Navigation Forest306

Celestial Navigation was formed in 2013 out of a need for three seasoned musicians to create something truly unique. Hard to categorize, Northwest Music Scene said to, “imagine if Bjork decided to be a classical musician and an astronaut and chronicle her journey through time.”

With a delivery that makes John Martyn sound like a Shakespearian voice coach, the one-time hero of the early Harvest days returns with a small band (Steeleye Span's Rick Kemp and Lindisfarne's Ray Laidlaw) and his best album in years. Indeed, the old obsessions (loneliness, love, drinking, injustice) have not been explored this convincingly since 1970's Fully Qualified Survivor. It Ain't So is an understated grumble of a song, feeding off an insistent minor riff; The North Will Rise unexpectedly introduces northern dissaffection to a reggae beat; while Hard Times has a riff and solo that recall Chapman's ex-guitarist, Mick Ronson. If anything, the ballads hit even harder, particularly Drinking Alone and the title track, where humanity and old-fashioned canniness produce a song to break hearts old and young.

Pharoah Sanders - Pharoah (1976) {India Navigation IN1027CD rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 218 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
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© 1976, 1996 India Navigation | IN 1027 CD
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Saxophone

Pharoah Sanders album for the India Navigation label was known alternately as Pharoah or Harvest Time, sees his vision of the jazz group — a sonic melange approximating nirvana. This is an old time, late night favorite. The recording gets the timbre of Pharoah's tenor, his breathy depths, like no other in my library. And it feels good to just groove and come down with this music. Harvest Time is especially delicious. It's an under-appreciated jem!

David Murray - Live at The Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, Volumes 1 & 2 (1977) {India Navigation IN1032CD rel 1989}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 408 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 179 Mb
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© 1977, 1989 India Navigation Company | IN 1032 CD
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

I have been a David Murray fan since the Seventies. This live cd will not disappoint fans. Sound is excellent. All songs are very listenable/accessible; don't be afraid of Murray's Aylerish soars into the upper register. Music with great feeling, tradition, and soul.

The two tenors Chico Freeman and father Von Freeman had an opportunity to team up on this CD. Recorded live in concert, the Freemans are assisted by pianist Kenny Barron (Muhal Richard Abrams takes his place on "Paying New York Dues"), bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Von actually sounds the more modern of the two (due to his unusual tone) on a set mostly comprised of standards, plus McBee's "Undercurrents" and the lengthy jamming blues "Jug Ain't Gone," a tribute to Gene Ammons. The straight-ahead but sometimes eccentric music has its surprising moments, and the Freemans mostly battle to a tie.

Anthony Davis - Lady Of The Mirrors (1980) {India Navigation IN1047CD rel 1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 172 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 114 Mb
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© 1980, 1991 India Navigation Company | IN 1047 CD
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Anthony Davis is best known as a composer, both in avant-garde jazz and in classical music (including operas). Although all six selections on this reissue CD are by Davis, the main focus is on his piano playing. He is heard on six extended solos, exploring many moods and ideas in a thoughtful yet unpredictable fashion. His "Man on a Turquoise Cloud" pays tribute to one of his main influences, Duke Ellington, but in general the complex and often-fascinating music is quite original and has no obvious predecessor. Lady of the Mirrors is still one of Anthony Davis' finest piano recordings.

Denmark's premier roots-rockers Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado have announced they have signed to Provogue / Mascot Label Group; home to Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Walter Trout and more. The multi-award-winning band will release their brand-new album Navigation Blues on September 30. It's filled with songs ranging from sepia-tinged pre-war blues stomps to a soundtrack to a glorious dusk desert sunset, all sprinkled with a fizzing coolness that puts its foot on the pedal and rides off into a Tarantino horizon.

Hamiet Bluiett - Im/possible to Keep (1977) {2CD Set India Navigation IN1072CD rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 742 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 346 Mb
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© 1977, 1996 India Navigation | IN 1072 CD
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

This double-CD, released for the first time in 1996, has the 37½-minute performance "Sobra Una Nube" that was originally released as the LP S.O.S., plus five other previously unreleased selections (two of which are quite lengthy) from the same engagement. Recorded at a small club during the now-legendary loft period in New York City, baritonist Hamiet Bluiett (who also plays some effective clarinet and flute) is featured with pianist Don Pullen (who was really coming into his own during this era), bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer/percussionist Don Moye.