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    #26
    Drummer Tony Williams joined Miles Davis' group in 1962 at the age of just 17, more than holding his own in such stellar company and becoming an integral part of the Second Great Quintet. He left Davis' employ after the recording of 'In A Silent Way', and formed his own trio, Lifetime, with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young. Their debut album 'Emergency' was released in May 1969 and is regarded as one of the very first jazz-rock albums. it certainly goes much further in a rock direction than Miles did later that year with 'Bitches Brew' (which also featured both McLaughlin and Young on Williams' recommendation).

    Here is 'Spectrum' from that debut album. It's the sound of three young musicians at the top of their game and just letting rip. Although not always a comfortable listen, the power of the music - and let's not forget this was 1969 - is quite extraordinary.
     

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      #27
      Having disbanded Lifetime a couple of years earlier, Tony Williams brought it back to life in 1975 as The New Tony Williams Lifetime. This time around he recruited bassist Tony Newton, keyboardist Alan Pasqua and rising star Allan Holdsworth - coincidentally, a Yorkshireman like John McLaughlin. More recognisably jazz-fusion (which at that point was at the height of its popularity) but that's not a bad thing and this is as good an example of the genre as anything.

      This is Holdsworth's 'Fred' from the album 'Believe It'. As an aside I would say that he, McLaughlin and Pat Metheny are in my guitarist Top 3, although I couldn't choose between them.



       

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        #28
        Creed Taylor's CTI label (and its offshoot Kudu) were often looked down upon by some of the sniffier jazz critics of the day, who disliked the more commercial approach to making jazz records. The old prostituting one's art for money argument that often surfaces in these circles. Whilst there were undoubtedly some recordings that were tipped over the edge by their syrupy string arrangements or a lacklustre version of a pop classic or two, for the most part the albums released by both labels from a impressive roster of talent (Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrell, Stanley Turrentine & Ron Carter to name just a few) are still hugely enjoyable whilst remaining very much of their time.

        Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's 'Sky Dive' from 1972 featured drummer Billy Cobham, flautist Hubert Laws, guitarist George Benson, bassist Ron Carter and, unusually, since he almost never played on recordings of this nature, Keith Jarrett on electric piano. He must have needed the money.

         

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          #29
          And one from the Kudu label. Drummer Idris Muhammed's 'Piece Of Mind' from 'Power Of Soul' (1974) with guitarist Joe Beck, saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., trumpeter Randy Brecker and keyboard player Bob James (also responsible for the arrangement).

           

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            #30
            Sonny Stitt - Body and Soul. It is very much "son of Charlie Parker" but that's fine by be. Hard bop but with a very deep emotional blues feel:

            Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 04-07-2020, 11:06.

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              #31
              Something a little different this evening. First up is 'Mulatu's Mood' from the father of Ethiopian jazz, vibraphonist/percussionist Mulatu Astatke. His albums 'Mulatu Steps Ahead' and 'Sketches Of Ethiopia' are both well worth checking out, as is his collaboration with The Heliocentrics - 'Inspiration Information' and, more generally, anything from the 'Ethiopiques' series of retrospectives from the 60's and 70's.
               

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                #32
                Tunisian vocalist and oud player Dhafer Youssef's 'Digital Prophecy' from 2003 featured the cream of Norway's young jazz community including Bugge Wesseltoft, Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang and Rune Arnesen, but it's Youssef's astonishing range and vocal dexterity that shines. This is 'Aya (1984)'.

                 

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                  #33
                  Finally there's 'Wagh Azaman' from the 'Assikel' album that the French-based American multi-percussionist Steve Shehan made with Tuareg vocalist Baly Othmani before the latter's death. Is it strictly jazz? Maybe not, but the edges of the genre have long-since blurred into world music and, more importantly, I like it so it gets in on that basis if nothing else..
                   

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                    #34
                    The version of "All Blues" on this is stunning:

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                      #35
                      Saxophonist Arnie Lawrence had a relatively successful musical career by most standards, playing with the likes of Charles Mingus, Willie Bobo and Chico Hamilton, in 'The Tonight Show' house band for many years and later as a highly-regarded jazz educator, but never really garnered the solo success or recognition that his obvious talent warranted. I guess some people get the breaks and others don't. Here's 'Abdullah And Abraham' from the 1983 album 'Arnie Lawrence & Treasure Island', featuring Tom Harrell flugelhorn, Lois Colin harp, Mike Richmond bass, Jeff Williams drums and Abdullah Maghrib percussion.
                       
                      Last edited by gjw100; 12-05-2023, 21:09.

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                        #36
                        Pianist Doug Carn released a run of albums in the early/mid 70's that are now regarded as classics of spiritual jazz but at the time went rather under the radar. This is 'Moon Child' from 'Infant Eyes' (1971), featuring George Harper tenor saxophone, Bob Frazier trumpet, Al Hall Jr trombone, Henry Franklin bass and Michael Carvin drums.
                         
                        Last edited by gjw100; 12-05-2023, 21:06.

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                          #37
                          Flautist Moe Koffman's 'Museum Pieces' album from 1978 might have remained in obscurity were it not for the fact that the main melody from the track 'Days Gone By (Egyptology) was sampled for Jill Scott's beautiful 'Slowly Surely'.

                           

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                            #38
                            'Butterfly Dreams' from drummer Norman Connors' 1973 album 'Dark Of Light', featuring Herbie Hancock electric piano, Gary Bartz alto sax, Carlos Garnett tenor/soprano saxes, Eddie Henderson trumpet, Cecil McBee bass and Dee Dee Bridgewater vocals.

