Last night I attended a concert at Orchestra Hall in Detroit given by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma. It was an awe-inspiring performance that blended musical traditions from around the world in a highly accessible manner. It reminded me of Lloyd Miller, an American musician and doctor of ethno-musicology who specializes in Persian sounds, blending them with American jazz tradition.
During the '50s and '60s, Miller played with top jazz artists in Europe such as Don Ellis, Eddie Harris and Jef Gilson, and recorded an interesting album called Oriental Jazz.
Miller's interest in Persian music began in his youth when his father got a job in Iran during the '50s. Miller learned to play many exotic instruments such as the oud.
Renewed interest in Miller's music in recent years led to a new collaboration with The Heliocentrics, a UK-based group. The album's free-form mix of Eastern arrangements, jazz and psychedelic production offers a transporting headphone experience. Highlights include the reflective "Spirit Jazz," the cinematic "Electricone" and a new version of the Miller classic "Massom."
Lose yourself in it.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Byron Morris (sax; b. 1941) Blow Your Mind (reissue on Soul Jazz Records, original release on EPI; 1974) Vincent McEwan (trumpet) Milton Suggs (bass) Jay Clayton (vocals) Tony Waters (percussion) Mike Kull (piano) Abdush Shahid (drums)
Well the term "soul jazz" doesn't always have to mean it's based around funky themes. The music of Virgina native, Byron Morris is something that encapsulates both funky, soul and more importantly spiritual themes. Byron Morris learned saxophone from his father, James, who was a saxophonist and band leader during '50s and '60s. Byron Morris later developed an early style with his first group Unity that resembled the more ethereal work of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders. Morris is expressive and entertaining and his group Unity while symbolising the energy and feelings of the black community during the 70s.
Unity's first album Blow Your Mind (EPI Records) was the result of a year long set of performances that helped evolve the bands communal style. The first track, "Kitty Bey" with a forceful and driving rhtyhm from Morris, Kull and McEwan and some great vocal improvisation by Clayton. Jay Clayton vocals are prominent throughout the proceedings and her poetic vocal delivers gives the session a lovely spiritual vibe.
Blow Your Mind isn't as psychedelic or eclectic as some of the other material of time period but it does hold your interest for the entire experience. The other centerpiece here is "Reunion" which see Morris and Suggs deliver some awesome solo work as well their own interplay. This is good piece of modality that anyone a fan of contemporary, free, or spiritual jazz would enjoy immensely. "Transcendental Lullaby" is a ballad that wonderfully and surprisingly ends the session with some delicate playing by Kull and beautifully evocative vocals from Clayton. A touching end to a journey that blow your mind.
Blow Your Mind is slightly hard to find nowadays but it is worth seeking out. If you can't find it, there is a compilation of Unity's three albums with its original members called Vibrations In Time that is still widely available and I highly recommend it. Byron Morris still records and teaches to this day (mostly in the Washington DC area). His playing is still big, vibrant and entertaining and the material may be more tempered and mature but his attitude isn't.
This week JazzWrap looks at a few rare and new soul jazz albums which helped shape the genre and moved them it forward.
Marcus Belgrave (trumpet; b. 1936) Gemini (reissue on Universal Sound, originally release Tribe Records 1974)
Phil Ranelin (trombone) Wendel Harrison (sax) Billy Turner (drums) Roy Brooks (drums) Lorenzo Brown (bongos) Ed Pickens (bass) Harold McKinney (electric piano) Daryl Dybka (moog)
Emerging from a Detroit psychedelic funk movement of Detroit in the '70s, Marcus Belgrave has turned into one of the elder statesman of jazz in Detroit. His talents have been instrumental to recordings by a myriad of artists including; Kenny Garrett, Charles Mingus, Gerri Allen and most significantly Ray Charles and pop/alternative funkmiesters Was Not Was. Marcus Belgrave also studied under one the great trumpeters ever, Clifford Brown. Belgrave's ability to move up and down the scales does have many to remark the similarity to his famous mentor. His more recent recordings still contain some groovy elements but nothing like his 1974 album, Gemini.
