SHAMEK FARRAH – First Impressions (Strata-East – SES-7412 / LP-1974)

Label: Strata-East – SES-7412

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1974

Style: Soul-Jazz, Contemporary, Free Jazz

Recorded and mixed at Sound Ideas Studio, New York City.

Artwork [Graphics] – Jerry Harris

Photography By [Liner Photo] – Richard Hinson

Engineer [Recording] – Geoff Daking, George Klabin

Producer – Shamek Farrah / Janfar Productions

Matrix / Runout (Side A Etched): SES-7412-A

Matrix / Runout (Side B Etched): SES-7412-B

A1 - Meterologicly Tuned ................................................................................... 11:20

A2 - Watch What Happens Now .......................................................................... 5:43

Shamek Farrah – alto saxophone

Norman Person – trumpet

Kasa Mu-Barak – piano

Milton Suggs – bass

Clay Herndon – drums, percussion

B1 - Umoja Suite ................................................................................................. 7:26

B2 - First impressions ....................................................................................... 10:30

Shamek Farrah – alto saxophone

Norman Person – trumpet

Sonelius Smith – piano

Milton Suggs – bass

Ron Warwell – drums

Kenny Harper – percussion

Calvert "Bo" Satter-White – conga

Fantastic piece of free improvised groove jazz. The players are kind of doing there solos together at the same time, but never loose touch to that bassline groove, outstanding, free, but never too free, just really soulful interaction and a mysterious ancient vibe to it.

One of the hardest to find records on Strata East, and one of the best – a darkly-crafted session of pure beauty, one that lives up to all the best promise of the label! The tracks are long, the sound is bold, and the whole thing moves at a pace that none of the bigger jazz labels were matching at the time – the most righteous, most expressive side of jazz in the mid 70s! Alto player Shamek Farrah is at the lead of a unique group that features Norman Person on trumpet, Milton Suggs on bass, and Sonelius Smith on piano – plus lots of additional drums and percussion, especially on side two of the album, which features some really righteous numbers! Titles include the massive bass sample track "First Impressions" – a symphony of dark, descending chord structures – plus "Meterologicly Tuned", "Watch What Happens Now", and "Umoja Suite". Incredible good! 

(Dusty Groove, Inc.)

If you find it, buy this album!

UNITY / BYRON MORRIS – Blow Thru Your Mind (E.P.I. Rec - EPI-02 / LP-1974)

Label: E.P.I. Records – EPI-02

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1974

Style: Free Improvisation, Modal

Recorded on December 30, 1973, at Minot Sound Studios, White Plains, NY.

Cover [Cover Art] – John Blazeski

Photos By – Gerald Wise

Photography By [Photo Consult] – Peter Hurd

Layout – Betty Morris

Mixed By – Byron Morris, Ron Carran

Producer – Byron Morris, Gerald Wise

Matrix / Runout (Side A): EPI-02-A

Matrix / Runout (Side B): EPI-02-B

A1 - Kitty Bey ............................................................................................. 12:25

A2 - Ether ..................................................................................................... 6:20

B1 - Reunion .............................................................................................. 11:40

B2 - Transcendental Lullaby ........................................................................ 7:00

Personnel:

Byron Morris – baritone saxophone, alto saxophone

Vince McEwan – trumpet

Mike Kull – piano

Jay Clayton – vocals

Milton Suggs – bass

Abdush Shahid – drums

Tony Waters – percussion, congas, maracas

The music on this LP is excellent. A major departure from the dissonant free jazz that Morris explored on 1969's Unity session, Blow Thru Your Mind contains modal post-bop that is melodic and relatively accessible. This is a very spiritual album; a lot of spirituality goes into the solos of Morris and trumpeter Vincent McEwan, as well as the ethereal vocals of female singer Jay Clayton (who is featured on tracks like "Ether," "Reunion," and "Transcendental Lullaby"). Blow Thru Your Mind is enthusiastically recommended to anyone who is seriously into modal jazz...

Byron Morris and Unity released Blow Through Your Mind originally in the US in 1974. 
The LP was recorded a year earlier at Minot Sound Studios in White Plains, New York. This studio was a favorite with many independent Jazz groups at this time -- for instance, many recordings for the independent Strata East Records, co-owned by Stanley Cowell and Charles Tolliver, were made here. Unity was formed with similar values, aims and objectives of many similar groups at the time, as the name suggests. Uniquely, it managed to match the musical and spiritual searching of John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Ornette Coleman alongside an equally experimental New York art-music dimension that was brought into the group by vocalist Jay Clayton, who has performed with, amongst many others, Steve Reich. With bassist Milton Suggs having played in Sun Ra's Arkestra, and Byron Morris studied with Ornette Coleman and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, it is possible to see the path that makes up 'Kitty Bey', twelve minutes of musical intensity, that sounds like nothing else ever recorded. 
Kitty Bey was originally featured on Universal Sounds Of America on Soul Jazz. Originally released on Unity's own EPI label and distributed by hand, this record has remained an underground classic recording for over 25 years?......

Note:

Blow Thru Your Mind, which first came out on vinyl in 1974, was EPI's second release. In 2002, Blow Thru Your Mind and Morris' next album, Vibrations, Themes and Serenades, were both reissued on CD by Céleste Music (a Japanese label). But those Céleste reissues weren't the first time that Morris' '70s recordings had been heard on CD; in 1994, Morris combined material from Blow Thru Your Mind and Vibrations.

Unfortunately, all of these re-releases have long ago are out-of-print.

Review by Alex Henderson

If you find it, buy this album!