within the southeastern suburbs of Paris. As the surviving members of the legendary quintet, Mitchell, sopranino and alto saxophones, and Moye, drums and percussion, reorganized the Ensemble in 2019 for a fiftieth anniversary tour. Rather than simply change trumpeter Bowie, bassist Favors Maghostut (who died in 2004), and woodwinds grasp Jarman (2019) and type a brand new quintet, they added 16 musicians and created a sprawling chamber orchestra, performing on the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville and recording the studio-and-concert set We Are on the Edge: A fiftieth Anniversary Celebration.
Mitchell, as achieved a composer and educator as he’s an improvisor, contributes a number of absolutely notated scores for the Sons d’hiver live performance, and people items are carried out by Steed Cowart, his colleague for a dozen years at Mills College in Oakland, California. His writing for strings, reeds, brass, and voices is spacious and fluid, creating passages of atmospheric serenity. Listeners anticipating radical sounds will discover loads however may nicely be stunned by the bounty of sheer magnificence.
Cropping up all through the 17 tracks throughout two discs, Moor Mother’s dramatically intoned poetry—“Come rejoice in the next place!” “Bring again the magic!” “We are on the sting of victory!”—provides religious and political focal factors. A cadre of percussionists carry further jittery pleasure to affix Moye’s battery of congas, djembé, jundun, gongs, congo bells, bendir, triangles, and thaï bells, and Senegalese multi-instrumentalist Dudú Kouaté supplies two items that intensify the Ensemble’s African connections.
There are loads of passages the place the gamers, right here numbering 19, improvise freely—individually and in varied groupings—and discover the sonic potential of their devices. Mitchell, 79 on the time of this efficiency, is an nearly unparalleled genius with prolonged methods. But violinist Jean Cook, violist Eddy Kwon, cellist Tomeka Reid, flute and piccolo virtuoso Nicole Mitchell, trumpeter/flugelhornist Hugh Ragin, trombonist/tubaist Simon Sieger, and pianist Brett Carson all minimize free from typical jazz enjoying.
Most exhilarating on this variegated quilt of post-modern new music, percussion jams, artwork songs, spoken phrase, and funk (two double basses and electrical bass propel “We Are on the Edge” and the Ensemble staple “Funky AECO”) is how one can really feel that the musicians are all the time on the identical, albeit ever-changing, wavelength. The “historical” is nicely represented in The Sixth Decade, however the stability ideas towards “the longer term,” for which Mitchell and Moye are suggesting a template that their good mentees can develop upon advert infinitum.
The most potent and impactful tenor saxophonist of his era, Potter made an enormous splash along with his 2020 lockdown album, There Is a Tide, recorded at residence with him taking part in all of the devices himself. Here Potter joins bassist Scott Colley, pianist Craig Taborn, and drummer Marcus Gilmore earlier than an energized viewers at NYC’s hallowed Village Vanguard. On the 14-minute opener, a funk-jazz re-imagining of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “You Got to Move” (famously coated by the Rolling Stones on 1971’s Sticky Fingers), Potter pulls out his technically sensible Brecker-ian chops in a Herculean show of tenor virtuosity. The intricate and hypnotic 12/8 car “Nozani Na,” an Amazonian people tune transcribed by Brazilian classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, supplies a launching pad for some heated exchanges between tenorist and drummer. The quartet brings issues right down to a sublime hush on Billy Strayhorn’s darkly stunning “Blood Count,” then it’s off to the races on an uptempo swinging rendition of Charlie Parker’s “Klactoveedsedstene.” Potter’s unrestrained wailing right here, together with Gilmore’s rapid-fire exchanges with the chief, is scintillating. The title monitor, a gospel blues from 1929, is one more showcase of Potter’s breathtaking command of his instrument.
Founded in 1983, Mosaic Records now has virtually 300 compilations below its belt. The proven fact that its newest venture, The Complete Freddie Hubbard Blue Note & Impulse ’60s Studio Sessions, compiles historic recordings that includes most of the finest gamers from that interval tells us that Mosaic continues to be mining a treasure trove. For lovers of Blue Note, Impulse, trendy jazz, trumpet, and onerous bop, this 7-CD field set containing 70 songs Hubbard recorded as a frontrunner on studio classes between 1960 and 1966 is a should. On all however 4 tracks, the unique recordings for these stereo performances have been engineered by Rudy Van Gelder at his studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The remastering engineer for this compilation, Malcolm Addey, labored from 24/192 information, and these recordings do a advantageous job of capturing that traditional Van Gelder sound. Complete with a 12 x 12 booklet that accommodates class black-and-white pictures by Francis Woolf, an in depth discography, and liner notes by Bob Blumenthal, the set chronicles a candy spot not solely within the historical past of Blue Note and Impulse however in trendy jazz on the whole.
