JOHN COLTRANE-1963: NEW DIRECTIONS-VINYL.
John Coltrane-1963: New Directions-Vinyl.
Label: Impulse!
As 1963 dawned, John Coltrane was at the peak of his powers and was already regarded as one of the greatest tenor saxophonists of his generation. However, the previous year 1962, had been somewhat disappointing by his high standards. Neither of the two albums he released in 1962, Ballads nor Duke Ellington and John Coltrane were his finest or most innovative albums. Instead, they were a reminder that Impulse! the label hat John Coltrane was signed to, saw him as a mainstream jazz musician. John Coltrane had other ideas.
In 1962, John Coltrane had joined forces with Eric Dolphy and released the album Live At The Village Vanguard. This was much more representative of where John Coltrane was musically at the time. By then, he was leading what later became knowns as his classic Quartet.
The lineup featured drummer Elvin Jones, double bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner who all feature on a new five LP box set 1963: New Directions that has just been released by Impulse! It features John Coltrane at the peak of his creative powers on what was a pivotal year of his career.
This was very different from 1962, which musically wasn’t a vintage year for John Coltrane. He had also struggled with the mouthpiece of his tenor saxophone and rather than persevere, had some work done on it. This ruined what was a perfectly good mouthpiece. To make matters even worse John Coltrane was also experiencing marital problems, and watched as his marriage broke down. It was no surprise that John Coltrane was pleased when 1962 gave way to 1963.
It offered a new start for him, and on the ‘5th’ of March 1963, John Coltrane and has classic Quartet played a barnstorming set at Birdland, and was one of their best sets since they started out in 1962. Buoyed by this, the Quartet was ready to record a new album.
John Coltrane and his classic quartet arrived at the Van Gelder studios in Englewood Cliffs, on the ‘6th’ of March 1963, and the band were in good spirits after their barnstorming set at Birdland the night before. It was without doubt one of their finest sets and this set them up nicely to record a new album with Rudy Van Gelder, which would be released by Impulse later in 1963.
Bandleader John Coltrane planned to record an entire album during the session, which was something he had done many times before, and so had the other members of the quartet.This time, John Coltrane planned to record an album that featured mostly his own compositions. He had written Slow Blues, One Up, One Down and Villa which was based on Franz Lehár’s Vilja Song from The Merry Widow. John Coltrane planned to revisit another of his compositions Impressions, and had decided to cover Nature Boy. However, John Coltrane knew from experience that anything could happen when he was recording an album.
That proved to be the case, and John Coltrane and his classic Quartet recorded several takes of each track, including those that feature on 1963: New Directions. The classic Quartet deliver a series of restrained and stunning performances on Takes 3 and 5 of Villa, Nature Boy and on the four takes of Impressions. These four tracks are a reminder of just how versatile and talented the four members of the classic Quartet were. They had an almost telepathic understanding as Takes 1 and 6 of One Up, One Down show.
Twenty-one tracks were recorded on the ‘6th’ of March 1963. This includes an eleven minute epic version of Slow Blues, the beautiful After the Rain and tracks of the quality of Autumn Serenade and After The Rain. However, not every track features the classic quartet.
In April 1963 drummer Elvin Jones had to enter rehab to deal with his drugs problem. Roy Hayes seas brought in to deputize for him and can be heard on Dear Old Stockholm and a cover of Billy Eckstine’s I Want to Talk About You which was recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1963. However, many jazz aficionados familiar with the two drummers’ work will be able to spot the difference in styles between Elvin Jones and Roy Haynes.
There’s two more live tracks from the Newport Jazz Festival, including a fiery and inventive seventeen minute version My Favorite Things where John Coltrane switches to soprano saxophone. There’s also a fifteen minute version of Impressions where John Coltrane explores this familiar tracks as he returns to tenor saxophone and plays with an inventiveness and aggressiveness. Elvin Jones returns on The Promise, a lengthy and laid-back eight minute exploration of I Want To Talk About You and Mongo Santamaria’s classic Afro Blue featured on the original Live at Birdland. So do Your Lady which references John Coltrane’s future wife Alice, and make the start of his spiritual side. However, the most poignant and thought-provoking track is Alabama, which was written for the four African-American girls killed in the despicable bombing of a church in Birmingham, the previous September. This proves a ruminative way to close disc three 1963: New Directions, at the thought of barbarian racists murdering four innocent girls in a place of worship.
For anyone with even a passing interest in John Coltrane’s music 1963: New Directions is an important musical documents and acts as a roadmap for what was still to come. The classic Quartet were known for their versatility as their music continued to evolve.
This included on his two spiritual masterpieces Crescent and A Love Supreme. They were followed by explorative Ascension and Meditations, which saw John Coltrane continue to push and stretch the boundaries of what was the regarded as jazz. However, by 1965 John Coltrane music had moved on the direction of avant-garde period which was the direction his music headed until his tragic death on July the ’17th’ 1967 aged just forty.
That day, jazz music lost one of its greatest saxophonists who left behind a rich musical legacy including the music which features on 1963: New Directions which documents a landmark year for John Coltrane and his classic Quartet as they continued to write their way into jazz history.
John Coltrane-1963: New Directions-Vinyl.
COVER ME-THE EDDIE HINTON SONGBOOK.
Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook.
Label: Ace Records.
When Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler saw Eddie Hinton playing in Muscle Shoals he called him “the next big thing.” By then, Eddie Hinton was a talented songwriter who regularly collaborated with Marlin Greene, Donnie Fritts and Dan Penn, and played guitar on nearly every session held at Quinvy and Muscle Shoals Sound studios between 1967 and 1972. However, Eddie Hinton wasn’t content to be a session musician and songwriter all is career.
Eddie Hinton wanted to embark upon a solo career, but his career was hampered after a drugs charge in the early seventies saw him forced to leave his home Muscle Shoals. Despite that, Eddie Hinton wasn’t about to give up on his dream.
In 1977, Eddie Hinton had signed to Capricorn Record and released his debut album Very Extremely Dangerous. Many record industry insiders and critics believed that Very Extremely Dangerous would launch the Muscle Shoals based soul man’s career.
It would’ve done if Capricorn Records hadn’t entered bankruptcy a few weeks later. This was a disaster for Eddie Hinton.
By then, Eddie Hinton’s life had already started to spiral out of control and soon, he was battling with mental illness plus drugs and alcohol addiction. The man dubbed: “the next big” by Jerry Wexler was in danger of becoming the forgotten man of soul.
In 1986, Eddie Hinton released his long-awaited sophomore album Letters From Mississippi. Then five years later, he followed this up with Cry and Moan in 1991. Sadly, though, his fourth album Very Blue Highway was the last album Eddie Hinton released during his lifetime.
Tragedy struck on the ’28th’ of July 1995 when Eddie Hinton died after suffering a heart attack. the fifty-one year old soul man was at home in Birmingham, Alabama with his mother Deanie Perkins and stepfather Paul Perkins. It was the end of era.
Looking back, the story of Eddie Hinton is one of a truly talented singer who never fulfilled his potential. However, during the first decade of his career Eddie Hinton the songwriter enjoyed a rich vein of form and more than fulfilled his potential. Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook which is the lasts instalment in Ace Records’ songwriter series features twenty-four songs he penned between 1967 and 1977. Some of these songs were written with Marlin Greene, Donnie Fritts and Dan Penn and were recorded by everyone from Dusty Springfield, Bobby Womack, Candi Staton, The Sweet Inspirations, Mink Deville, Cher, Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Gwen McCrae and Bonnie Bramlett. Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook is a reminder of a truly talented songwriter.
Opening Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook is his best known song Breakfast in Bed which was recorded by Dusty Springfield for her classic album Dusty In Memphis which was released by Atlantic in 1969. This oft-covered song has since become synonymous with Eddie Hinton. However, it’s just one chapter in the story.
Jackie Moore recorded Cover Me, which lends its name to this compilation, for Atlantic in 1971. It was perfect suited for the twenty-five year old soul singer from Jacksonville, Florida.
So was A Little Bit Salty which soul survivor Bobby Womack recorded for his 1976 album Home Is Where The Heart Is. It was released on Columbia, but passed many record buyers by as disco was by then flavour of the month. That was a great shame given the quality of songs like A Little Bit Salty.
In 1972, Candy Staton was signed to Fame and working with Rick Hall who produced her single In The Ghetto. Tucked away on the flip side was Sure As Sin which is a hidden gem from one of the greatest female soul singers of her generation.
Although many people remember The Sweet Inspirations for adding backing vocals on songs by the great and good of music, they released a number of albums. This included Sweets For My Sweets in 1969 which featured Always David. It’s one of the highlights of the album and a reminder of a talented and soulful trio.
It’s All Wrong But It’s Alright was recorded by Eddie Hinton in 1967, but wasn’t released until 2000 when it featured on the album Dear Y’all. It’s a poignant reminder of one of Eddie Hinton who had the talent and potential but never made the breakthrough and for too long, remained one of soul music’s best kept secrets.
Cher covered Save The Children and her heartfelt version featured on her 1968 Atco album Jackson Highway.
Six years later, the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin covered Every Natural Thing on her 1974 album for Atlantic Let Me Into Your Life. This uptempo song features a vocal masterclass from Aretha Franklin who was at the peak of her powers.
Judy White released a cover of the Eddie Hinton and Marlin Greene composition Satisfaction Guaranteed as a single on Buddah in 1969. It’s an underrated single and welcome addition to Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook.
Percy Sledge recorded Standing On The Mountain for the B-Side of 1972 single for Atlantic Rainbow Road. It’s another Eddie Hinton and Marlin Greene composition that Percy Sledge breathes life and meaning into.
It’s a similar case with Lou Johnson People In Love which featured on his debut album Sweet Southern Soul. It was released on Atlantic Records’ imprint Cotillion in 1968 an showcases the talents of the soul singer from Brooklyn, New York.
Closing Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook is fittingly Lulu’s cover of Where’s Eddie. This Eddie Hinton and Donnie Fritts composition was tucked away on the B-Side of her 1970 single. It’s wistful sounding song with a lovely horn chart that compliments Lulu’s vocal and ensures Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook closes on a high.
Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook is a welcome addition to Ace Records’ celebrated Songwriter Series. This lovingly curated compilation is a reminder of the first ten years of Eddie Hinton’s career, which was the most fruitful period of his career. During that period, the great and good of music covered Eddie Hinton’s songs.
Despite being a talented singer and songwriter Eddie Hinton never reached the heights he should’ve. He bravely battled mental health problems and was addicted to drink and drugs. Still he continued to write and record, but the first ten years of singer Eddie Hinton’s career was the most fruitful.
Sadly, Eddie Hinton never made the commercial breakthrough many record industry insiders and critics believe, and his career was cut tragically short when he passed away just aged fifty-one after suffering a heart attack. Soul music was in mourning after the death of a a talented singer and songwriter who left behind a rich musical legacy including the songs on Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook.
Cover Me-The Eddie Hinton Songbook.
ALAN HAKWSHAW/BRIAN BENNETT-FULL CIRCLE.
Alan Hawkshaw/Brian Bennett-Full Circle.
Label: Be With Records.
Ever since the dawn of hip hop, library music has proved a source of inspiration for sample-hungry hip hop producers and crate-digging DJs alike. Library music has also proven popular with a coterie of music lovers with discerning musical tastes over the last few years. This was something that the founders of Chappell, Bosworth and KPM Music could never have envisaged.
They had no idea the lasting effects the music of mainly anonymous, young composers would have on several generation of musicians and music fans. This includes children growing up in the seventies, weaned on cartoons like Dangermouse, viewers of TV quizzes or current affair programs. Library music also influenced hip hop producers like Jay-Z, Doom and Guilty Simpson, film producers including Quentin Tarantino or cutting-edge DJs. The influenced of library music can played an important part in the development of many musical genres. Despite that, library music has been, until relatively recent still one of music’s best kept secrets.
Thankfully, over the last few years, interest in library music has started to grow as reissue labels release compilations and albums. This includes Be With Records who have been digging deep into the vaults of KPM Records to reissue ten albums from across the KPM 1000 Series and the Themes International Music catalogue. They’re joined by Full Circle the new album by Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett, who nowadays are regarded as among leading lights of the British library music scene. They were responsible for some of the best library music that KPM Records released during its golden era. However, the KPM Records story began nearly two hundred years earlier.
The Rise of KPM
Robert Keith founded a comp[any in 1780, to make of musical instruments, and fifty years later, in 1830, entered into a partnership with William Prowse, a music publisher. The newly formed partnership was named Keith Prowse Music (KPM), and over the next hundred years, the company grew and expanded into other areas,
By the early twentieth century, Keith Prowse Music was selling sheet music and concert tickets, but it was the invention of the gramophone proved to be a game-changer. Demand for sheet music and concert tickets grew, and in 1955, Keith Prowse Music was decided to diversify, into one of the most profitable areas of music, music publishing.
One of the reasons behind the decision to diversify into music publishing, was to feed the demand for soundtracks for radio, television and film. Previously, music libraries supplied classical music, which was what was required. By the mid-fifties, and the birth of television, the world and music were changing, and changing fast.
Four years later, in 1959, Associated Rediffusion bought another music publisher Peter Maurice and merged it with Keith Prowse Music. The newly merged company became Keith Prowse Maurice, which became known as KPM Music. The newly named KPM Music was a much bigger player in the world music publishing. However, in the mid-sixties, a new name took the helm at KPM Music, and transformed the company into one of the biggest names in library music.
When Robin Phillips joined KPM Music in the mid-sixties, he proved to be an astute and visionary businessman. Two decisions Robin Phillips made demonstrate why. His first decision was that KPM Music should switch from the old 78 records to the LP, which made sense, as LPs were what people were buying. They were less prone to breakage, which meant less returns and more profit. LPs could contain more music, and could be released in limited editions of 1,000. The other decision he made was to hire the best young British composers and arrangers.
Among the composers Robin Phillips hired were Keith Mansfield and Johnny Pearson, whose talent and potential as composers he recognised. Robin Phillips managed to hired them before they’ had established a reputation, although they were known within music publishing circles.
Later, Robin Phillips managed to hire some of jazz musicians of the calibre of John Cameron, Syd Clark, Alan Hawkshaw and Alan Parker. Their remit was to provide him with new music, which was referred to as production music. Many of their remits was to write music which matched themes or moods, which initially, wasn’t isn’t easy, but soon, the composers were able to do so. Almost seamlessly, the composers created themes for many well known television shows and films.
For the composers and musicians involved in writing and recording library music, they were part of what was one of the most lucrative areas of music. When EMI realised that KPM Music had one of the best and most profitable music libraries and decided to buy the company. Executives at EMI had spotted the profitability of library music and the consistency, quality and depth of KPM Music’s back catalogue. However, not everyone within the music industry approved of library music.
Other songwriters looked down on writers of library music, and the British Musician’s Union wasn’t fan of library music. They banned their members from working on recording sessions of library music. Somewhat shortsightedly, the Musician’s Union thought that eventually, there would come a time when there was no need for any further recordings. Their fear was that the sheer quantity of back-catalogue would mean no new recordings would be made, and their members would be without work. Fortunately, KPM Records thought of a way to subvert the ban.
