JACKIE McLEAN – Jacknife (1965/66) Blue Note–BN-LA457-H2/UA – 2LP-1975

Label: Blue Note ‎– BN-LA457-H2

Series: The Blue Note Re-Issue Series –

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1975

Style: Post Bop

A1 to B3 recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in mid 1965.

C1 to D3 rec. at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on April 12, 1966.

Art Direction, Design – Bob Cato

Photography By – Raymond Ross

Liner Notes – Ira Gitler

Producer [Original Sessions Produced By] – Alfred Lion

Producer [Produced For Release By] – Michael Cuscuna

Matrix / Runout (Side 1 Runout etched): BN-LA 457-1- UA

Matrix / Runout (Side 4 Runout etched): BN-LA 457-4 UA

Matrix / Runout (Side 2 Runout etched): BN-LA 457-2 UA

Matrix / Runout (Side 3 Runout etched): BN-LA 457-3 UA

side 1

A1 - On The Nile ...................................................................................................... 12:30

A2 - Climax ................................................................................................................ 9:19

side 2

B1 - Soft Blue ........................................................................................................... 7:25

B2 - Jacknife ............................................................................................................. 6:15

B3 - Blue Fable ......................................................................................................... 6:00

Personnel:

Jackie McLean – alto saxophone

Charles Tolliver – trumpet (A1, B1, B3)

Lee Morgan – trumpet (A2, B1, B2)

Larry Willis – piano

Larry Ridley – bass

Jack DeJohnette – drums, percussion

side 3

C1 - High Frequency ............................................................................................... 11:25

C2 - Combined Effort ................................................................................................ 9:24

side 4

D1 - Moonscape ........................................................................................................ 6:47

D2 - Jossa Bossa ...................................................................................................... 7:00

D3 - The Bull Frog ..................................................................................................... 4:35

Personnel:

Jackie McLean – alto saxophone

Larry Willis – piano

Don Moore – bass

Jack DeJohnette – drums, percussion

All the material in this album is previously unreleased and issued here for the first time.

Jackie McLean's Jacknife sessions it actually comprises two volumes, one recorded in 1965 and the other in 1966. They were originally given the catalogue number of BLP 4223 and BLP 4236, but were shelved for ten years and issued together in 1975 as a double LP, with the number BN-LA457-H2. Whilst the 1965 tracks were released on a limited edition CD in 2002, those from 1966 have never been released singularly.

A heady combination of post-bop, avant-garde, and soul jazz, recorded on the cusp of the sale of Blue Note to Liberty.

The tapes languished in the Blue Note vaults for a decade until Michael Cuscuna discovered them and produced this double-helping for United Artists.

Razor-sharp Van Gelder recordings which United Artists engineers manage to capably reproduce. As Cuscuna said, the only thing you have to do to a Van Gelder recording is keep your hands behind your back and not mess it up.

...Starting with Let Freedom Ring, McLean embraced modality and wasn’t sheepish to use honks and squeaks in his solos. This 1965 session, showcases McLean’s exciting vision of jazz in all its glory.

With a rhythm section of Larry Willis, Larry Ridley and Jack DeJohnette, as well as two trumpeters, Charles Tolliver and Lee Morgan, McLean crafts an album full of urgency and intensity. McLean himself thrives on the modal structures of Tolliver’s “On The Nile” and DeJohnette’s “Climax,” producing fiery solos that illustrate his vivid imagination as a soloist. He also contributes the well-thought out original “Blue Fable” to the proceedings. Morgan makes his strongest impression on “Blue Fable” and also plays on “Climax” as well as his own tune, “Soft Blue,” which comes off as, maybe, a tad too conventional for this album. Tolliver trumps Morgan, though, with his writing as well as his unique improvisations, especially his dramatic thoughts on “On The Nile” and his ability to match McLean’s fury on the title track.

Willis’s solos are models of restraint and provide an excellent contrast to the three horn players. DeJohnette’s playing on his own composition particularly is an instructive example of a jazz drummer constantly building up and releasing tension, not unlike what Tony Williams did on McLean’s One Step Beyond.

During the heyday of Blue Note, many fine sessions such as Jacknife did not see the light of day until many years later. So, while it’s admittedly not surprising that jazz of this calibre was not immediately released, it’s still a tad confounding that producer Alfred Lion could let this fine music linger in the vault.          (Review by Robert Gilbert / AAJ)

If you find it, buy this album!

MUSIC INC. – Live At Slugs' Volume 1 (LP-1972)

Label: Strata-East – SES-1972

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1972

Style: Hard Bop, Free Improvisation

Recorded on May 1, 1970 at Slugs' in New York City.

