Home » Jazz Musicians » Harold Land Discography

A Lazy Afternoon

Harold Land

Label: Postcards
Released: 2022
Views: 2,431

Tracks

Lazy Afternoon; You Don’t Know What Love Is; In a Sentimental Mood; Nature Boy; You Go To My Head; But Beautiful; Invitation; Stella By Starlight; The End of a Love Affair; You’ve Changed; Wave; Round Midnight.

Personnel

Harold Land

saxophone, tenor

Bill Henderson

vocals

Alan Pasqua

piano

Ray Ellis

arranger

Billy Higgins

drums

James Leary

bass, acoustic

Album Description

“Why didn’t someone think of this before? …timeless pieces, beautifully rendered… … if you are a seeker of beauty, Harold Land has the answer…” – JazzTimes Magazine On the Postcards Records album, “Harold Land: A Lazy Afternoon”, esteemed and seasoned hard bop and post-bop vet Harold Land’s tenor saxophone shimmers stirringly over the string orchestrations of Ray Ellis (arranger of Billie Holiday’s “Lady in Satin”), resulting in a celebration of both melody and rhythm that entices listeners with it’s pure musicality, controlled vitality, and lush romanticism. “Land glides through Ray Ellis’ orchestral charts, rhapsodizing forlorn and alluding to noirish days gone by…” – Billboard Magazine This album was inspired by Billie Holiday’s penultimate 1958 Columbia Records album, “Lady in Satin”, which was also arranged by Ray Ellis. Rolling Stone Magazine rated it in the Top 500 Greatest Albums of All- Time in 2020. Holiday contacted Columbia producer Irving Townsend and expressed interest in recording with bandleader Ray Ellis after listening to his album Ellis in Wonderland. Originally, she wanted to do an album with bandleader Nelson Riddle after hearing his arrangements for Frank Sinatra’s albums, but after hearing Ellis’s version of “For... All We Know”, she wanted to record with him. Harold Land and Ray Ellis recreate the mood and spirit of Billie Holiday’s “Lady in Satin”. Recording a number of songs from that album among other romantic standards. “Land is a fine musician who has not received the fame he deserves.” – Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music Most known for his stint in the Clifford Brown – Max Roach Quintet and his collaborations with Bobby Hutcherson, Carl Perkins, Cedar Walton, and Curtis Fuller, Harold Land was known as an uncompromising musical contributor to the evolution of Jazz. Ray Ellis crafted deft string arrangements that showcase Land’s emotion-laden performances for the twelve standards included on this album. Among them are such classics as the title song “Lazy Afternoon”, “You Don’t Know What Love Is”, Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood”, Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Bossa Nova classic Wave, and Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Midnight”. Also featuring drummer Billy Higgins, pianist Bill Henderson, and bassist James Leary, the resulting album, “Harold Land: A Lazy Afternoon”, is a fitting example of the late Harold Land’s saxophone eminence and musical apparition.

< Previous
Magic Moments

Next >
The Stars of Jazz #1