KPM Records would fly out composers, arrangers and musicians to Holland and Belgium, where local musicians would join them for recording sessions. This meant that often, the same musicians would play on tracks that were penned by several composers. For the musicians involved, this proved lucrative and some were reluctant to turn their back on session work for companies like KPM Records.
Still the Musician’s Union’s ban continued, and it wasn’t until the late seventies that the Musician’s Union lifted their ban on new recordings of library music. By then, the Musician’s Union realised that they were fighting a losing battle and had no option but to concede defeat.
Meanwhile, the music that was being recorded in Europe and once the ban was lifted in Britain, found its way onto albums of library music released by KPM Music. Again, KPM Music were innovators, and released limited editions of library music. Sometimes, only 1,000 albums were released, and they were sent out to film studios, television and radio stations and advertising agencies. However, by then, interest in library music had grown.
Although the albums of library music were never meant to be commercially available, a coterie of musical connoisseurs had discovered KPM Music’s albums of library music and were determined to add each release to their collection. They weren’t alone.
Later, DJs and sample hungry hip hop and house producers discovered the world of library music. This was a boon for many of these producers who were musically illiterate, and could neither read music nor play an instrument. However, with some lots of practise the musically challenged ‘producers’ were eventually able to sample albums of library music for their latest ‘production’ and very occasionally, this resulted in a hit single for the musical pirates. However, most of the credit should’ve gone to those who made the music that had been sampled.
This included pianist and Hammond organist Alan Hawkshaw and former Shadows drummer Brian Bennett. When Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett teamed up they laid down some of the slickest and funkiest library music was ever recorded in the UK. Especially the music they recorded for KPM which ‘inspired’ several generations of ‘musicians.’
Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett’s KPM recordings have been sampled by artists like Dilla, Nas, Kanye West and Drake. That is no surprise as Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett’s beat driven tracks are among the best library music tracks recorded during the seventies. Forty years later,the two library music veterans are back with their new album Full Circle.
Full Circle comes housed in the authentic and iconic KPM cover which was designed Richard Robinson. It houses a slab of 180 gram vinyl which was pressed by Record Industry in Holland. They’ve done a wonderful job and are to be commended. If only all new vinyl that is released sounded this good.
When Full Circle starts to play, the listener is transported back to the seventies, as laid-back jazz-funk is emitted through the speakers. Full Circle opens with the dreamy and summery Flying which hints at smooth jazz as it meanders along. From the smooth sound of Flying, the Hammond organ driven Hole In One and Reignited are uber funky. Straight Up grooves as the rhythm section and horns unite as bursts of Hammond organ punctate the arrangement. Quite different is the beautiful and ruminative sounding Strengeti. It’s all change on the moderne sounding Open Road where jazz funk and electronica unite successfully as the horns ensure the track swings and then some.
The tempo drops on the floaty and cinematic In The Clouds. Then Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett up the tempo on Corcovado, which is another highlight of Full Circle and showcases their considerable skills. On The Nile sees the quality continue on a track that where smooth jazz horns combine with elements of jazz funk, fusion and electronica.
Marrakech with its cinematic sound paints pictures and encourages the listener to let their imagination run riot. So does the genre-melting Oasis, where rocky guitars and jazzy horns combine. Closing Full Circle is the smokey late night sound of Midnight Jazz which hints at another musical era.
For anyone with even a passing interest in library music, or anyone who likes good music, Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett’s new album Full Circle is essential listening. It features twelve slick, polished tracks from two veterans of British library music. Key to the music are Brian Hawkshaw’s arrangements.
To the rhythm section, Brian Hawkshaw adds the Hammond organ, flute plus horn and string sections. Each instrument is part of a rich musical tapestry which was woven by Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett, and becomes part of their new album Full Circle. It finds two legends of British library music Brian Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett coming Full Circle as they scale the same heights they reached forty years ago in their pomp seventies at KPM.
Alan Hawkshaw/Brian Bennett-Full Circle.
BOB DYLAN-THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOLUME 14:MORE BLOOD, MORE TRACKS-VINYL.
Bob Dylan-The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks-Vinyl.
Label: Legacy Records.
On January the ’20th’ 1975, Bob Dylan released his fifteenth album Blood On The Tracks, to mixed reviews. Despite that, Blood On The Tracks, which was recorded in New York and Minneapolis during September and December 1974 topped the US Billboard 200 and sold over two million copies and was certified double-platinum. Not for the first time were critics were proved wrong.
Bob Dylan’s fans were totally won over by a deeply personal and confessional album, where many of the songs are about his estrangement from his then-wife Sara. This is something Bob Dylan later denied in a number of interviews. However, Bob Dylan’s son Jacob later called Blood On The Tracks was later described by Jacob Dylan as: “his parents talking” on an album that is number sixteen on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and in 2015 was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
Now some forty-three years later, The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks which was recently released on a 2 LP set by Legacy Records and revisits Blood On The Tracks. This comes twenty-seven years after Bob Dylan released The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare and Unreleased) 1961–1991.
The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks is akin to musical time travel, and takes the listener back to 1974, when Bob Dylan spent time recording Blood On The Tracks between the ’16th’ to the ’19th’ ofSeptember 16–19, 1974, at A & R Recording in New York. By then, there were changes afoot in Bob Dylan’s personal life.
Having just completed his 1974 tour with the band, Bob Dylan was in New York for a few weeks while he attended art classes with the painter Norman Rae, who the singer later credited with changing his understanding of time. This resulted in Bob Dylan starting to write a series of songs in a red notebook with his newly acquired knowledge.
It was during this time that Bob Dylan first met Columbia Records employee, Ellen Bernstein. Soon, the pair began a relationship which was to spell the end of Bob Dylan’s marriage to his then-wife Sara.
Later, Bob Dylan took Ellen Bernstein to his farm in Minnesota, where he completed the seventeen songs from which Blood On The Tracks was formed. Little did Bob Dylan realise as he wrote this soul-baring album that later, it would be regarded by many critics as one of the finest collections of love songs of the last century.
Blood On The Tracks is an emotional roller coaster, and features songs that bring to life the hurt and heartache of a marriage where the final curtain was about to fall. Here was an album many record buyers could relate to.
Ironically, before Bob Dylan entered the recording studio he decided to give some of his musician friends a sneak preview of his new songs. David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Tim Drummond and Peter Rowan listened intently as Bob Dylan ran through the songs. When he left the room Stephen Still hadn’t been won over and said: “He’s a good songwriter…but he’s no musician.” This was an ironic comment from a singer-songwriter who never came close to replicating the success Bob Dylan enjoyed.
Prior to recording Bob Dylan thought about using an electric backing band with Mike Bloomfield playing lead guitar. This made sense as the guitarist had played on 1966s Highway 61 Revisited. However, when Bob Dylan played Mike Bloomfield the songs he planned to record, he played them too quickly for the guitarist to learn. Bob Dylan then moved to plan B.
This was recording stripped-back acoustic arrangements of the songs on Blood On The Tracks during sessions in September and December 1974. Not long after the album was completed, Bob Dylan signed to Columbia Records in the hope that their commercial marketing muscle would help result in Blood On The Tracks would be a commercial and critical success.
Alas, the reviews of Blood On The Tracks were mixed, but sold well across the world and was certified gold in Britain, platinum in Canada and double platinum in America after selling two million copies. This was the perfect start to Bob Dylan’s second spell at Columbia Records.
Forty-three years after the release of Blood On The Tracks, the standard edition of The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks turns features eleven songs which ooze emotion, hurt and heartache as Bob Dylan lays bare his soul. Among the highlights of this stripped back collection of songs are Tangled Up In Blue, Shelter From The Storm, You’re A Big Girl Now, If You See Her, Say Hello and You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. The less is more approach works and understated acoustic arrangements are the perfect foil for Bob Dylan’s soul-baring vocals on The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks.
Often albums consisting of outtakes lack quality, and it’s soon apparent why the material has lain unreleased for so long. That isn’t the case on the single disc edition of The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks. For some Bob Dylan fans, this will be a tantalising taste of the delights that await the listener on the six CD set. Many other Bob Dylan fans will be content with the single disc edition of The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks.
Personally, single disc edition of The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks the perfect companion to Blood On The Tracks, which features a truly beautiful and heart-wrenching collection of love songs from Bob Dylan as he lays bare his soul as his marriage to his then wife Sara teeters on the brink, as the hurt and heartache shows in the eleven songs shows.
Bob Dylan-The Bootleg Series Volume 14: More Blood, More Tracks-Vinyl.
THE LIGHTMEN-FREE AS YOU WANNA BE-VINYL.
The Lightmen-Free As You Wanna Be-Vinyl.
Label: Now Again Records.
Before founding The Lightmen, drummer, bandleader and political activist Bubbha Thomas had toured the length and breadth of America playing in R&B revues. The rest of his career had been spent working alongside the legends of jazz and playing on sessions for Peacock and Back Beat Records. However, Bubbha Thomas’ career took a different path in the late-sixties, after witnessing the political and social upheaval that was tearing America apart.
Bubbha Thomas formed a new jazz group The Lightmen, who released four albums of spiritual jazz during the seventies. This includes The Lightmen’s debut album Free As You Wanna Be, which was recently reissued by Now Again Records. It finds The Lightmen following in the footsteps of the late John Coltrane on Free As You Wanna Be, on what was a powerful album of spiritual jazz from Bubbha Thomas’ new band.
He was born and grew up in the Houston’s Fourth Ward, where Bubbha Thomas’ father was a preacher and his mother a musician. Sadly, Bubbha Thomas’ mother passed away before he started school, and he was brought up by his maternal grandmother. Growing up, Bubbha Thomas was a talented basketball player, but it was music that he grew to love.
All around the Fourth Ward, the young Bubbha Thomas heard music playing, especially the blues. He could walk down the streets and hear Big Mama Thornton, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Lightnin’ Hopkins. Bubbha Thomas heard the music as he made his way through the Fourth Ward. This made an impression on Bubbha Thomas, and so do did what was happening within the Fourth Ward.
Many of the black residents who had moved to the Fourth Ward in the post-war years, were becoming upwardly mobile socially and economically. Some were keen to become active politically, while others had joined the police force and were determined to change the force from within. This included by opposing the enforcement of the Jim Crow laws from within the police force. It looked like Houston and the South was changing.
Meanwhile, as Bubbha Thomas headed to school each morning, he always met a professional drummer called Fats. By the time Bubbha Thomas returned home at night, he could hear Fats practising. He had spent most of the day honing his skills and was a talented drummer who made a big impressions on Bubbha Thomas.
By then, Bubbha Thomas was attending Booker T. Washington High School, and was playing basketball. However, his first love was music, and he was the drummer in the intermediate and senior bands. Later, he was taught by Conrad O. Johnson who would later enjoy a successful career in jazz music. Prof as he was affectionately known, would influence many young musicians, including Bubbha Thomas.
Via what was called the orchestra Booker T. Washington High School, Prof introduced his pupils to jazz music. This wasn’t meant to happen, but Prof saw this as part of his pupil’s musical education. The curriculum at the school had been drawn up by white people for primarily white children. Those that were responsible for the curriculum referred to the “orchestra,” which under Prof’s tutelage became a jazz band and Bubbha Thomas’ its drummer.
Between the influence of Prof and Fats, Bubbha Thomas’ people were soon taking attention of the young drummer. He was still playing basketball, but that was more of a hobby. Bubbha Thomas was more interested in music. Meanwhile, he was about to discover the other side of Houston.
When Bubbha Thomas boarded a bus in Houston, he was still forced to sit at the back of the bus, away from his white friends. It’s hard to believe that any civilised society was treating its citizens like this in the fifties. Bubbha Thomas who was still in high school new this was wrong.
Gradually it started to eat away at him, being treated like a second class citizen. Things came to a head when he boarded a bus with his elderly grandmother who was exhausted and needed a seat. The only remaining seat was on the white part of the bus, and Bubbha Thomas encouraged his grandmother to sit down. She wasn’t sure but, was so tired that she eventually sat down. When a white woman got on the bus, she wouldn’t sit down in the empty seat next to Bubbha Thomas’ grandmother. The bus driver was watching what was happening, and stopped the bus and told Bubbha Thomas’ grandmother to get out of her seat and give it the white lady. Bubbha Thomas got upset with the driver, and this resulted in them being thrown off the bus. This was the first time Bubbha Thomas had been a victim of racism, and this would shape his future and eventually he would rail against political and social injustice.
Before that, Bubbha Thomas was hoping to head Wiley College, in East Texas, on a basketball scholarship. He was told that there were no scholarships available until the following year, but he was offered a musical scholarship. Bubbha Thomas and one his neighbours in the Fourth Ward spent the next four years drumming in East Texas.
When Bubbha Thomas returned the his grandmother had died, and the house that he lived in the Fourth Ward had been sold. Meanwhile, the Fourth Ward was now seen as part of the Gregory-Lincoln campus. It wasn’t the place Bubbha Thomas knew and he left the Fourth Ward for good, and moved in with his father in another part of Houston.
That was until Bubbha Thomas received his call up papers, and soon, he was en route to Korea. The irony was he Bubbha Thomas was being asked to fight for a country where he was regularly discriminated against, and couldn’t even sit next to a white person on a bus.
After a few days doing mundane chores in Korea, Bubbha Thomas told a superior officer that he was a musician, and soon doing what he did best playing music. He spent his time in the army playing jazz rather than as a regular soldier. By the time Bubbha Thomas left the army, he was a much better musician than the one that arrived in Korea.
Back home in Houston in 1961, Bubbha Thomas put together his own band and hit the road. Each night, Bubbha Thomas played his own music, but other nights, he was asked to accompany other artists. He and his band backed R&B singer Chuck Jackson, bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins and jazz musicians like Leon Spencer and Melvin Sparks. Before long, Bubbha Thomas and his band were capable of playing every style of music.
It was around this time that Bubbha Thomas met Frederick Tillis who would influence him as a musician. So would Don Wilkerson, who released his debut album The Texas Twister in 1960, and then released a trio of well-regarded albums on Blue Note Records. Soon, Bubbha Thomas and Don Wilkerson were part of a quartet together and played all over Texas.
By the mid-sixties, Bubbha Thomas was a talented and versatile musician who had played all over America. He played from small venues and taken to the stage in some of the most prestigious concert halls America had to offer. However, by then, jazz’s popularity was in the decline in America, and other musical genres were growing in popularity.
Fortunately, Bubbha Thomas was asked to join Chuck Jackson’s band in the mid-sixties, and after that, led a trio in Houston that featured Leon Spencer. Later, Bubbha Thomas founded The Jazz Merchants, who despite their name, weren’t influenced by Houston’s very own The Jazz Crusaders. The Jazz Merchants were determined to head in a different direction and make music that was unique. This they managed to do as the world around them started to change.
By the late-sixties, the civil rights movement had brought about change in America, and the country was changing. Bubbha Thomas had been part of the civil right’s movement and played his part in the changes that were taking place around him. Now he turned his attention to the musicians with the Houston music scene.
