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Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
by James Aren
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the people at Lee Mendelson films are serving up a fresh take on some old favorites. The soundtrack to a A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving has been released for the first time, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the special. Vince Guaraldi's voice is the first sound on the album. “Okay, well, did ya get that last one? This is cue one," as it swings into “Charlie Brown Blues." It is a good introduction ...
Continue ReadingFunkwrench Blues: Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures
by Chris May
Once upon a time it was hard to walk into an arthouse cinema without bumping into a jazz soundtrack. Miles Davis' for Louis Malle's Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud (1958), Charles Mingus' for John Cassavetes' Shadows (1959), Krzysztof Komeda's for Roman Polanski's Knife In The Water (1962) were among a legion of similarly inclined endeavours. But all that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. In the 2020s, if you want to hear a freshly ...
Continue ReadingThe Headhunters: Speakers In The House
by Doug Collette
Herbie Hancock's Headhunters (Columbia, 1973) remains one of the seminal works of the jazz fusion era. The group's heavy emphasis on rhythm not only separated it from its guitar-oriented peers of the era, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the middle-period Return to Forever, but also from Weather Report: grooves became increasingly more prominent as that band evolved, but never to the depth of Hancock and company's all-encompassing funk. That solid foundation is more than enough distinction for the first ...
Continue ReadingThelonius Monk, Don Byron & Mike Clark
by Joe Dimino
We start the 774th Episode of Neon Jazz with drummer Mike Clark and bassist Leon Lee Dorsey with the title track off their new project Blues on Top. We also hear new music from Chris Parker, Joe McCarthy leading his NY Afro Bop Alliance Big Band and John Fumasoli with his band The Jones Factor. Drummer Dafnis Prieto also has a new project out. We finish off the hour with emerging trombonist Miró Henry Sobrer with music from his 2022 ...
Continue ReadingThe Headhunters: Speakers In The House
by Chris May
Although it appears to have been self-released in limited numbers in 2019, this Ropeadope release of Speakers In The House is effectively the Headhunters's first album since Platinum (Owl) in 2011. The band continues to be led and produced by its two Herbie Hancock-era members, percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark, who together have kept the outfit intermittently active since Hancock moved on to other things in the mid 1970s. Summers played on the band's debut, ...
Continue ReadingMike Clark, Leon Lee Dorsey: Blues on Top
by Jack Bowers
While drummer Mike Clark and bassist Leon Lee Dorsey are the nominal leaders on Blues on Top, the album's subtitle —"featuring Mike LeDonne"—speaks volumes about its import and rationale. Without LeDonne at the keyboard, Clark and Dorsey would have to amplify their rhythmic talents to compensate for the absence of a secure melodic presence. Luckily, they don't have to as LeDonne is more than happy to shoulder that responsibility, leaving his teammates free to do what they do best --fill ...
Continue ReadingMike Clark: The Drummer Gets (And Gives) Some!
by Doug Collette
Drummer Mike Clark must've already had some estimable pedigree in the first place to be invited to join Herbie Hancock's seminal funk/fusion ensemble Headhunters back in the Seventies. But the man at the kit only built upon his existing prestige during his tenure with that group and then went on to expand upon his rep with a variety of solo projects. In doing so, Clark was hardly a journeyman musician, but he ranged far and wide enough to satisfy an ...
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