More Muse-ical Masterpieces Reissued By Time Traveler Recordings

Shortly after the label was sold to Fantasy in 1971, Prestige Records producer Joe Fields founded Muse Records to document the next phase in jazz. Selections from the Muse catalog are now being given audiophile-quality vinyl reissues by producer Zev Feldman, whose new imprint, Time Traveler Recordings, extends his what he calls his "jazz detective" work for the Resonance, Elemental, and Blue Note labels. Feldman was able to work from the original Muse master tapes, which were thankfully in good shape. "I wanted these reissues to have the best audio, so we had Matthew Lutthans cut lacquers all-analog direct from the master tapes," he relates. "[W]e went to Stoughton Printing and used the high gloss old-style tip-on jackets that they're known for." The second tranche of Muse reissues includes Woody Shaw's Love Dance (1976) and Joe Chambers' Double Exposure (1978), both of which have been flawlessly pressed by Optimal in Germany and sound wonderful.

Love Dance
Woody Shaw
Muse Records
1976

Shaw was one of the most original and prolific trumpet players of the '60s, '70s and '80s, garnering two Grammy nominations and a slew of Downbeat Readers and Critics awards. He made his recording debut at 18 years of age with Eric Dolphy (Iron Man (Douglas Records, 1963)) and shortly thereafter his playing and compositions made a huge impression on the jazz world via Larry Young's classic album Unity (Blue Note, 1965). Before making his debut as a leader with the ambitious double LP Blackstone Legacy (Contemporary Records, 1970), he recorded and toured with luminaries such as Chick Corea, Horace Silver and Jackie McLean. Love Dance is the second of five albums Shaw made for Muse, after which he recorded extensively for Columbia Records and Blue Note Records before his tragic and untimely death at the age of 44 in 1989.

On Love Dance, Shaw employs a four-horn front line, joined by Jackie's son Rene McLean on soprano and alto sax, Steve Turre on trombone and bass trombone and Billy Harper on tenor sax. Pianist Joe Bonner (unfortunately given a piano in need of tuning), bass giant Cecil McBee, drummer Victor Lewis and a pair of ancillary percussionists round out the impressive band. Bonner's 12-minute title track follows the modal template of Miles Davis's "So What," with a repeated bass/piano line that is modulated up a half-step, followed by an ascending turnaround section. The band is tight and everyone plays well, but special marks go to McBee's fluid bass playing, Lewis's exciting rhythmic accents, and superb solos by the leader, Harper, and Turre. The percussionists add some welcome flavor, though Guilherme Franco is a bit too enamored with his Flexatone, its wobbly accent tone a fusion cliché during the decade. Larry Young's up-tempo, driving "Obsequious" closes out the first LP side in exciting style. The jagged head is stated by Shaw before McLean, Bonner, and Shaw solo effectively, supported by punctuations from all the horns. McBee is given an impressive solo spotlight, after which the horns rotate traded fours with drummer Lewis before taking the tune out.

That is a heck of a first side, but there's more great music to come on the flip. "Sunbath," a grooving straight-four tune written by West Coast pianist Peggy Stern and arranged by Turre (whose bass trombone ostinato provides low-end heft) conjures up a flowing, relaxed mood that withstands the over-active percussionists serially employing everything in their arsenal. Shaw's own composition "Zoltan," previously featured to great effect on Unity, is a tribute to the Hungarian classical composer Zoltán Kodály. The sparse approach on the earlier Young LP is fleshed out here, with the horns adding piquant harmonies to the knotty, fast tune. Shaw's solo is great, but it is Harper on tenor who really impresses: on the evidence of this record, his other recorded work as a leader and with Max Roach, The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, and Gil Evans would be worth seeking out. Shaw takes the album out with Harper's gorgeous ballad "Soulfully I Love You," soloing at length with a mellower tone than usual, followed by Turre's deep burnished bass trombone.

Double Exposure
Joe Chambers
Muse Records
1978

Joe Chambers is the quintessential journeyman drummer of jazz. Despite his 16 albums as a leader, he remains best known as the ubiquitous stick man of Blue Note's flawless '60s period, appearing on stone-cold classics by Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill and Wayne Shorter among many others. Ironically, Double Exposure's "Mind Rain" has by now likely reached more listeners than many of those records put together due to a sample of its piano vamp forming the centerpiece of rapper Nas' "NY State of Mind" from the platinum-selling Illmatic (Columbia Records, 1994). As such, original copies of this LP have been in great demand in recent years, making Time Traveler's reissue most welcome.

Surprisingly, two-thirds of this duo album with organist Larry Young features Chambers solely on piano, with only two tracks being drum/organ duets. Young provides spacey, reedy atmosphere on the piano tunes, alternately doubling Chambers' very capable playing, framing it with sound effects, or providing moody commentary. The aforementioned "Mind Rain" is the standout track here, with the undeniable syncopated piano vamp an instant earworm. Young's lumbering "The Ogre" is pure program music, a jazz analog of "The Gnome" from Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" suite. Chambers' wistful "Hello to the Wind" (also recorded in a septet version by Woody Shaw on one of his later Muse albums) is a beautiful song employing a vamp similar to that of "Mind Rain," a melody framed by block chords, and a lyrical bridge. Young's echoing, percolating organ gives the tune a feeling of grace, but with an underlying sense of apprehension.

Side two's opener, the harmonically rich "After the Rain" (not the John Coltrane tune) features Chambers' most impressive composition and most fluid piano playing. It serves as a restful prelude to the album's final pair of tunes, which feature the leader on his drum kit, sparring in a rather prog-rock fashion with Young's full-toned and amped-up organ. Indeed, "Message From Mars" sounds very much like the more tasteful moments of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's early '70s albums. The concluding "Rock Pile" is a fiery, jazz fusion version of "Mind Rain" (minus the distinctive vamp), which brings this thematically integrated and enjoyable album full circle.

"I like to think of myself as the guy standing on the mountaintop and waving the flag for the great Muse Records label," said Feldman. With a total discography of around 500 albums—and if these two examples are any indication—the Muse catalog contains many more reasons to wave that flag wide and high.

Tracks and Personnel

Love Dance

Tracks: Love Dance; Obsequious; Sunbath; Zoltan; Soulfully I Love You

Personnel: Woody Shaw: trumpet; Steve Turre: trombone and bass trombone; Rene McLean; soprano and alto sax; Billy Harper: tenor sax; Joe Bonner: piano; Cecil McBee: bass; Victor Lewis: drums; Guilherme Franco: percussion; Tony Waters: congas

Double Exposure

Tracks: Hello To The Wind; The Ogre; Mind Rain; After The Rain; Message From Mars; Rock Pile

Personnel: Joe Chambers: acoustic piano, electric piano, tabla, cymbals and drums; Larry Young: organ and synthesizer