Gemini is an amazing and weird blend of swing and funky beats. The opening track "Space Odyssey" starts out with some great atmospherics from Daryl Dybka (moog) before diving into the slow funk groove of Harlod McKinney (electric piano) and lead by Belgrave and the rest of the horn section. This is heady stuff by worthy of a couple of glass of wine. The unison that Belgrave, Harrison and Ranelin have throughout "Space Odyssey" and the rest of the recording is superb.
Gemini shows Belgrave's versatility on the swinging "Marcia's Opal" which mixing the big band aspects with the some great noodling from McKinney. It's crazy to say this but its like a big band doing a swing version of Miles Davis fusion material. Weird, trippy but definitely cool. This ensemble while not a big band sure performs like one at times and it gives Gemini a great deal of depth.
The standout track for me is "Glue Fingers I & II" which is a fierce little number with interchanges across the band. This is definitely the highlight for Belgrave and Ranelin. It's a big, full bodied sound with great accompaniment from the percussion and drum section and again McKinney's electric piano.
Gemini is funky, head twisting stuff that not only demonstrates the expert skills of Marcus Belgrave, it signifies the marvelous talents of the band he surrounded himself with. They were mostly Detroiter's whom are still active today. Gemini is a stellar document of the Detroit jazz scene in the '70s (a scene which gets overshadow by the history of Motown) and an album which many may not know about you should definitely pick it up. Gemini has been distributed under two different covers but if you see "Space Odyssey" and "Glue Fingers" listed than you found yourself a little piece of history. Enjoy.
This week JazzWrap looks at a few rare and new soul jazz albums which helped shape the genre and moved them it forward.
Harry Whitaker (piano; b. 1942)
Black Renaissance: Body, Mind and Spirit
(reissue: Luv N' Haight; originally released: 1976)
Woody Shaw (trumpet) Buster Williams (bass) Billy Hart (drums) Howard King (drums) Mtume (percussion) Earl Bennett (percussion) David Schintter (sax) Azar Lawrence (sax)
As mentioned in the liner notes (written by DJ Giles Peterson), Harry Whitaker'sBlack Renaissance is the "holy grail of soul jazz records" for collectors. I originally heard the album at a neighbors house as a kid but never really paid any attention because I thought it was too out-there. Somehow I thought swirling grooves, a smokin' trumpet, funky bass and trippy vocals were not for me. Idiot.
Harry Whitaker, was born in Florida and spent time in the Detroit jazz scene before finally landing in New York. After a number of stints with successful jazz and R&B outfits (including Blood Sweat & Tears), Whitaker landed what would the gig that his most famous for with Roy Ayers Ubiquity. With Roy Ayers, Harry Whitaker was integral part of the success of the band. Whitaker also wrote and produced for Roberta Flack and produced and the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Coffy. All this is the short pan of about five years.
Amazingly, it wouldn't be until 1976 that Whitaker would go into the studio and recorded his first album as leader. Black Renaissance consist of two very long tracks, "Black Renaissance" is a reflection of the times. It is funky and spiritual with some truly soulful playing from Whitaker. The performances from Woody Shaw, Azar Lawerence and David Schnitter are rich, dynamic and very fluid. Shaw really shows why he was a natural successor to Miles Davis.
The second track, "Magic Ritual" is a real journey into Afro-American psyche. With some wonderful interplay between Shaw, King, and Howard King, "Magic Ritual" takes on a real spiritual vibe reminiscent of the best Impulse records recording of a decade earlier. The bass solo from Buster Williams that takes this to the closing bars is simply fantastic is its emotion depth.
While Whitaker's playing is understated throughout this session its really the arrangements that you will undoubtedly focus in on. Most this session was improvised but you get a strong sense these musicians had great reading on each other which makes this all joy to listen to. Black Renaissance is not only an opening onto the Black Cultural movement of the 70s it's solid jazz album built on a lot rich ideas from a pianist and arranger with a serious and grossly under-rated reputation.
Whitaker has recorded three albums since (Thoughts Past and Present, The Sound Of Harry Whitaker, and One Who Sees All Things). All recorded in last eight years and are more straight ahead contemporary jazz albums which you should also seek out. But Black Renaissance is definitely an album monumental funk proportions that is worth it's tag as the "holy grail" of soul jazz.
Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics
