Phil Ranelin (trombone; b. 1939) Sounds From The Village: The Phil Ranelin Anthology (Blue Interactions)
Phil Ranelin may be one of the most under-rated trombonist of them all. He is widely known in the jazz circles as one of the co-founders of the TRIBE movement out of Detroit, along with Detroit native Marcus Belgrave (trumpet). The Tribe was a collective which included a magazine, music label and more. But Ranelin's unfortunate infrequency of recording has probably contributed to the lack of notoriety of his superb albums and live performances. Ranelin while influenced by J.J. Johnson probably owes more to trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, with whom he has worked with on numerous occasions, in addition to the spiritual influence of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.
Ranelin's first recordings, Message From The Tribe,The Time Is Now and Vibe From The Tribe (all reissued under Hefty Records) are bold and improvising in the realm of late Coltrane and Dolpy records. These albums were wonderful microcosms of 70s jazz. Tracks like "Sounds From The Village," "For The Children," "Black Destiny' and "Time Is Now" all incorporate psychedelia, blues, poetry and African themes, which show Ranelin while influenced by the great legends was also beginning to find his voice. Ranelin would record sporadically throughout the latter 70s and 80s in addition to doing some teaching.
Ranelin returned to recording in the 90s with a series of albums which still included touch of heavy grooves and began to appeal to the underground soul jazz circuit. Albums such as Close Encounters Of The Very Best Kind, Love Dream and Inspiration all demonstrate a distinct voice, growth and well structured vision from the trombonist.
Ranelin recently recorded his first live album, Reminiscence (Wide Hive Records) which spans tour dates from 2002 and 2005. Featuring mostly original material and a few covers of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington as well as his sublime tribute to Eric Dolphy entitled "Shades Of Dolphy", Reminiscence is a killer live album well worth checking out.
Overall, if you are interested in finding other creative trombone players in the same vein as Curtis Fuller, J.J. Johnson and Steve Davis, Phil Ranelin should definitely be on list of artists to seek out. A really great place to start is a Japanese compilation called Sounds From The Village: The Phil Ranelin Anthology (Blues Interaction Inc.; 2004). Sound From The Village covers all the albums above excluding Reminiscence. It's an awesome compilation which really does touch on all the important tracks from his solo records.
Ranelin is still one of those underground artists deserving wide recognition and I hope at some point more people get a chance to hear his records. Ranelin has a voice and vision that really needs to be experienced.
Charles Mingus (bass) The European Tour 1964 Eric Dolphy (sax) Johnny Coles (trumpet) Clifford Jordan (sax) Jaki Byard (piano) Dannie Richmond (drums)
For most jazz heads, 1964 is probably the most well documented period of the legendary bass player. He was just reaching the peak out his powers. Always challenging and demanding more from his fellow musicians, Mingus was beloved and revered.
Mingus was already at the peak of his powers but he was also at a point of soulsearching and financial chaos. He was coming off the phenomenal 1963 recording, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (Verve) in addition to various business forays that collapsed (including his own record label) with almost everything to prove (to himself and his admirers). The year itself was politically charged as well with it being an American presidential election year and the civil rights movement if full swing. And to top things off, Beatlemania hit in January.
Charles Mingus was already effected by the political climate as shown in his recordings, "Meditations on Integration" and "Fables of Faubus"--the latter written about the Arkansas Govenor Orval Faubus who tried keep kids segregated in 1957.
In the spring of '64 Mingus took a sextet which was probably one of his most formidable (includng Eric Dolphy, Jaki Byard and Clifford Jordan) to Europe for a three week stint. The tour dates were amazing and the sets cosnsisted of the aforementioned pieces as well as Mingus lovely tribute to Art Tatum and Fats Waller, simply titled "ATFW". For all Mingus' personal complexities he always would somehow show a real side of beauty, especially on this tour with "ATFW," his tribute to Charlie Parker "Parkeriana" and "So Long Eric" decicated to his saxophonist and so to legendary, Eric Dolphy, who had announced to Mingus that after the European tour he was planning on staying in Europe.
The live recordings from this period a in abundance and all have quite good to excellent sound quality. The most readily available is The Great Concert (Verve) recorded on April 19th, which is famous for two reasons--first, the concert was dedicated to Johnny Coles (trumpet) who collpased during the previous date, from what would later be diagnosed as an ulcer. His trumpet was placed on the stage in tribute by Mingus. Secondly, these would be a few of the final live dates for Eric Dolphy as he would die from complication of diabeties in June of '64.
Recently a set of reissues of the gigs prior to the Great Concert recording have been released and while not shedding a great deal of new light on the proceedings, are just great to have from a chronological order perspective. The Complete Live In Amsterdam (Jazz Collectors) recorded April, 10th, includes an insightful interview in the booklet with Eric Dolphy right after the gig in which he discusses his playing, influences and creative vision.
The Complete Bremen Concert (Jazz Lips Records) recorded April 16th, is the last full concert for Johnny Coles prior to his accident. The performances from Jaki Byard on "ATFW" and Dolphy on "So Long Eric" are rich and stunning. Well worth the find and money. The following night would be the first of two Paris perfomances.
The Salle Wagram Concert (Jazz Collectors) has been pretty widely available but does include a nice but short version of "Peggys Blue Skylight" which doesn't feature on any of the other dates. Nice but not necessarilly essential. And finally you get to the The Great Concert recorded at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. This is a powerful performance considering all that had happened prior and what would happen following. The tracks "Meditation..." and "Orange Was The Colour" are a couple of my favourites from this date.
Overall, if you only find The Great Concert you are still listening to a excellent piece of jazz history. But for a nice weekend listen (and a large dose of jazz overkill) the entire dates of April 10 - April 19th are perfect opportunities to experience one of the legendary figures in jazz along side one of his best groups in prime form during a truly developing time in American history.
