Mono.cecil

Cecil Payne - Patterns Of Jazz (1956) {Savoy Jazz Japan SV-0135 rel 1991}
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© 1956, 1991 Savoy Jazz / Nippon Columbia Japan | SV-0135 | Mono
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Baritone Saxophone

This 1956 set partners baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne with the superb rhythm section of pianist Duke Jordan, drummer Art Taylor, and bassist Tommy Potter. Their performances of originals, standards, and a pair of Randy Weston compositions are unpretentious bop artistry of a high caliber. Jordan and Potter played together in Charlie Parker's quintet of the late '40s and are well-equipped to meet the demands of bebop. The pianist's economical, swinging style falls somewhere between Count Basie's and Thelonious Monk's. Like them, Jordan is supremely skilled at saying a lot with a little.

When Angels Speak of Love, released in 1966 on Sun Ra's Saturn label, is a rarity, there having been limited pressings (150 copies, by one estimate), which were sold thru the mail and at concerts and club dates. The tracks were taped in New York during two 1963 sessions at the Choreographer's Workshop, a rehearsal space/recording den with warehouse acoustics. Ra spent countless hours at the CW from 1961 to 1964 sharpening the Arkestra during exhaustive musical huddles. John Corbett calls this "one of the most continuous, best-documented periods of Ra's work"; much tape from these seminal sessions has survived and been issued on LP, CD and digitally.

When Angels Speak of Love, released in 1966 on Sun Ra's Saturn label, is a rarity, there having been limited pressings (150 copies, by one estimate), which were sold thru the mail and at concerts and club dates. The tracks were taped in New York during two 1963 sessions at the Choreographer's Workshop, a rehearsal space/recording den with warehouse acoustics. Ra spent countless hours at the CW from 1961 to 1964 sharpening the Arkestra during exhaustive musical huddles. John Corbett calls this "one of the most continuous, best-documented periods of Ra's work"; much tape from these seminal sessions has survived and been issued on LP, CD and digitally.

For their first album, Caravan was surprisingly strong. While steeped in the same British psychedelia that informed bands such as Love Children, Pink Floyd, and Tomorrow, Caravan relates a freedom of spirit and mischief along the lines of Giles, Giles & Fripp or Gong. The band's roots can be traced to a British blue-eyed soul combo called the Wilde Flowers. Among the luminaries to have passed through this Caravan precursor were Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, and Hugh Hopper and Brian Hopper (pre-Soft Machine, naturally). By the spring of 1968, Caravan had settled nicely into a quartet consisting of Pye Hastings (guitar/bass/vocals), Richard Coughlan (drums), David Sinclair (organ/vocals), and Richard Sinclair (bass/guitar/vocals)…

Charles Tolliver - Mosaic Select (2005) {3CD Set, Strata-East–Mosaic MS-020 rec 1970-1973}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.12 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 463 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970-73, 2005 Mosaic Records / Strata-East | MS-020
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Trumpet

In the 1970's, the trumpeter Charles Tolliver was a righteous force in New York straight-ahead jazz. He pushed his energy to sustain sets of long, wending tunes with his quartet, which didn't include another horn player. The music – created in tandem with the pianist Stanley Cowell – was based on middle-period Coltrane: dark, modal, hard-driving, springy. Mr. Tolliver released it on his own label, Strata-East, setting an early and effective example of self-reliance in the jazz business. This set collects three out-of-print albums from Strata-East from 1970 to 1973, recorded live at Slugs' in New York and at a concert hall in Tokyo, and they're hard bop with a vengeance.

The Prestige All Stars - Roots (1957) {2013 Japan Prestige New Jazz Chronicle SHM-CD HR Cutting Series UCCO-5352}
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© 1957, 2013 Prestige New Jazz / Concord / Universal Japan | UCCO-5352 | Mono | NJLP 8202
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Bebop / Modern Big Band

Reissue features the latest DSD / HR Cutting remastering and the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player). Comes with a description. Features the original LP designs. Roots is an album by the Prestige All Stars nominally led by trumpeter Idrees Sulieman recorded in 1957 and released on the New Jazz label. More big-band bop with a stellar cast, it includes Cecil Payne, Pepper Adams, and Idrees Sulieman on saxes and Bill Evans on piano.

Charlie Ventura & Flip Phillips - The Complete Verve/Clef Studio Sessions (1998) {6CD Box Set Mosaic MD6-182 rec 1947-1957}
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© 1947-57, 1998 Verve / Clef / Mosaic Records / PolyGram | MD6-182
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

Although they were never major influences, both Flip Phillips and Charlie Ventura had their moments of fame and were entertaining and hard-swinging tenor saxophonists. This 1998 limited-edition six-CD box set from Mosaic is typically wondrous with quite a few little-heard gems included among the 116 selections (five previously unreleased, three of which are alternate takes). The first two CDs feature Charlie Ventura during 1951-1954, right after his "Bop for the People" band broke up.

Dennis Warren's Full Metal Revolutionary Jazz Ensemble - Very Live (1994) {FMRJE–Not On Label}
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© 1994 FMRJE / Not On Label | [none]
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Psychedelic Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Drums

The Boston-based FMRJE belies the notion that the only thing happening in that city jazz-wise is the bebop played by whippersnappers at Berklee. Drummer Dennis Warren is apparently the leader of this outfit, but former Cecil Taylor sideman/trumpeter Raphe Malik takes composer credit on all but one of the tunes. Not that the tunes are particularly substantive – they serve merely as springboards for the collective improvisations to follow. The soloists are without exception first-rate.