While Houston had many talented musicians, Bubbha Thomas realised that they had an image problem. People’s perception of the local musicians wasn’t good. They were seen as people who slept all day, lived on fast food and after gigs drank too much and smoked reefer. Many people were looking down their noses at musicians, and they were starting to receive bad PR. This Bubbha Thomas knew was wrong and ironic as he was university educated, and many of his musician friends were well-educated. Others were studying at college and music was a way of paying the bills. This was very different to the articles that were being write about local musicians in Houston.
Bubbha Thomas started to spend more time with groups of musicians, and got to know them. His next step was to try to get them some much-needed publicity. This was how drummer Bubbha Thomas found himself working for the local anti-poverty, grassroots newspaper Voice Of Hope.
Soon, Bubbha Thomas had a regular column and wrote about a variety of local issues. This resulted in the local police targeting Bubbha Thomas, who was regularly followed and stopped for no apparent reason. The musician and part-time community and cultural activist was once again being discriminated against. Just when it looked as if things were changing in the land of the free.
Meanwhile, Bubbha Thomas was collaborating with playwright, poet and professor at Texas Southern University Thomas Melecon. He was combined the philosophy of the Black Panthers with the style of early Bob Dylan. It was a potent and powerful combination and one that impressed Bubbha Thomas.
So much so, that Bubbha Thomas produced the two singles that Thomas Melecon released on Judnell Records. Not long after this, Bubbha Thomas asked the poet to join him when he played live, and bring a new angle to his music. Bubbha Thomas was already an innovator when it came to art and music.
He was also someone who wanted equality, and when he noticed that there were no black television presenters, wrote to local stations. This resulted in Bubbha Thomas being given his own television show, which sadly, was short-lived. It featured the only live footage of the Kashmere Stage Band, and spiritual jazz combos the Fifth Ward Express and The Lightmen Plus One led by Bubbha Thomas. It was part of his plan for the future.
As 1969 dawned, Bubbha Thomas was leading The Lightmen and The Jazz Merchants. They accompanied some of the high-profile local jazz musicians including Annette Cobb. However, Bubbha Thomas was thinking beyond live gigs and wanted to release music that was very different to what his peers were releasing. The music would be ambitious, innovative and revolutionary, and released on record labels that were co-ops. This was way before Strata in Detroit and Strata Records in New York thought of the concept.
Soon, Bubbha Thomas and his band The Lightmen were rehearsing and writing material for a new album. During the rehearsals before the recording of Free As You Wanna Be, the members of The Lightmen had been discussing the concept of freedom from the perspective of the African-American people. By then, many had started to question the United States’ constitution regarding their rights as American citizens. Ed Rose who knew that Bubbha Thomas had been active within the civil right’s movement asked Bubbha Thomas: “how free are black people in America?”
It took some time before Bubbha Thomas responded: “free as they wanna be.” This inspired Ed Rose to write new track.
He remembers: “with the answer to the question came the name to a tune i had written, the title tune of this album. After the head of tune, there should be no sense of time; each musician has the freedom to be free musically, as he can imagine himself.”
By the time The Lightmen were ready to record their debut album Free As You Wanna Be, members of the band had penned seven tracks. Bandleader Bubbha Thomas had written May ’67, which referred to a clash between student protesters in the Third Ward and the Houston Police Department. During the clashes twenty-four year old rookie policemen Louis Kuba was shot, and 500 people were arrested. These events insured Bubbha Thomas to write May ’67.
Meanwhile, Ed Rose who had written Free As You Wanna Be had also written Luke 23:32-49 which deals with Jesus’ forgiving two criminals just before his crucifixion. These two songs by Ed Rose were joined by Joe Singleton’s High Pockets, Kenny Abair’s Talk Visit, Doug Harris’ #109 Psychosomatic and Creative Music which was a Carl Adams and George Nelson composition. These tracks were recorded by The Lightmen.
Bubbha Thomas’ band featured a rhythm section of drummers Bubbha Thomas and William Jefferies, bassist Ed Rose and guitarist Kenny Abair. They were joined by conga player Mike O’Connor and a horn section that featured trumpeter Carl Adams, trombonist Joe Singleton, tenor saxophonist Doug Harris and flautist Ronnie Laws who played alto and soprano saxophone. The Lightmen’s debut album was produced by George Nelson.
When the Houston underground jazz collective had completed its debut, The Lightmen released Free As You Wanna Be on Judnell Records in 1970. Sadly, The Lightmen’s debut album never found the wider audience it deserved. However, Free As You Wanna Be found a small, but appreciative audience in Houston.
It was only much later that a new generation of record buyers discovered The Lightmen’s debut album Free As You Wanna Be. By then, it was regarded as a hidden gem and an oft-overlooked album that featured music that was ambitious, cerebral, innovative album, powerful and thought-provoking album of spiritual jazz.
Especially tracks like Free As You Wanna Be, May ’67 and the album closer Luke 23:32-49. These are especially thought-provoking and have a strong narrative. However, the album opener Creative Music, High Pockets, Talk Visit and #109 Psychosomatic feature a group of like-minded innovative musicians pushing musical boundaries to their limits and sometimes beyond.
Album opener Creative Music finds spiritual jazz almost heading in the direction of free jazz, before The Lightmen play with speed, power and freedom on Free As You Wanna Be. It gives way to the melodic shuffling High Pockets and then Talk Visit where the tempo increases and The Lightmen keep things melodic. That is despite playing with the utmost urgency, power and accuracy. May ’67 is cinematic and thought-provoking and is without doubt one of Free As You Wanna Be’s highlights. So is #109 Psychosomatic where sharp bursts of squealing horns play their part in the sound and success of the track. Closing Free As You Wanna Be is Luke 23:32-49 which is another slower cinematic and cerebral track from spiritual jazz pioneers The Lightmen.
Forty-eight years after The Lightmen released Free As You Wanna Be, it was recently reissued on vinyl by Now Again Records. This is the perfect opportunity to discover an oft-overlooked spiritual jazz hidden gem that nowadays, has achieved cult status.
It features Bubbha Thomas’ band The Lightmen as they embark on the start of a four album musical journey with Free As You Wanna Be. It’s an album of spiritual jazz that is ambitious and innovative and finds The Lightmen pushing musical boundaries to their limits Free As You Wanna Be as they play with freedom. In doing so, The Lightmen created music that is cerebral, cinematic, melodic and thought-provoking as they broach subjects like freedom, religion and one of the darkest days in Houston’s recent history in May ’67. All this makes Free As You Wanna Be as a compelling and groundbreaking album of spiritual jazz from Houston-based musical mavericks The Lightmen.
The Lightmen-Free As You Wanna Be-Vinyl.
MADELEINE PEYTROUX ANTHEM-VINYL.
Madeleine Petytroux-Anthem-Vinyl.
Label: Decca.
Twenty-two years after singer-songwriter Madeleine Petytroux released her debut album Dreamland in 1996, she recently returned with her eighth album Anthem. It’s the much-anticipated followup to her 2016 album Secular Hymns which was released to plaudits and praise. Just like Secular Hymns, Anthem finds Madeleine Petytroux breathing life, meaning and emotion into twelve new songs. This is nothing new for Madeleine Petytroux during a three decade career.
Madeleine Peyroux was born in Athens, Georgia, on the ‘18th’ of April 1974, but began her musical career as a teenager singing jazz and blues on the streets of Paris. This was Madeleine Peyroux’s musical apprenticeship, and in 1996 the American jazz singer and songwriter released her debut album Dreamland. It was a tantalising taste of what as to come from twenty-two year old Madeleine Peyroux.
Eight long years passed before Madeleine Peyroux returned with her eagerly awaited sophomore album. When Careless Love was released in 2004 Madeleine Peyroux realised the potential that was apparent on Dreamland and sold in excess of 500,000 albums. Careless Love launched Madeleine Peyroux’s career;
Just two years later Madeleine Peyroux returned with Half The Perfect World in 2006, which featured covers of songs by Tom Waits, Fred Neil and Leonard Cohen. Critics were won over by Half The Perfect World, and the followup Bare Bones in 2009. It featured eleven songs which Madeleine Peyroux wrote with various songwriting partners. Madeleine Peyroux was already being hailed as one of the most talented singer-songwriters of her generation.
This was confirmed by the release of Standing On The Rooftop which was Madeleine Peyroux’s 2011 debut for Decca. Madeleine Peyroux had written the majority of songs on Standing On The Rooftop as she pushed musical boundaries and tried to change people’s perception of her music.
Two years later in 2013 Madeleine Peyroux released The Blue Room to widespread critical acclaim. Her followup to Standing On The Rooftop was hailed as one of her finest albums.
The following year, 2014, Keep Me In Your Heart For A While-The Best Of Madeleine Peyroux was released by the Rounder Records. It was the perfect introduction to Madeleine Peyroux who returned in 2016 with her seventh studio album Secular Hymns. It was a vibrant and soulful album that featured everything from funk, blues and jazz as Madeleine Peyroux showcased her talent and versatility. Critical acclaim accompanied Madeleine Peyroux who was celebrating twenty years as a recording artist.
Just two years later Madeleine Peyroux returned with her eight studio album Anthem, which features twelve new songs with strong narratives that are poignant, ironic, full of pathos and social comment. The songs on Anthem found Madeleine Peyroux collaborating with various songwriters and musicians.
This included Patrick Warren who previously has worked with everyone from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, JD Souther, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Madeleine Peyroux also joined forces with Brian MacLeod who has worked with Leonard Cohen and Tina Turner. David Baerwald who has worked with Joni Mitchell and Sheryl Crow was Madeleine Peyroux’s other songwriting partner and when it came time to record Anthem, her three songwriting partners became her rhythm section. This talented trio provided the perfect foil to Madeleine Peyroux.
Recording of Anthem began during what proved to be the crucial period of the 2016 US elections. Madeleine Peyroux and Larry Klein who cowrote and produced Anthem watched as events unfolded before their very eyes. They knew if they were going to comment on what had happened that didn’t want to come across as preaching to the listener.
Instead, Madeleine Peyroux and her collaborators penned twelve songs which looked at subjects including the then political landscape and the singer’s personal life. Other songs combine what’s going on in the outside world with their personal lives, and this resulted in songs tinged with humour and empathy. The result was Anthem an album that was a sobering, philosophical and poetic assessment of the world today as seen through Madeleine Peyroux’s eyes.
Part of the success of the album was Madeleine Peyroux and fellow songwriters sitting together in one room, as they considered idea for Anthem. This proved to be a masterstroke as each member of the team came up with ideas for Anthem.
This included the sadness felt by David Baerwald’s after the passing of poet John Ashbery. The loss resulted in thoughts of hugely admired figures lost over recent years and resulted in the song All My Heroes which pays tribute to pioneers and innovators who although they: “light fires in the shadows,” have a degree of vulnerability that makes them human.
Opening Anthem is the jazzy and wistful sounding On My Own, which is the strongest track on the album and features Madeleine Peyroux at her best. There’s a poignancy to Down On Me which deals with the financial problems that many people are currently experiencing. The rueful bluesy Ghosts of Tomorrow is a tale of dreams unfulfilled, while The Brand New Deal full of powerful and scornful social commentary. There’s also two cover versions on the album, including a soulful rendition of Anthem penned by Madeleine Peyroux’s hero the late, great Leonard Cohen. Closing Anthem is Paul Eluard’s World War II poem Liberté, which is a sobering and thought-provoking way to close Madeleine Peyroux’s eighth album.
Anthem which is primarily a jazz album which sometimes heads in the direction of blues is without doubt one of the finest albums of forty-four year old Madeleine Peyroux’s twenty-two year recording career. It’s a carefully crafted album, which was honed by a small but talented band and together, they have created the finest album of Madeleine Peyroux’s Decca years.
Quite simply, Anthem is a truly ambitious album and sets the bar for future albums from Madeleine Peyroux. The twelve tracks are variously beautiful, cerebral, sobering and full of social comment while others reflect on loss and love and are thought-provoking and wistful. Anthem features Madeleine Peyroux back to her very best on what’s without the finest album of her Decca years, and quite possibly her finest album since her 2004 breakthrough album Careless Love.
Madeleine Petytroux-Anthem-Vinyl.
FAME NORTHERN SOUL.
Fame Northern Soul .
Label: Kent.
Mention Southern Soul, and there are certain record labels that spring to mind, including Stax, Hi Records and Fame Records. It’s no exaggeration to say that these three labels are synonymous with Southern Soul. Together they released some of the greatest music in the history of Southern Soul.
Indeed, the artists who walked through the doors of Stax, Hi and Fame Records reads like a who’s who of Southern Soul. However, for far too long, Southern Soul has been overlooked, and instead, record labels have focused on labels like Philadelphia International Records and Motown. Thankfully, that is no longer the case as reissue labels like Kent Soul, a subsidiary of Ace Records, are releasing a series of lovingly compiled compilations of music released by Fame Records. The most recent compilation is Fame Northern Soul.
The story starts during late fifties when Rick Hall, Tom Stafford and Billy Sherill founded a record label, and built their first studio above the City Drug Store in Florence, Alabama. However, by the early sixties, this nascent partnership would split-up, resulting in Tom Stafford and Rick Hall needing a new studio. They decided to move to what had been a tobacco warehouse in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As if by magic, Rick Hall soon recorded what would be his first hit single, Arthur Alexander’s You Better Move On. Wisely, he decided to invest the profit in a better studio, and moved to their current location Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The first hit single Rick Hall recorded in his new studio was Jimmy Hughes’ Steal Away. Little did Rick Hall know it back then, but soon his new studio would see artists coming from far and wide to record at Fame.
After Rick’ Halls success with Jimmy Hughes, word got out that Fame was the place to go to record a new single or album. Quickly, everyone from Tommy Roe to The Tams, and from Joe Tex, Joe Simon, George Jackson and Clyde McPhatter right through to Irma Thomas, Etta James and Mitty Collier. Even Aretha Franklin recorded at Muscle Shoals. Indeed, it was at Muscle Shoals that Jerry Wexler brought Aretha Franklin, to record her 1967 album I Never Loved A Man the Way I Loved You. However, why did all these artists choose to head to Muscle Shoals to Fame?
Part of the reason was the session musicians that worked with Rick Hall. This included the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and Muscle Shoals Horns. They were some of the hottest and tightest musicians of that era. This included drummer Rodger Hawkins, bassist David Hood, guitarist Jimmy Johnson and keyboardist Barry Beckett. When they recorded together, they were one of the finest backing bands ever. Between 1961 and 1969, when they departed from Fame to found the rival studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. However, for eight years, they graced numerous hit singles and album. This includes some of the tracks on Fame Northern Soul.
The twenty-four tracks on Fame Northern Soul showcases just how versatile the songwriters and musicians at Fame were. While their speciality was Southern Soul, part of their recipe for success was being able to play all types of music at the Muscle Shoals studios. They also were able to follow and replicate the soul trends of Motown soul factory and the innovative sounds of Stax. Fame Northern Soul is a showcase for the versatility of the musicians and producers at Fame Records.