                             

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                              #39
                              Saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released the album 'Phenix' (sic) in 1975, just a few months before his death from a stroke at the age of just 46. This is a great version of Bobby Timmons' 'This Here' - a song that Adderley had recorded several times over the years - this featuring Nat Adderley cornet, George Duke keyboards, Louis Hayes drums, Sam Jones bass and Airto Moreira percussion.
                               

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                                #40
                                Ken Nordine was an American poet and voice-over artist, who recorded a number of spoken word albums between 1955 and 2007. I first came across him on the track 'The Ageing Young Rebel' on DJ Food's 'Kaleidoscope' album. Intrigued by his voice (a kind of hip Orson Welles), I managed to track down two of his albums. 'Colors' from 1967 is a really weird one, consisting of 34 shortish tracks, each of them about a different colour. You can find it on YouTube if you are intrigued enough to want to listen to it. This is 'Clich? Heaven' from 'A Transparent Mask' (2001).
                                 

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                                  #41
                                  The Crusaders' 'Rainbow Visions' from 'Chain Reaction' (1975). This is the the last album recorded before Wayne Henderson left the group and features their classic line up - Wilton Felder bass and saxophones, Larry Carlton guitar, Joe Sample keyboards, Stix Hooper drums and Henderson trombone.
                                   

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                                    #42
                                    Drummer Horacee Arnold's 'Delicate Evasions' from the 1974 album 'Tales Of The Exonerated Flea', with John Abercrombie guitar, Jan Hammer keyboards, Art Webb flute, Sonny Fortune saxophone, David Friedman marimba, Rick Laird bass and Dom Um Romao percussion.
                                     

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                                      #43
                                      Here's something new that I came across yesterday, which I really like. I found it slowly infiltrated my brain in a kind of understated way (if I had musical terminology I'd be able to say this better because there's some kind of falling intonation - which is how I'd talk about linguistically).

                                      Gamedze is, I have since read, a South African drummer/percussionist. (But don't let that put you off, it's not a heavy on the drum track at all)

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                                        #44
                                        I have mixed feelings when it comes to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis - he's a very good but maybe not outstanding player with a worthy and Grammy-winning back catalogue, and he deserves a lot of respect for his work in jazz education and at the Lincoln Center. Unfortunately, his somewhat blinkered views when it comes to defining what is and isn't jazz and, specifically, his apparent refusal to accept the worth of pretty much anything 'modern' in the genre tarnishes his legacy in my opinion. Not that my opinion counts for very much. Anyway, the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra concerts with Wayne Shorter that were held over three nights in 2015, featuring music from the legendary saxophonist's long career are very much one for the plus side of the balance sheet. Anything involving Shorter is always worth hearing, and the great man - then in his early 80's - was on fine form throughout. It is a little ironic though that many of Shorter's recordings over the years, particularly the latter period with Miles, those with Weather Report and some of his solo work, would not necessarily have received the Marsalis seal of approval.

                                        This is 'The Three Marias' from that Lincoln Centre concert, a tune that originally appeared on the 1985 solo album 'Atlantis'.

                                         

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                                          #45
                                          Throughout the 60's and 70's, vibes player Bobby Hutcherson was a mainstay of the Blue Note record label, recording at least one album a year under his own name between 1963 and 1977, and guesting on dozens of other albums by various labelmates. This is 'Little Angel' from the 1975 album 'Montara', featuring amongst others Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Ernie Watts flute/tenor sax and Plas Johnson soprano sax. It's hard to imagine it on any other label - the sound is the very epitome of Blue Note cool.
                                           

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                                            #46
                                            Bobby Hutcherson also turned up on the great McCoy Tyner's 1978 album, 'Together'. Something of an all-star outing with Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Bennie Maupin (tenor saxophone), Stanley Clarke (bass), Hubert Laws (flute), Jack DeJohnette (drums) and Bill Summers (percussion). This is 'One Of Another Kind'.
                                             
                                            Last edited by gjw100; 12-05-2023, 21:02.

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                                              #47
                                              Yes, Bobby Hutcherson is unquestionably one of the most significant (and more underdiscussed) figures on Blue Note. The run of his records from Dialogue to Medina is incredible. They also have the coolest titles of any Blue Note records: Components, Patterns, Spiral, Oblique, etc. Dialogue is particularly remarkable I think: an incredible line-up with Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Chambers, Richard Davis, most of those are more familiar as leaders then sidemen, and the other two, Davis and Chambers are massively significant figures in their own right.

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                                                #48
                                                Good to see an Andrew Hill namecheck there, diggedy derek. He's on my mental list of subjects for future postings on this thread if I keep it going. In terms of public appreciation, arguably the most underrated of the Blue Note roster.

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                                                  #49
                                                  And, Sam Rivers's Blue Note records are remarkable also! Hill and Rivers two older heads who made really out there music on the label. They must both have been over 30, closer to 40 when they made their most challenging music.

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                                                    #50
                                                    At its peak in the 1970’s, German label MPS Records had a roster of talent as impressive and eclectic as any of its US contemporaries, from major artists like George Duke, Lee Konitz and Oscar Peterson, to less well-known but equally important European musicians like Volker Kriegel, Wolfgang Dauner, Joachim Kuhn and Albert Mangelsdorff.

                                                    This is German guitarist Vollker Kriegel’s ‘Forty Colours’ from the 1973 album ‘’Lift!’, with Eberhard Weber bass/cello, Stan Sulzmann flute/soprano sax, Zbigniew Siefert violin, John Taylor electric piano and John Marshall drums.
                                                     

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