PHIL WOODS And HIS EUROPEAN RHYTHM MACHINE – Live At Montreux 72 (LP-1972 / Pierre Cardin – STEC 131)

Label: Les Disques Pierre Cardin – STEC 131

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

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded June 19. 1972 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Design [Cover, both side] By – Pierre Cardin

Photography By [Front/Back Cover] – David Redfern

Engineer – Stephen Sulke

Graphics – Hartmut Pfeiffer

Mastered By – Christian Orsini

Producer, Mixed By – Emmanuel "Pinpin" Sciot

Original French pressing with round corners

Matrix / Runout (Side A runout, etched): STEC 131 A

Matrix / Runout (Side B runout, etched): STEC 131 B

It's not my rip (a gift from A. R.) so I apologize for the relatively poor sound. But the album is great.

A  -  The Executive Suite .................................................................... 26:00

B1 - Falling ........................................................................................... 9:00

B2 - It Does Not Really Matter Who You Are ..................................... 15:00

All compositions by Gordon Beck

Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine:

Phil Woods --- alto saxophone

Gordon Beck --- piano

Ron Mattewson --- bass

Daniel Humair --- drums, percussion

This LP is a real rarity how for the record company that produced it, so also for the jazz music and the huge number of admirers an early Phil Woods. The album has never re-issued on CD. 

In the early 70s, the Italian-French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, great lover of music, founded a record company in his name, which had very short life and that was distinguished by his covers particularly elegant artwork, designed by himself.

In the short period of activity he published several LP's, not only of jazz, among which also the French edition of the Concerto Grosso by New Trolls.

Of particular interest are the recordings made during the Montreux Jazz Festival 1972 concert by Jean-Luc Ponty, the Lubat, Louis and Engel Group, in addition to this the European Rhythm Machine Phil Woods, who at the time was hailed as a masterpiece.

Briton David Waddington critic of Jazz called this album "a fluid and breathtaking improvisation titanic wise." The A-side of the vinyl with engaging twenty-five minutes of 'Executive Suite was also described by critics Brian Case and Stan Britt, in their Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz, "a tour de force of the alto sax, with no accompanying sequences in which Woods gives vent his extraordinary instrumental mastery acute from screaming extreme to severe extreme moaning of the instrument. "

In England, the album was released by Verve, on granting the French publisher, with a different layout.

At a distance of forty four years the record is still valid and is an extraordinary testimony to the evolutionary trend of those years jazz. Roberto Arcuri, about that experience said, "Go and hear the term European Rhythm Machine, that was not a rival of no one, Phil Woods was a wonderful musician, super, which remained like that. "

Colossal music. My favorite album for this month.

If you find it, buy this album!

PHIL WOODS QUARTET – New Music By The New Phil Woods Quartet (LP-1974)

Label: Testament Records – T-4402

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

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Fusion

Recorded and Mastered At Artisan Sound Recorders, TR&M, 1974.

Mastered By [Tape-To-Disc Mastering] – Bob McLeod

Producer, Recorded By – Pete Robinson

Transferred By [Tape Transfer], Edited By – Pete Robinson, Pete Welding

A1 - Charity ........................................................................... 10:24

         (by – Pete Robinson)

A2 - Cumulus ........................................................................ 10:27

         (by – Pete Robinson)

B1 - Nefertiti And Riot .......................................................... 17:06

         (by [Nefertiti] – W. Shorter / by [Riot] – H. Hancock)

B2 - Yesterdays ....................................................................... 3:57

         (by – J. Kern, O. Harbach)

Phil Woods – saxophone

Pete Robinson – keyboards, synthesizer

Henry Franklin – bass

Brian Moffat – drums, percussion

This LP finds Woods playing in a very modern fusion-y mode than we are used to hearing from him.  With Pete Robinson on keys/synths,  Henry Franklin on bass, and Brian Moffatt on percussion.  Definitely one of his more out recordings.

When Phil Woods returned to the United States after several years in Europe, he formed a quartet with keyboardist Pete Robinson, bassist Henry Franklin and drummer Brian Moffatt that utilized electronics. Ten months of rehearsal resulted in four nights at a club and then little else before the band broke up. This LP, recorded at rehearsals in 1973, was the group's only album. On a pair of Robinson's challenging originals, the standard "Yesterdays" and a medley of Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti" and Herbie Hancock's "Riot," Woods and Robinson challenge each other. However, the electronics, surprisingly, do sound a pretty good, and the band was only in what should have been the early stages of its development; it sometimes sounds a bit strangely and never really had a chance to mature.

Eh, that was more time and understanding ... who knows? ...

If you find it, buy this album!

PHIL WOODS and GENE QUILL – Phil and Quill with Prestige (LP-1957)

On The Trail Of Old Albums

Label: Prestige – P-7115,  Esquire 32-050

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Released: 1957

Style: Bop, Improvisation

Recorded: Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 29, 1957.

Composed By – Phil Woods

Engineer – Van Gelder

Liner Notes – Ira Gitler

Supervised By – Bob Weinstock

This album should be part of any jazz collector. These players both show a later bebop style patterned after Parker; In fact, Woods has a real knack for quoting "Bird" licks as part of his individual style. Quill keeps up with Phil in almost all areas, so you get a jam-session/battle of the horns feel throughout this LP.

Highly recommended.

A1 - Creme De Funk . . . 5:09

A2 - Lazy-Like . . . 5:53

A3 - Nothing But Soul . . . 6:47

B1 - A Night At St. Nick's . . . 6:48

B2 - Black Cherry Fritters . . . 5:27

B3 – Altology . . . 6:30

PHIL WOODS – alto saxophone

GENE QUILL – alto saxophone

GEORGE SYRAN – piano

TEDDY KOTICK – bass

NICK STABULAS – drums

Prestige original design: – well, what is there to say? Hi Phil, Hi Gene.

This one is another great album from 1957 the jazz zenith, the perfect year. Phil and Quill were both alto men, were both Parkerian so it's not that easy to recognize who's playing for the jazz novice. Anyhow I'll help saying that Woods has a more beautiful, autoritathive sound. He's the "boss" here (the rhythm section is quite good but we don't have the biggest stars here), Quill has a smaller sound and less fantasy I might say. Phil Woods is in splendid shape here blowing a bebop phrease after another (quoting Parker here and there, what a musical delight!) being always interesting. Quill is good too, don't get me wrong, very good. But Woods's the Boss and you can easily hear that. The track list is quite interesting. The opener is a minor blues medium tempo, funky blues. Funky in the jazz sense ... every phrase is in place, the attitude is right, bad, absolutly ok. Funky! Dont' think to James Brown here! "Lazy like" is a major tune again mid tempoed. "Nothing but soul" is a little faster.  "A night at St. Nicks" is a fast bopper thing. Woods delight me here! 100% parkerian!! Great! "Black cherry fritters" is a kind of soul jazz thing even if soul jazz is a sixties trend. They anticipate it here because this is another medium tempo tune with a "soul" theme. With "Altology" we come back to up tempo things. Some breaks here and there.

When you're considering an album like this it's difficult to understand which kind of tunes you're going to find under the titles. If you read the title of a standard ok, you know what you'll going to listen, but when you read "Creme de funk" chances are you don't know what you will find. And then you discover that it's a simple minor blues. So I think it helps to read reviews where every tune is described. Blues, minor blues, anatolls are so commonly contrafacted and titled differently that it helps to know in advance what you' ll find under strange titles. Anyway this is an extremely consistent album. I'll call it essential to own a really complete jazz collection. Buy it with confidence. Moreover it is true, it is recorded very well, the overall sound is clean and warm.  (_By Jazzcat)

If you find it, buy this album!

PHIL WOODS AND HIS EUROPEAN RHYTHM MACHINE – At Frankfurt Jazz Festival (1970-LP-1971)

Label: Embryo Records – SD 530
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released: 1971
Style: Free Jazz, Post Bop
Recorded live on March 21, 1970, at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival.
Album  Design – Haig Adishian
Photography [Black & White] – Giuseppe G. Pino
Photography [Colour] – Marc Riboud
Producer – Horst Lippmann
Producer [Executive Producer] – Herbie Mann

PHIL WOODS – Saxophone [Alto]
GORDON BECK – Piano
HENRI TEXIER – Acoustic bass
DANIEL HUMAIR – Drums, Percussion

A1 Freedom Jazz Dance (Composed By – Eddie Harris) 13:30
A2 Ode A Jean-Louis (Composed By – Phil Woods) 13:30
B1 Josua (Composed By – Victor Feldman) 13:00
B2 The Meeting (Composed By – Gordon Beck) 11:00

Altoist Phil Woods' European Rhythm Machine was the most adventurous group he ever led, bordering on the avant-garde at times. The 1970 version (which includes pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Henri Texier and drummer Daniel Humair) is showcased on this performing two group originals, Victor Feldman's "Josua" and "Freedom Jazz Dance." Beck's "The Meeting" is the briefest performance at 11 minutes, while the other three selections all clock in around 13. Woods' longtime bebop fans may not be that excited by these pretty free improvisations (although the musicians were clearly listening closely to each other), but the altoist's tone remained quite recognizable. Challenging and stimulating music.

_ SCOTT YANOW



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PHIL WOODS AND HIS EUROPEAN RHYTHM MACHINE – Phil Woods And His European Rhythm Machine (1970-LP-1976)

Label: Inner City Records – IC 1002
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue; Country: US - Released: 1976
Style: Post Bop, Modal, Free Jazz
Recorded at Europa-Sonor Studio on July 5, 1970.
Album Design – Frank Vega
Engineer – Charles B. Raucher
Liner Notes – Nat Hentoff

PHIL WOODS – Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Recorder [English], Percussion, Voice
GORDON BECK – Electric Piano, Piano, Organ, Bells, Percussion, Voice
HENRI TEXIER – Acoustic Bass, Flute, Percussion [African], Voice
DANIEL HUMAIR – Drums, Percussion [Remo Roto-tom], Percussion [Woodblocks]

A1 Chromatic Banana
A2 Ultimate Choice
B1 The Last Page/Sans Melodie
B2 A Look Back
B3 The Day When The World...

In 1970, when Inner City Records was just getting off the ground, Phil Woods was in Europe enjoying himself, and collaborating with musicians who were definitely feeling the spell of the Miles Davis groundbreaking jazz fusion epic Bitches Brew. While always a staunch straight-ahead bebop player, Woods decided to mix it up a bit and incorporate elements of funk, rock, and free improvisation, much to the likely chagrin of his listeners. In fact, a vitriolic letter printed on the back cover from an unidentified fan residing in Chicopee Falls, MA, rips Woods for abandoning melody, criticizes his titles, and actually threatens him with physical violence should he ever show up in his town. Woods gives his terse reply, but as cynical as this discourse is, it could all have been whipped up by Woods to deflect any detractors to his "new thing." Truth be told, the music here is inspired and focused, even if it is not what devotees might expect. British electric pianist Gordon Beck (who took over for original keyboardist George Gruntz), French acoustic bassist Henri Texier, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair are all extremely talented musicians, who alongside the excitable Woods forge strong bonds in amalgamating this modern jazz into a personalized sound. Bookended by really long jam-type pieces, the album also retains a certain amount of arranged and complex melody lines. The opener, "Chromatic Banana," is the piece that caused the letter-writing fan's consternation, and in the hilarious liner notes, Woods offers listeners a chance to win one in simulated plastic. Musically, it moves fast from 6/8 to free to 5/4, 4/4, and 7/8 meters in pre-fusion rock-funk modes, with the alto and Varitone-modified sax of Woods wheezing, wailing, improvising, and eventually vocally scatting. Beck's "The Day When the World..." has a folkish intro on the Hohner electric piano, moves from a steady rock beat to a poppish tune, and concludes with introductions of the bandmembers by one of the leader's children in English and French. A combo track of Beck and Woods, "The Last Page/Sans Melodie" starts as a pleasant ballad, then quickens to a bop and rock pace with Woods on a Varitone clarinet. The most straight jazz-oriented cut is also contributed by Beck: "Ultimate Choice" is a fleet bebop discourse between the pianist and alto saxophonist, with hard attacks and Woods digging in and establishing his territory. The short "A Look Back" is actually forward-thinking and progressive in a spontaneous manner via the spare recorder playing of Woods underpinning clacky percussion, rattles, and bowed bass...

_ By MICHAEL G. NASTOS



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