Opening Fame Northern Soul opens with James Barnett’s Keep On Talking which is the first of series gritty uptempo Southern Soul club classics. It’s joined by Clarence Carter’s Looking For A Fox, Arthur Conley’s ‘I Can’t Stop (No, No, No) and Linda Carr’s Everytime. It’s four to the floor all the way on this quartet of dancefloor fillers that proved popular on the UK Northern Soul scene.
The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section were also able to replicate the big city soul sounds of New York and Los Angeles. Examples of this include Jimmy Hughes’ I’m Getting Better’ and June Conquest’s Almost Persuaded which are welcome additions to Fame Northern Soul.
As the sixties gave way to the seventies, the success continued at Fame, and the productions took on a much more polished sound. Proof of that is George Soulé’s Midnight Affair’ and Spencer Wiggins’ I’m At The Breaking Point which was another dancefloor filler and favourite of DJs and dancers.
Then there’s the pulsating rhythms on Billy and Clyde on A World Of My Own and George Jackson’s It’s Not Safe To Mess On Me. Another standout track is Ben and Spence’s atmospheric and broody Stone Loser. It’s joined by Baby Come Back’ a welcome contribution by sixties soul group Bobby Moore and The Rhythm Aces. However, two other highlights include I Can’t Stop (No, No, No) by Arthur Conley and Otis Clay’s remake of Jimmy Hughes’ I’m Qualified. Ralph “Soul” Jackson’s covered Jimmy Hughes You Really Know How To Hurt A Guy, and does so beautifully. Very different is Dan Brantley’s stomper The Door To My Heart while Marjorie Ingram who contributes In The Heat Of Love. Closing Fame Northern Soul is Prince Phillip’s Love Is A Wonderful Thing which epitomises everything that is good about Southern Soul.
The twenty-four tracks on Fame Northern Soul are sure to appeal to fans of both Southern and Northern Soul. It’s quality all the way on Fame Northern Soul, which is a lovingly compiled compilation and a reminder of one of the great Southern Soul labels at the peak of its considerable powers. It released some of the greatest music in the history of Southern Soul, but some of the music recorded at Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, later became popular on the UK’s Northern Soul scene and is documented on Kent’s new compilation Fame Northern Soul.
Fame Northern Soul.
BITTESCHON PHILOPON! VOLUME 1.
Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1.
Label: Philophon.
Release Date: ‘7th’ December 2018.
The Berlin based Philophon label will release their first ever label compilation Bitteschon Philophon!Volume 1 on the ‘7th’ December 2018. Bitteschon Philophon!Volume 1 is essentially a best of compilation, that features ten tracks from the first fifteen seven-inch singles released on Philophon. These fifteen tracks feature some well known names.
This includes Jimi Tenor, Alemayehu Eshete and Hailu Mergia. They’re joined by new names like Guy One, Alogte Oho and Y-Bayani and His Band Of Enlightenment Reason and Love on Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1 which is a perfect introduction to one of the most eclectic labels in Germany.
One of the new names on Guy One, who contributes the soulful, funky Estre the B-Side to his 2017 single Everything You Do, You Do For Yourself. Both sides showcase a talented rising star of music.
Alemayehu Eshete is an Ethiopian soul and Ethio jazz singer, who is nicknamed “Ethiopian Elvis.” He’s one of the biggest names on Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1. His contribution is Alteleyeshegnem which he released as a single in 2017.
The teen party edit of Jimi Tenor’s My Mind Will Travel was found on the B-side of is 2018 single Quantum Connection. It’s a potpourri of jazz, funk and soul from a true musical pioneer.
Y-Bayani and His Band Of Enlightenment Reason and Love contributes two slices of quality reggae to Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1, This includes their 2018 single Rhewe Mie Enyim and Asembi Ara Amba.
Invisible Joy is the B-Side of Bajka’s 2016 single The World. It’s a fusion of avant-garde jazz, funk and pop which is truly memorable. Equally memorable is Lee Dodou and The Polyversal Souls’ highlife track Basa Basa. So is Alogte Oho and His Sounds Of Joy Frafra-Gospel single Mam Yinne Wa which was released in 2016.
Hailu Mergia will still be a new name to many music fans, but the Ethiopian organist and synth player is held in the highest regard by a coterie of discerning musical connoisseurs. His 2015 single Yegle Nesh is a tantalising taste of one of Ethiopia’s most talented musicians.
Closing Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1 is The Polyversal Souls’ Portrait Of Alemayehu (Daytime). It’s a haunting track that meanders along, revealing its secrets as this genre-melting track unfolds. As is often the case on completions, it’s a case of keeping the best until last.
For anyone with eclectic musical tastes then Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1 is a compilation to look out. It features ten tracks that were released on singles between 2015 and 2018 on the Berlin-based Philophon label. It’s quality all the way on Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1, which is truly eclectic compilation that is a cut above the compilations released at this time of the year.
Bitteschon Philophon! Volume 1.
STAX 68: A MEMPHIS STORY.
Stax 68: A Memphis Story.
Label: UMC.
Nowadays, many historians regard 1963 as the height of the Civil Rights movement in America, which many African-Americans had devoted themselves to, and had been working towards the day when America would be fully integrated. That was the day that they had long dreamt about. Sometimes, it seemed tantalisingly close, other times, it looked as if their dream of integration and equality was out of reach. However, the members of the Civil Rights movement were never going to give up on that dream. Their American Dream was integration and equality.
Things started to change after The Civil Rights Act 1964 was enacted. It banned discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin in employment practices. The Civil Rights Act 1964 also ended unequal application of voter registration requirements, and prohibited racial segregation in schools, the workplace and in public accommodation. This was a huge step forward towards for the African-Americans population.
So was the implementation of The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which restored and protected voting rights for minorities. This was a hugely important piece of legislation. Another important piece of legislation was The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which removed racial and national barriers to immigration, and expanded opportunities for immigrants from regions other than Europe. The third piece of important piece if legislation was The Fair Housing Act 1968, which banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. It looked as if progress was being made in America.
Especially as many African Americans made a conscious decision to re-enter politics, even in the deep South. Other young African Americans became involved in the Civil Rights’ movement. It looked as if this was a new beginning in America.
While America was changing, there was widespread rioting in many of America’s inner cities. This began in the African-American communities in 1964, and lasted right through to 1970. By then, the nascent Black Power movement’s influence was growing.
The Black Power movement’s roots can be traced back to the mid-sixties. By 1966, different groups within the Civil Rights movement had embraced the slogan Black Power. This included SNCC and CORE during the nineteen day March Against Fear in June 1966. Both organisations embraced the slogan Black Power, using it as way to describe trends towards militancy and self-reliance. Elsewhere, the Black Power movement started to gain and promote more of a sense in black pride and identity as well.
Among the most public faces of the Black Power movement were the Black Panther Party, which had been founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966. They adopted their own dress code, created a ten point plan, openly displayed firearms, used the clenched fist as a symbol of solidarity and used the slogan: “power to the people.” However, the Black Panther Party adopted the ideology of Malcolm X, the former member of the Nation of Islam, and used a: “by-any-means necessary” approach to stop inequality.
By 1968, the militant calls for Black Power were growing louder. It was a frustrating and worrying time for all African-Americans, not just those involved in the Civil Rights’ Movement.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 had been filibustered as the year dawned. This had happened several times before, and most likely, would’ve happened again. However, when The National Advisory Commission On Civil Disorders in 1967 published its report on the ‘1st’ March 1968, it recommended that: “a comprehensive and enforceable federal open housing law” was a possible remedy to the civil disturbances. It looked as if there was a solution to what had been a long running problem.
Ironically, as The Senate debated The Civil Rights Act of 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis, on April the ‘4th’ 1968. This lead to the worst ever wave of civil unrest. Suddenly, filibustering was a thing of the past. The House passed The Civil Rights Act of 1968 on April ’10th’ and President Johnson signed it a day later on the ‘11th’. Although this was a important day for African-Americans, the death of Martin Luther King Jr, who had been an inspirational figure for many within the Civil Rights’ Movement.
This included in Memphis, the city where thirty-nine year old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr lost his life. Many African-Americans were left reeling at the loss of such a brave and inspirational figure who had touched their lives. So had another man who died the previous year, 1967, Otis Redding.
The legendary soul singer was just twenty-six when his plane crashed trying to make an emergence landing at Madison, Wisconsin on December the ’10th’ 1967. That day, soul music lost a true great, and one of seven who lost their lives that day. This included four members of the Bar-Kays, who like Otis Redding were signed to Stax Records.
This was just the latest disaster for Stax Records during 1967. Earlier in 1967, a deal with Atlantic Records was dissolved and gave the label perpetual rights to Stax’s back catalogue. To make matters worse, after the end of the Atlantic Records’ deal, Sam and Dave left Stax. Rubbing salt into the wound, the two soul men signed to Atlantic, but still released their music on Stax. This was the latest chapter in what was an eventful and traumatic year for everyone at Stax.
As 1968 dawned, Stax had no option but to reinvent one of soul music’s premier labels. Stax released real soul, not the sanitised brand version that was churned out of the Motown assembly line. However, as the reinvention of Stax began, the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr had a massive impact on the label’s direction. The resulting social, political, and cultural catastrophe’s would affect the way Stax was run, and the music it released during 1968.
That music is found on Stax 68: A Memphis Story, which is a five disc box set released by UMC. Stax 68: A Memphis Story features 134 tracks, which consists of the sixty-seven singles released by the label during 1968.
Disc One.
Opening disc one of Stax 68: A Memphis Story is Otis Redding’s classic posthumous single (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, which was Stax’s first single of 1968. This was followed by Sam and Dave’s I Thank You, which was their swan-song for Stax.
Other highlights on disc one include Shirley Walton’s I Was Born To Love You, plus Eddie Floyd’s Big Bird which documents his story of flying to Otis Redding’s funeral. These tracks are joined by Johnnie Taylor’s Next Time, William Bell’s Every Man Oughta Have A Woman and Jeanne and The Darlings’ What Will Later On Be Like. They’re a tantalising taste of the music being released by Stax during 1968.
Disc Two.
There’s no shortage of highlights on disc two of Stax 68: A Memphis Story, including of Lynda Lyndell’s Bring Your Love Back To Me and Carla Thomas’ I Want You Back. Two of the most influential figures in the history of Stax contribute standout tracks including Isaac Hayes’ Precious Precious and Otis Redding’s B-Side Open The Door. Albert King’s You’re Gonna Need Me, Johnnie Taylor’s emotional reading of Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire and Shirley Walton’s The One You Can’t Have All By Yourself are all welcome additions to Stax 68: A Memphis Story.
Disc Three.
There’s twenty-nine tracks on disc three of Stax 68: A Memphis Story, and it’s highlights aplenty. This includes Booker T. and The MG’s’ classic instrumental Soul Limbo, Eddie Floyd’s I Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) and Delaney and Bonnie’s powerful rendition of It’s Been A Long Time Coming.
Quite different, and very beautiful and emotional are Johnny Daye’s pleading Stay Baby Stay, Bobby Whitlock’s cover of And I Love You and Judy Clay and William Bell’s classic duet Private Number. Then there’s Jimmy Hughes’ I Like Everything About You, Lindell Hill’ rueful reading of Used to Be Love.
Judy Clay’s Remove These Clouds and The Staple Singers’ Long Walk To D.C are both powerful songs and perfect to close disc three of Stax 68: A Memphis Story.
Disc Four.
Disc four of Stax 68: A Memphis Story opens with The Staple Singers’ Stay With Us and includes highlights like The Soul Children’s Give ‘Em Love and Carla Thomas’ I’ve Fallen in Love. They’re joined by Jeanne and The Darlings: “I Like What You’re Doing To Me, Eddie Floyd’s Bring It On Home To Me and Booker T. and The MG’s’ Hang ‘Em High. Closing disc four is Bar-Kays’ In the Hole, which is something of a hidden gem.
Disc Five.
The fifth and final disc on Stax 68: A Memphis Story features contributions from familiar faces and some of the lesser known names that caked Stax home, even briefly. Among the highlights are William Bell’s rueful I Forgot to Be Your Lover, The Soul Children’s I’ll Understand and The Staple Singers’ The Ghetto. Bluesman Albert King’s Night Stomp and Rufus Thomas’ I Want to Hold You are both welcome additions and so is Johnnie Taylor’s Hold On This Time which closes disc five of Stax 68: A Memphis Story.
For fans of soul music, the lovingly curated five disc box set Stax 68: A Memphis Story, which was recently released by UMC, is one of the box sets of 2018. It documents what was one of the most important years in the history of Stax.
Sadly, it was also the year that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis. This changed the music that was being recorded at Stax, and there were social, political, and cultural changes that are reflected in the music on Stax 68: A Memphis Story.
Stax 68: A Memphis Story is the latest lovingly curated box set which is a reminder of one of soul’s great labels as it rebuilt and reinvented itself after a truly turbulent year.
Stax 68: A Memphis Story
KEITH MANSFIELD AND JOHN CAMERON-VOICES IN HARMONY.
Keith Mansfield and John Cameron-Voices In Harmony.
Label: Be With Records.
Over the last year or so, Be With Records have been working with KPM to reissue ten albums from across the KPM 1000 Series and the Themes International Music catalogue. This includes Voices In Harmony, which features two of the leading lights of the British library music, Keith Mansfield and John Cameron. They were responsible for some of the best library music that KPM released during the sixties, seventies and eighties.
This was a golden period for library music, and KPM Music was one of the giants. KPM Music was old-established company whose history can be traced back over two centuries.
KPM Music.
Robert Keith founded a comp[any in 1780, to make of musical instruments, and fifty years later, in 1830, entered into a partnership with William Prowse, a music publisher. The newly formed partnership was named Keith Prowse Music (KPM), and over the next hundred years, the company grew and expanded into other areas,
By the early twentieth century, Keith Prowse Music was selling sheet music and concert tickets, but it was the invention of the gramophone proved to be a game-changer. Demand for sheet music and concert tickets grew, and in 1955, Keith Prowse Music was decided to diversify, into one of the most profitable areas of music, music publishing.
One of the reasons behind the decision to diversify into music publishing, was to feed the demand for soundtracks for radio, television and film. Previously, music libraries supplied classical music, which was what was required. By the mid-fifties, and the birth of television, the world and music were changing, and changing fast.
Four years later, in 1959, Associated Rediffusion bought another music publisher Peter Maurice and merged it with Keith Prowse Music. The newly merged company became Keith Prowse Maurice, which became known as KPM Music. The newly named KPM Music was a much bigger player in the world music publishing. However, in the mid-sixties, a new name took the helm at KPM Music, and transformed the company into one of the biggest names in library music.
When Robin Phillips joined KPM Music in the mid-sixties, he proved to be an astute and visionary businessman. Two decisions Robin Phillips made demonstrate why. His first decision was that KPM Music should switch from the old 78 records to the LP, which made sense, as LPs were what people were buying. They were less prone to breakage, which meant less returns and more profit. LPs could contain more music, and could be released in limited editions of 1,000. The other decision he made was to hire the best young British composers and arrangers.
