Simple and direct and somewhat of a runt album in the history of jazz. The solo on Art Blakey's recording of Bobby Timmons' 'Moanin' is by Morgan, as is that on 'A Night In Tunisia'. By the time he came to record this album he had simplified his style, which appealed to the soul/jazz lovers of the 60s. To use the ultimate cliche, this is groovin' music; it rolls, it bops, it makes you feel good and its success is that it is refreshingly uncomplicated.
Trumpeter Lee Morgan unleashes his all-time classic 1964 album The Sidewinder plus two further Blue Note landmarks: 1957's City Lights featuring the Miles Davis rhythm section of Paul Chambers and Art Taylor; and 1969's Charisma featuring Jackie McLean, Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins.
A long-lost Captain Beefheart album is to finally be released, on what would have been Don Van Vliet's 71st birthday. Bat Chain Puller was recorded in 1976 but shelved later that year, due to a dispute between Frank Zappa and his former manager, Herb Cohen. Bat Chain Puller was originally intended to be the follow-up to 1974's maligned Bluejeans & Moonbeams, after Vliet recruited a new band. Zappa produced the sessions, and tracks like Owed t'Alex and The Floppy Boot Stomp made it all the way to Beefheart's label, Virgin, as well as several journalists. Unfortunately that's as far as things got. When Zappa sued Cohen, Bat Chain Puller was caught in the litigation and the album was shelved. Although many of Bat Chain Puller's songs were re-recorded for subsequent Beefheart releases, the original record has only been available among fans, as a popular bootleg.
Elixir is the first album Danish percussionist Marilyn Mazur has recorded as a leader for ECM in 14 years. It is an interesting number for Mazur, because she has also spent 14 years as a member of saxophonist Jan Garbarek's recording and touring ensembles. He appears on about half of Elixir as Mazur's only collaborator (apart from producer Manfred Eicher). That said, the solo pieces are the first remarkable aspect of this set. When Mazur works alone, her pieces defy everything we think we know about solo percussion recordings: there is a warmth and directness in these proceedings that is songlike rather than merely hypnotic or virtuosic.