Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments

barabara sounds sez:

Such a great composition deserves a whole album named after it. Maybe this version isn't quite up there with the all-time classic track on the much better known Blues and... album, but it's still one of the great tracks. The rest of the album is none too shabby either. No matter how it's spelled, Yeanin' [sic] is great — and the cut-down speeded-up Straight No Chaser is just brilliant. With nine in the aggregation it feels like a stripped-down big-band, but at the same time it's anchored squarely in contemporary mode by the electric rhythm section.

dusty sez:

One of the last sessions Oliver Nelson cut, recorded in the mid 70s for the Japanese East Wind label, and one of our favorites, a nice soul jazz sleeper. The band includes Bobby Bryant, Jerome Richardson, Mike Wofford, and Shelly Manne, with a nice 6 piece front line, so the horn parts sound nice & full. The rhythm section features electric piano and bass, so the sound is a bit more modern, but we love the readings they do of classics like Nelson's "Stolen Moments" and there's a great groover kicking off the second side, "Mission Accomplished".

personnel:

Oliver Nelson alto sax; Jack Nimitz baritone sax; Jerome Richardson soprano sax, flute; Buddy Collette, Bobby Bryant Jr. tenor sax, flute; Bobby Bryant trumpet, flugelhorn; Mike Wofford piano; Chuck Domanico bass; Shelly Manne drums

tracks:

Stolen Moments; St. Thomas; Three Seconds; Mission Accomplished; Midnight Blue;  Yeanin' [yes it's misspelt]; Straight No Chaser.

blurb:

While it was also issued on the Inner City label in the US, this is from the East Wind imprint . Whichever way, even the CD still appears to be OOP. Ish posted a rip several years back on the one and only (and now both late and lamented) Ile Oxumare. Just in case anyone overlooked it there...

Archie Shepp - Yasmina, a black woman

barabara sounds sez:

It doesn't get much better than this all-time classic: Archie Shepp and his band invoking the spirits of Africa and the avant guard, a massive collaboration with the key members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Brilliant stuff and, needless to say, a barabara classic.

dusty groove sez:

Archie Shepp at his spiritual best – recording in Paris in 1969, and absorbing a heck of a lot of pan-African influences! The centerpiece of the album is the amazing "Yasmina" – a long track that builds with passion and fire, pulsing with an intensity that you'd expect more from Pharoah Sanders than Shepp himself. Next up is "Sonny's Back", a wonderful straight jazz groover with Archie and Hank Mobley on twin tenors upfront – making a rare and memorable recorded appearance together! The set's capped off by a mellow version of "Body & Soul", one that points towards the more soulful side of Shepp's work in the 70s.

personnel:

Archie Shepp vocals, soprano & tenor sax, piano; Roscoe Mitchell bass sax; Grachan Moncur III trombone; Dave Burrell piano; Burton Greene piano; Laurence Devereaux balafon; Sunny Murray drums, percussion; Claude Delcloo drums; Hank Mobley vocals tenor sax; Lester Bowie trumpet; Clifford Thornton cornet; Philly Joe Jones drums.

tracks:

A1 Yasmina; B1 Sonny's Back; B2 Body & Soul

Black Classical History of Spiritual Jazz 1955-2012

barabara sounds sez:

The mighty Black Classical has put together some legendary mixes in his time, but this one is truly epic. It runs for more than half a day. Yes you read that right: over 12 hours of the finest deep spiritual jazz. Just cast your eye down the running order (link below). Everyone that matters and then plenty more, all present and accounted for.

I'm a bit late to the party on this — or rather late to get the word out. That's because it's taken me this long to listen through it!

All there is to say at this point is: if you haven't checked out this epic work, then you're even later than me.

It's over here... Now don't walk, RUN!

The Teddy Charles Tentet

barabara sounds sez:

I'll come clean: I don't know much (well, I didn't until I lucked on this album) about the 'legendary' Teddy Charles. But I do know good album art when I see it. And I do know that if you've got arrangements of Gil Evans and George Russell, and you've got Art Farmer and Mal Waldron in the band, it's got to be more than just good. And it is. And looking at who he played with and produced (see down below), that's enough to want to make you explore his whole back catalog. Highlights (IMHO) on this album are The Emperor and the final track, the Russell number. 

amg sez:

Most of this CD features vibraphonist Teddy Charles heading an advanced tentet in 1956, a unit including the likes of trumpeter Art Farmer, altoist Gigi Gryce, tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose, pianist Mal Waldron, and guitarist Jimmy Raney. The arrangements of George Russell ("Lydian M-1"), Gil Evans (a year before Miles Ahead), Jimmy Giuffre, Mal Waldron, and Charles are quite advanced but often leave room for some swinging spots. The final three selections on the CD are actually taken from a slightly later album. Of these, "Blue Greens" is a change of pace, a quartet outing for Charles, pianist Hall Overton, bassist Charles Mingus, and drummer Ed Shaughnessy. All in all, this CD is pretty definitive of Teddy Charles' more adventurous music of the 1950s and it grows in interest with each listening. 

atlas arts sez:

The legendary Teddy Charles, considered to be one of the great jazz vibraphonists and composers of all time, makes his Atlas debut with his tentet...The legendary performer has played with jazz icons such as Charlie Mingus, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis in addition to recording numerous albums. In 2008, after an extended hiatus in which Charles lived at sea, he returned full force to the jazz scene with performances in the US, a tour in the Netherlands and a new studio recording, Dances with Bulls.

