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Albert Ayler: Knocking On The Door of Astral Jazz
by Chris May
Despite everything life threw at saxophonist Albert Ayler--critical incomprehension, paucity of performing opportunities, probable bi-polarity--his music shone with light. At the time of his passing, aged 34, drowned in New York's East River, he was, said some of his friends, in the depths of depression (leading to rumors of suicide, or, more fancifully, of murder). But ...
CTI Celebrates Kudu Legacy: Lonnie Smith, Johnny Hammond, Hank Crawford, Esther Phillips
by Chris May
CTI Masterworks' 40th anniversary reissue program has, until now, focused on producer Creed Taylor's primary label. Two multi-disc sets and 24 single discs have made available on CD cherished CTI LPs by artists such as trumpeters Chet Baker and Freddie Hubbard, saxophonists Paul Desmond and Stanley Turrentine, guitarists George Benson and Kenny Burrell, vibraphonist Milt Jackson ...
Alice Coltrane: The Flowering of Astral Jazz
by Chris May
The launch of Impulse! Records' 2-on-1 reissue series--which packages two original LPs on one CD--includes six key albums from the glorious first flowering of the astral jazz forged by pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane and saxophonist Pharoah Sanders on Impulse! towards the end of the 1960s.The style emerged following saxophonist John Coltrane's passing in ...
Arun Ghosh: Primal Odyssey
by Chris May
Arun GhoshPrimal OdysseyCamoci Records2011 There you are, waiting for the next Indo-Jazz album to arrive, and then two come along at the same time. October 2011 has already seen the release of Grand Union Orchestra's If Paradise (Red Gold), and now here comes clarinetist Arun Ghosh's Primal ...
Empirical: Elements Of Truth
by Chris May
EmpiricalElements Of TruthNaim Jazz2011 Empirical's second album, Out 'n' In (Naim, 2009), is a hard act to follow. The salute to reed player Eric Dolphy deservedly won the band Best Jazz Act in the 2010 MOBO Awards. Elements Of Truth rises confidently, if not wholly successfully, to ...
Grand Union Orchestra: If Paradise
by Chris May
Grand Union OrchestraIf ParadiseRed Gold2011 If Paradise, the biggest jewel in British composer, keyboardist and trombonist Tony Haynes' recording career to date, joins a handful of orchestral albums which have not so much crossed genre and cultural boundaries as rendered them meaningless. Off-piste singularities may exclude these ...
Aziz Sahmaoui: Aziz Sahmaoui & University Of Gnawa
by Chris May
Aziz SahmaouiAziz Sahmaoui & University Of GnawaSocadisc/Discovery Records2011 The music of Morocco has fascinated European and North American musicians for over 40 years--since guitarist Brian Jones recorded Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka (Rolling Stones Records, 1971) over an epically stoned weekend in the ...
McCormack & Yarde Duo: Places And Other Spaces
by Chris May
McCormack & Yarde DuoPlaces And Other SpacesEdition2011 This arresting disc, the second from pianist Andrew McCormack and saxophonist Jason Yarde, is just the thing to brighten up a chilly autumn: warm, glowing and packed with great tunes--only one of which, George Gershwin's “Embraceable You," is a standard. ...
The Twenty 20s: Uh! Oh!
by Chris May
The Twenty 20sUh! Oh!Self Produced2011 Late summer 2011 has produced two off-piste jazz vocal gems. The first was CTI Masterworks' reissue of Jackie Cain and Roy Kral's A Wilder Alias (CTI, 1974). The second is Hetty Kate and The Twenty 20s' Uh! Oh!. The disc focuses, lovingly, ...
Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: MTO Plays Sly
by Chris May
Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory OrchestraMTO Plays SlyThe Royal Potato Family2011 The Sly Stone songbook is a solid gold thing, and it is strange that it is so rarely revisited. Then again, repertory tributes are generally paid to artists who have passed. Stone is still with us, although, ...
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