I have it - wonderful music played with passion.
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From the quite brilliant Sony 25CD Box. Hadn’t previously heard this one before but it is good. Latter day Gerry M. In good form in particular. Plus a very young John Scofield on guitar, in 1974.
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If you like the Scofield/Metheny album, try this Scofield title, Grace Under Pressure. Both Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell guest on the album and the track entitled Bill Me is absolutely stunning. The whole album is superbly recorded too.
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Will, I used to be an Englishman in Sydney listening to lots of jazz. Many fond memories of my times there. I hope you get to spend good time browsing the music shelves at Birdland Jazz record store…(in the Dymocks Book Store)
Enjoying this re issue LP from Mr Bongo
Apart from the Ian Carr/Don Rendell Landsdowne recordings this is new to me, I’ve also ordered the Jazz In Britain Ian Carr/Don Rendell LP Blue Happenings.
This is absolutely superb, I think Mr Bongo have done a great job recreating the original Vertigo label and Mile Showells mastering to me sounds fresh and clean.
From Mr Bongo;
A1. Belladonna / A2. Summer Rain / B1. Remadione / B2. Mayday / B3. Suspension / B4. Hector’s House
Official half-speed mastered re-issue of British trumpeter and bandleader Ian Carr’s iconic jazz-fusion-rock hybrid ‘Belladonna’ from 1972.
Originally released on the Vertigo label, complete with collectable ‘swirl’ record centre design, this sought-after jazz-rock-fusion rarity features some of the cream of the UK jazz musicians of the 70’s. Comprised from groups such as Nucleus, Brian Auger’s band, Soft Machine, Stan Tracy group, the players included Brian Smith (tenor and soprano saxophones, alto and bamboo flutes), legendary guitarist Allan Holdsworth, Dave MacRae (Fender electric piano), and bassist Roy Babbington, to name but a few.
Seen as a benchmark point in Ian Carr’s career, ‘Belladonna’ is awash with atmospheric excursions and ethereal qualities, as well as a darker fusion aesthetic and prog-rock sensibility from Holdsworth’s exceptional guitar playing. The moody, yet funky, vibe of the album has echoes of Miles Davis’ electronic era à la ‘In A Silent Way’.
The album is best enjoyed played in its entirety. There are ebbs and flows with certain tracks shining along the way. Standouts include the beautiful down-tempo track 'Summer Rain’, which has a soundtrack / library style brilliance and emotional electric piano soloing. Though recorded in the 70’s, the track has a timeless sound, a melancholic funk so often used in hip-hop and beat tape productions to this day. ‘Mayday’s Shaft-like long extended intro builds the drama until the percussive release when the drums drop at over three minutes in.
To give a record of such quality the treatment it deserves, we have once again been lucky to enlist the service of mastering and lacquer cutting engineering don Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, to cut a brand-new half-speed master and let the music speak for itself.
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+1 great album![quote=“Dynaudio1, post:3762, topic:2050, full:true”]
One of my favourites from Keith. Relaxed group performance with an appreciative club audience.
[/quote]
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I really like this Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band album…
Dave
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Hi @jazzman22 - This was the first album I purchased after getting my turntable! Beautifully constructed pieces.
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George Wallington - The New York Scene
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Issued on Resonance Records a few years ago…
First official CD release of the Opening Night on February 7, 1966 and March 21, 1966 recordings endorsed by the estates of Thad Jones & Mel Lewis. 2-CD set features previously unheard and unreleased live recordings from the Village Vanguard.
It goes without saying, highly recommended modern big band on, arguably, their definitive recording.
Dave
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The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans Album. Fantasy LP reissue.
“Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap, he has demolished it. He has solidly connected with a younger crowd weaned on rock. And there have been no compromises” - The New York Times (quoted on Wikipedia)
Technically this album is filed under “vocal jazz” but IMO it simply defies any kind of classification. Who cares anyway? Amazing vocal and piano performances by two immortals with a sound quality to die for and a perfect pressing, the album has it all.
Claude
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Streaming from Bandcamp whilst waiting for the vinyl.
1st listen and sounding pretty good even in my LoFi cab. Sounds like they did a great job on the source tape.
Looking forward to getting my hands on the wax
Previously unreleased.
Live in London.
1-4, 6, 8: Recorded 16th November 1964. From the Neil Ardley tape archive.
5, 7: Recorded 4th April 1964. From the Dave Green tape archive.
credits
released April 9, 2021
Don Rendell – soprano, tenor saxophone
Ian Carr – trumpet, flugelhorn
Colin Purbrook – piano
Dave Green – bass
Trevor Tomkins – drums
Liner notes: Simon Spillett
Tape transfer: John Thurlow
Special thanks to: The Ian Carr trust, Viv Ardley, Dave Green, Trevor Tomkins, Richard Morton Jack.