An Indianapolis native, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard moved to New York City in 1958. As a sideman, Hubbard carried out with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Bobby Hutcherson, and lots of different artists, and as a frontrunner he was additionally a pressure to be reckoned with. In 1960, the 22-year-old recorded his first solo album on Blue Note. What adopted was a flurry of exercise involving quite a few high-profile classes on each Blue Note and Impulse. Everything on this compilation was recorded between 1960 and 1966. The Blue Note dates embrace unique stereo recordings in addition to outtakes from Open Sesame, Goin’ Up, Hub Cap, Ready for Freddie, Hub-Tones, Breaking Point!, Blue Spirits, and Here to Stay, and the set additionally consists of three tracks from a ultimate studio session in 1966. Also, the field consists of two Impulse classes, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard and The Body & the Soul.
On all of the classes on the Mosaic set, Hubbard surrounds himself with an elite squadron of gamers. Tenor saxophonists for these dates embrace Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, and Wayne Shorter. Because the stature of Tina Brooks has risen with time however recordings of Brooks are scarce, the tenor participant’s look on Open Sesame is a uncommon deal with, and James Spaulding’s excellent performances on alto sax and flute remind us why Hubbard repeatedly referred to as upon this nonetheless ignored participant. Two artists we strongly affiliate with extra “out” jazz—Sun Ra right-hand man John Gilmore and Eric Dolphy—additionally make important contributions. Pianists on these dates embrace Cedar Walton, Harold Mabern, Ronnie Matthews, and McCoy Tyner. Sam Jones, Paul Chambers, Art Davis, Reggie Workman are among the many bassists, and drummers embrace Elvin Jones, Pete La Roca, Philly Joe Jones, and Joe Chambers. Elite gamers all, and—to state the plain—there aren’t any weak hyperlinks in these lineups.
And let’s not overlook Hubbard’s skills as a trumpet participant. Even on his earliest dates, there was no query about his technical prowess or his capability to swing. Hubbard was a remarkably versatile and intensely assured participant who, whereas soloing, appeared to have the technical facility to execute no matter got here into his head. It’s been mentioned that his expertise with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers helped solidify a way of narrative readability, and his solos right here do inform a narrative. As it progresses chronologically, the Mosaic field set additionally spins a story, one which matches the event of jazz throughout that period. Hubbard’s earliest efforts have been traditional examples of onerous bop small-group Blue Note classes. As a frontrunner throughout this era, Hubbard continued to stretch the canvas. By the time he launched 1964’s Breaking Point!—an aptly titled album that’s typically edgy, angular, and spiky—Hubbard was taking part in jazz that examined the boundaries of bop. With his technical facility and imaginative vary and scope, it’s clear why his skills could be referred to as upon for such historic groundbreaking classes as Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1961), Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch (1964), and Ornette Coleman’s Ascension (1966). As a frontrunner, Hubbard didn’t enterprise as far out as these artists, however his music did an equally spectacular job of capturing the power, friction, rigidity, electrical energy, and depth that we affiliate with the Sixties. Truly, there was one thing within the air, and since Hubbard was one in all many jazz artists who tapped into the zeitgeist throughout that decade, this Mosaic set is a very compelling compilation.
Jens Filser Organic Blues Project feat. Brenda Boykin
Wenn mich die Menschen fragen, was mich am Blues fasziniert, warum mich die Musik des Schwarzen Amerika bis heute in ihren Bann zieht und nicht mehr loslässt, dann habe ich seit kurzem eine neue Argumentationshilfe. Schwarz, rund, auf 180-Gramm-Vinyl gepresst und auch noch reside und „direct to tape“ voll analog aufgenommen: das Jens Filser Organic Blues Project feat. Brenda Boykin, erschienen zu den Analogtagen 2021 bei Lehmannaudio.
Norbert Lehmann, Musiker, ausgebildeter Tonmeister und Produzent feinen Analogequipments wie etwa Phonovorverstärkern, steht hinter dem Aufnahmeprojekt und bat die Band 2021 zum Konzerttermin vor Publikum in die Ludwigsburger Bauer Studios. Lehmann ist ein Gralshüter der analogen Musikwiedergabe – und ein eingefleischter Blues-Fan.
