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!

CLIFFORD THORNTON NEW ART ENSEMBLE – Freedom & Unity (Goody LP-1969)

Label: Goody – GY 30001, Goody – GY 30.001

Goody Series Vol. 1

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Unofficial Release

Country: France - Released: 1969

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded on July 22, 1967 at Sound City Studios in New York City.

(Track 2 - ''Babe's Dilemma'', bonus track, is not on the original release)

Engineer – Orville O'Brien

Liner Notes – Archie Shepp

Photography By – Philippe Gras

Producer [Serie Directed By] – Claude Delcloo, Jean Luc Young

For those who don't know better, the free jazz movement is considered a sharp break with the past heritage of the music. That really wasn't the case. As Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp hearkened back to field hollers and very basic folk forms, musicians like Clifford Thornton went in the opposite direction, building on the music of the sophisticates and expanding the possibilities for jazz. Listening to music with this much space in it, it might be hard for some listeners to hear the Mingus. But it's there. And because that's there, Ellington is here in heaping handfuls as well. Sure this stuff is rough in spots. But the myriad of tones this man uses to express himself keeps things interesting and alive — the bright clarion of cornet and trumpet, the somber, thoughtful vibes, and a rhythm section that embraces two bass players to keep things rooted. The leader plays valve trombone, an enormously flexible instrument that allows him to meld with a variety of moods and produce music at once heartachingly simple and brain-twistingly complex.

For those with open ears — and minds.

Trombonist/trumpeter Clifford Thornton, is a natural extension of the music of Ornette Coleman.

Recorded one day after John Coltrane’s funeral, this session features Trane sideman Jimmy Garrison on two tracks and Joe McPhee (playing trumpet) on three. Thornton, who rehearsed across the hall from Ornette’s trio, certainly was listening. His piano-less quintet and extended New Art Ensemble pursue Coleman’s breakthroughs in melody and rhythm with different instrumentation. They certainly prove that free principals can be applied to the vibes, as Karl Berger does here and on later recordings with Don Cherry. Alto saxophonist Sonny King (we should find out more about this guy) tears through songs bridging bebop and freedom principles.

Thornton’s valve trombone is the payday here. He floats lines, setting moods or barking replies to the cornet. Thornton’s trombone later recorded with Sunny Murray, Sun Ra and Archie Shepp. The liner notes point out he was denied a visa to enter France because they suspected him of belonging to the Black Panthers. His revolutionary music and self-produced LP’s received little attention in the mainstream press, as he had no access to distribute his music, and in the late 1960s and 1970s, American record companies were withdrawing their support of creative music. The Cecil Taylors, Anthony Braxtons and Joe McPhees of this world either became exiles or recorded for small foreign labels. Clifford Thornton moved to Europe and died in relative obscurity in the mid-80s. This document of significant music calls for further exploration of the ever-neglected free jazz past.

 _ By MARK CORROTO,

Published: November 1, 2001 (AAJ)

Originally issued on Third World Records in 1969 as Third World LP 9636.

http://www.restructures.net/Thornton/thornton_disco_home.htm

http://www.jazzdisco.org/clifford-thornton/discography/

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/JAZZ-LP-CLIFFORD-THORNTON-NEW-ART-ENSEMBLE-FREEDOM-UNITY-THIRD-WORLD-/181410145726

If you find it, buy this album!