Feelin' pretty tired from last night's Grow Up party. Thanks to Sean Boogie for coming out and playing an amazing set! Those that didn't make it out, really missed out. Anyways, I need a little "pick-me-up" to get me through the rest of the day, therefore here is the uptempo soulful fusion gem "Free" by James Mason. This funky track was originally included on Mason's very rare 1977 album Rhythm of Life. Whenever I come across the original, I find that it generally goes for a few hundred dollars. The album nicely blends together funky jazz fusion instrumentation alongside soulful female vocals. A great record for those that enjoy soulful spiritual jazz. Enjoy!
As the world continues to watch what looks to be a full-blown revolution in Egypt, I thought it might be slightly fitting and maybe a little ironic to feature the soulful revolutionary classic "Freedom Road" by The Pharaohs. This funky track was released by the Chicago-based group back in 1971 off of the small label Scarab Records and later reissued in the mid nineties by Luv N' Haight. Both the reissue and the original pressing are pretty rare to find these days, therefore if you have the extra cash on hand, I highly recommend snatching up the album if you ever come across it. The track "Freedom Road" was also recently included on the superb Soul Jazz Records compilation "Freedom Rhythm & Sound", which I featured on this site a couple weeks ago (SEE Freedom, Rhythm, & Sound. By no means am I trying to get too political here, however hopefully through this historic uprising by what seems to be the oppressed Egyptian people, they too will soon be able to sing the same words that are expressed in this song. Enjoy!
To help celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I thought I would post Joe Henderson's funky jazz gem "Forgone Conclusion". This track is just one of the many great cuts off of Soul Jazz Records' superb Freedom, Rhythm, & Sound compilation, which features funky revolutionary jazz gems from the sixties, seventies, and early eighties. The two volume compilation series coincided with an amazing complimentary book of rare revolutionary jazz record artwork compiled by Stuart Baker and Gilles Peterson. The compilation includes incredible tracks by Sun Ra And His Outer Space Arkestra, Oliver Lake, The Pharaohs, Horace Tapscott & The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Roy Brooks & The Artistic Truth, and many others. The track "Forgone Conclusion" can also be found on Henderson's 1972 album Black is the Color. Overall, Freedom, Rhythm, & Sound is a brilliant and well put together release that truly captures the essence of the underground jazz scene during this important era for music and civil rights. Enjoy!
I'm going to change it up a bit today and post one of my favorite cuts from Steve Reid Ensemble's Spirit Walk album. This experimental track, titled "Lions of Juda", blends Reid's signature funky jazz sound together with the free-form electronics of Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet). The album Spirit Walk, which was released by Soul Jazz Records back in 2005, is basically an entire albums worth of music devoted to bringing these two music sounds together. Interestingly enough, this is actually the second time Reid has recorded "Lions of Juda", with the original being recorded back in 1976 with Reid's at the time group The Legendary Master Brotherhood. That version then went on to be released on the group's landmark album Nova . The two versions are very different, with Hebden certainly making his presence felt with some experimental electronic sounds near the final minutes of the newer version, while the original is a bit more stripped down and focused more heavily on the different individual solos and overall jazz groove that the piece possessed. That being said, both are very good and unique in their own right. On a side note, I unfortunately just started to get into Reid's music around the time of his passing this past April. He was an artist I had always been interested in checking out, however for one reason or another never did. Once I started hearing some of his records, I became absolutely hooked and have continued to seek out each and every recording Reid and many of the members of The Brotherhood have been a part of. Spirit Walk was one of those albums that I kind of came across by accident, as I mostly focused on his earlier jazz material. That being said, it's an amazing unique record that is truly well worth owning. Enjoy!
First off, Happy Cinco De Mayo! I don't have a Mexican song for you, however I am going to keep it very Latin. Here is just a couple of the many great tracks off of the Soul Jazz released compilation titled "Nu Yorica Roots!". This compilation which was released back in 2000, features some of the best Latin music to come out of New York in the 1960's. The compilation includes classic cuts from some of the best Latin artists from that period like Sabu Martinez, Tito Puente, Ray Berretto, Tito Rodriguez, Machito, Joe Cuba and many more. I was very excited to find a used copy of this record recently as it's become one of the harder to find compilations from Soul Jazz. I noticed on a couple of record shop sites that the record looks to be reissued again sometime in the near future. Until then, enjoy!
Legendary jazz drummer Steve Reid sadly passed away last Tuesday (April 13, 2010) at the age of sixty-six. I sit here writing this wishing I can say that I've been enjoying Reid's brilliant music and recordings for years now, however unfortunately I've only just recently gotten into the experimental jazz musician. And even though I'm still very new to the music that he wrote and composed, I can quickly see how groundbreaking he was for jazz and experimental music. Albums like Nova, Rhythmatism, and Odyssey Of The Oblong Square, which were originally released in the mid-to-late seventies sound well ahead of there time as they blend together funky jazz fusion grooves with experimental electronics and arrangements. In his later years, he continued with his experimentation with electronic music and that led him to teaming up with one of the genre's finest in Kieran Hebden, whom some might better know as Four Tet. The two released a series of solid records titled The Exchange Sessions which combined Hebden's electronics with Reid's free-jazz indulged signature percussion sound. One of my favorite releases of Reid's was his 2007 album Daxaar, which was recorded in Africa by a group he put together, that also included Hebden, called the Steve Reid Ensemble. When it comes to this American jazz artist, there is plenty of songs, albums, recordings, and performances to discuss and admire, however being someone who has only recently been introduced to his music I would like to sit back and just enjoy his work. The day he died I was saddened by the fact that I never saw him perform and that it took me so long to be introduced to his music. That being said, the great thing about music is that even though artists live and die, the music that they wrote gets left behind for everyone to enjoy. When it comes to Steve Reid's music, it's safe to say that future generations will definitely enjoy for years to come. Here is to you Steve Reid, for a great life and brilliant music career. You will be surely missed.
I've had a bit of an exhausting and busy day, so I'm going to keep this post short and sweet with Louie Ramirez's funky "Do It Any Way You Wanna" cut off the excellent Soul Jazz compilation New York Latin Hustle. This is just one of the many tracks I enjoy off this two-part doulbe album series. The original was featured on Ramirez's 1976 album A Different Shade Of Black, which has a number of solid latin disco flavoured cuts. I've been listening to this record a lot lately, especially as the weather continues to warm-up. Enjoy the hustle!
Feelin' pretty tired from last night's Grow Up party. Thanks to Sean Boogie for coming out and playing an amazing set! Those that didn't make it out, really missed out. Anyways, I need a little "pick-me-up" to get me through the rest of the day, therefore here is the uptempo soulful fusion gem "Free" by James Mason. This funky track was originally included on Mason's very rare 1977 album Rhythm of Life. Whenever I come across the original, I find that it generally goes for a few hundred dollars. The album nicely blends together funky jazz fusion instrumentation alongside soulful female vocals. A great record for those that enjoy soulful spiritual jazz. Enjoy!