Um eine Scheibe wie diese zu produzieren, die der klingende Gegenentwurf zum Mainstream ist, muss man eine Menge Herzblut investieren. Was Johannes Wohlleben und Adrian von Ripka als ungeschnittene Liveaufnahme inklusive Publikumsreaktionen aufs Zweispur-Band beziehungsweise in die Rillen gepackt haben, ist knackiger, intensiver Traditional Blues ohne Rockanwandlungen.
Hier agieren vier Musiker, die den Blues inhaliert haben, die ihn nicht nur spielen, sondern leben. Und sie umrahmen kongenial eine jener Ausnahmestimmen, die man schon ausgestorben glaubte. „Als ambitionierter HiFi-Hersteller braucht man ambitionierte Aufnahmen mit Gänsehautfaktor“, kommentiert Norbert Lehmann in seinen Liner Notes das Projekt, das entstand, als Corona das Abhalten normaler Messen und Konzerte vor größerem Publikum praktisch unmöglich machte. Auch der Blues-Bandauftritt wurde ins Internet gestreamt, weil in den Bauer Studios seinerzeit nur eine handverlesene Schar Gäste zugelassen warfare und Lehmann das Konzert möglichst vielen Menschen zugänglich machen wollte.
Denen wurde Hochkarätiges geboten: Brenda Boykins ausdrucksvoll gereifter Alt ist flexibel, wandlungsfähig, schmiegt sich seidenweich in die Gehörgänge und kündet vom Wissen um die Inhalte. Da ist es egal, ob die Sängerin „My Babe“ anschmachtet, das leichte Mädchen „Mary Ann“ porträtiert oder wuchtig und zart angerockt dem „Backbreaker“ Vorwürfe macht, weil er ihr Gefühlsleben nachhaltig durcheinanderbringt. Das ist die Scheibe für „Bright Lights, Big City“, die man im Loft hört, während draußen die Großstadt tobt. Oder die man sich eben per Stream von den Analogtagen einschließlich Bewegtbild nach Hause holt.
Brenda Boykins Begleitquartett mit dem flinkfingerigen Bandboss Jens Filser an der Stromgitarre, Dirk Schaadt an der Hammondorgel inklusive blubberndem Leslie-Hornlautsprecher, Mickey Neher-Warkocz an der „Schießbude“ und Till Brandt am Kontrabass legt der charismatischen Frontfrau einen dicken, satten, dezent farbigen, aber niemals flauschigen Soundteppich aus. Hier regieren das Fingerspitzengefühl und die Eleganz des Großstadt-Blues mit unüberhörbaren Jazz-Anklängen. Wer den „Garagensound“ mancher Blues-Produktion eher unangenehm findet, wird sich über diese luftig-farbige Produktion freuen, die Live-Energie mit Studiopräzision verschmilzt.
Zum Glück hat Norbert Lehmann entschieden, dass diese Liveaufnahme mit überlegener Technik in die Rillen gebannt wird. Und er hat auf der Plattenhülle Informationen verewigt, die man bei den meisten Aufnahmen vergebens suchen wird, nämlich Details über die für jedes einzelne Instrument (und die Sängerin) verwendeten Mikrofone. Da bediente sich das Team an allem, was im Aufnahmeweg erfahrungsgemäß intestine klingt, von Beyerdynamic und Brüel & Kjær über Schoeps und Shure bis Sennheiser. Der Klang ist bestens ausbalanciert, wirkt überaus natürlich – und verzichtet vollständig auf das Spektakuläre mancher Hörtest-LPs, die mit überzogenen Frequenzbereichen „auf Effekt“ abgemischt werden.
Bildergalerie
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Stattdessen entsteht – auch dank sorgsam nachgezeichneter Räumlichkeit – für den Hörer der Eindruck, tatsächlich in einem akustisch optimierten Club zu sitzen, nahe an der Band, ohne den Musikern gleich auf dem Schoß zu kriechen.
Hier geht es nicht um audiophile Selbstbespiegelung, sondern um den Blues und seinen emotionalen Gehalt. Dass die überaus entspannte Grundstimmung, die bei der Aufnahme geherrscht haben muss, unmittelbar über die Rampe kommt, dass man auch vor der heimischen Anlage so ins Grooven kommt wie die Konzertgäste in Ludwigsburg, spricht für die große Spielfreude, die an diesem denkwürdigen Abend im Vordergrund stand. Und die ohne lebendiges Publikum im Raum wohl nicht so aufgekommen wäre. “You guys (are) on hearth”, meint Brenda Boykin irgendwann augenzwinkernd. Dem ist nichts hinzuzufügen. Der Blues lebt, ganz ohne Zweifel.