Trivia: 

On the original album release, Art Farmer was listed under the peudonym Peter Urban.

Plenty more on Teddy Charles' current projects at
his own web site here...

Hideto Kanai - What

barabara sounds sez:

Another fine contribution from the mighty bongohito, continuing the recent TBM thread. Bassman Hideto Kanai here with his homage to one of the greats, Charles Mingus. Recorded just a couple of months after Mingus passed, it includes a couple of his compositions — plus Kanai's own bluesy homage, which was recorded with a slight change of personnel.

There's very little about this particularly album anywhere on the web, but Kanai himself needs little introduction if you're a regular visitor at Barabara Manor. There's been no reissue (that I'm aware of) of this, nor any previous postings in the blogosphere. Big up bongohito!.

personnel:

Hideto Kanai bass, guitar; Toshihiko Inoue tenor sax; Mikinori Fujinori soprano, alto & baritone sax; Yoshito Osawa piano; Yasuhiro Yamazaki drums

[For Charles: Hideto Kanai bass, guitar; Toshihiko Inoue tenor sax; Mikinori Fujinori soprano, alto & baritone sax; Fumio Yasuda piano; Tohru Takeda drums]

tracks:

A) 1) What Love; 2) Rhapsody in Blue

B) 1. Chokuritsu Bummeijin; For Charles; Tensions

TMB 5015, recorded March 12 & 15, 1979

Kanai, Hideto Group - "Q"

barabara sounds sez:

More goodies from the tbm vaults, this time from pioneering jazz bass great Hideto Kanai. Laid down in 1971, his ensemble features some of the future lunimaries of j-jazz. Mine is there, so is Takayanagi and Motohiko Hino (here sharing drums duties with Hiroshi Yamazaki) among others. Even the CD reissue is well OOP, but it's the music not the rarity that makes this special. Free but not without structure, this is classic tbm, classic 70s j-jazz. A barabara classic in fact. 

east wind says:

The sixth album released by Three Blind Mice turned the spotlight on Hideto Kanai a veteran bassist who had been pursuing a very progressive, unique and uncompromising kind of jazz since the early 1960s. With his passion for educating young musicians and adventurous nature, Kanai has drawn some comparisons to another great leader, Charles Mingus, whom he respected.

The four performances in this album are all free-oriented and may be challenging for some listeners, but they riveting, fascinating, and ultimately satisfying. The opening and closing numbers were actually quite "composed." In an interesting collaboration with contemporary composers (from the world of classical music), Shuko Mizuno wrote "April" and Hiroshi Nanatsuya wrote "Meditation" specially for this group.

personnel:

Hideto Kanai bass; Kosuke Mine alto sax; Allan Praskin alto sax; Tadayuki Harada baritone sax; Masamichi Suzuki trumpet; Hiroshi Koizumi flute; Choyo Kanda xylophone; Masayuki Takayanagi guitar; Mototeru Hino drums; Hiroshi Yamazaki drums

tracks:

1. April Songs for Kanai, Zui-zui-zui-du-tubadaba; 2. Q; 3. Kaleidoscope; 4. Meditation

There's a short bio of Kanai here... 

Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band - Rumba Buhaina

barabara sounds sez:

What better way to groove into a new year than with Jerry Gonzalez and his fine fine Fort Apache Band. I love this take on the old Jazz Messengers numbers (plus a few extra Wayne Shorter numbers and originals). 

Fun factoid: Art Blakey took the name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina when he converted to Islam during his stay in West Africa, shortly after Word War II. 
This album is so recent, I'm not going to leave it up for long. But it's too good to leave in the vaults. Grab it while you can.

AMG sez:

Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band offer up their talents to immortalize Art Blakey and his mighty Jazz Messengers. With some very creative renditions of Jazz Messengers B-sides, like "Crisis" done in a slinky Afro and "Madi's Smile" done in cha cha, Gonzalez shows himself yet again to be a great Latin interpreter of the jazz repertoire. There could not have been a better choice of group than the Fort Apache Band to pay the Messengers homage. 
They are without a doubt one of the finest Latin jazz outfits operating today, with superb balance and taste. They play as a unit, seemingly without ego, as only a group with better than 25 years under its belt could. The Fort Apache Band have always lacked the ability to dazzle audiences with virtuosity, but over the years their increasing synergy and sensitivity more than compensate. The level of refinement and restraint on Rumba Buhaina makes it one of the most listenable, enjoyable Latin jazz releases of 2005 

musicians:

Jerry Gonzalez - trumpet/congas; Joe Ford - sax; Larry Willis - piano; Andy Gonzalez - bass; Steve Berrios - drums/percussion.

Probably the best review I've come across for this excellent album is from Dusted magazine, here...

And another from all about jazz...