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...

New Year sounds

barabara sounds sez:  

Greetings and warmest wishes as we enter 2012, the Dragon Year. Good health and good listening in the year ahead…

Here's a track — yes just the one — that is close to my heart. For sound and obvious reasons...

Seasons Greetings...

barabara sounds sez:

Happy jazzy holidays to one and all.

Perhaps Santa Doraemon has brought a small present...

Archie Shepp - Ballads for Trane

barabara sounds sez:
I've been on a bit of a Shepp jag recently, and this is one that's been on regular late-night rotation here at chateau barabara. Laid down in 1977 for the Denon label, it's pretty short — less then 40 minutes in all —  but oh so sweet, full of those intense, breathy notes Shepp plays so well. This is not the fire music he was playing a decade or so earlier. Check out the opening track, Mal Evans' Soul Eyes, and the one Trane track on this date, a classic take on Wise One. As far as I know, this was never issued outside Japan, and the original album now commands a fair old price — and there's a premium on the CD too these days.


an amazon review sez:
Just happened to listen to this right after "Four for Trane". A stark contrast to that CD, this REALLY IS a series of ballads performed beautifully by Mr. Shepp and his band. The feel of this album is what one would expect from a "ballads" compilation, but there is no lack of inspiration. The whole band remains focused throughout, and they put enormous effort into every phrase.


tracks:
1.Soul Eyes; 2.You Don't Know What Love Is; 3.Wise One; 4.Where Are You?; 5.Darn That Dream; 6.Theme For Ernie


personnel:
Archie Shepp (ts, ss); Albert Dailey (p); Reggie Workman (b); Charlie Persip (d)

Sadik Hakim Trio - Witches, Goblins, etc.

barabara sounds sez:

It's a fantastic name for an album, strong cover art too. And if the music is slightly underwhelming — conventional is the word used by allmusic — there's still some lovely piano trio work to be found here. 

Sadik Hakim is certainly no household name, leastways, not in the barabara bailiwick, and this SteepleChase side is the only album of his I've ever come across. So I've dropped a bit of background info at the bottom. Here's a potted version: 

Hakim (birth name Argonne Thornton) was the legendary pianist who played with Charlie Parker (the 1954 KoKo session), Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon (Dexter Rides Again) and Lester Young (I'm Confessin'). In 1982, he played "'Round Midnight" at Thelonius Monk's funeral, a year before his own death.

allmusic.com sez:

Argonne Thornton (who in the late '40s changed his name to Sadik Hakim) had a particularly unusual boppish style in the '40s, playing dissonant lines, using repetition to build suspense, and certainly standing out from the many Bud Powell impressionists. Later in his career his playing became more conventional. Hakim originally studied music with his grandfather and started performing at local gigs in Minnesota. After a period in Chicago, he was heard by Ben Webster, who hired him to play with his group in New York (1944-1945). Hakim recorded with Webster and Dexter Gordon, was on part of Charlie Parker's famous "Ko Ko" session, and gigged regularly with Lester Young during 1946-1948, appearing on many recordings with Pres. After playing with Slam Stewart in 1949, in the 1950s Hakim worked fairly regularly with James Moody (1951-1954) and Buddy Tate's Orchestra (1956-1960) but never became too well known himself. Later in life he lived for a period in Montreal (the second half of the 1960s), performed in Europe often, and toured Japan (1979-1980). Other than sharing an album for the Charlie Parker label with fellow pianist Duke Jordan in 1962, Hakim did not record as a leader until 1973; during the next seven years he would lead dates for CBC, Japanese Progressive, SteepleChase, and finally in 1980 for Storyville.

musicians:

Sadik Hakim piano; Errol Walters bass; Al Foster drums

tracks:

1. Moon In Aquarius; 2. Witches, Goblins, etc; 3. Our Bossa Nova; 4. No More Sue; 5. Portrait Of Cousin Mickey; 6. Booger's Dilemma; 7. Peace Of Mind; 8. Say What You Mean; 9. Peace Of Mind; 10 Booger's Dilemma

And there's some interesting autobiographical stuff here at Tony Flood's House of Hard Bop — plus Tony's own recollections of meeting Hakim.

Michael Garrick 1933 - 2011

Sad news to hear of the passing of Michael Garrick — one of the greats of British jazz. Bacoso has posted a very fine appreciation of the man on the ever-essential Orgy in Rhythm — along with an excellent mix of Garrick's music by Black Classical. 
RIP — and thanks for all that music!