On the heels of her acclaimed tribute to John and Alice Coltrane, 2020’s Pursuance: The Coltranes, alto saxophonist-composer Lakecia Benjamin delivers one other potent providing in Phoenix, her fourth album as a pacesetter and debut for the London-based Whirlwind Recordings. Produced by drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, Phoenix finds Benjamin pushing the envelope on her already expansive scope. Her pungent traces—tonally paying homage to Hank Crawford or Maceo Parker however with the harmonically subversive intent of Eric Dolphy—mix tightly on the frontline with trumpeter Josh Evans on tunes like “New Mornings,” the forcefully grooving title observe, the angular and Dolphy-esque midtempo swinger “Basquiat,” and the up-tempo burner “Moods.” Politically tinged tracks just like the edgy “Amerikkan Skin” (that includes recitation by activist Angela Davis) and “Peace Is a Haiku Song/Blast” (with iconic 88-year-old poet, civil rights activist and Black Arts Movement pioneer Sonia Sanchez) strongly mirror her personal private conscientious beliefs. The modal exercise “Trane” is a holdover from her earlier Coltrane tribute. And the beautiful “Mercy,” underscored by E.J. Strickland’s mellow “Poinciana” beat and enhanced by string quartet, options the wonderful and soulful vocals and nimble scatting of visitor Dianne Reeves.
Weltmusik mit Schwerpunkt: Flamenco und Latin aus München.
Seit dem Jahr 2008 ist das Corazón Quartett mit diesen Musikrichtungen überaus erfolgreich unterwegs. Mit ihrem dritten Album Luna ist es sich thematisch treu geblieben. Eine Produktion, bei der im eigenen Tonstudio nichts komprimiert wird. Kaum verwunderlich, dass es eines von ganz wenigen CD-Alben ist, welches mich in den letzten Jahren allein schon mit seiner herausragenden Aufnahmequalität begeistert. Die musikalischen Qualitäten stehen dem nicht im Geringsten nach. Neben eigenen Kompositionen begegnen mir hier auch eine Interpretation von Al Di Meola (“Milonga noctive”).
Das Corazón Quartett. Von Links nach Rechts: Charly Böck, Lori Lorenzen, Peter Cudek und Wolfgang Wallner
Das Album beeindruckt aufgrund seiner geradezu virtuos vorgetragenen Stücke. Kein Wunder, schließlich sind alle beteiligten Musiker: Charly Böck, Wolfgang Wallner und Peter Cudek schon sehr lange im Business. Das Team um Bandleader Lori Lorenzen versteht es geradezu aus dem Stand heraus eine fesselnde, wundervolle Stimmung zu erzeugen. Blitzsaubere Gitarrenläufe begeistern schlichtweg. Die mir persönlich bekannte Sängerin (Nina Michelle) sorgt sogleich für ein Lächeln in meinem Gesicht. Titel acht und neun „Here’s that wet day“ begleitet sie perfekt. Lateinamerikanische Grundthemen mit viel Jazz unterlegt, so würde ich die musikalische Ausrichtung des Quartetts benennen. Große Leidenschaft beim Musizieren und bei der Aufnahme ergeben ganz zwangsläufig einen Ausnahmetonträger!
Corazón Quartett
Luna
Label: FLUXX-Records
Format: CD
There’s a motive AXPONA is so fashionable. After all, how typically do you’ve a possibility to listen to, for 3 days in a row, high-end stereo tools made by producers from world wide? That’s why over 9,000 folks converged to a suburb in Illinois for the 2023 occasion, and that’s why, for 3 days, the elevators had been full of audiophiles working their method from room to room. Two hundred rooms is usually a bit daunting for one weekend, however attendees did their finest to cowl as a lot floor as attainable.
While tools could also be the primary attraction at AXPONA, it isn’t the one recreation on the town. That would change into clear to you if, like me, you had been standing round shortly earlier than the Record Fair formally opened on Friday morning. There will need to have been 100 folks ready for these doorways to open.
And you may’t blame them, as AXPONA presents a splendid alternative to get your paws on what are very often extraordinarily restricted editions of audiophile LPs, deluxe editions, uncommon vinyl, and new vinyl, together with imports. Some titles had been launched that very same week, and in lots of circumstances solely the early birds had been in a position to seize these titles earlier than they had been gone. Buying records at AXPONA can truly prevent some cash, as the choice for most individuals means buying LPs on-line, which provides transport prices—and by the point you find yourself with a tall pile of wax (as many individuals did) you’ve saved your self so much moola. Below you’ll see the multi-tasking Chad Kassem from Acoustic Sounds on the far proper, attempting to carry court docket and promote bunches of records shortly after the Record Fair opened its doorways. He’s a very good multitasker.
