Jazz Recommends Jazz August 2023

Review: Members, Don't Git Weary is a Max Roach classic that now gets reissued by the Gilles Peterson-curated Arc Records. It has been mastered in mono from the original analogue tapes by the multi-Grammy winning Bernie Grundman. It comes with new sleeve-notes featuring Charles Tolliver and Gary Bartz and never before seen images of Roach from Warners archives. Originally released in 1968, it's a highlight of Roach's discography with post-bop sounds and modal workouts, some of which are written by Roach, some by Stanley Cowell and one by Gary Bartz.

Review: In August 1961, John Coltrane and his legendary Quintet, joined by visionary multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, played the revered Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York, not, at that time, as established as it would soon become. This special new double album features over an hour and a half of music that has never before been heard, including well-known Coltrane classics such as 'My Favorite Things' and 'Greensleeves' as well as the only known non-studio recording of Coltrane's 'Africa' from his Africa/Bass album. The record then marks a historic moment in Coltrane's career.

Review: Few jazz saxophonists were as majestic as Hank Mobley. He had a unique sound that sat in between the rawness of John Coltrane and the smoothness of Stan Getz and released a number of now-classic albums. Soul Station has already had the Tone Poet Series treatment and next up to get remastered and come on new audiophile vinyl is A Caddy For Daddy. He had already been a But Note artist for some 10 years when he recorded this one in 1965. It finds him alongside a first-class sextet with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bob Cranshaw on bass, McCoy Tyner on piano, Billy Higgins on drums and Curtis Fuller on trombone.

Review: The ever-prolific John Carroll Kirby is back on Stones Throw barely a minute after releasing no less than two albums last year. Of course, no one is complaining when the quantity is matched with the quality Kirby brings, and Blowout is bursting with the laid back musicality and inherent joy Kirby is so well-loved for. The album was recorded during a recent stay in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, and you can sense the surroundings feeding into the music, from the 5am wake up call from the oropendola birds to the blissful sunsets. This is smooth as silk jazz funk with a mission: to help you enjoy life. Consider this mission accomplished.

Review: Pharaoh Sanders has many high-points in his illustrious career, but Black Unity is a truly special, long-form body of work stretching out over 37 minutes of mesmerising, sustained groove. Widely hailed by critics as one of Sanders' most revealing works, he's joined on the 1971 session by Marvin Peterson on trumpet, Carlos Garnett on flute and tenor sax, Joe Bonner on piano, Stanley Clarke and Cecil McBee on bass, Norman Connors and Billy Hart on drums and Lawrence Killian on percussion. Between them, the ensemble guide us through ebbs and flows of majestic power, all elements flowing into one another in a true expression of the unity Sanders spelt out in the title.

Review: Manchester's Nat Birchall is one of the best saxophonists of his generation and a prolific one, too. He releases plenty of different projects from reggae infused version inspired by the classics to full on sun worshipping jazz via his own solo spiritual excursions. Ancient Archive Of Sound have got his new album from him, Akhenaten, and it is another special one. It is made up of four meandering pieces from the expressive 'Nica's Dance' via the more quiet reflections of 'A Prayer For 10' and the soul-awakening joys of 'Akhenaten'. 'Many Blessings' is awash with gorgeous piano keys that bring sheer bliss.

Review: .Blue Note's Tone Poet looks back in the legendary jazz label's archives all the way to 1965 for this next reissue, which has been produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes and comes in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Sonny Clark was one of the most swinging pianists of his era. He hit Blue Note in 1957 with three albums in quick succession in just three months. The six-song set of the sublime Sonny Clarke Trip is one of them and with its bebop themes and standards features bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones.

Review: Contemporary spiritual jazz maestro Muriel Grossmann is a sax player, singer and composer who has already released plenty of well regarded albums, but is nowhere near done yet. Universal Code is her latest and is a bumper double that again finds her offering her own unique take on the spiritual jazz template. She once again recalls her recent band mates Radomir Milojkovic on guitar, Llorenc Barcelo on keyboards and Uros Stamenkovic on drums and Gina Schwarz on double bass and they slide into soul jazz sound with straight ahead sounds that soon soothe with breezy soprano motifs and bluesy walking basslines.

Review: Nina Simone has rather been written out of popular music history because of quite how confrontational and proudly Black she was. She was just as far ahead of her times musically too and this legendary album Baltimore shows why. It arrived with no promotion and no lead singles and so it was an utter commercial failure, but the sleuths of the internet have rediscovered it over the 45 years since its release and helped to make it a cult favourite now regarded as one of the best in her oeuvre. It has distinctive reggae production and of course plenty of beautiful vocals from Simone as she tackles songs written by Judy Collins, Hall & Oates, and Randy Newman.

Review: This one is such an evergreen summer classic that it sells out whenever it reappears and gets reissued on a regular basis. Last time was last summer but now the rays are back in our lives we're glad it is available one more. Brazilian jazz vocalist Tania Maria is a true icon with a huge back catalogue of music behind her. Here, Soul Brother look back to her 1983 album Come With Me and lift a pair of pearlers for this vital 7". 'Come With Me' is a sundown slinker, with Maria's airy tone gliding over the sprightly piano chords while on the flip 'Lost In Amazonia' is a joyous, scat-powered slice of jazz funk with incredible slap bass flex. Essential summer grooves.

Review: First released back in 1967 on the Touche label and impossible to find on vinyl ever since, Happiness Is Taking Care of Business, Dig was the sole album from the short-lived Al Tanner Quintet. Yet as this much-needed Jazzman reissue proves, it remains an inspired selection of spiritually enriching modal workouts that makes the most of its talented ensemble. While pianist and bandleader Al Tanner naturally makes his presence felt throughout, flautist/trumpeter George Alexander and tenor saxophonist Roy Henderson also deliver inspired solos, while the rhythm section of drummer William 'Smiley' Winters and bassist Edgar Williams are also on fine form throughout.

Review: Well regarded and prolific Blue Note jazz master Donald Byrd dropped this fine fusion album in 1970. It is steeped in hard bop energy and finds Byrd smoking up the influences of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and adding his own magic. It is a mix of the accessible and the experimental with some raw, challenging wind massages next to more mellow grooves. For this session, Byrd was joined by ten or 11 others to make it his largest ever ensemble including many of his cohorts such as Jerry Dodgion, Lew Tabackin, and Frank Foster on various woodwinds.

Review: Hideo Shiraki first played bossa nova all the way back in 1962 for Japanese label King; he did it again in 2007 on the album's first reissue via Think!; and now, he plays the Brazilian masterstyle a whopping third time, on this second known reissue of the album by Jazz Room. An energetic foray through roomy shakers and boxy hits hears the Japanese drummer and Japanese jazz pioneer pin down bossa nova like a nail on a golden donkey, with the opening 'Tico Tico' opting for pure excitement, and relative oddities like 'Orfeo Negro' getting far noirer, sombrer with it.