Among the composers Robin Phillips hired were Keith Mansfield and Johnny Pearson, whose talent and potential as composers he recognised. Robin Phillips managed to hired them before they’ had established a reputation, although they were known within music publishing circles.
Later, Robin Phillips managed to hire some of jazz musicians of the calibre of John Cameron, Syd Clark, Alan Hawkshaw and Alan Parker. Their remit was to provide him with new music, which was referred to as production music. Many of their remits was to write music which matched themes or moods, which initially, wasn’t isn’t easy, but soon, the composers were able to do so. Almost seamlessly, the composers created themes for many well known television shows and films.
For the composers and musicians involved in writing and recording library music, they were part of what was one of the most lucrative areas of music. When EMI realised that KPM Music had one of the best and most profitable music libraries and decided to buy the company. Executives at EMI had spotted the profitability of library music and the consistency, quality and depth of KPM Music’s back catalogue. However, not everyone within the music industry approved of library music.
Other songwriters looked down on writers of library music, and the British Musician’s Union wasn’t fan of library music. They banned their members from working on recording sessions of library music. Somewhat shortsightedly, the Musician’s Union thought that eventually, there would come a time when there was no need for any further recordings. Their fear was that the sheer quantity of back-catalogue would mean no new recordings would be made, and their members would be without work. Fortunately, KPM Records thought of a way to subvert the ban.
KPM Records would fly out composers, arrangers and musicians to Holland and Belgium, where local musicians would join them for recording sessions. This meant that often, the same musicians would play on tracks that were penned by several composers. For the musicians involved, this proved lucrative and some were reluctant to turn their back on session work for companies like KPM Records.
Still the Musician’s Union’s ban continued, and it wasn’t until the late seventies that the Musician’s Union lifted their ban on new recordings of library music. By then, the Musician’s Union realised that they were fighting a losing battle and had no option but to concede defeat.
Meanwhile, the music that was being recorded in Europe and once the ban was lifted in Britain, found its way onto albums of library music released by KPM Music. Again, KPM Music were innovators, and released limited editions of library music. Sometimes, only 1,000 albums were released, and they were sent out to film studios, television and radio stations and advertising agencies. However, by then, interest in library music had grown.
Although the albums of library music were never meant to be commercially available, a coterie of musical connoisseurs had discovered KPM Music’s albums of library music and were determined to add each release to their collection. They weren’t alone.
Later, DJs and sample hungry hip hop and house producers discovered the world of library music. This was a boon for many of these producers who were musically illiterate, and could neither read music nor play an instrument. However, with some lots of practise the musically challenged ‘producers’ were eventually able to sample albums of library music for their latest ‘production’ and very occasionally, this resulted in a hit single for the musical pirates. However, most of the credit should’ve gone to those who made the music that had been sampled.
This included the musicians who made the library music which was a favourite of the pirate producers. At KPM Music, Keith Mansfield and John Cameron issued Voices In Harmony in 1973.
It was featured what was marketed as: ”a selection of contemporary pop titles featuring voices, brass and rhythm.” The fifteen tracks can also be described as string drenched, smooth, sentimental, soulful and upbeat with beautiful, bubbly, dreamy, exuberant, light, soft and smooth vocals. They play an important part in the sound and success of the is the case throughout Voices In Harmony.
Opening Voices In Harmony is The Joys Of Spring, which seems a long way away, especially for those counting the days to a rendezvous in a faraway land. This upbeat and bubbly tracks features strings and horns on this Keith Mansfield composition. Other highlights include Keith Mansfield’s Loving Touch and Gentle Persuasion where flutes are used effectively and help conjure up warm soulful music that conjures up idyllic dreamy days in the spring sunshine. Another highlight from Keith Mansfield is the smooth sounding Husky Birdsong with its unyielding and irresistible Bossa Nova bass line and warm keyboards.
John Cameron’s Half Forgotten Daydreams features a beautiful wordless groove. Closing Voices In Harmony is Liquid Sunshine, with its gently rhythmic harmonies. It’s the perfect way to close Voices In Harmony which is welcome reissue from Be With Record
Just like all ten reissues, the music for Voices In Harmony comes from the original analog tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Simon Francis. The sleeve for Voices In Harmony was reproduced by Richard Robinson and houses a quality pressing of 180 gram vinyl.
Given the recent resurgence in interest in library music there’s been a number of compilations of library music released over the last few years. However, the reissue of Voices In Harmony from the KPM 100 series is a welcome reissue from Be With Records. Voices In Harmony is also a reminder of Keith Mansfield and John Cameron, who were two giants of British library music at the peak of their powers in 1973.
Keith Mansfield and John Cameron-Voices In Harmony.
ART VAN DAMME ECSTASY.
Art Van Damme-Ecstasy.
Label: MPS Records.
During a long and distinguished career, American jazz accordionist Art Van Damme was called: “the hippest cat ever to Swing an accordion,” and revolutionised the way that the accordion was played. Suddenly, the accordion was no longer regarded as an instrument that just played polka music. Now the accordion was regarded as a serious instrument that played jazz, and their was no finer practitioner than Art Van Damme.
He enjoyed a long and illustrious career, and enjoyed a recording career that spanned four decades. One of Art Van Damme’s finest albums was Ecstasy, which has just been reissued by MPS Records. It’s a reminder of: “the hippest cat ever to Swing an accordion.”
Art Van Damme was born in Norway, Michigan, on the ‘9th’ of April 1920, and started playing the accordion as a nine-year old. In 1934, Art Van Damme’s family moved to the Windy City of Chicago where he started to receive a classical training. However, when he was twenty-one, Art Van Damme turned his back on his classical training.
In 1941, Art Van Damme joined Ben Bernie’s band and the accordionist played alongside the American jazz violinist, bandleader, and radio personality. Soon, Art Van Damme was adapting Benny Goodman’s music for the accordion. This was the start of Art Van Damme reinventing the way the way the accordion was played.
By 1945, Art Van Damme found himself working for NBC TV and performing on programmes like The Dinah Shore Show, Tonight and The Dave Garroway Show. He also played on various radio and TV shows, often with Dave Garroway. There was also the small matter of 130 episodes fifteen minute episodes of The Art Van Damme Show for NBC Radio. During this period, Art Van Damme’s popularity soared and he was playing non stop. So much so, that Art Van Damme had no need for practise.
As the fifties dawned, Art Van Damme released his debut album Cocktail Capers on Capitol in 1950. Two years later, in 1952 More Cocktail Capers followed with Martini Time next in 1953. Over the next six years, Art Van Damme released eight more albums, taking his total to eleven between 1950 and 1959.
Accordion à la Mode followed two years in 1961 as the Columbia years continued. Art Van Damme Swings Sweetly followed in 1962, with Perfect Match following in 1963, which featured jazz guitarist Johnny Smith. However, the release of Septet: The New Sound Of Art Van Damme in 1964 marked the end of the Columbia years.
After releasing the Lover Man compilation on Pickwick in 1965, Art Van Damme signed for MPS Records in 1966.
By then, Art Van Damme was a familiar face on the Europe, and eventually toured the continent forty times. The European audiences were won over by Art Van Damme’s inimitable sound which featured guitar, vibes and accordion. This sound proved popular when Art Van Damme signed to MPS Records.
His MPS Records’ years began the release of With Art Van Damme In San Francisco in 1966. This was the start of a period when Art Van Damme recorded some of the best music of his career. Part of the reason for this was he had carte blanche to do what he wanted.
Now he was signed to a label that was willing to give him a free hand, Art Van Damme began work on three of his finest albums Ecstasy, The Gentle Art of Art, and Lullaby In Rhythm which were recorded during 1967 and 1968 with the MPS Records’ rhythm section of Swiss drummer Charly Antolini and German bassist Peter White. Bandleader Van Damme brought along his Chicago-based guitarist Freddy Rundquist and German vibes player Herbert Thusek. They ensured that the guitar, vibes and accordion sound was to the fore on the three albums.
On Ecstasy, Art Van Damme opened the album with the classic Satin Doll and followed this with Autumn In New York and later, Blue Light and Shadows, Love Walked In and It Could Happen To You where the group showcase their unique sound. Meanwhile, Art Van Damme gives a virtuoso fleet fingered performance as he plays with speed, accuracy and a light touch, sometimes emphasising the lyric and melody and other times adding flamboyant flourishes. This continues on Since I Fell For You, Easy Swing and Nancy which closes Ecstasy.
For Art Van Damme, Ecstasy was one of his finest albums not just of the MPS Records years, but his long and distinguished career. Ecstasy is a reminder of Art Van Damme “the hippest cat ever to swing an accordion,” at the peak of his considerable powers in 1967.
Art Van Damme-Ecstasy.
THELONIOUS MONK-MONK-VINYL.
Thelonious Monk-Monk-Vinyl.
Label: Gearbox Records.
Over the last few years, the fashion has been for a minimalism within the hipper home, and it has been fashionable to declutter and adopt a less is more look. Some people have been so keen to declutter that they don’t seem to care about what they thrown away. However, it’s not just the hipper home where scant regard is pad to what’s being discarded.
The same thing happened twenty years ago when someone was on a decluttering mission at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in Copenhagen, and threw away a Scotch Broadcast Tape that featured recording of Thelonious Monk from 1963. Fortunately, when the master tape was lying in a skip it was spotted by a producer who realising the importance of the tape, rescued it. Now twenty years later, that tape, which features Thelonious Monk’s classic quartet has been released by Gearbox Records as Monk. This newly released recording of Monk features the pianist at the peak of his powers.
Although Thelonious Monk is now regarded as one of the great jazz pianists, he wasn’t without his critics with poet and jazz critic Phillip Larkin dismissing him as: “the elephant on the keyboard.” Sadly, it seemed not everyone appreciated Thelonious Monk’s innovative approach to jazz music.
That is despite Thelonious Monk as now being the second-most covered jazz composer of all time. That is pretty good going as Thelonious Monk composed only seventy pieces. These compositions and improvisations featured dissonances and what are best described as angular melodic twists, which are an accurate representation of his unique approach to the piano. Initially, it was described as hard swinging, but evolved over the next twenty years.
Those that had followed Thelonious Monk career watched his style evolve, and his extremely percussive attack which featured abrupt and dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, pauses and hesitations, which divided the opinion of jazz critics and fans. What they forgot, was that Thelonious Monk was a relative latecomer to jazz, and had started his career accompanying a touring evangelist on an old church organ. In some ways, Thelonious Monk was making up for lost time, as he was already twenty-four before he first started playing jazz.
Despite arriving to the party late, Thelonious Monk was soon making up for lost time, and from the early fifties, was working as bandleader, sideman and collaborating with other future giants of jazz. He had started off at Blue Note Records between 1948 and 1952, before moving to Prestige Records where he spent two years between 1952 and 1954. After that, Thelonious Monk moved to Riverside Records which was his home between 1955 and 1961, and by then, his star was in the ascendancy.
This was quite remarkable given everything that Thelonious Monk had been through since the early fifties. He had his New York cabaret card revoked in 1951, when he became the latest victim of a trumped narcotics charge. This meant that Thelonious Monk was unable to play in New York’s club’s for six long years. During that time, Thelonious Monk signed to Riverside Records in 1955, which was his home until 1961.
Although Thelonious Monk was held in high regard by critics and commentators, sadly, for someone so talented, his records weren’t selling well. In 1955, he agreed to release an albums of jazz standards, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington in the hope that this would increase his profile and record sales. However, later in 1955 tragedy struck for Thelonious Monk.
Towards the end of 1955, Thelonious Monk’s mother passed away, and the following year, 1956, a fire destroyed the pianist’s apartment in West ‘63rd’ Street, New York. Thelonious Monk and family were left destitute, and his family of five had no option but to stay with friends for several months, with fifteen people shoehorned into a three room apartment. Meanwhile, Thelonious Monk continued to live with an undiagnosed bipolar disorder, which nobody was aware at the time. Despite this, he released Brilliant Corners an album of hard bop in late 1956, which was one of the finest albums he released for Riverside Records.
In 1957, Thelonious Monk’s run of bad luck continued when he was involved in a car accident, and when the police discovered him unresponsive, took him to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, where he spent three weeks. By then, Thelonious Monk was unaware that his father had been living in a psychiatric hospital for the past fifteen years
Things got worse for Thelonious Monk in May 1957, when his wife Nellie became ill, and required a thyroidectomy. After the operation, she became frail and depressed, which affected Thelonious Monk’s wellbeing. The last two years had been hard on the couple, but at least Thelonious Monk was about to get his New York cabaret card back, and could start playing live in the Big Apple.
By then, Thelonious Monk had a manager, and started a six-month residency at the Five Spot Café, and had formed a friendship with John Coltrane. This was a coincidence as many of John Coltrane’s band had served their music apprenticeship Five Spot.
During Thelonious Monk’s residency at the Five Spot Café during 1957 and 1958, the sharp dressed and sartorially elegant pianist took to the stage with his carefully cultivated look. Thelonious Monk wore suits, hats and had taken to wearing sunglasses which hid the window to his troubled and weary soul. Still, he dazzled patrons with his unique playing style as he switched between standards and his own compositions. Thelonious Monk was back in the Big Apple, after a six-year absence.
With Thelonious Monk’s albums still not selling well by 1958, he was asked to release a second album of jazz standards. It was hoped that The Unique Thelonious Monk would increase his profile and record sales. Ironically, later, in 1958, Thelonious Monk’s face was all over American newspapers, after his latest brush with the law.
Thelonious Monk had been hired to play for a week at the Comedy Club, in Maryland, and on his way to the gig, he and Nica De Koenigswarter were stopped by the police in Wilmington, Delaware. When Thelonious Monk refused to answer or cooperate with the police officer, who beat him with a blackjack. During an authorised search the car drugs were found, and suddenly Thelonious Monk was looking at some serious jail time. Fortunately, Judge Christie of the Delaware Superior Court ruled that the pair had been unlawfully detained, and that the beating of Thelonious Monk meant that the consent to the search void as given under duress. Forty-one year old Thelonious Monk survived to fight another day.
As the fifties gave way to the sixties, Thelonious Monk’s relationship with Riverside Records had gone south, after a disagreement over royalty payments. While Riverside Records released two live albums recorded in Europe, Thelonious Monk hadn’t recorded a studio album since 5 By Monk By 5 in June 1959. Fortunately, Columbia Records one of the four major labels were keen to sign Thelonious Monk.
The negations between Thelonious Monk and Columbia Records, were protracted, and it wasn’t until 1962 that a contract was signed. At last, Thelonious Monk could get back into the studio and do what he did best…make music
In 1963, Thelonious Monk released Monk’s Dream, which was his Columbia Records debut. Critical acclaim greeted the release of Monk’s Dream, and it was a similar case with the classic Criss-Cross. By then, Thelonious Monk was on a roll, and recorded Monk In Tokyo which was released in 1973. Miles and Monk At Newport, Big Band. Quartet In Concert and the critically acclaimed Monk’s Time were all released in 1964. However, another recording from 1963 wasn’t released for fifty-five years.
Monk.