I returned to the Record Fair a number of occasions in the course of the occasion, and when issues slowed down a bit I had an opportunity to talk with totally different distributors. Lisa Rothe from Direct Audio instructed me that vinyl is turning into more and more fashionable with followers of mainstream nation, and an early chicken bought all of the present nation LPs from her, and presumably for resale. Lisa additionally knowledgeable me that MoFi’s 1-Step of Michael Jackson’s Thriller has been certainly one of her best-selling titles:
Tyson Hall from Music Direct instructed me that though they stocked the heck out of the brand new 2-LP 45rpm vinyl of Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy, ultimately they offered out of all their copies. Also scorching off the press was MoFi’s 1-Step of Elvis Presley’s From Elvis In Memphis, a 1969 launch that noticed Elvis as soon as once more in high type.
Kevin Berg from Elusive Disc stated a very fashionable title was Saturday Night in San Francisco, which that was recorded the night time after 1981’s Friday Night in San Francisco however solely launched final 12 months on the Impex label. Song-wise there’s no overlap between the 2 nights, and Saturday options, amongst different issues, a scorching efficiency of “Meeting of the Spirits,” a John McLaughlin composition that initially appeared on the primary Mahavishnu Orchestra LP, The Inner Mounting Flame. Quite merely, Saturday Night in San Francisco is a will need to have.
It’s all the time good to see Delmark Records on the occasion, as they’re a historic label with previous and new blues and jazz titles and they hail from Chicago. The CEO of Delmark, Julia Miller is seen right here holding a reel-to-reel tape of the Junior Wells basic, Hoodoo Man Blues.
AXPONA additionally presents an opportunity to fulfill musicians and advertising and marketing reps. Jazz singer and pianist Anne Bisson wore each of these hats this 12 months, performing a well-attended and well-received reside live performance on Friday night time and signing copies of her audiophile vinyl in the course of the day.
Along with taking part in harp, Isabeau Corriveau offered copies of her records within the foyer. Singer-songwriter Amber Rubarth carried out on Saturday night time. Also, Bob James signed copies of his reside trio album Feel Like Makin’ Live, on the Hong Kong-based Evosound label.
The founding father of Impex Records, Abey Fonn, held some talks the place, together with Nick Getz, the son of Stan Getz, she mentioned an upcoming 1-Step of Getz/Gilberto. Abey was additionally a part of a panel dialogue with Shane Boettner from Intervention Records, Julia Miller from Delmark, Chad Kassem from Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions, and Michael Fremer. The group mentioned the do’s and don’ts of remastering—and they need to know, as they’re all within the trenches.
The sorts of discussions and experiences described right here actually helped spherical out AXPONA, as, in the long run, it’s our love for music that makes us wish to hear recordings on great-sounding stereos.
Es gibt nicht nur Coverversionen von Songs. „Gecovert“ werden auch Plattenhüllen. Das gecoverte Cover: Ist es witzige Anspielung, respektvolle Verehrung, Parodie – oder hat es einen tieferen Sinn?
Der Mann suchte einfach künstlerische Herausforderungen. Jackie McLean, früh sozialisiert mit Altsaxofon, Bebop und Heroin, sprang in den 1960er Jahren auf die „New Breed“ an, die freie Jazz-Avantgarde. Er wollte die frischen Anregungen der Jungen aufgreifen, die alten Wurzeln aber nicht kappen – er wollte Brücken schlagen zwischen Alt und Neu. Dass das kein kommerzielles Kalkül struggle, macht schon der Plattentext von 1965 deutlich: „Es gab für ihn sicherlich keinen finanziellen Anreiz, um relativ unerforschtes Gelände zu erkunden; die neue Welle von heute erlebt ein ökonomisch noch trüberes Wetter als ihre Vorgänger vor 20 Jahren.“ Starthilfe für sein „zweites Jazzleben“ hatte McLean durch seinen Sound auf dem Altsaxofon – denn der struggle schon immer schreiend laut, aufrüttelnd energisch, widerspenstig und unangepasst. „Zuckerfrei“ nannte McLean ihn selbst; er passte zur Energie des neuen, revoltierenden Jazz. Wegen dieses Sounds hatte Charles Mingus den Saxofonisten schon Mitte der 1950er Jahre in seine Band geholt.
