Beautiful Evidence

Sun Ra - We Travel The Spaceways & Bad And Beautiful (1992) {Evidence ECD22038-2 rec 1956-1961}
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© 1956-61, 1992 Evidence Music | ECD 22038-2
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

Much like Evidence's Fate in a Pleasant Mood/When Sun Comes Out two-fer, We Travel the Spaceways/Bad and Beautiful also features one album from the Chicago period and one from the New York period. The difference is that this New York session (Bad and Beautiful) is probably the first recording made in New York, and the overall sound is more closely tied to the Chicago sound than the later New York material, where rhythm and percussion dominated any melodic elements.

On his debut effort Evidence, Cody Moffett is supported by his brother Charnett Moffett, Ravi Coltrane, Kenny Drew, Jr., and brothers Antoine and Wallace Roney for run-throughs of mostly standards. While each of these players is accomplished, their abilities are, at times, covered up by Cody Moffett's over-drumming. Because of this, he sounds like he was trying too hard to prove his status among the elite of jazz drummers. There's no doubt Moffett is fine behind the trap set, but Evidence leaves the listener wishing he had focused more on the material and less on showing off his chops. All of that said, there are some nice performances on the album where Moffett plays with the band instead of over them, as in the nice reading of John Coltrane's "Equinox" and the lovely ballad "Beautiful Love".

Candi Staton - Evidence: The Complete Fame Records Masters (2011) {2CD Set, Kent Soul CDKEN2-353 rec 1969-1973}
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© 1969-73, 2011 Fame / Kent Soul / Ace Records | CDKEN2 353
Rhythm & Blues / Soul / Southern Soul / Modern Soul / Deep Soul

Candi Staton is the finest female singer ever to grace a Southern Soul recording, her achingly vulnerable vocals perfect for the lyrics of the best country/soul songs. Luckily for us, during her tenure at Rick Hall’s Fame label she got the best songs, mostly from the pen of George Jackson, perhaps the top Southern Soul songwriter of his generation. George spent every waking minute of his day writing songs and probably came up with a few while he dreamt too. As Candi herself said, “That was his thing.”

Although they are not one of the better-known San Francisco bands to have emerged from the ballroom circuit of the late '60s and early '70s, It's a Beautiful Day were no less memorable for their unique progressive rock style that contrasted well with the Bay Area psychedelic scene. Led by David LaFlamme (flute/violin/vocals) and his wife, Linda LaFlamme (keyboards), the six-piece unit on this album vacillates between light and ethereal pieces such as the lead-off cut, "White Bird," to the heavier, prog rock-influenced "Bombay Calling." One of the most distinct characteristics of It's a Beautiful Day is their instrumentation. The prominence of David LaFlamme – former violin soloist with the Utah Symphony and original member of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks – adds a refinement to It's a Beautiful Day's sound.