Category Archives: Modal Jazz

CULT CLASSIC: MASAO NAKAJIMA QUARTET-KEMO SABE.

Cult Classic: Masao Nakajima Quartet-Kemo Sabe. Masao Nakajima was born in Senzoku, Ohta ward, Tokyo in 1950. His father was a councilman and his mother worked in music and also sang classical music. It was no surprise that her son started playing piano aged seven. In 1959, aged nine,  Masao Nakajima discovered jazz and began …

Continue reading

MASAO NAKAJIMA QUARTET-KEMO SABE.

Masao Nakajima Quartet-Kemo Sabe. Label: BBE Music. Format: CD. Masao Nakajima was born in Senzoku, Ohta ward, Tokyo in 1950. His father was a councilman and his mother worked in music and also sang classical music. It was no surprise that her son started playing piano aged seven. In 1959, aged nine,  Masao Nakajima discovered …

Continue reading

PER HUSBY SEPTETT-PEACEMAKER.

Per Husby Septett-Peacemaker. Label: BBE Music. Format: CD. Release Date: 21st October 2022. Growing up, Per Husby never dreamt of becoming a musician. That was despite music playing an important part in his life.  Initially he took piano lessons and later, enrolled in a correspondence course from Berklee that covered elementary jazz theory and the principles …

Continue reading

HARD BOP CLASSIC: ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS-THE WITCH DOCTOR.

Hard Bop Classic: Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers-The Witch Doctor. When The Jazz Messengers were formed in 1954, the collective was led by Horace Silver and Art Blakey when they played live. However, it wasn’t until November the ‘23rd’ 1955 when they recorded At the Cafe Bohemia, Volumes 1 and 2. That night, the …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: KOHSUKE MINE-FIRST.

Cult Classic: Kohsuke Mine-First. Nowadays, the most important period in the development of  J-Jazz is between late-sixties through to the early eighties. That’s regarded as a crucial period in the development of modern jazz in Japan. During that period, many Japanese composers and musicians and bands released ambitious and innovative music that astounded those who …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: GENE RUSSELL-NEW DIRECTION.

Cult Classic: Gene Russell-New Direction. In 1969, pianist Gene Russell and percussionist Dick Schory founded Black Jazz Records in Oakland, California. The nascent label’s raison d’être was “to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers.” This was only part of their vision for their new label. They were determined that Black …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: STEVE POTTS-MUSIQUE POUR LE FILM D’UN AMI. 

Cult Classic: Steve Potts-Musique Pour Le Film D’Un Ami. Sadly, musical history is littered with artists whose music never received the recognition that it deserved. Often, it’s only much later that their albums start to find the audience that they so richly deserve. That was the case with Alice Clark, Gram Parsons, Laraaji, John Martyn, …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: THE AWAKENING-HEAR, SENSE AND FEEL.

Cult Classic: The Awakening-Hear, Sense and Feel. Of the twenty albums that Black Jazz Records released between 1971 and 1975, The Awakening’s Hear, Sense and Feel is a much prized rarity amongst collectors. Copies of the album change hands for hundreds of dollars. That is no surprise given the quality of music The Awakening recorded. It …

Continue reading

ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS-THE WITCH DOCTOR.

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers-The Witch Doctor. Label: Blue Note Records. Format: LP. When The Jazz Messengers were formed in 1954, the collective was led by Horace Silver and Art Blakey when they played live. However, it wasn’t until November the ‘23rd’ 1955 when they recorded At the Cafe Bohemia, Volumes 1 and 2. …

Continue reading

IMPULSE RECORDS: MUSIC, MESSAGE AND THE MOMENT.

Impulse Records: Music, Message and The Moment. Label: Impulse. Format: 2CD Set. The roots of Impulse! can be traced to 1955 when the American Broadcasting Company decided the time was right to diversify into the record business. History was made on June ‘14th’ 1955 when  Am-Par Record Corporation was incorporated and Samuel H. Clark became …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: SHINTARO QUINTET-EVOLUTION.

Cult Classic: Shintaro Quintet-Evolution. Ever since  the mid-fifties, many American jazz musicians journeyed to Japan where they toured and recorded albums. They were respected and treated as series  musicians, and when they recorded an album the budget was much more generous and the working conditions far better than they were used to.  It was no …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: ROLAND HAYNES-2ND WAVE.

Cult Classic: Roland Haynes-2nd Wave. Forty-five years ago in 1975, Roland Haynes released his debut album 2nd Wave on the Detroit-based Black Jazz Records. The label was founded by Gene Russell and Dick Schory and released twenty albums between 1971 and 1975. 2nd Wave was the label’s penultimate release and it folded later in 1975. …

Continue reading

KOHSUKE MINE-FIRST.

Kohsuke Mine-First. Label: BBE. Format: CD. Nowadays, the most important period in the development of  J-Jazz is between late-sixties through to the early eighties. That’s regarded as a crucial period in the development of modern jazz in Japan. During that period, many Japanese composers and musicians and bands released ambitious and innovative music that astounded …

Continue reading

DIRECTIONS IN MUSIC 1969 TO 1973.

Directions In Music 1969 To 1973. Label: BGP. Format: CD. By the time of John Coltrane’s death in 1967 rock was by far the most popular musical genre in America. A headline in Downbeat magazine warned that: “Jazz as We Know It Is Dead.” The future of jazz looked bleak. Fortunately, fusion rode to the …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: WALTER BISHOP JR-CORAL KEYS.

Cult Classic: Walter Bishop Jr-Coral Keys. In 1971, Gene Russell and Dick Schory founded Black Jazz Records and later that year, the nascent label released their first release. This was Doug Carn’s debut album Infant Eyes. It was the first of twenty albums that the label released between 1971 and 1975. Later in 1971, Black …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: BOBBY HUTCHERSON-OBLIQUE.

Cult Classic: Bobby Hutcherson-Oblique. On July the ‘21st’ 1967, Bobby Hutcherson journeyed to Van Gelder Studio, in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to record Oblique which was his sixth solo album for Blue Note Records. It was just the second album he had recorded with a quartet.  The first was Happenings, an album of modal hard bop …

Continue reading

GENE RUSSELL-NEW DIRECTION.

Gene Russell-New Direction. Label: Real Gone Music. Format: CD. In 1969, pianist Gene Russell and percussionist Dick Schory founded Black Jazz Records in Oakland, California. The nascent label’s raison d’être was “to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers.” This was only part of their vision for their new label. They …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: JACKIE MCLEAN-IT’S TIME!

Cult Classic: Jackie McLean-It’s Time! When Jackie McLean and his band journeyed to Van Gelder Studio, in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on August the ‘5th’ 1964, it was his fourteenth solo session for Blue Note Records and resulted in the album It’s Time! It which featured a new band and saw him revisit his old …

Continue reading

CULT CLASSIC: AMBIANCE-INTO A NEW JOURNEY.

Cult Classic: Ambiance-Into A New Journey. During the seven year period between 1979 and 1986, Ambiance led by Nigerian born multi-instrumentalist Daoud Abubakar Balewa released six albums on the LA-based private press label Da Mon Records. It was a self-financed business that released short runs of Ambiance’s albums during a time when many smaller independent …

Continue reading

SHINTARO QUINTET-EVOLUTION.

Shintaro Quintet-Evolution. Label: BBE Music. Format: CD. Ever since  the mid-fifties, many American jazz musicians journeyed to Japan where they toured and recorded albums. They were respected and treated as series  musicians, and when they recorded an album the budget was much more generous and the working conditions far better than they were used to.  …

Continue reading