Als Brückenschläger zwischen Alt und Neu eignete sich McLean auch deshalb, weil er noch relativ jung struggle. Er hatte seine Karriere sehr früh begonnen, gefördert von Miles Davis. Tatsächlich waren die beiden „Neutöner“ in McLeans Studioband – Charles Tolliver und Herbie Hancock – nur rund zehn Jahre jünger als er. Die anderen beiden – Cecil McBee und Roy Haynes – kamen noch aus McLeans eigener Generation. Für Tolliver, den Bläserpartner an der Trompete, bedeutete It’s Time! das Plattendebüt. Er lieferte drei Stücke, der Bandleader auch – den Unterschied hört man. Tollivers Stücke sind überwiegend modal angelegt, seine Themen haben sich von der Logik von Akkordfolgen befreit und erinnern an alarmierende, wiederholte Signalmotive. McLeans Stücke dagegen sind noch stark der Hardbop-Welt der Fünfziger verpflichtet, dem funky Blues und der swingenden AABA-Form.
Ein wenig in der Mitte zwischen Alt und Neu liegt das Titelstück (es ist von McLean). Sein Name – „It’s Time“ – soll die Dringlichkeit dieses stilistischen Brückenschlags unterstreichen. Reid Miles, der Hausgrafiker von Blue Note, machte das im Albumtitel zusätzliche Ausrufezeichen zur grafischen Cover-Idee. (Verschwindend klein dagegen: McLeans Porträtfoto rechts oben.)
Die Plattenhülle bot ein Bildkonzept, das ikonisch wurde und das die britische EMI rund 30 Jahre später mit Giant Steps! wieder aufgegriffen hat – nun mit kleinen Schuh-Symbolen.
John Coltranes gleichnamiger Klassiker spielt hier allerdings keine Rolle. Es geht vielmehr um künstlerische „Riesenschritte“ von der Vergangenheit in die Gegenwart. Auch Giant Steps! dreht sich nämlich um einen großen Brückenschlag: von der legendären Blue-Note-Welt in die Welt des Hiphop-Jazz. Künstler wie US3 und Guru hatten um 1990 damit begonnen, die Blue-Note-Archive für den Hip-Hop auszuschlachten, vor allem auf dem Weg des Sound-Samplings. Manche ihrer Stücke bestehen nur aus historischen Jazz-Grooves, Jazz-Compings, Jazz-Riffs, über die ein Computerbeat und ein Rap gelegt sind.
Die Compilation Giant Steps! vereint elf Stücke. Dabei erzählen Zusammenstellung und Reihenfolge nicht ungeschickt von der modischen Verbindung zwischen Blue Note und Hip-Hop. Geradezu programmatisch steht „Cantaloop“ am Anfang, der große US3-Sampling-Hit von 1993 auf der Basis von Herbie Hancocks Stück „Cantaloupe Island“ von 1964. (Hancocks Originalaufnahme entstand nur wenige Wochen, bevor der Pianist mit McLean ins Studio ging.) Interessanterweise wurde für dieses Album aber ein Instrumentalmix von „Cantaloop“ gewählt (Track 1) – ganz ohne menschliche Stimmen, dafür mit einem umfangreichen Trompetensolo von Gerard Presencer. Das rückt das Ganze ein Stück weiter Richtung Jazz.
Nicht nur blickt der Hiphop-Jazz in die Vergangenheit zurück – die Vergangenheit hatte bereits in die Hiphop-Zukunft geschaut. Deshalb gibt es auf dieser Compi auch drei Stücke aus der Zeit um 1970, in denen der Funk-Jazz sich anschickte, soulige Tanzmusik zu werden. „Black Byrd“, eine Aufnahme des Trompeters Donald Byrd, struggle 1973 einer der bis dahin größten Hits des Labels Blue Note gewesen (Track 3). Passenderweise fühlte sich Donald Byrd auch 30 Jahre später noch im Hiphop-Jazz ganz wohl. Es gibt ein Wiederhören mit ihm in Gurus „Loungin’“ (Track 5) – kein Sampling, sondern ein originales Trompetensolo des damals 60-jährigen Byrd.
Die Sprünge zwischen den Epochen sind auf dieser Compilation in der Tat recht elegant gelöst. Bei den Beastie Boys (Track 6) hört man Richard „Groove“ Holmes’ Hammondorgel distinguished gesampelt – eine gute Überleitung zum soulfunkigen „Hot Rod“ des Organisten Reuben Wilson aus dem Jahr 1968 (Track 7). Der Orgelsound zieht sich dann noch durch die nächsten beide Stücke: Wir hören Ronnie Foster gesampelt bei US3 (Track 8) und dann Charles Earland in Lou Donaldsons „Who’s Making Love?“ von 1969 (Track 9).
