After featuring two lesser discussed releases by Ahmad Jamal over the past few days, I thought I would conclude this week's tribute to the jazz great by featuring one of his more landmark recordings he released for Impulse!, in The Awakening. The 1970 album showcases the pianist being much more adventurous than many of his earlier sessions he recorded for labels like Argo and Cadet, hammering out a number of brillant uptempo groove-oriented compositions written by himself, Herbie Hancock, Oliver Nelson, Antonio Carlos Jobim and others. Standout selections include "Patterns", "Dolphin Dance", "Stolen Moments", "Wave" and the title track "The Awakening". Even though the pianist put out a number of solid records on Impulse! during the early seventies, many will probably agree that The Awakening is Jamal's most notable release during that period.
With Monday's post, I highlighted Ahmad Jamal's seventies-era exploration into jazz fusion. Today, I thought I would switch gears and showcase the pianist's diversity as a musician and delve into the 1962 Latin-influenced album Macanudo. Unlike most of Jamal's recording sessions, which typically feature the pianist in a trio or quartet setting, this early sixties session on Argo Records is occupied by a larger orchestra ensemble conducted by Richard Evans. On this record, Jamal pays homage to the music roots of South America, making the addition of the Latin-inspired instrumentation provided by Evan's orchestra a very complementary factor in the session's overall sound. Highlight's include "Bogota", "Haitian Market Place", and "Belo Horizonte". In all, this early sixties recording showcases the legendary pianist branching out away from his signature sound and diving into the realm of Afro-Latin jazz.
The 31st Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival kicks off this week beginning Wednesday night with notable Italian pianist Stefano Bollani and his trio performing at the SFJAZZ Center. The next night, finds the festival's headlining act, Ahmad Jamal gracing the stage at Davies Symphony Hall with his superb quartet featuring Reginald Veal (bass), Herlin Riley (drums), and percussionist Manolo Badrena. Speaking from someone who has seen the legendary pianist perform on a number of occasions, I can absolutely guarantee that this will no doubtfully be a great show.
With this show only being a few days away, I thought it would be fitting to highlight one of the pianist's more underrated, yet brilliant releases in Jamal Plays Jamal. This record, which came out in 1974 during a time the pianist was experimenting with a more electric-fusion sound while he was recording for 20th Century, finds Jamal playing mostly on a Fender Rhodes piano while being backed by a solid group of musicians including Jamil Nasser (bass), Frank Gant (drums), and Azzedin Weston (Randy Weston's son) on congas. The record has an overall funky soul jazz sound that is very groove-oriented, especially on tracks like "Eclipse", "Dialogue" and "Swahililand" (famously sampled by J Dilla on De La Soul's "Stakes is High"). Even though the jazz great tends to receive more critical praise for his earlier works on Argo and Cadet Records, Ahmad Jamal released a number of great albums in the seventies, like Jamal Plays Jamal, that successfully blended the "cool" be-bop sounds of the fifties and sixties together with the more experimental explorations of the seventies.
One of the true landmark recordings during the spiritual jazz movement of the seventies was saxophonist Billy Harper's debut album as a leader titled Capra Black. This record, which was released off of Strata-East in 1973, finds the saxophonist channelling Coltrane-like emotion and force in his playing throughout the session. One of the notable features about Capra Black is it's incorporation of gospel-like voices on tracks like "Soulfully, I Love You/Black Spiritual Of Love" and "Cry Of Hunger", giving the album a passionate, yet soulful feel that compliments the music's overall modal tone. Even though Harper's playing takes center stage throughout each piece, the saxophonist is joined by a heavy-weight group of musicians including George Cables (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), Julian Priester (trombone), Billy Cobham (drums) and others. Overall, this brilliant ground-breaking record not only showcased Billy Harper as a strong bandleader, the album also helped propel the saxophonist into becoming one of the more influential musicians during the seventies' black conscientious movement in jazz.
This week, SFJAZZ closes out the first season in their new performance Center with the 1st Annual SFJAZZ Poetry Festival in the Joe Henderson Lab. The four-night run of the festival, which begins this Thursday, was curated by SFJAZZ Poet Laureate Ishmael Reed and features a diverse cast of poets that include the current California state poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, the celebrated feminist poet Lorna Dee Cervantes, the elegant Beat Generation writer Michael McClure and numerous others. Not only will the festival feature some of the most prominent poets the Bay Area has to offer, many of the readings each night will include improvising instrumentalists in an attempt to highlight the strong connection between poetry and jazz.
Even though this is SFJAZZ's first festival that focuses solely on the powerful combination of the two expressive art forms, poetry and jazz have had a rich history together dating all the way back to the 1920 when we saw the first emergence of "jazz poetry", the rhythmic improvisational poetry style adopted by notable poets like Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cummings, and Langston Hughes. This melding of art forms continued to evolve during the fifties and sixties, especially with Beat Generation poets like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and LeRoi Jones (now known as Amiri Baraka) who often included musical accompaniment during their poetry readings. The seventies saw artists like Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets become leading voices of their generation by incorporating jazz, spoken-word and poetry into their music. For almost 100 years, the collaboration of poetry and jazz has been a strong form of artistic expression that is rooted deeply in American culture, making this new annual Poetry Festival an exciting yearly event.
As we gear up for the 1st Annual SFJAZZ Poetry Festival and the importance that these two art forms have had on music and society, here are just a few notable recordings that have combined jazz and poetry.
Gil Scott-Heron - "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (1971)
Arguably the most popular song to ever incorporate poetry and music. Due to the overall success of the recording and it's politically driven lyrics, the song's title became a popular slogan among the 1960s protest movements in the United States.
The Last Poets - "Bird's World" (1972)
One of the many powerful recordings by this group, which like Gil Scott-Heron been credited as one of the earliest influences on hip-hop music.
Frank Foster - "The Loud Minority" (1974)
Dee Dee Bridgewater's powerful use of poetry on this song is arguably saxophonist Frank Foster's most defining recording moment as a bandleader.
Jujus & Sarah Webster Fabio - "Sweet Songs" (1976)
This lesser known recording features poet and educator Sarah Webster Fabio, who taught at the University of California, Berkeley. During her time there, she played a pivotal role in establishing the universities' first Black Studies department.
Billy Harper with Amiri Baraka - "Knowledge of Self" (2008)
A more recent example of the two art forms coming together featuring the highly acclaimed and controversial poet Amiri Baraka, is considered by many as one of the most respected and most widely published writers of his generation.
To learn more about the 1st Annual SFJAZZ Poetry Festival and/or purchase tickets, visit the SFJAZZ website.
During the seventies, many jazz artists in major cities like Detroit, Chicago and New York began to form artist collectives as a result of being frustrated with the major label recording industry. Similar to labor unions, these collectives served as a support system for many upcoming artists looking for recording dates and steady gigs, while in-turn receiving fair financial compensation. The primary goal of a unified collective was self-reliance and control of the music, allowing musicians to have the freedom to be more experimental and creative without the outside influence of a major label record executive "watering down" their art. These collectives also spent a lot of time in their communities, often helping educate younger African-Americans about music, black history and social awareness. Each collective group functioned in their own unique way with some lasting longer and being more effective than others.
One of the most notable jazz collectives of the seventies came out of Detroit and was known as Tribe. This collective, which released all their material under the label name Tribe Records, was a political and social conscious driven group featuring a number of incredible musicians that included Wendell Harrison, Phil Ranelin, Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney, Doug Hammond and countless others. Tribe only lasted for about five years, but during that time the members of the collective released many great releases that explored the outer reaches of hard bop, soul, funk, spiritualism and the avant-garde. Even though many of the releases that came out during the collective's existence, which was approximately 1972-1977, didn't initially receive the national attention they deserved, these recordings are now beginning to be recognized all around the globe for their groundbreaking exploration of jazz.
Here is one of my favorite selections title "Glue Fingers (Part 2)" from Marcus Belgrave's album Gemini II, released by Tribe Records in 1974. This funky soul jazz gem is a great example of how many members of the Tribe often incorporated jazz and other influences into their music. Enjoy!
Here is the blog post I did yesterday for the SFJAZZ Blog as a result of the unfortunate news of Mulgrew Miller's passing. I thought this was an important post to also share with the readers of this site. I highly recommend taking some time this week to listen to some of Miller's music. He was a great artist that deserves much praise for his important and inspiring contributions to jazz.
POST FROM MAY 29, 2013
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We were saddened to learn that jazz pianist great Mulgrew Miller passed away today at the age of 57. Miller suffered a stroke this past Friday and had been in critical condition ever since. Over the last 30+ years, Miller was a widely accomplished artist, leading both his trio and his Wingspan band, as well as playing alongside some of jazz's most notable names like Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Kenny Barron, Tony Williams and many others. Younger generations of jazz musicians were also heavily inspired by the pianist including Robert Glasper, who recorded in 2007 an original ballad titled “One for ’Grew,” as a tribute to his primary influence. SFJAZZ is proud to have presented the dynamic pianist several times over the years. He leaves behind an incredible legacy and will truly be missed.
Here is a great photo of Mulgrew Miller when he performed alongside Javon Jackson, Jimmy Cobb and Nat Reeves during the 2011 San Francisco Jazz Festival.
Here is the jazz-funk masterpiece "Bertha Baptist" from Gary Bartz NTU Troop. This righteous funky gem is featured on the group's 1972 album Juju Street Songs. This is just one of the many great tracks included on this record, which also features standout cuts like "Black Maybe", "Teheran", the soulful spiritual jazz gem "I Wanna Be Were You Are", as well as the Afro-Caribbean influenced cut "Africans Unite". This recording was released on the heels of both Harlem Bush Music releases, and maintains a similar feel as those sessions. Overall, another powerful statement from a group that mastered the ability to record passionate spiritual music while maintaining a funky groove. Enjoy!
