The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records is a four-disc set, compiled and annotated by author Ashley Kahn who wrote the book of the same name being published concurrently with its release. Impulse's great run was between 1961 and 1976 – a period of 15 years that ushered in more changes in jazz than at any other point in the music's history. Impulse began recording in the last weeks of 1960, with Ray Charles, Kai Windig /J.J. Johnson, and Gil Evans. While Impulse experimented with 45s 33 1/3 EPs, cassettes, and reel to reel tapes later in its existence, it was–and this set focuses on– it was the music on its LPs (with distinct orange and black packaging in gatefold sleeves containing copious notes) that helped to set them apart.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary jazz label, Impulse! Records – home to such pioneering jazz artists as John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Pharoah Sanders, Quincy Jones, and more. On May 14, as a centerpiece to its year-long celebrations, the imprint taking a look back at its first decade with the release of Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment – a deluxe, 4-LP box set. Housed in a museum drop-front box set, Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment speaks to the political, social, and spiritual elements that were omnipresent in the 60s – when Impulse! and its artists were at their creative heights. In a decade marked by protests, racial and social unrest, and the dismantling of institutions, jazz was an integral part of exploring Black identity and pushing cultural and political boundaries.
This set combines two Chico Hamilton LPs from Impulse Records, El Chico and Further Adventure of El Chico, both issued in 1966 separately. The 18 tracks include pleasant arrangements of the standards "The Shadow of Your Smile," "My Romance," "Stella by Starlight," and pop songs of the era “Monday, Monday,” “Daydream,” and “People.” While the drummer’s choice of musicians on these sessions, including Clark Terry, Charlie Mariano, Gabor Szabo, and Jimmy Cheatham is impeccable, it’s the addition of Latin percussionists Willie Bobo and Victor Pantoja that make these recordings stand out.
Two classics from saxophonist John Handy – records that really made him a household name in the 70s! Hard Work is the biggest moment ever for saxophonist John Handy – an album that crossed over big, thanks to a tremendously funky title cut! Handy first rose to fame back in the 60s – playing modernist jazz with Charlies Mingus, and opening up on his own in a stretch of great albums that evolved from hardbop, to modal jazz, to some even freer world jazz experiments in the 70s. Here, though, he's back in very soulful territory – working in a combo that has keyboards and guitar, and plenty of grooves that are somewhere in a space between early 70s CTI/Kudu and similar dates on Cadet or Prestige Records!
Notes With Attachments is an album-length, instrumental collaboration between the bassist Pino Palladino and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist/producer Blake Mills. Recorded in stages over two and a half years, and initially conceived as a solo record for Palladino, it brings together a shared cohort of musicians from jazz, R&B, pop, and beyond: the drummer Chris Dave; the saxophonists Sam Gendel, Marcus Strickland, and Jacques Schwartz-Bart; the keyboardist Larry Goldings; and others.
Sweet 60s grooves from Shirley Scott – really working the Hammond organ here with a wonderful sound – that warm, lean, soulful groove she hit perfectly at Impulse Records! There's a clarity here you don't get on some of Shirley's other records – a really stripped-down sound on the keys, which makes for playful lines that really sparkle – the kind of class and care that really set Scott apart from other 60s organists! Rhythm is nice and tight – bass from George Duvivier, and the great Mickey Roker playing some nice snapping, dancing drums – and tracks are short and compact, but still with some nice solo moments. Titles include "Come Back To Me", "On The Trail", "Love Nest", "Girl Talk", and "Keep The Faith Baby".
Treasure Island, released in early 1974, was the second of two albums pianist and composer Keith Jarrett recorded for Impulse Records – the first was Fort Yawuh, issued a year earlier. Cut at Generation Sound Studios in New York City, the band consisted of Jarrett on piano and soprano saxophone, Dewey Redman on tenor, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Paul Motian. And though he would more than likely disagree, this was the best band he ever led. In addition to the quartet, guitarist Sam Brown contributes to a pair of cuts here as Guilherme Franco and Danny Johnson add percussion to the mix. The set kicks off with the beautiful "The Rich (And the Poor)," a folkish melody of the type Jarrett was exploring on ECM at the time, with some stellar African undertones – it's easy to hear the majesty of Abdullah Ibrahim's South African musical sphere in this mix, and earthy deep, sparer work by Redman and Haden.
Impulse! Records released its first recording in 1961—60 years ago. The legendary jazz label, now a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, is marking that milestone with a yearlong campaign that will focus on a bevy of new releases, reissues, and other initiatives.
On his Impulse! Records debut, Donald Harrison mixes his usual straight-ahead work with rhythmic elements from tropical climates. Albert Wonsey plays appropriate piano on all tracks, though Harrison employs two different rhythm sections, Christian McBride and Carl Allen for the more conventional tunes and Ruben Rogers and Dion Parson for the others. The others include "Bob Marley," twhich borrows its rhythmic feel from such later Marley songs as "Exodus"; "Little Flowers," which also has a Caribbean lilt; "Septembro," the requisite samba; and "Duck's Groove," the requisite New Orleans second-line number.