CECIL McBEE – Alternate Spaces (LP-1979)

Label: India Navigation – IN 1043

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: US- Released: 1979

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Modal

India Navigation Studio Recording, 1978

All Compositions By – Cecil McBee

Cover Photo By – Lucia McBee

Produced by India Navigation Company 1979

A1 - Alternate Space . . . 9:05

A2 - Consequence . . . 8:15

B1 - Come Sunrise . . . 6:43

B2 - Sorta, Kinda Blue . . . 6:35

B3 - Expression . . . 7:13

CECIL McBEE – Bass

CHICO FREEMAN – Tenor & Soprano Saxes, Flute  

JOE GARDNER – Trumpet

DON PULLEN – Piano

ALLEN NELSON – Drums

FAMOUDOU DON MOYE – Percussion

Bassist Cecil McBee and Chico Freeman (who triples on tenor, soprano and flute) teamed up many times during the late 1970s and '80s. Their collaborations found them playing music that was a spiritual extension on hard bop, adventurous while moving forward. On this LP, they perform five of McBee's originals in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, the percussive pianist Don Pullen (a major asset to the date), drummer Allen Nelson and percussionist Don Moye. The often melodic but unpredictable music definitely holds one's interest.

_ By SCOTT YANOW

If you find it, buy this album!

CECIL McBEE SEXTET – Music From The Source (LP-1978)

Label: Enja Records – enja 3019

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: Germany - Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded "live" at Sweet Basils, N.Y.C. Date: August 2, 1977.

E. Producer: Horst Weber

Producer: Cecil McBee

Engineer : Bob Cummins

Mastering: David Baker

Cover Design: Weber/Winckelmann

Cover Photo: Gerd Chesi

A - Agnez (with respect to Roy Haynes) (Cecil McBee) . . . 19:14

B1 - God Spirit (Cecil McBee) . . . 8:15
B2 - First Song in the Day (Hal Galper) . . . 17:20

CECIL McBEE – Bass
CHICO FREEMAN – Flute, Tenor Sax
JOE GARDNER – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
DENNIS MOORMAN – Piano
STEVE McCALL – Drums
DON MOYE – Percussion

Other than a 1974 set for Strata-East, this post-bop effort was bassist Cecil McBee's earliest recording as a leader. With Chico Freeman (heard on tenor and flute) as the most impressive soloist, McBee performs two originals and a piece by Hal Galper in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, pianist Dennis Moorman, drummer Steve McCall and Don Moye on conga. The music is spiritual in nature, sometimes quite modal and in the adventurous genre of John Coltrane without being derivative. A fine live set, one of two recorded within a two-day period at New York's Sweet Basil.
_ By SCOTT YANOW

If you find it, buy this album!