Nicht fehlen darf auf diesem Brücken-Album auch Gang Starrs „Jazz Music“ (Track 10), eine Rap-Hymne an die große Jazz-Vergangenheit: “There was Hawk, the Prez, and Lady Day and Dizzy, Bird and Miles”. Sogar Charlie Parkers Saxofon wurde für diesen Titel gesampelt. “Yes, the music / it was born down there / We’re gonna use it / so make the horn sound clear.”
Finding good sounding clear originals of Charles Mingus’ early recordings from the Fifties and Sixties isn’t straightforward, particularly as of late. But some albums are particularly elusive, akin to his recordings for Bethlehem Records. Sure they’re on digital platforms and CDs, a few of which I’ve had for a very long time. A lot of years in the past I discovered a “greymarket” copy of an particularly elusive late ‘50s launch which I picked up cheaply however by no means actually preferred the way it sounded. It felt very clearly prefer it was constituted of a low high quality digital supply.
Then a couple of 12 months in the past at a report swap meet — the Down Home Music Parking Lot sale in El Cerrito simply north of Berkeley, for these of you who come to the San Francisco Bay Area — I had a stroke of excellent luck. A vendor there was parting with an unique Mono copy of this uncommon marvel, A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus for simply three {dollars}! I used to be virtually afraid to have a look at the situation of the vinyl and simply purchase it blindly however I did look. And it was certainly scary trying however I took an opportunity on it anyhow, the album’s cowl scotch-taped collectively and tremendous soiled vinyl exhibiting the proof of an album nicely beloved and appreciated over time (extra cynical collectors may name this a “performed to demise” or “trashed” copy however I had larger hopes…).
A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus is a type of records that not often pops up anyplace and this was the primary time I’d seen a duplicate out within the wilds. I took it house, gave it a couple of washings and was happy to see that it was cleansing up fairly nicely — it was very very soiled! — however the vinyl was shiny and regarded like it could be playable. Save for, nevertheless, the opening grooves on facet one which regarded particularly scary-awful, like somebody may need dragged a screwdriver throughout the grooves (or extra probably it was performed on a report participant with a heavy, poorly aligned tone-arm.
Gingerly, I lowered the stylus of my least costly cartridge (a Grado Black) to the grooves to see what may occur. Wonder of wonders — and miracle of miracles! — the report performed via usually, with out any skipping or the wooshing sounds I anticipated. I used to be amazed! As it turned out the entire album sounded fairly good, even nice at occasions even on Side Two… The disc sounded even higher utilizing my Mono cartridge finally.
So I sat again to hear and indulge in Mingus’ music and for the primary time, I felt I used to be listening to and connecting with this recording. I might really feel Mingus’ presence on these grooves — clearly this was a passionate undertaking for him.
Especially in that opening observe, “Scenes In The City” he presents a kind of gritty street-weary, beat poetry and jazz flipside twist on Gordon Jenkins’ basic Nineteen Forties ultra-kitsch glitzy early audio documentary idea album, Manhattan Tower, Mingus’ take presents a day within the lifetime of a struggling Jazz musician. Here in stead of basking within the radiance of an excellent metropolis excessive rise like Jenkins’ star, Mingus’ characater is barely making ends meet financially, residing in a tiny room with a shared lavatory in a stroll up method uptown in Harlem, removed from the downtown glories of Manhattan’s jazz scene. After a couple of listens you notice this isn’t only a story Mingus has woven randomly and that it’s most likely nearer to the reality than any of us would care to imagine as an artist of such stature (he was finally dramatically evicted from his condominium within the mid 60s!).
Working via Nat Hentoff’s copious liner notes on the again of the album, we study that the narration right here was carried out by actor Mel Stewart and the script was conceived and written by Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award nominated African-American actor, playwright and screenwriter Lonnie Elders with assist from acclaimed Jazz poet Langston Hughes. Together, they seize Mingus’ essence to the purpose the place (earlier than studying the liner notes intently ) I initially thought Mingus was doing the speaking! It feels like Mingus!
Side Two is sort of the proper triptych, delivering “New York Sketchbook,” adopted by the attractive “Duke’s Choice” — with an incredible trumpet solo by Clarence Shaw — after which driving house the Be Bop bliss in a smoker known as “Slippers” which appears like a pre-echo of Coltrane’s “Countdown” and “Giant Steps.”
So why was such a fantastic album so out of print for years in a reputable kind? I don’t know however I think about it’s some mixture of points relating to possession of the recordings, finding the unique tapes, discovering the funds to license mentioned recordings for reissue after which in fact hiring nice mastering engineers, restoring the tapes, discovering unique cowl artwork components (and updating them accordingly for contemporary distribution wants) after which in fact urgent the discs themselves. There are loads of shifting components to this means of placing out a report!!!
