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Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes: Expansions
by Chris May
If ever a first wave jazz-funk album deserved a 180gm vinyl reissue in 2020 it is this near masterpiece. It was originally released in 1975 on Flying Dutchman, the label Bob Thiele set up after he left Impulse!. Jazz-funk divided the jazz world in the 1970s as much as free-jazz had done a decade earlier. And with reason. Much of it was crap. Just like a lot of jazz-rock was crap. More or less desperate attempts by ...
Continue ReadingCecil McAwesome
by Patrick Burnette
Inspired by bassist Cecil McBee's star-turn on Lloyd McNeill's Elegia, the boys devote a whole episode to examining works led by Cecil or just plain enhanced by his presence. He's had a wide-ranging career as a side-man so they cherry-pick what highlights they can while wondering if the next setting on the engineering knob after “10" and “11" is really “sexual." A rapper, a classic by Beck, and some brand new dream pop get look ins during pop matters.
Continue ReadingBilly Parker's Fourth World: Freedom Of Speech
by Chris May
Drummer Billy Parker's 1975 album only tangentially connects to Fourth World music, the pancultural style which was given its name five years later by Jon Hassell on Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics (Editions EG, 1980), the trumpeter's first collaboration with Brian Eno. Parker's Fourth World is the name of the band heard on Freedom Of Speech, which, Parker says in his sleeve note, “was born out of the need to preserve and develop on a tradition brought to these ...
Continue ReadingCecil McBee: Masterful, And Always Equipped
by R.J. DeLuke
Cecil McBee is one of the finest bass players on the scene, a status he's held among musicians for many years, even if the public is slower to pick up on the achievements of this 79-year-old musician extraordinaire. A natural, he was quick to connect with musicians in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But helping him along the road to becoming a top-flight musician was a series of encounters where people would come asking for him. They were ...
Continue ReadingFalkner Evans: Level Playing Field
by Dave Nathan
One of the pleasures of being allowed to review jazz CDs is the opportunity to get a chance to listen to the debut albums of younger artists with uncommon talents. Such is the case with New York pianist/composer Falkner Evans, transplanted from Oklahoma. You get your kicks from two distinct but related lines. The first is how each newcomer to the piano scene reminds one of the influences of the great performers who shaped how the instrument and the music ...
Continue ReadingDavid Liebman: The Elements: Water
by Glenn Astarita
Soprano sax icon and modern jazz pioneer Dave Liebman teams up with the equally talented and famous jazz guitarist Pat Metheny for their first ever recording. Liebman’s “”The Elements: Water” represents the first in a projected series of recordings dedicated to the elements. Liebman states in the liners: ... The music “all derives from the opening solo guitar theme” and continues with: “Every composition is based on a different harmonic aspect of this melody”. The first piece “Water: Giver Of ...
Continue ReadingDavid Liebman: The Elements: Water
by Jim Santella
Influenced by John Coltrane, Lennie Tristano, and Charles Lloyd, then having interned with Elvin Jones and Miles Davis, saxophonist Dave Liebman has a lot to draw from when he sits down at the piano to compose. More about the session’s leader may be found at www.arkadiarecords.com . This album is just the first of four jazz suites to be created by Liebman; music that wakes up the listener’s imagination and successfully folds in modern mainstream jazz with tone poem imagery. ...
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