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Gene Stone
Don Ellis: How Time Passes to Essence Revisited

by Angelo Leonardi
Nelle storie del jazz Don Ellis è ricordato principalmente per l'innovativa big band che guidò per un decennio, dalla metà degli anni sessanta. Questa preziosa riedizione ci rammenta i suoi inizi di carriera, quando esplorava nuove soluzioni a partire dalla tromba: accoppia il suo debutto in quartetto (...How Time Passes...) dell'ottobre 1960 con alcuni brani di Essence, risalente al 1962. Il trombettista losangelino aveva appena compiuto 26 anni e registrava il primo album accompagnato dal pianista Jaki Byard, ...
Continue ReadingThe Cry!

by Richard J Salvucci
This recording is, at first glance, a bit of an unusual choice by Craft Recording for its Contemporary Records Acoustic Sound Series audiophile vinyl series. Neither Prince Lasha (pronounced Lashay) nor Sonny Simmons make an appearance in Bill Kirchner's The Oxford Companion to Jazz (Oxford University Press, 2000). An earlier reviewer for AAJ allowed as how both players were talented, but probably understood no more about Ornette Coleman's theory of harmolodics" than the average listener did. Skepticism or, indeed, lack ...
Continue ReadingPrince Lasha Quintet featuring Sonny Simmons: The Cry!

by David Rickert
Give a quick listen to this CD and you might be tempted to write off Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons as Ornette Coleman knockoffs, albeit good ones. The reality is that Lasha had been playing with Coleman since high school, swapping ideas and looking for fellow players in a world that wasn’t quite ready for what they had to offer. Coleman broke through first, and finally people were ready for Lasha; The Cry, one of Lasha and Simmons’ only appearances ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson