Jazz Archives

Easily one of the most important records ever made, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme was his pinnacle studio outing that at once compiled all of his innovations from his past, spoke of his current deep spirituality, and also gave a glimpse into the next two and a half years (sadly, those would be his last). Recorded at the end of 1964, Trane's classic quartet of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Garrison stepped into the studio and created one of the most thought-provoking, concise, and technically pleasing albums of their bountiful relationship (not to mention his best-selling to date). From the undulatory (and classic) bassline at the intro to the last breathy notes, Trane is at the peak of his logical yet emotionally varied soloing while the rest of the group is remarkably in tune with Coltrane's spiritual vibe. Composed of four parts, each has a thematic progression leading to an understanding of spirituality through meditation. From the beginning, "Acknowledgement" is the awakening of sorts that trails off to the famous chanting of the theme at the end, which yields to the second act, "Resolution," an amazingly beautiful piece about the fury of dedication to a new path of understanding. "Persuance" is a search for that understanding, and "Psalm" is the enlightenment. Although he is at times aggressive and atonal, this isn't Trane at his most adventurous (pretty much everything recorded from here on out progressively becomes much more free, and live recordings from this period are extremely spirited), but it certainly is his best attempt at the realization of concept -- as the spiritual journey is made amazingly clear. A Love Supreme clocks in at just over 30 minutes, but if it had been any longer it could have turned into a laborious listen. As it stands, just enough is conveyed. It is almost impossible to imagine a world without A Love Supreme having been made, and it is equally impossible to imagine any jazz collection without it. 

:::Review by Sam Samuelson:::

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (Deluxe Edition 2002) (1965)

CD1
1-1. Part 1 - Acknowledgement 7:43
1-2. Part 2 - Resolution 7:20
1-3. Part 3 - Pursuance 10:42
1-4. Part 4 - Psalm 7:05

CD2
2-1. Introduction By André Francis 1:13
2-2. Part 1 - Acknowledgement (Live Version) 6:12
2-3. Part 2 - Resolution (Live Version) 11:37
2-4. Part 3 - Pursuance (Live Version) 21:30
2-5. Part 4 - Psalm (Live Version) 8:49
2-6. Part 2 - Resolution (Alternative Take) 7:25
2-7. Part 2 - Resolution (Breakdown) 2:13
2-8. Part 1 - Acknowlegement (Alternative Take) 9:09
Bass - Art Davis
Saxophone [Tenor] - Archie Shepp
2-9   Part 1 - Acknowlegement (Alternative Take) 9:23
Bass - Art Davis
Saxophone [Tenor] - Archie Shepp

Credits
Bass - Jimmy Garrison
Drums - Elvin Jones
Piano - McCoy Tyner
Saxophone [Tenor] - John Coltrane

Notes
A Love Supreme: Studio and Live versions including some alternative takes.
Disc One and Disc Two (tracks 6-9) recorded December 1964 at Van Gelder Recording Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Disc Two (tracks 1-5) recorded July 1965 at the Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, France.

The debut of this german band which was founded early 1969 in Hamburg. In summary the music is Jazz Rock oriented but also with some Hard Rock and Folk/Hippie elements. Of course there are many impressions from other artists coming together here. But I'm quite sure this album from 1971 also must have influenced bands like EMBRYO or MISSUS BEASTLY. A wide range of instruments is used which provides variety to the songs. We have a fuzzy guitar which brings some psych moments, the rhythm section and saxophone for a fusion/jazzrock orientation, nice percussion work and a flute for a folk feeling.
So the first long track Simple Headphone Mind unites all this elements. The result is a very good song which in parts sounds like a collaboration between SANTANA, TRAFFIC and SOFT MACHINE. Your Chance Of A Lifetime contains vocals which are not really satisfying. But the rest is exciting though with a crazy piano part. Where The Wild Things Are is a short jazz rocking piece which might be an impression how they were able to jam live on the stage. Vampire State Building of course contains a drum solo which was compelling at that time, just a sacred duty. This song is another highlight of the album because of a great variety. Marvellous piano and guitar work - even the vocals are impressive.
With Piss Off a heavy and crazy guitar is striking, weird or maybe one could say Avant. Duelling with a sax accompanied by a simple drum rhythm - fantastic!
Change Will Come is one of three songs which were recorded three months later and therefore appears only on the CD version. It's a good one, very jazzy and partially up-tempo.
As for a conclusion this album is recommended to Krautrock fans which prefer a Jazz Rock trend.

:::Review by Rivertree:::

Alcatraz - Vampire State Building (1971)

1. Simple Headphone Mind (10:00)
2. Your Chance Of A Lifetime (5:06)
3. Where The Wild Things Are (3:03)
4. Vampire State Building (13:10)
5. Piss Off (3:18)
6. Change Will Come (6:08)

Credits
- Rüdiger Berghan / piano, vocals
- Klaus Holst / guitar
- Klaus Nagurski / flute, tenor saxophone
- Ronald Wilson / bass
- Jan Rieck / drums, percussion

Releases information
LP Long Hair Music (Germany 1971)
CD Long Hair Music LHC 14 (Germany 2002)

As Dzyan's first album was more or less a studio/one-time project, the first line-up did not survive the album's release. So the group was reduced to a very-different trio with only Karwataky remaining from the previous one. In came Giger on drums and percussions and Eddy Marron on guitars. Graced with a full psych artwork representing their tree-bordered paths, this album is one of Germany's most acclaimed instrumental jazz-fusion album. It was recorded in the Dieter Dierks studios and released on the very collectible Bacillus label.
Made of three tracks, the first side starts on the superb 8-min ethnic-sounding Kabisrain with a distinct Indian influence. The following almost 9-min Magika is much harder to swallow/ingest as it starts out on a wild drum intro, and it never really lets up until its end. The tracks often veers dissonant and limit atonal, but does remain accessible (more so than Crimson's Moonchild or Providence) to most and in its second part the guitar does take the track into more conventional improv grounds, but still remains uneasy reminding some of Nucleus's Belladona works. The third (and much shorter) Light Shining Out Of Darkness is quite a change as it veers Flamenco-jazz in a way that Metheny or DeLucia would not disown. Easily the album's most accessible track.
A sidelong monster title track with its 18 minutes fills the flipside. The track can be seen as a manic Mahavishnu Orchestra meeting a brass-less Nucleus. If the track remains relatively on the subject, avoiding useless lengthy soloing, it does not avoid some lengths especially that Marron's guitars are the only fronting soloing instrument. However the track veers around the 1é-min mark and presents a very repetitive riff that makes the last 6 minutes a bit minimalist, but also a bore.
While Dzyan's second album is well in the line of their first album, it is more "concise", precise and urgent than the debut album.

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Dzyan - Time Machine (1973)

1. Kabisrain (7:59)
2. Magika (8:45)
3. Light shining out of darkness (3:13)
4. Time machine (17:47)

Credits
- Peter Giger / drums, percussion
- Reinhard Karwatky / bass, keyboards
- Eddy Marron / guitar, sitar, saxophone

Take the opening tracks from Chicago's debut and Colosseum's Valentyne Suite. Clutch them together and add rough heavy vocals. That's what Altona sounds like, raw acid-rock with a jazzy brass section and powerful vocals. An ultra-rare gem but if you want some more of that great upbeat 60's vibe, here you go.
The album starts with a swinging heavy rock groove. The brass section and Beefheart-alike vocals give it a nice twist. It's a bit of a stretch but the brass instruments somehow remind me of Morphine. Altona's mood isn't morose though, this must be the most energetic and vivacious music I know. Oh yes this is prog you can boogie to!
Cocopus partially continues the upbeat pace, but also adds some more reflective bluesy pieces that could have been from Pink Floyd's More or Ash Ra Tempel.
Uberlandfarth shifts up the gear another notch. One day I'll throw in this song at a party at home. Guaranteed swinging and air-guitar fun. 7/4 is a bit of an old-fashioned rockabilly track but from here on the album doesn't let go of its tight rocking energy anymore.
Is it kraut? Is it acid-rock? Jazz-rock? It's sure heavy energetic fun!

:::Review by Bonnek:::

Altona - Altona (1974)

01. Can't Live Without You - 4:05
02. Cocopus - 5:36
03. Überlandfahrt - 4:03
04. 7/4 - 4:13
05. Boulevard - 4:59
06. Frustration - 6:44
07. Hide Yourself - 5:48

Credits
- Klaus Gerlach - guitar
- Karl-Heinz "Carlo" Blumenberg - vocals, soprano sax
- Karl-Heinz Gossler - drums
- Fritz Kahl - bass
- Werner von Gosen - guitar
- Wolfgang Wülff - tenor sax
- Michael von Rönn - tenor sax

This album is considered the turning point where Soul Caravan will become eventually Xhol, losing the second part to avoid confusion with the Canterbury band. With s superb psychedelic artwork and a title to match it, the album is clearly proof that Soul Caravan was indeed growing into Xhol as part of the members lived in a commune. The term Krautrock was probably first used while talking of this band, and this album might just be the first album presented as such.
Starting on a toilet flush, the opening side is made of extended tracks where the organs and saxes are exchanging/alternating solos on a series of tracks that don't seem tomatter if theyb really exist on their own rather than as a whole. Electric Fun Fair is an extended soloing round circling on a circus-music theme. Slightly superior is Pop Games where Belbe and Fischer's saxes trade licks before drummer Skip (not Spence) and conga-er Rhodes interrupt for some 90 seconds, before the track returns to the original feel. All Green is definitely funkier and jazzier and laid back.
The flipside is more about the unavoidable 17-min Raise Up High's presence (and its rocket start, followed by a raunchy guitar/vocal passage that last pretty well the whole tracks save the atonal improvs that are scattered throughout. The whole thing is a bit sketchy, indulgent, dodgy, repetitive and not always interesting either but on average, it doesn't stand up to the first side, finishing on a harpsichord tinkling. The last Mashalla is a botched-up idea best forgotten
The GOD label reissue joins as bonus both tracks of their preceding single with both sides actually clash with the rest of the album, but has the merit to show further proof of Xhol's passage from soul to psychedelic, but both tracks being still closer to experimental soul (BS&T in Planet Earth and early Colosseum on So Down) than psych. Indeed Electrip is really a product of its time and probably one of the more significant albums of the Krautrock genre. Essential certainly, classic also, but flawless certainly not!!

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Xhol Caravan - Electrip (1969)

1. Electric Fun Fair (6:25)
2. Pop Games (6:56)
3. All Green (7:38)
4. Raise Up High (17:45)
5. Walla Masallah (1:38)

Bonus Tracks

6. Planet Earth (2:46)
7. So Down (3:29)

Credits
- Skip van Wyck / drums
- Tim Belbe / saxophone
- Hansi Fischer / saxophone, flute
- Klaus Briest / bass
- Öcki / keyboards

When we are witness to a new kind of art, it should be noted. And though the first glimpses of an unproven form are sometimes raw, the impact is usually undeniable. This is the case with 'Emergency!'. Sometimes ugly but always real, this little record is very likely the first true and fully blended mix of modern jazz with electric rock in all its manic glory. There had been hints at it, experiments and false starts that often lacked total vision, like Cannonball Adderly's use of pop stylings in jazz. As well, Miles Davis is most often credited with being the 'father' of jazz-rock but on closer inspection, Davis is, at best, its grandfather whose 'In a Silent Way' (1969) was more a flirtation between styles than an infusion of musics. There were superior and better-realized fusion projects to come, such as John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu and the later symphonic aspirations of Chick Corea and Al Di Meola. But in hindsight, this rough, tainted and trance-induced set, deeply intuitive on a level not before heard, is the first recording of jazz artists doing what the heavy blues and psych scenes had been doing for years. And while there had been those who progressed jazz itself, such as Jimmy Giuffre, Dave Brubeck or Gunther Schuller, no one had brought together the hot bop of Coltrane with the howling rock spirit of Jimi Hendrix in the same room at the same time. Finally... Fusion with a capital 'F' had arrived, kicking and screaming but alive and well.
This session, not to be confused with Williams' first album as leader in 1964 titled 'Lifetime', had all the makings for explosive creativity and boundary-wrecking; John McLaughlin's guitar sounding more urgent and other-worldly than ever, Larry Young's irrepressible organ, and Williams' ridiculously confident charge on drums. If one didn't know better, the nine-minute title cut could just be the sound of another crazy jazz band bopping their way into the 1970's with drug-induced abandon. But the unmistakable sounds of riff rock can be heard fighting to break on through, Larry Young's insistent organ- grind, McLaughlin's lead, and the whole thing coming alive with Williams' crashes and acrobatic backbeat. Some acid mud follows, as well as passages of sheer spontaneity. 'Beyond Games' is hideous and nervous freeform featuring Williams' bizarre vocals and the 12-minute 'Where' is a troubled dervish of a jam, dizzying and sweaty with odd rhythms, sudden changes of mood and semi-classical lines running between guitar and organ. But it's the fourth, 'Vashkar', where we begin to hear the first clearly-cut form of jazz rock with all of its facets, finally gelling in the way we would become familiar with in later years showing intelligent melodics, tight dynamics, and plenty of fire. 'Via the Spectrum Road' is the requisite weird pop-psych tune, but luckily the firecracking jam 'Spectrum' wakes things up again with pure hot jazz and wild soloing from everyone. It would be the highlight of the set if not for the 13- minute 'Sangria For Three', a beautifully messy explosion of jazz rock at its most pure. 'Something Special' finishes with unsettled dissonance and closes out a musical statement so bold and irreverent that it was, in the truest sense, revolutionary. A mad experiment gone out of control and one of the most important records you will ever hear.

:::Review by Atavachron:::

Tony Williams - Emergency (1969)

1. Emergency - 9:35
2. Beyond Games - 8:17
3. Where - 12:10
4. Vashkar - 4:59
5. Via the Spectrum Road - 7:49
6. Spectrum - 8:50
7. Sangria For Three - 13:07
8. Something Special - 5:37

Credits
- Tony Williams/ drums
- John McLaughlin / guitar
- Larry Young / Organ

This band is Doldinger's baby and this was the first line-up to record an album and tour. It is also one of the better album of that first era (very visible because all sleeve artwork are by the same artist) and of course most progheads will be interested in this era instead of the second one (stating with 77's Iguacu) that will be more Latino-fusion - a bit like later Weather Report or Spiro Gyra.
Abracadabra and the title track are the two highlight of this album but all tracks are strong. We hover around a very KB jazz-rock with Doldinger and Roberts on KB (Doldinger also doubles up on Sax) and the guitar is somewhat not present enough as Schmid doubles up on bass and guitar! The main influences I can think of is a bit of Canterbury style as the KB sometimes remind me of Caravan's David Sinclair's organs but also some Bundles-era Soft Machine.
Outside these consideration , Hand Made is a real excellent album well worth investigating !

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Passport - Hand Made (1973)

1. Abracadabra (7:20)
2. The connexion (5:33)
3. Yellow dream (4:20)
4. Proclamation (2:39)
5. Hand made (9:26)
6. Puzzle (4:07)
7. The quiet man (4:43)

Credits
- Curt Cress / drums
- Klaus Doldinger / soprano & tenor saxes, electric piano, synthesizers, Mellotron
- Frank Roberts / electric piano, organ
- Wolfgang Schmid / bass, guitar

Nils Peter Molvaer debut album is one of the greatest nu.jazz album I ever heard! Started with classic ECM/Norwegian jazz cold acoustic sound, Nils came to synthesis of ambient, electronics, very light world element with jazzy trumpet, guitars and excellent cool atmosphere. When listened to this album, I remembered possibly greatest Chick Corea work - "Return To Forever" LP. Different time, different place, different emotional level - but both these albums are very connected. They both are great products of it's time. Even more strange that Nils debut was released on ECM, his sound there is far from their standard!
Distorted guitars and trumpet, sounding almost in cool jazz traditions, built tension and romance at the same time. There I believe, that Nils often mentioned between greatest jazz figures of late 90-s.
If you're new for nu.jazz - start here. If you 're searching on new sound in jazz-fusion - try this! Very recommended!

:::Review by snobb:::

Nils Petter Molvaer - Khmer (1997)

1. Khmer
2. Tion
3. Access / Song Of Sand I
4. On Stream
5. Platonic Years
6. Phum
7. Song of Sand II
8. Exit

Credits
-Nils Petter Molvaer/ trumpet, guitar, bass, percussion, samples
-Eivind Aarset/ talk box, guitar, sound treatment
-Roger Ludvilgsen/ guitar, dulcimer, percussion
-Morten Molster/guitar
-Rune Arnesen/ drums
-Ulf W.O. Holand/samples
-Reider Skar/ sound treatment)

Harmony of the Spheres was composer Neil Ardley's final album for a major label. Released by Decca in the U.K. in 1979. This is the record many of Ardley's most ardent (no pun intended) fans and jazz purists have dismissed out of hand. Simply put, both groups are wrong. The primary reason for this dislike is two-fold: first, the ubiquitous use of synthesizers. Given that this is a conceptual recording of the title, derived from the complex notions of the ancient Greeks, Ardley could find no acoustic instruments that could actually reproduce the sounds required. He assigned musical notes to each of the planets and discovered that the ratio of the orbit times of Mercury and Pluto (assigned the highest and lowest tones, respectively, because of their distance from the sun) were virtually identical to the ratio of frequencies of the sounds of the upper and lower range limits of human hearing. That this entire schemata is only approached and achieved once on the entire album, on "Soft Stillness & the Night," is immaterial. Ardley composed an entire suite around these sounds, the "harmony" as it were, and came up with a stellar jazz-rock set, that combines some of the very finest elements of prog, jazz improvisation, funk, and rock composition to hit record stores, and sounds distinctly different from anything else in his catalog. The cast on this brilliant album includes trumpeter Ian Carr and members of his band Nucleus, vocalist Norma Winstone, Tony Coe and Barbara Thompson on reeds and winds, Geoff Castle, Trevor Tomkins, Richard Burgess, Pepi Lemer, and the utterly amazing (and largely unrecognized) Billy Kristian, whose bassline is the anchor of the entire set, and who gets in some amazingly funky playing. The other big surprise is the appearance of John Martyn on electric guitar -- playing both lead and rhythm -- his playing here goes far beyond anything to appear on his own records -- let's put it this way, he could have hung with John Goodsall of Brand X without difficulty and possesses a trunkload of soul. Check out his smokin' fretwork on the opener "Upstarts All," which complements Kristian's bass work astutely. The disjointed funk on "Leap in the Dark" would have been right at home in many clubs at the time, though its syncopation would have thrown many. Here again, Kristian shines.
Carr's genius is heard bountifully on "Head Strong, Headlong," that walks a line between jazz, funk, and blues. Taken as a whole, Harmony of the Spheres is not nearly as jarring now as it was when released, and is far less a "commercial" album than it was once considered. It's a fitting testimony to Ardley's compositional and sonic genius that he employs synthesizers as not only architectural building blocks but as actual melodic instruments as well. Only a brilliant pianist and harmonist could accomplish such a thing, and Ardley was both. Luckily for us, the grand British reissue label Esoteric released this set on CD for the first time in the West in 2008.

:::Review by Thom Jurek:::

Neil Ardley - Harmony Of The Spheres (1979)

1. Upstarts All 3:35
2. Leap In The Dark 6:02
3. Glittering Circles 6:29
4. Fair Mirage 7:21
5. Soft Stillness And The Night 7:28
6. Headstrong, Headlong 7:13
7. Towards Tranqility 8:39

Credits
Bass - Bill Kristian
Clarinet - Tony Coe
Drums - Richard Burgess
Electric Piano, Synthesizer [Minimoog] - Geoff Castle
Flugelhorn - Ian Carr
Flute - Barbara Thompson
Guitar - John Martyn
Percussion - Richard Burgess , Trevor Tomkins
Piano - Geoff Castle
Saxophone [Soprano] - Barbara Thompson , Tony Coe
Synthesizer [Arp Odyssey, Omni] - Neil Ardley
Trumpet - Ian Carr
Vocals - Norma Winstone , Pepi Lemer

Arranger Bob Curnow transcribed a dozen compositions by Pat Metheny and/or Lyle Mays (originally recorded by the Pat Metheny Group) and adapted them for his Stan Kenton-influenced big band. The instrumentation differs drastically from Metheny's quartet and some of the pieces were originally very electric, but somehow these new renditions make the songs sound as if they were originally designed for this orchestra. The 20-piece big band is full of some of the cream of L.A.'s jazz scene and includes such soloists as trombonists Andy Martin and Rick Culver; saxophonists Bob Sheppard, Rob Lockart, and Danny House; pianist Bill Cunliffe; and a mighty trumpet section. This is an unusual concept that somehow works perfectly and with surprising logic.

:::Review by Scott Yanow:::

Bob Curnow's L.A. Big Band - The Music of Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays (1994)

01. It's Just Talk (7.24)
02. Always and Forever (5.23)
03. The First Circle (8.51)
04. Letter from Home (2.49)
05. Are We There Yet (4.50)
06. If I Could (8.39)
07. See The World (4.33)
08. Minuano (Six Eight) (8.07)
09. Dream Of The Return (5.21)
10. Every Summer Night (7.02)
11. In Her Family (3.20)
12. Have You Heard (7.06)

Credits
Andy Martin - Trombone, Soloist
Lyle Mays - Composer
Tom Peterson - Clarinet, Soloist, Sax (Baritone), Clarinet (Bass), Flute
Jerry Pinter - Clarinet, Sax (Tenor), Flute
Don Rader - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Soloist
Ron Stout - Trumpet, Soloist, Flugelhorn
Paul Viapiano - Guitar, Soloist
Tom Warrington - Bass
Wayne Bergeron - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Soloist
Chuck Hughes - Trombone, Soloist
Bob Curnow - Arranger, Conductor, Liner Notes, Producer
Rick Culver - Trombone, Soloist
Bill Cunliffe - Piano, Soloist
Steve Houghton - Drums, Soloist
Danny House - Clarinet, Soloist, Flute, Sax (Alto)
Dana Hughes - Trombone (Bass)
Alexander Iles - Trombone
Brian Kilgore - Percussion, Soloist
Rob Lockart - Clarinet, Soloist, Flute, Sax (Tenor)
Buddy Childers - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Photography
Bob Sheppard - Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Soloist
Bobby Shew - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Soloist

A fascinating reissue that comfortably straddles the lines of jazz, folk, and world music, working up a storm by way of a jazz protest album that points toward the Spanish Civil War in particular and the Vietnam War in passing. Haden leads the charge and contributes material, but the real star here may in fact be Carla Bley, who arranged numbers, wrote several, and contributed typically brilliant piano work. Also of particular note in a particularly talented crew is guitarist Sam Brown, the standout of "El Quinto Regimiento/Los Cuatro Generales/Viva la Quince Brigada," a 21-minute marathon. Reissue producer Michael Cuscuna has done his best with the mastering here, but listeners will note a roughness to the sound -- one that is in keeping with the album's tone and attitude.

:::Review by Steven McDonald:::

Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra (1969)

1 . The Introduction 1:15
2. Song Of The United Front 1:52
3a. El Quinto Regimento (The Fifth Regiment) 20:58
3b. Los Cuatro Generales (The Four Generals)
3c. Viva La Quince Brigada (Long Live The Fifteenth Brigade)
4. The Ending To The First Side 2:07
5. Song For Chè 9:29
6. War Orphans 6:42
7. The Interlude (Drinking Music) 1:24
8. Circus '68 '69 6:10
9. We Shall Overcome 1:19

Credits
Bass, Producer - Charlie Haden
Clarinet - Perry Robinson
Cornet, Flute [Indian Wood Flute, Bamboo Flute] - Don Cherry (tracks: 3, 5)
French Horn, Percussion [Hand Wood Blocks, Bells], Performer [Crow Call], Whistle [Military Whistle] - Bob Northern
Guitar, Percussion [Thumb Piano] - Sam Brown (tracks: 1, 3 to 7)
Percussion - Andrew Cyrille (tracks: 8) , Paul Motian
Percussion [Tambourine], Arranged By - Carla Bley
Saxophone [Tenor], Clarinet - Gato Barbieri
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Alto] - Dewey Redman
Trombone - Roswell Rudd
Trumpet - Michael Mantler
Tuba - Howard Johnson