Design [Graphic] – Vuca Graphics

Engineer – Orville O'Brien

Photography By – Wallace Hewitt

Matrix / Runout (Side A Etched Runout): SES 1972 A S/W

Matrix / Runout (Side B Etched Runout): SES 1972 B S/W

A1 - Drought ............................................................................................ 9:04

         (Written-By – Tolliver)

A2 - Felicite ............................................................................................. 8:05

         (Written-By – McBee)

B  -  Orientale ......................................................................................... 17:34

         (Written-By – Cowell)

Personnel:

Charles Tolliver – trumpet

Stanley Cowell – piano

Cecil McBee – bass

Jimmy Hopps – drums, percussion

Live at Slugs' is a live album by Music Inc. led by American jazz trumpeter Charles Tolliver recorded in 1970 and released as two separate volumes on the Strata-East label.

Strata East recordings are quite difficult to acquire, which is unfortunate considering their high quality. Charles Tolliver was one of the great trumpeters to emerge during the late '60s yet has always been vastly underrated. on this quartet set with pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jimmy Hopps, Tolliver has a real chance to stretch out. The 17-minute "Orientale" is particularly memorable. The music straddles the boundary between advanced hard bop and the avant-garde and rewards repeated listenings.

Charles Tolliver is my all time favourite trumpet player in jazz. He is simply awesome has a full brassy tone and perfect technique yet is almost unheard of except amongst devoted jazz fans. His name crops up on a number of LP's as a sideman but it was with his own ensemble, Music Inc. that he really shines. Music Inc. were group set up by Tolliver and pianist Stanley Cowell to preserve acoustic jazz traditions in the seventies and as a flagship act for their own new label Strata East. The Live at Slugs' date was spread over two volumes. Volume 1 and Volume 2 features per three tracks, each penned by different members of the group.

Where have you gone, Charles Tolliver? There was such promise in the concept of Music Inc., and in Strata East, but evidently the music world's attention was elsewhere and this tremendous live set was probably heard by only a few hundred sets of ears. On the back of the record sleeve, Tolliver undersigned his mission statement: "Music Inc. was created out of the desire to assemble men able to see the necessity for survival of a heritage and an Art in the hopes that the sacrifices and high level of communication between them will eventually reach every soul." And he isn't kidding. You won't find a much higher level of communication than he, Cecil McBee, Stanley Cowell, and Jimmy Hopps engaged in on May 1, 1970 at Slugs' in New York City. This was much more than an attempt to merely 'preserve acoustic jazz' as in the stilted Marsalis vein. This was an attempt to preserve a measure of authenticity while maintaining the notion of forward-thinking, present-tense improvised music. They deserved a greater response than the lukewarm, sparse applause they received that night, and continue to deserve a far more cognizant audience for their efforts.

MUSIC INC. ‎– Live At Slugs' Volume II (LP-1973)

Label: Strata-East – SES-19720

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold / Country: US / Released: 1973

Style: Hard Bop, Free Improvisation

Recorded on May 1, 1970 at Slugs' in New York City.

Design [Graphic] – Vuca Graphics

Engineer – Orville O'Brien

Photography By – Wallace Hewitt

Matrix / Runout (Side A Etched Runout): SES 19720 A S/W

Matrix / Runout (Side B Etched Runout): SES 19720 B S/W

A1 – Spanning .......................................................................................... 8:30

         Written-By – Charles Tolliver

A2 - Wilpan's .......................................................................................... 10:37

         Written-By – Cecil McBee

B  -  Our Second Father .......................................................................... 13:26

         (Dedicated To The Memory Of John Coltrane)

         Written-By – Charles Tolliver

Personnel:

Charles Tolliver – trumpet

Stanley Cowell – piano

Cecil McBee – bass

Jimmy Hopps – drums, percussion

Through its duration, the music on Live at Slugs' is often riveting and incessantly compelling. Hopps is a great to me in this performans, but the other three players featured here are some of the all-time underrated presences in the jazz pantheon, and they play nothing short of masterfully. Always a presence on his recordings, Tolliver demonstrates tremendous range, flair, and command as a trumpeter and leader. Had he not come along at a time when pure jazz was falling out of favor, I have to believe his name (along with Woody Shaw's) would be every bit as prolific as Freddie Hubbard's or Lee Morgan's; the same holds for the always brilliant and expressive McBee on bass.

I feel saddened that Music Inc. fell so far short of "eventually reach[ing] every soul" - yet fortunate that it eventually reached mine.

Volumes 1 & 2 of this concert are definitely among the greatest live Jazz recordings you can hear... These adventurous recordings have the unexpected effect of reminding me of the live Jaki Byard albums I love so much because the piano is slightly out of tune and/or miked improperly.

Merry Christmas, gentlemen!       Enjoy!

If you find them, buy these albums!