Produced by Matt Parker for Jazz In Britain Ltd.
© Jazz In Britain Ltd. 2021
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The mention of liner notes by Simon Spillett on the Don Rendell in my last post reminded me of this fine album by him recorded for the Gearbox label released on LP in 2013.
I have the LP but streaming out in the cab today.
More top dollar ( well sterling) UK Jazz
Review at the time from Londonjazznews.com
Simon Spillett – Square One
(Gearbox GB1512. LP review by Andrew Cartmel)
All the usual virtues of a Gearbox Records release are immediately apparent here. We have a heavy duty, precision engineered piece of vinyl packaged in the kind of striking cover art that Gearbox’s Darrel Sheinman favours with its clean, bold graphic design reminiscent of vintage Blue Note sleeves by Reid Miles. As usual, the record provides noise-free, deep and dynamic audiophile sound.
But in one crucial respect this latest LP is a significant departure from the norm. Previously Gearbox has concentrated on archival releases by departed jazz heroes like Tubby Hayes and Joe Harriott, using sources such as unreleased BBC tapes from half a century ago.
This album, in contrast, has been newly recorded specially for Gearbox and features one of today’s finest young British sax players, tenor man Simon Spillett. And it is as fresh as today. Or tomorrow.
Side One opens with a Dizzy Reece composition, Shepherd’s Serenade. It’s a jaunty, infectious blast — Latin flavoured and immensely catchy. Make sure your loved ones aren’t around to cruelly mock your embarrassing attempts at producing vocalese or dancing along when you’re carried away by this track. Simon produces an uninhibited heartfelt cry from the tenor, signifying and sermonising.
John Critchinson offers perceptive and deft precision piano with a lovely sense of time before handing over to a pulsing pairing of Alec Dankworth on double bass and Clark Tracey on drums who then hand back to the leader to put on the finishing touches. Simon Spillett joyfully explores the contours of Dizzy Reece’s hypnotic riff. And then the quartet stops on a dime.
Next up is Square One, an original by Simon Spillett. It is melancholy and hip, with a buttonholing theme stated by the leader before turning into a showcase for John Critchinson. There’s a slinky nocturnal 1960s feel to the piece which brings to mind neon lights, gleaming sports cars and rainy Soho backstreets.
Yesterday I Heard the Rain by Armando Manzanero begins with a Coltrane shimmer of sound before turning into a beguilingly pretty ballad featuring delicate, filigreed piano courtesy of John Critchinson and soulful rhapsodising from Simon Spillett. A lonely, searching lyricism is the order of the day. It’s a lovely and eloquent performance.
Side Two opens with a blast from the past in the shape of a composition by another Dizzy — Gillespie’s Night in Tunisia. It is, appropriately, a scorcher with fiery bop pouring from the leader’s horn and Clark Tracey’s pulsing, hypnotic drumming weaving complex patterns with shimmering cymbals.
The appropriately titled Bass House by Jimmy Deuchar displays Alec Dankworth’s warm, supple, insinuating upright bass. It’s a witty, insouciant piece — conversational and swinging. John Critchinson provides lyrical, concise and studied piano.
The last track is a headlong plunge into Cole Porter’s In the Still of the Night which here inspires an exemplary bop reading from the entire quartet — eloquent, ferocious and fast. Particularly of note is the nimbleness of John Critchinson, dropping seamlessly from solo to support as Simon Spillett takes over for a virtuosic conclusion, making for an exhilarating finale to an exciting album.
Gearbox Records should be congratulated on instituting a miniature jazz renaissance in the UK. Time was you could saunter down to your record shop and buy a long playing disc of superb jazz in a stylish cover and hurry home to begin many pleasurable hours at the turntable.
Now, thanks to Gearbox, those days are back again.
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Looks like it’s now sold out on the vinyl - and hasn’t even been issued yet !!
More good news from Jazz In Britain is that they are planning on reissuing their first 3 LPs on CD format. So a chance to get the first Ray Russell and the Joe Harriott !
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That’s right, 500 copies there were only 4 more left after my order
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Simon is really excellent witnessed live as a jazz musician - and an awesome jazz book/sleeve note writer as well. If you see his name doing the sleeve notes it is invariably a must buy !
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Hope Ray Russell Vol 2 doesn’t vaporise so fast !
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Do check out the Ian Carr Belladonna re issue from Mr Mr Bongo, very pleased with that