This is Monk, which features a live recording of Thelonious Monk’s classic quartet that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark,on March the ‘5th 1963 during a European tour. That night in Copenhagen. pianist Thelonious Monk was joined by tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, drummer Frank Dunlop and bassist John Ore as they took the stage.
Opening the set is Thelonious Monk’s composition Bye Ya, where drummer Frank Dunlop plays an energetic solo, before the classic quartet play with enthusiasm as they innovate and unleash a myriad of musical ideas. Nutty is another Monk composition, and at one point the bandleader having built-up the momentum descends the piano keyboard leaving the stage set for Charlie Rouse’s baying tenor saxophone to soar and take centre-stage. Very different is beautiful is the tender reading of I’m Getting Sentimental Over You. It gives way to a heart-achingly beautiful and moving version of Body and Soul where the loneliness seems very real. Closing the set is the swinging Monk’s Dream which careers along, and closes Monk on a high,
Thelonious Monk recorded the music that features on Monk at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in Copenhagen on the ‘5th’ of March 1963 and four days later, the concert was broadcast on the ‘9th’ of March 1963. Fifty-five years later, Gearbox Records released Monk, which is hidden gem that features Thelonious Monk’s classic quartet at the peak of their considerable powers.
Crucial to the success of the classic quartet was the interaction between Thelonious Monk and Charlie Rouse, with the two men constantly on the same wavelength, and anticipating their every move. That was the case throughout Monk, which is welcome and almost flawless reminder of Thelonious Monk’s classic quartet live in concert.
Thelonious Monk-Monk-Vinyl.
TOM WAITS-HEARTATTACK AND VINE-VINYL.
Tom Waits-Heartattack and Vine-Vinyl.
Label: Anti.
In June 1980, thirty year old Tom Waits began work on his sixth studio album, Heartattack and Vine, which was the last album he released on David Geffen’s Asylum Records. The Asylum Records’ years had been frustrating for Tom Waits, who had released his debut album Closing Time in September 1973 and followed this up with The Heart of Saturday Night in October 1974. Although both albums were future classics, they never came close to troubling the American charts. However, across the Atlantic, where Tom Waits had a cult following, both album were eventually certified gold.
Nighthawks At The Diner.
After releasing two studio albums, Tom Waits returned in October 1975 with Nighthawks At The Diner, which had been recorded in front of an invited audience. This genre-melting live album was released to critical acclaim and reached 164 in the US Billboard 200. Nighthawks At The Diner was Tom Waits first album to chart in America, and in Britain, was certified sliver. By then, Tom Waits’ popularity was growing in Britain.
Small Change.
Just under years later, Tom Waits returned with his much-anticipated third studio album, Small Change, in September 1976, which was produced by Bones Howe. By then, Tom Waits had been worn down by his gruelling touring schedule, which was taking its toll on his health and to make matters worse, he was now drinking heavily. It was a tough time for Tom Waits, but he managed to write and record another powerful album, albeit one that was quite different to its predecessors.
His new album Small Change featured a much more cynical Tom Waits and a pessimistic mood pervaded the album. That was no surprise, because before writing the album, he had headed to Skid Row, in LA, where he hung around whilst looking for inspiration. This worked and he wrote The Piano Has Been Drinking and Bad Liver and A Broken Heart which were accurate portrayals of alcoholism. These two songs were part of an album that was released to critical acclaim, but failed commercially in America. Meanwhile, Small Change sold well in Britain and was certified silver, while the album was certified gold in Australia. Buoyed by the success of Small Change Tom Waits began working on the followup.
Foreign Affairs.
Just a year later, Tom Waits released Foreign Affairs in September 1977, which featured his duet with Bette Middler I Never Talk to Strangers. It was part of an album that Tom Waits wanted to sound like a film-noir soundtrack, and even the photo George Hurrell shot album cover had to fit the filmic image. Critics on hearing the cinematic sounding Foreign Affairs were won over by Tom Waits’ fourth studio album. However, just like his previous albums, Foreign Affairs passed American record buyers by. It was a similar case in Britain and Australia where Tom Waits was a popular draw. This was a huge disappointment for the thirty-two year old singer-songwriter.
Blue Valentine.
Despite the failure of Small Change, Tam Waits soon began writing his fifth album Blue Valentine, which was recorded over six sessions that took place between July and August 1978.
Just a month later in September 1978, Blue Valentine was released and was well received by the majority of critics. Blue Valentine featured Tom Waits’ trademark lived-in, worldweary vocal and saw him combine blues and jazz. Straight away, he bowled a curveball by opening the album with a cover of Somewhere from West Side Story. After that, Tom Waits documented the dark underbelly of life on the wrong side of town on Christmas Card from A Hooker In Minneapolis, Romeo Is Bleeding, Wrong Side Of The Road, Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard and A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun. Blue Valentine was a compelling album and although it made no impression on the American charts, was certified gold in Britain. This was a relief for Tam Waits, who only had one album left on his contract with Asylum Records.
Heartattack and Vine.
With his contract with Asylum Records about to expire, Tom Waits realised that his next album Heartattack and Vine, which was recently released by Anti, was one of the most important of his career. If Heartattack and Vine was a success, David Geffen might renew his contract, or another record label would offer him a recording a contract. With that in mind, Tam Waits began work on Heartattack and Vine.
Over the next few weeks and months, thirty-four year old Tom Waits wrote eight new songs and the instrumental In Shades. These nine tracks he planned to record with engineer and producer Bones Howe who had produced most of his previous albums.
The recording sessions began on June the ’16th’ and continued until July the ’15th 1980 at Filmways/Heider Studio B, Hollywood, California, with Bones Howe taking charge of engineering and production, while Jerry Yester returned to look after some of the orchestral arrangements. Bob Alcivar was responsible for the rest of the orchestral arrangements as well as the string arrangements on Heartattack and Vine.
Meanwhile, Tom Waits played piano, electric guitar and added vocals on what was his sixth album Heartattack and Vine. During the sessions, different musicians were used for different tracks which meant drummer Big John Thomassie was joined by bassists Greg Cohen, Jim Hughart and Larry Taylor and Roland Bautista who played guitar and 12-string guitar. They were augmented by pianists Michael Lang and Ronnie Barron who also played Hammond organ. Completing the band was percussionist Victor Feldman and Plas Johnson who played baritone and tenor saxophonist. After a nearly a month, Tom Waits and his band had recorded his all important sixth studio album Heartattack and Vine.
Asylum Records scheduled the release of Heartattack and Vine for September 1980. It found Tom Waits turning his back on the jazzier style that was a feature of previous albums for bluesy vampish vocals. Meanwhile, some of the lush, orchestrated arrangements hinted at fifties soundtracks and are very much a reminder of another era. The same can be said of Tom Waits, who is part poet, part lyricist and social commentator as he continues to dig deep into the dark underbelly of American society. In doing so, he documents the life of dreamers, schemers, chancers and romancers who live their life on the wrong side of the railroad tracks.
Just like previous albums, Heartattack and Vine is rich in imagery as Tom Waits paints pictures of America that many of citizens or tourist don’t or won’t want to see. Meanwhile, hipster hobo deploys rhythms during the album that are best described as off kilter, while sometimes, the guitars often have a nastier, gnarled sound. Similarly, Tom Waits vocals are quite different from his first couple of albums maybe his carousing and nocturnal, hard-living lifestyle was affecting his delivery? Sometimes it sounds as gargles with kerosene in the morning before existing on a daily diet Marlboro and Jack Daniels. Gravelly, lived-in and worldweary describes Tom Waits’ vocal by the time Heartattack and Vine was recorded. It was an album that looked like it marked the end of an era, because maybe, Tom Waits was about to leave Asylum Records. However, would he leave on a high?
The title-track opens Heartattack and Vine with bursts of gnarled, searing guitars, rhythm section, percussion and saxophone accompany Tom Waits as he delivers a menacing vocal. Very different is the instrumental In Shades, which is a slow blues. There’s then a sense of melancholy as Tom Waits lays bare his soul and delivers a worldweary vocal during the tear jerker Saving All My Love For You. Washes of Hammond organ open Downtown, which is a rich in imagery as Tom Waits delivers a vocal powerhouse whilst painting pictures as his band fuse blues and jazz. Jersey Girl is a wistful sounding, orchestrated ballad that has a confessional quality and finds Tom Waits paying tribute to The Drifters. However, Jersey Girl sounds as if it’s been inspired by Bruce Springsteen, who played the song in his sets during the early eighties.
Tom Waits drivers a gnarled vocal on ‘Til The Money Runs Out which finds hipster hobo at his poetic best. He then delivers a boastful vocal full of machismo and bravado on Mr. Siegal against a jangling tack piano. It’s all change on Ruby’s Arms which closes Heartattack and Vine, with horns then strings providing a backdrop for a pessimistic Tom Waits, who delivers a lived-in vocal that is full sadness and despair. It seems that he’s saved the best until last on Heartattack and Vine.
Before the release of Heartattack and Vine, critics had their say on Tom Waits sixth album, and the majority were won over by an album that quite rightly received plaudits and praise. This augured well for the release of Heartattack and Vine in early September 1980.
Upon the release of Heartattack and Vine on the ‘6th’ of September 1980, the album spent three months on the US Billboard 200 and peaked at ninety-six. Meanwhile, Heartattack and Vine broke into the top forty in Australia, and reached thirty in the album charts. In Britain where Tom Waits was popular, Heartattack and Vine failed to trouble the charts and was the one that got away.
After the release of Heartattack and Vine, Tom Waits decided to leave Asylum Records and signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. This was a new chapter in his career and began with the release of Swordfishtrombones in 1983. This was followed by 1985s Rain Dogs, 1987s Frank’s Wild Years, the live album Big Time and 1992s Bone Machine which won Tom Waits a Grammy Award for the Best Alternative Album. The following year, Tom Waits released The Black Rider in 1993, which was his swan-song for Island Records.
Next stop was Anti, where Tom Waits released the million selling album Mule Variations in 1999. After a gap of three years, Tom Waits returned with two albums in May 2002 Blood Money and Alice. Two years later, Tom Waits returned in 2004 with Real Gone, and after a five-year wait released Glitter and Doom Live in 2009. However, it wasn’t until 2011 that Tom Waits returned with his sixteenth studio album Bad As Me. Sadly, that was the last that was heard of Tom Waits.
That was until he started remastering and reissuing the six albums he released for Asylum Records, including Heartattack and Vine, which marked the end of an era. Just like Closing Time and The Heart Of Saturday Night, Heartattack and Vine is one of the best albums that Tom Waits released for David Geffen’s Asylum Records. During the seven-year period between 1973 and 1980, Tom Waits released six studio albums and the live album Nighthawks At The Diner. These albums include some of the best music that Tom Waits has released during a five decade career.
On Heartattack and Vine which closes the Asylum Records’ years, Tom Waits continues to document the dark underbelly of American life, and the dreamers, schemers, chancers and romancers who live on wrong side of the railroad tracks, as only he can do.
Tom Waits-Heartattack and Vine-Vinyl.
SOHO SCENE 59-60-JAZZ GOES MOD.
Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod.
Label: Rhythm & Blues Records.
Ever since the birth of rock ’n’ roll, youth cults have come and gone,with some proving to be nothing more than passing fads, that nowadays, are mere footnotes in cultural history.There are some youth cults that have endured, and played an important part in British culture. However, none of the youth cults of the past sixty years have enjoyed the same longevity as the modernists.
The modernists came to prominence in the late fifties, and their name came about because of their love of modern jazz which was celebrated on Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod which is a new four disc box set. It features seventy-eight tracks from Joe Harriott, Stan Tracey, Tubby Hayes Quartet, Art Blakey, Charlie Mingus, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, John Coltrane, Larry Young and Lee Morgan. These tracks are a reminder of one of the most enduring youth cults, the modernists, who were soon to become the mods. However, music was only part of the story for the mods.
Image was everything for the mods who carefully tried to cultivate an air of coolness, and saw themselves as men about town. The mods often wore tailor-made suits which were sometimes made out of cashmere which usually featured narrow lapels. They also sported button-down collar shirts, thin ties and wool or cashmere jumpers. All this was part of the image for the mod around town. So too, were fishtail parkas, desert boots, Chelsea boots and bowling shoes which was part of the uniform for the self-respecting mod, who unlike members of most youth cults, even had their own mode of transport.
This was the scooter, and especially the Lambretta or Vespa scooters which quickly became the mods favoured mode of transport. This transported them around town as they visited their favourite haunts, which were dance-halls, coffee bars and cinemas. At cinemas, mods took to watching French and Italian films which was all part of a sense of continental coolness they were attempting to cultivate. Image was everything to the mod, and so was music, with the two going hand-in-hand.
By the 1960, music was starting to change in Britain was changing, but still modern jazz was hugely popular. That had been the case for much of the fifties. However, by the late-fifties, American bebop had started to influence many British jazz musicians, and this led to British jazz splitting in two.
On one side were the musicians who eschewed the changes in British jazz, and continued to play traditional jazz (trad jazz). They resisted and in some cases resented modern jazz, but before long, trad jazz would cease to be relevant and was no longer popular. It was seen as yesterday’s sound, unlike modern jazz.
By 1960, many more British jazz musicians were embracing modern jazz, and turning their back on trad jazz. They had been influenced by bebop and realised that modern jazz was the future. British jazz was thriving, with Harry South, Tubby Hayes, Ian Carr, Tony Crombie and Hank Shaw all familiar faces on the British jazz scene alongside Jamaican born jazzers Joe Harriott.
Modern jazz was also the music of choice for the discerning mod, and provided the soundtrack to their evenings and weekends. Those that lived in London, would often head to Soho, which was home to many jazz clubs, while others headed to The Flamingo in Wardour Street, Ronnie Scott’s in Gerrard Street or The Marquee in Oxford Street. Some mods were lucky enough to see Miles Davis who played ten concerts in Britain during 1960. Others were left looking for his latest album which they were keen to add to their burgeoning collection of modern jazz.
Many mods made weekly pilgrimages to their local record shops where they searched for the latest modern jazz releases by the top American and British musicians. This includes the seventy-eight tracks that feature on Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod box set.
Disc One.
There’s nineteen tracks on disc one of Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod that were released by British jazz musicians and groups in 1959. It opens with Wilton Gaynair’s Wilton’s Mood, and transports the listener back to 1959 and the early days of the mod culture. Among the other highlights of disc one are Joe Harriott’s Senor Blues, Vic Lewis’ Beaulieu Blues, British jazz pianist Stan Tracey’s We’ll Call You and the Tubby Hayes Quartet ’s Blue Hayes. It’s a reminder of one of the great British tenor saxophonists. Closing disc one is The MJ6 and atmospheric Tracy’s Theme, which closes the disc on a high.
Disc Two.
Opening disc two of Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod which focuses on American jazz from 1960, and opens with Art Blakey’s No Hay Problema and then Harold Land’s Blowin’ The Blues. These two tracks are a tantalising taste of what’s to come. This includes Charlie Mingus’ Boogie Stop Shuffle, Horace Silver’s Sister Sadie and Jimmy Smith’s The Sermon which are joined by Mr Billy Paul’s Go To Hell, John Coltrane’s Naima and Cannonball Adderley’s Grand Central. Then there’s Herbie Alpert’s Viper’s Blues and Mr Lee’s hidden gem Mr Lee’s Plea.