That mentioned, New Land has achieved a reasonably exemplary job on this reissue of A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus. From their web site we study that “the recordings have been remastered from the unique tape transfers and lacquers minimize by Kevin Gray.” The recordings — formally licensed from BMG, homeowners of the Bethlehem Records catalog at current, and accepted by the Charles Mingus property — sound excellent, wonderful even.
But a few of it’s possible you’ll be questioning whether or not they have been remastered in an “all analog” course of. That half is admittedly unclear right here. Recent language I’ve been seeing coming via in press releases from quite a lot of entities use imprecise language like “remastered from unique tape transfers” which — and I’m guessing right here, of us — appears to suggest that the remaster have been constituted of a duplicate of the unique tape. Whether the “switch” was made to a digital platform (probably) or analog (potential however with a era of sign loss, so much less probably) is to be decided.
All that mentioned, A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus nonetheless sounds very very good with a heat end to the music that enables me to show up the amount on my amplifier with out that ear-piercing crunch of a poor digital switch or dangerous mastering. So kudos to the reissue’s producers and mastering engineer Kevin Gray for making certain that this album sounds nearly as good as it will possibly.
In distinction, my earlier “gray market” unofficial launch (on the Doxy label) sounds harsh, at occasions even a bit pulse-y as if an excessive amount of compression or noise discount was utilized. It is usually a not particularly fulfilling hear and I’ll be glad to lastly purge this copy from my assortment now that I’ve a a lot better model!
Please observe that the unique Stereo tapes do have some drop outs in them so don’t be stunned if you happen to hear moments of audio oddness. It is perhaps a wrinkled tape supply or maybe an edit “splice” that was in want of restoration. They are obvious in each the Doxy and new editions (however neither are main issues… that is only a heads up for a few of you who, like me, discover high-quality particulars like that).
You will need to flip up the amount on this album at occasions. Even the bonus tracks smoke, particularly the jam on the basic Charlie Parker tune “Billie’s Bounce” which is taken at a tempo that may have even made Bird break a little bit of sweat.
I’ve to supply some kudos to the producers for the duvet artwork and the way it was all offered right here. Expanded to a gatefold sleeve, the packaging for this reissue of A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus incorporates a “reverse-board” flat-matte kind end which seems very good (though it’s completely different than the unique pressings which have been extra of the tip-on type, printed on shiny inventory). The new 180-gram albums have been pressed at Pallas in Germany and the discs are available good black plastic-lined audiophile grade inside sleeves. My copies weren’t utterly flat however the veryslight warp didn’t have an effect on play in any respect. More importantly (for me at the least) is the truth that the discs are all nicely centered and really quiet so the noise ground just about disappears.
Also, I used to be very happy in regards to the plastic outer bag the album is available in. It isn’t the everyday loose-ish polybag (as you may get on an Acoustic Sounds or Tone Poet reissue) neither is the tremendous skinny fragile Japanese plastic sleeves (which I’m not fan of as they’re troublesome to open and reseal, the paper-inner-sleeved albums typically get caught in opposition to the sticky glue beneath the flap which all the time snaps down as you attempt to put the factor away… grumble grumble… I actually dislike these sleeves!). Instead, A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus this involves you wrapped in a barely heavier, virtually vinyl-like plastic bag that’s fairly sturdy and simply resealable — the flap stays open with out trouble so it’s easy to take away and exchange the duvet with out it getting caught within the not-super-sticky glue. I actually recognize these baggage and its the primary time I’ve seen them — I’d attempt to down the place they’re made as i’d wish to get some, maybe for my rarest albums.
A Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingusis a superb album which stands tall alongside Mingus’ different classics from this era akin to The Clown, Tijuana Moods and Mingus Three. The improbable band contains the good Jimmy Knepper (trombone), Shafi Hadi (tenor and alto sax), Bill Hardman and Clarence Shaw (trumpet), Horace Parlan and Bob Hammer (piano) and very long time Mingus drummer, Dannie Richmond, nonetheless early on of their musical relationship however already wed on the rhythmic hip (Mingus even says within the liner notes “I’d reasonably not use a drummer if he weren’t accessible”).
If you want Mingus and haven’t been in a position to hear this album in good high quality, this urgent ofA Modern Jazz Symposium Of Music and Poetry With Charlie Mingus is a should get. It is promoting for a really pretty priced $32 on Amazon (which you’ll order from on the hyperlink embedded within the title all through this overview). Essential listening for Mingus followers. Grab it now whilst you can.