Disc Three
Disc three of Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod looks at British jazz from 1960. It opens with the cinematic jazz of Harry South Big Band ’s Southern Horizons. The tempo drops on the smoochy late night jazz of Vic Lewis’ Little Darlin’ before the tempo rises on the Joe Harriott Quintet’s workout Tuesday Morning Swing. Other highlights include the Jazz Couriers ‘ Too Close For Comfort, Tubby Hayes ‘ St Vitus Dance and Little John Anthony ’s Midnite Jump. Closing disc four is Ken Jones ‘ Bluesville which has stood the time and is a welcome addition to the box set.
Disc Four.
On disc four of Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod, the compilers turn their attention to American jazz in 1960. Oscar Brown Jr’s But I Was Cool is a disappointing start, but things soon improve with Nat Adderley’s Sack Of Woe, International All Stars ‘ African Dance, Lee Morgan’s Terrible T, the Rune Overman Trio’s Funky Festival and Larry Young’s Young Blues. That is not forgetting Jimmy Smith’s Back At The Chicken Shack and Willis Jackson ’s Cool Grits which closes disc four of Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod and the box set on a high after seventy-eight tracks.
For the original mods, the music on Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod box set is sure to bring back memories of modern jazz that they listened to during their glory days. These tracks were part of the soundtrack to the lives of the original mods, and were then rediscovered during the mod revival in the seventies.
By then, the music on Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod was just part of a larger musical soundtrack during the first mod revival. As the sixties progressed, mods embraced everything from soul, R&B, reggae and ska, which beams part of the soundtrack to their lives. This was the case during the first mod revival in the seventies and subsequent mod revivals. However, for the original mods, modern jazz and the music on Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod. is something they hold dear, and which brings back memories.
For the original mods, the music on Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod is sure to bring back memories of wearing mohair suits, button down shirts, fishtail parkas and riding a Vespa to the coast on Bank Holiday weekends. During these long, hot holiday weekend in 1960, the mods enjoyed a soundtrack of the modern jazz, but never imagined that they were part of what would become one of the most important youth cults in British cultural history.
The modernist or mod movement has enjoyed an unrivalled longevity, and outlasted the majority of youth cults. Although there was only one mod revival in Britain in the late-seventies, and one in America in the late-eighties, parts of mod culture have endured since then. Especially some of the clothes, and of course the music, with compilations of mod or modernist music being regularly released. This includes Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod which has just been released by Rhythm & Blues Records and is sure to bring back musical memories for former mods of all ages and vintages.
Soho Scene 59-60 Jazz Goes Mod.
THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO AND ASSOCIATED ENSEMBLES.
The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles.
Label: ECM Records.
As 2018, dawned, the pioneering avant-garde jazz group the Art Ensemble of Chicago were preparing to celebrate fifty years making ambitious and innovative music. This includes the five Art Ensemble Of Chicago albums that features on The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles, which is a twenty-one disc box set that has just been released by ECM Records. It’s the perfect introduction to The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles, who can trace their roots back to 1965.
That was when the Advancement of Creative Musicians was ,founded in Chicago in 1965, Three years later, in 1968, Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman and Malachi Favors decided to form a new group in 1968 which they called the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
By 1969, the Art Ensemble of Chicago had left the Windy City behind and headed to Paris, France where they became a truly prolific group. Between 1969 and 1971 the recording studio was like a second home for the Art Ensemble of Chicago. They were sometimes they were joined by musicians of the caliber of Archie Shepp and Don Cherry. Other times, the Art Ensemble of Chicago were joined by Sunny Murray and Andrew Braxton in the recording studio. However, when they recorded their first soundtrack album Les Stances A Sophie, which was a landmark album and one of the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s most ambitious and innovative released.
When the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s visa ran out, they returned home and began the next chapter in their career. They released albums on various labels between 1971 and 1978 when they signed to ECM Records where they released some of the finest and most groundbreaking music of a long and illustrious career.
The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s ECM Records’ years is documented on The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles. Five of the twenty-one albums feature the Art Ensemble Of Chicago including 1979s Nice Guys, 1980s Full Force and Urban Bushmen, 1984s The Third Decade and 2001s Tribute to Lester. These five albums feature the Art Ensemble Of Chicago at the peak of their creative powers as they push musical boundaries and create music that is ambitious, innovative and tinged with humour. However, the albums by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago is only part of the story of The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles.
There’s also albums from the various members of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago including trumpeter Leo Smith’s 1978 album Divine Love. This isn’t the only album from an Art Ensemble Of Chicago trumpeter.
Lester Bowie one of the founding members of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago has four albums in The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles. This includes 1981s The Great Pretender and 1983s All The Magic! They’re joined by Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy’s 1985 album I Only Have Eyes For You and 1986s Avant Pop. These albums are a reminder of a true musical pioneer whose raison d’être was to push musical boundaries to their limits.
Roscoe Mitchell, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago’s gifted and supremely talented, if idiosyncratic saxophonist contributes four albums to the box set. This includes 1999s solo album Nine To Get Ready, and The Transatlantic Art Ensemble’s 2007 album Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 and 3. They’re joined by Roscoe Mitchell and The Note Factory’s The Note Factory 2010 album Far Side. These four albums are among the finest moments of Roscoe Mitchell’s career outside of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. The music is inventive, innovate and ahead of the musical curve.
It’s similar case with Evan Parker’s contribution to The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles. This comes courtesy of The Transatlantic Art Ensemble and their 2008 album Boustrophedon.
The other three albums in The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles box set feature drummer Jack DeJohnette. This includes 1980s New Directions and New Directions: In Europe and 2013s Made In Chicago which features Muhal Richard Abrams, Larry Gray, Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill. This all-star lineup showcases their considerable skills on Made In Chicago, especially one of the great jazz drummers of his generation, Jack DeJohnette.
He’s just one of the musicians that have been part of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago during their fifty year history. The various lineups of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago have recorded and released albums on a number of labels.
Part of that time was spent at ECM Records who recently released The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles box set. It features twenty-one albums and a lavish 298 page book, which is a reminder of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago’s ECM Records’ years. During this period, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago recorded music that was ambitious, exciting, inventive, innovative and tinged with humour as they pushed musical boundaries to their limit and beyond. That is what The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles have been doing since 1968, and a reminder of this can be found in what’s one of the box sets of 2018.
The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and Associated Ensembles.
VAN TREGGER-CATCHY AND DUCKS AND DRAKES.
Van Tregger-Catchy and Ducks and Drakes.
Label: BBE.
Forty years ago, in 1978, Van Tregger was part of the experimental French disco scene and released his third album Catchy on the Musical Touch Sound label. It usually released albums of library music, whereas Catchy was an album of instrumentals that showcased one of the stars of the experimental French disco scene. However, Van Tregger’s music didn’t go on to enjoy the commercial success and critical acclaim many expected.
When Catchy was released in 1978 by Musical Touch Sound the album wasn’t the success that Van Tregger had hoped, and it passed the majority of record buyers by. They missed out on an album that featured a vibrant rhythm section who provided the heartbeat and were augmented by uber funky guitar riffs and space-age synths. Tracks like Carry On, Catchy, Sunny Wing and the sleazy disco of Riff On were joined by This Time and At The Feet. Catchy was an album of experimental French disco par excellence that had the potential to transform Van Tregger’s career.
Van Tregger who was seen by many as a rising star of the experimental French disco scene. He was a pioneering musician who had the potential to rise to the top of French music and join the likes of Cerrone. However, Catchy which was released forty years wasn’t Van Tregger’s breakthrough album.
A year later in 1979, Van Tregger returned with his fourth album Ducks and Drakes. Again, it was released on the Musical Touch Sound label. Just like Catchy, Ducks and Drakes was another album of instrumentals that showcased a multitalented musician.
Van Tregger wrote, performed and produced the music on Ducks and Drakes. It featured a musical pioneer at the peak of his powers on tracks of the quality of Friend Island, The Girl In The Gold, Threshold, the cult classic Girls Will Be Girls, and For The Hills and Huff. Ducks and Drakes oozed quality again, many within the experimental French disco scene thought that it would launch Van Tregger’s career.
Sadly, Ducks and Drakes failed to find the audience it deserved and didn’t go on to enjoy the commercial success and critical acclaim that many expected. For Van Tregger this was a huge disappointment.
After the release of Catchy and Ducks and Drakes, which have just been reissued by BBE, Van Tregger continued to make music and released a number of other albums. However, it was only much later that Catchy and Ducks and Drakes found the audience they deserved.
By then, many crate-digging DJs with a passion for disco had heard of Catchy and Ducks and Drakes. However, the only problem was that both albums were almost impossible to find, and when a copy came up for sale the prices were prohibitive. This meant both Catchy and Ducks and Drakes were beyond the reach of most DJs and record buyers.
In 2008, Alexis Le-Tan selected Girls Will Be Girls from Ducks and Drakes for the experimental disco compilation Space Oddities. For many music fans this was the first they had heard of Van Tregger’s music. It wasn’t the last.
By 2018, Frankie Valentine a stalwart of the UK music scene brought Catchy and Ducks and Drakes to the attention of BBE. It didn’t take long before BBE were planning to reissue both albums. Forty years after the original release of Catchy, a new generation were about to hear two of Van Tregger’s finest album that are now regarded as cult classics from one of the pioneers of the experimental French disco scene.
Van Tregger-Catchy and Ducks and Drakes,
THE BETA BAND-HOT SHOTS II.
The Beta Band-Hot Shots II.
Label: Because Music.
When The Beta Band was released to widespread critical acclaim in June 1999, everyone at Regal Records celebrated as The Beta Band reached number nineteen in the UK, However, not everyone was happy with the album.
Despite their eponymous debut album giving them a hit in the UK, Steve Mason of The Beta Band called the album: “fucking awful” and “it’s definitely the worst record we’ve ever made and it’s probably one of the worst records that’ll come out this year.” Steve Mason then said in an interview with NME that the album had: some terrible songs,” and they weren’t e “fully realised or fully even written. Half-written songs with jams in the middle” The Beta Band seemed determined to sabotage their career at Regal Records.
To make matters worse, The Beta Band seemed in no hurry to record their sophomore album. Steve Mason recorded and released the No Style EP under his King Biscuit Time EP moniker. After this, Steve Mason and the rest of The Beta Band’s thoughts turned to their sophomore album Hot Shots II, which has just been reissued by Because Music.
Eventually, The Beta Band decided it was time to return to the studio, and this time brought onboard British producer Colin Emmanuel, aka C-Swing, who oversaw production of what eventually became Hot Shots II.
During the Hot Shots II sessions, The Beta Band recorded ten new tracks with C-Swing. The tracks were very different to those on The Beta Band. Some of the songs were much quieter and a less is more approach to production was the order of the day. This allowed the songs to breath, with less ‘obstacles’ obscuring the key parts of the songs. Some of the songs were slow and dark and featured descending chords as The Beta Band continued to innovate. To do this, they took their own unique and inimitable approach
On the album opener Squares, just drumbeats and bass lines accompany Stephen Mason’s chanted vocal. It’s only during a chorus where gorgeous string-drenched trip hop chorus does the song reveal its secrets. Then on Gone, it’s just bass, piano, and backing vocals that play their part in the sound and success of the song. However, on other tracks The Beta Band deploy everything from samples of stunting acoustic guitar melodica and grandiose horns. They’re part of a rich and vibrant musical tapestry. Sometimes, The Beta Band kick loose, and find their inner rocker and become a very different band to that on their eponymous debut album. They’re also a much more focused band and less prone to bouts of eccentricity like The Beta Band Rap. It was as if The Beta Band had come of age on Hot Shots II.
Critics were won over by Hot Shots II, and hailed The Beta Band’s sophomore album as one of the albums of 2001. Hot Shots II was hailed as The Beta Band’s finest hour.
Buoyed by the critical acclaim, Hot Shots II was released in July 2001. Hot Shots II reached number thirteen in the UK and sneaked into the US Billboard 200 at 200. It also reached fourteen in the US Heatseekers chart and eleven in the Independent album charts. The Beta Band looked on the verge of breaking into the lucrative American market. Sadly, they only produced one more album.,
Three years later in 2004, Heroes To Zeros was released to plaudits and praise and reached eighteen in the UK. Heroes To Zeros was The Beta Band’s swan-song and they split-up later in 2004.
Looking back at The Beta Band’s eight year career, their genre-melting sophomore album was the finest of their career. With its fusion of rock, electronica and folk it featured The Beta Band at their innovative best as they combined various musical influences and genres.
The result was Hot Shots II, an album that The Beta Band would never surpass during the remainder of their career. Now, fourteen years have passed since The Beta Band called time on their career, Hot Shots II is regarded as their finest hour.
The Beta Band-Hot Shots II.
MICHAEL NAURA QUARTETT-CALL.
Michael Naura Quartett-Call.
Label: MPS Records.
Michael Naura was just six years old, when he first travelled to Berlin with his mother, and began a new life in the city that became his home. It was where Michael Naura studied journalism, philosophy and sociology, and played piano in a number of swing bands. However, by 1953 the pianist was now a bandleader and the Michael Naura Quintet was well on their way to becoming one of the then most successful jazz bands in West Germany.
Key to the sound and success of the Michael Naura Quintet in 1953 was vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter. He was regarded as one of the finest improvisers in the Michael Naura Quintet. Their star was in the ascendancy as they honed and refined their eclectic sound over the next couple of years.
By then, the Michael Naura Quintet had been initially influenced by George Shearing, and then by Dave Brubeck and Horace Silver’s hard bop sound and the Modern Jazz Quartet. All these influences shawn through in the Michael Naura Quintet’s music as they left Berlin behind.
In 1956, the Michael Naura Quintet moved to Hamburg, which was the start of a new chapter for the band. They were offered the chance to become the house band at the Hamburg Jazz-Keller Barett in the Colonnaden. This booking was for six nights a week and lasted seven years and came at a cost.
Playing in smokey cellars six nights a week resulted in Michael Naura’s health deteriorating, and in 1964 he was diagnosed with Polyserositis, and spent a year recuperating in the winter sanctuary. For Michael Naura this was a disaster.
Fortunately, many top jazz musicians in West Germany gave benefit concerts to pay for Michael Naura’s treatment. This act of kindness allowed Michael Naura to recover from what was an extremely serious illness that threatened his musical career.
After his release from the sanctuary, Michael Naura decided to change direction and more or less gave up his career as a musician and worked as a journalist.
Later in 1966, Michael Naura met the Hamburg-based writer and poet Peter Rühmkorf, soon, the pair were combining “jazz and poetry.” By then, the two men had become close friends
During 1967, Michael Naura began work as a sound engineer for the Department of Dance Music of the North German Radio. This was a job he kept until 1971, when he took over as station editor in 1971, after the death of Hans Gertberg. By then, the Michael Naura Quartett had released one of its best albums Call, which was recently released by MPS Records.
Joining bandleader and pianist Michael Naura were vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter, bassist Eberhard Weber and drummer Joe Nay. The Michael Naura Quartett recorded the eight tracks that became Call, which was released in 1970.
During the recording Michael Naura who played Fender Rhodes and vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter used different amplifiers and effects. In the case of Wolfgang Schlüter he used distortion when he recorded his vibes as he sought inspiration from Dave Pike. Michael Naura who also arranged and produced Call, which stylistically was very different to the music he had been making a few years previously.
Gone was the hard bop of the past, to be replaced by fusion and elements of European jazz, classical, blues and Latin on what was an imaginative and innovative genre-melting album. As the rhythm section provide the heartbeat, Michael Naura’s Fender Rhodes and Wolfgang Schlüter’s vibes prove to be the perfect foil as the arrangement floats and meanders along. Together, the two men head in a new musical direction with the sounds and textures merging into one from the opening bars of Soledad De Murcia through to the closing notes of Call. In between, Forgotten Garden, Take Us Down To The River and Why Is Mary So Nervous features the Michael Naura Quartett at the peak of their powers.
Indeed, the Michael Naura Quartett’s genre-melting album Call is their finest hour. The stars were aligned when the Michael Naura Quartett recorded Call, which is a career-defining epic.
Michael Naura Quartett-Call.
IDRIS ACKAMOOR AND THE PYRAMIDS- AN ANGEL FELL-VINYL.
Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids-An Angel Fell-Vinyl.
Label: Strut.
Bruce Baker in was born in 1951, and grew up in Chicago, before moving to Ohio, where he studied at Antioch College, which was where he first encountered jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and became part of his Black Music Ensemble. Cecil Taylor also mentored Idris Ackamoor, and watched as his young prodigy dawned the moniker Idris Ackamoor in the early seventies, and embarked upon a pan-African adventure as the leader of the Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids.
The newly christened Idris Ackamoor was a flamboyant musical showman who with The Pyramids who combined music and theatre, and each night, dawned a pharaonic headdress before he took to the stage. What followed was a groundbreaking and genre-melting mixture of music from the cosmic jazz pioneers who played with a freedom and invention as they pushed musical boundaries to their limits.
Lalibela.
In 1973, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids released their debut album Lalibela, on their own label Pyramid Records. By then, the members of Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids were still students at Antioch College when they wrote and recorded Lalibela, which was an ambitious and innovative concept album that documented Idris Ackamoor, Margaux Simmons, and Kimathi Asante’s nine-month African adventure. Lalibela was an innovative fusion of Afrobeat, free jazz, funk and soul which ebbed and flowed as it revealed its many secrets.
Lalibela included driving rhythms, ritualistic chants, energetic modal jams, meditative tone pieces and improvisations played using traditional African instruments which were augmented by woodwind and horns on an album that was way ahead of its time. Sadly, Lalibela passed critics and record buyers by and it was only much later that critics and record buyer realised the importance of the album.
King Of Kings.
Despite the commercial failure of their debut album Lalibela, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids returned with their sophomore album King Of Kings in 1974. Just like its predecessor, it was an ambitious album and had been inspired by Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ love affair with Africa and African history. There’s also a spiritual quality to the music on King Of Kings, where chants are delivered in a call and response style and hypnotic horns join with traditional African instruments, woodwind and piano to create another groundbreaking album.
During King Of Kings, Iris Ackamoor and The Pyramids fuse Afrobeat, free jazz, funk, jazz-funk and soul as they push musical boundaries and create an ambitious and spiritual album. Sadly, history repeated itself and King Of Kings failed to find the audience it deserved.
While this must have been a disappointment for Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids, their label Pyramid Records neither had budget nor the PR expertise to promote the band’s albums and get them into shops. Instead, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids relied on playing live to spread the word about their music, and introduce it to a new audience. As a result, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids continued to tour widely in the mid-seventies, and by then, they had already toured Africa. However, by then, things were changing for Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids.
By the mid-seventies, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ lineup was fluid, and new musicians were often recruited by the band. The other change was the instruments that Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids played. They had played African instruments on their first two albums, but by November 1975 when Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids began recording Birth/Speed/Merging, they were playing instruments from all over the world.
Birth/Speed/Merging.
Two years passed before Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids returned in 1976 with their third album Birth/Speed/Merging. It was recorded in November 1975, and side one featured the three-part, twenty-minute Birth/Speed/Merging suite, which was one of the most ambitious pieces of music from Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids had recorded.
On Birth/Speed/Merging there’s a celebratory, carnival sound as Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids combined the cosmic sounds and free jazz of Sun Ra with Afrobeat, funk, psychedelia and a much more progressive sound. Birth/Speed/Merging was an ambitious, innovative and genre-melting album where Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids played with freedom, fluidity and invention on a carefully crafted album. Sadly, when Birth/Speed/Merging was released the album failed to find the audience it so richly deserved.
In 1977, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids split-up after releasing a trio of underrated and innovative albums that had passed critics and record buyers by. Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids were one of music’s best kept secrets and it looked as if it would stay that way.
Just like many other artists and groups before them, it took a while before the record buying public somewhat belatedly discovered Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ music. It took twenty years before a small but appreciative audience discovered the three albums that Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids had released between 1973 and 1976. Soon, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids had a cult following, and there was a resurgence on interest in their music.
By then, Idris Ackamoor had released two solo albums 1998s Portrait and 2000s Centurian. This was followed in 2004 by Homage To Cuba in 2004, which was the debut album from the Idris Ackamoor Ensemble. However, the big question was would Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids reunite?
They would, but not until 2010, and soon, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids were making up for lost time. By then, the group’s popularity was growing after the reissue of Lalibela, King Of Kings and Birth/Speed/Merging in 2009. With a new audience discovering Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ music, embarked upon their comeback tour.
Little did Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids realise that they would be spending much of the next couple of years on the road, as their popularity grew. With interest in Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids in growing, it was no surprise when they released their comeback album Otherworldly in 2012.
Otherworldly.
Otherworldly was released by Cultural Odyssey as part of the Living Legacy Project, and just like the triumvirate of albums Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids had released between 1973 and 1976 was a pioneering and experimental album. Elements of avant-garde, free jazz and space-age featured on Otherworldly which was released to plaudits and praise and was Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ first album in thirty-six years.
We Be All Africans.
Despite releasing their comeback album and continuing to tour, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids didn’t release another album for four long years. However, Idris Ackamoor was still recording and releasing albums with two new musical projects. In 2014, the Idris Ackamoor Paris Quartet’s released their debut album The Periphery Of The Periphery and The Collective released Idrissa’s Dream. However, two years later, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids were back with a new album.
This was We Be All Africans which was Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ fifth album, and their first album for Strut. We Be All Africans was released in May 2016 and was a quite different album from Otherworldly. It was a fusion of Afrobeat, free jazz and jazz-funk from the spiritual cosmic jazz pioneers, which was released to critical acclaim and set the bar high for the followup.
An Angel Fell.
Two years later, in May 2018 Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids returned with their much-anticipated sixth album An Angel Fell on Strut. The eight tracks on An Angel Fell were penned by bandleader Idris Ackamoor and were produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics. However, it was a very different lineup of The Pyramids that accompanied Idris Ackamoor during the recording of An Angel Fell at Quatermass studios in London.
Just one member of The Pyramids returned for the recording o An Angel Fell, violinist Sandra Poindexter, who made her debut on We Be All Africans. Sandra Poindexter who joined by a new lineup The Pyramids. This includes a rhythm section that features drummer Johann Polzer, double bassist Bradie Speller and congas plus guitarist David Molina. The new lineup of The Pyramids provide the perfect foil for Idris Ackamoor on An Angel Fell which is a thought-provoking album.
Idris Ackamoor explains: “I wanted to use folklore, fantasy and drama as a warning bell…“The songs explore global themes that are important to me and to us all: the rise of catastrophic climate change and our lack of concern for our planet, loss of innocence and separation…but positive themes too, the healing power of music, collective action and the simple beauty of nature.” These songs are part of what’s one of the most eclectic albums of Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ long career.
Just like Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ previous albums, free jazz is at the heart of An Angel Fell. Especially the free jazz of two of its founding father’s Pharaoh Sanders and Sun Ra which seems to have influenced Idris Ackamoor as a saxophonist and bandleader. There’s also elements of Afro-Cuban, dub reggae, hip hop, psychedelia and rock on An Angel Fell, which ebbs and flows revealing everything from beautiful ballads to intrepid free jazz workouts.
Tinoge opens An Angel Fell and is an urgent seven minute free jazz workout where Idris Ackamoor’s scorching saxophone takes centre-stage as he plays with speed, power and freedom, while percussion and the rhythm section drive the arrangement along providing the perfect accompaniment. There’s a poignancy and sadness to An Angel Fell which features Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids at their most inventive and innovative as they tell the story of a fallen angel in purgatory. Very different is Land Of Ra which becomes dubby and spacious, but later, is a showcase for Idris Ackamoor’s saxophone which is played with power as he takes the track in the direction of free jazz.
Papyrus is a much more understated and melodic track that allows time to reflect and ruminate. So does the instrumental Soliloquy For Michael Brown where words aren’t needed to tell this tragic story. Instead, Idris Ackamoor’s soul-baring saxophone and Sandra Poindexter’s violin play leading roles in this powerful, moving and thought-provoking instrumental. Equally thought-provoking are the lyrics to Message to My People where the rhythm section, including a rocky guitar, join with the congas in providing the backdrop to the soulful vocals. Warrior Dance is an eleven minute epic that heads in the direction of psychedelic rock, while the album closes with Sunset a beautiful, spiritual song with some of the most soulful vocals on Angel Fell.
Two years after Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids released We Be All Africans, they recently returned with their sixth album An Angel Fell, which was released by Strut. An Angel Fell is Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids’ finest album since they made a comeback in 2010, and finds the latest lineup of the band rolling back the years on their most eclectic album.
Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids play with freedom, fluidity, power and speed, but sometimes drop the tempo as they showcase much more understated and melodic sounding songs as they flit between and fuse elements of Afrobeat, Afro-Cuban, dub, free jazz, hip hop, improv, psychedelia, rock and spiritual jazz on An Angel Fell which features everything from beautiful, ruminative ballads to energetic free jazz workouts.
Incredibly, Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids spent only a week recording An Angel Fell with producer Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics. He plays an important part in the sound and success of An Angel Fell where this latest lineup of The Pyramids provide the perfect foil for saxophonist Idris Ackamoor as he showcases his skill, versatility and ability to innovate.
Innovating is something that Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids have been doing since they released their debut album Lalibela in 1973. Forty-five years later, and Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids are still innovating as they continue to push musical boundaries on their sixth album An Angel Fell, which is an ambitious album of eclectic, energetic, genre-melting, poignant and thought-provoking music.
Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids-An Angel Fell-Vinyl.
COCTEAU TWINS-TREASURE HIDING: THE FONTANA YEARS-VINYL.
Cocteau Twins-Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years-Vinyl.
Label: UMC
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for 4AD President Ivo Watts-Russell when the Cocteau Twins released their sixth studio album Heaven Or Las Vegas on the ’17th’ of September 1990. He watched as the critically acclaimed album of dream reached number seven in the UK where it was certified silver. Across the Atlantic Heaven Or Las Vegas reached number ninety-nine in the US Billboard 200, as the album sold 250,000 copies worldwide. Heaven Or Las Vegas was one of 4AD’s best and most successful albums which was something to celebrate, but by then Ivo Watts-Russell knew the Cocteau Twins were about to sign to Fontana.
After six albums, the Cocteau Twins whose music was starting to evolved, left 4AD on a high after their most successful album Heaven Or Las Vegas. It was the start of a new era for Liz Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde which is documented on the Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years box set which has just been released by UMC.
Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years features two albums, 1993s Four-Calendar Café and 1996s Milk and Kisses. There’s also singles, tracks from EP and for sessions recorded for BBC Radio One. It’s a compressive celebration of the Cocteau Twins Fontana years, that looks back at what was a new chapter for one of Scotland’s greatest groups of the last forty years.
After the release of Heaven Or Las Vegas, all wasn’t well within the Cocteau Twins. Part of the problems was the conflict with 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell. It had gotten so bad that the Cocteau Twins were considering splitting up. To make matters worse, Robin Guthrie was in the throes of drug and alcohol addiction. Things were looking bleak for the Cocteau Twins.
In 1991, the Cocteau Twins left 4AD and signed to Mercury Records’ imprint Fontana in. the UK This was a new start for the Cocteau Twins.
They began recording their seventh album and Fontana debut Four-Calendar Café in early 1993. The album was a response to what the band had been through in the last few years. Robin Guthrie had entered rehab and was no longer addicted to drugs and alcohol. His partner Liz Fraser had undergone a course of psychotherapy, and the Cocteau Twins were a very different band.
Four-Calendar Café was released to critical acclaim on 18 October 1993 and saw the Cocteau Twins move away from the ambient sound of previous albums to a pop-oriented sound. There was still Liz Fraser’s ethereal vocals and dream pop sound as Four-Calendar Café which reached thirteen in the UK, but failed to chart in American. This was a disappointment for the Cocteau Twins who tried a new approach.
In December 1993 the Cocteau Twins returned with their Snow EP, and followed this up with the Bluebeard EP in January 1994. Nothing was heard of the Cocteau Twins for over a year.
In September 1995 the Cocteau Twins released Otherness which was a tantalising taste of their eighth album Milk and Kisses. So was the single Tishbite which the Cocteau Twins released in March 1996.
The same month, March 1996, the Cocteau Twins eighth album Milk and Kisses, and the reviews were mixed. Some critics hailed the album as a fitting followup Four-Calendar Café as the Cocteau Twins combined elements of dream pop with ambient and pop. It was a carefully crafted and vastly underrated album from the Cocteau Twins that stalled at seventeen in the UK and ninety-nine in the US Billboard 200. This was a huge boost to the Cocteau Twins as the Fontana years continued.
Seven months later in October 1996 the Cocteau Twins released Violaine, which was the second single to be released from Milk and Kisses. Sadly, Violaine which features on Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years was the Cocteau Twins last ever single to be released from a non-compilation album.
Over the next two years, there was no sign of the Cocteau Twins starting work on a new album. Then in 1997 the Cocteau Twins decided to begin work on their ninth album. Their time in the studio was short-lived and the Cocteau Twins disbanded citing irreconcilable differences, which was partly due to the break-up of Robin Guthrie and Liz Fraser’s relationship. It was the end of an era and music fans were in mourning.
At least the Cocteau Twins left behind a rich, innovative and truly timeless musical legacy that is documented on Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years. It features the two albums they released for Fontana, 1993s critically acclaimed Four-Calendar Café and 1996s underrated hidden gem Milk and Kisses. There’s also singles, tracks from EP and for sessions recorded for BBC Radio One on what’s a compressive celebration of the Cocteau Twins Fontana years.
Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years looks back at what was the final chapter in the story of one of Scotland’s greatest groups of the Cocteau Twins the dream pop pioneers whose inimitable sound was part of the soundtrack during the eighties and nineties, and is a truly timeless reminder of one of the greatest Scottish groups of the last forty years.
Cocteau Twins-Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years-Vinyl.
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