Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest - A Concert For The People (Berlin) - 1982 - Polydor

Cut live at the Reichstag in the German city, Berlin is very different from The Live Tapes, with a rather leaner, harder-rocking sound, and more of a dance-rock feel as well, and is also miked much closer for a more intimate sound. "Mockingbird," "Child of the Universe," and "Hymn" are all performed rather more tightly than earlier live renditions, and with more... More flamboyant electronic effects. "Sip of Wine" represents the group's harder, post-progressive era sound, while "Nova Lepidoptera" is a pretty piece of space-rock, and "Life Is for Living" is so upbeat with its disco-dance sound that it could almost pass for an Abba cut. Except on the latter, where the keyboards rule, John Lees' and Colin Browne's guitars are the most prominent component of the group's sound, and it's easy to see why this album, covering so many bases so well, took British audiences by storm -- the Moody Blues in their post-psychedelic era have wanted to make a live record this tight and bracing for ages. And the CD is even better than the LP. © Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

RECORDING DETAILS

Recorded on August 30th, 1980 at a massive free open-air concert on the steps of the Reichstag, next to the Berlin Wall, using “Mobile One”. Re-recorded and mixed at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. Producer: Barclay James Harvest, Martin Lawrence and Ian Southerington. Live Engineer: Andy Rose. This concert was probably the single most important gig that BJH have ever done, so it was natural to want a live record to be made. Unfortunately, whilst the concert itself was a triumph, just about everything that could go wrong with the recording, did - there were loud buzzes and hums on the recording, John’s main guitar was damaged during the afternoon and was almost inaudible in the mix. The band reluctantly decided to record a lot of new overdubs at Strawberry, which is one reason that the LP didn’t appear until 1982. The album was first released in Germany in February 1982 as a limited edition 11-track version on the Polystar label, with “Love On The Line” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Lady” as the extra tracks, and went straight to No.1. Subsequent releases in all formats have only the nine tracks listed above until the 2006 Eclectic remastered CD, which has the German 11-track version (a different mix all the way through) in the original running order.

TRACKS

Side 1

Berlin (Les Holroyd)
Loving Is Easy (John Lees)
Mockingbird (John Lees)
Sip Of Wine (Les Holroyd)

Side 2

Nova Lepidoptera (John Lees)
In Memory Of The Martyrs (John Lees)
Life Is For Living (Les Holroyd)
Child Of The Universe (John Lees)
Hymn (John Lees)

BAND

- Les Holroyd / vocals, bass, guitars
- John Lees / vocals, guitars
- Mel Pritchard / drums, percussion
- Colin Browne / keyboards
- Kevin McAlea / keyboards

The Juju Orchestra

The Juju Orchestra - Bossa Nova Is Not A Crime - 2007 - Agogo

Brilliant debut album fromt The Juju Orchestra , a big name on the international clubjazz scene. Check out the cover of Steely Dam's "Do It Again", featurimg the great Carolyn Leonhart.

TRACKS

This Is Not A Tango - The Juju Orchestra
What Is Hip ? - The Juju Orchestra feat. Carolyn Leonhart & Terry Callier
Kind Of Latin Rhythm - The Juju Orchestra
Take Four - The Juju Orchestra
Do It Again - The Juju Orchestra feat. Carolyn Leonhart & Robert Smith
El Bravo - The Juju Orchestra
Nâo Posso Demorar - The Juju Orchestra feat. Katia B
Funky Nassau - The Juju Orchestra

CREDITS

Writers and producers are Oliver Belz & Fab DJ Sammy. third member is Ralf Zitzmann, who is responsible for all Juju - business. complete liveband of THE JUJU ORCHESTRA can raise up to 12 members. and Fab DJ Sammy ist also spinning some records of his outstanding yinyl collection of rare and old Jazz, Soul and Funk music.

REVIEWS

Funky samples, live instrumentation, and soulful vocals -- all served up with a playful sense of groove that really takes us back to some of the best British work of the early acid jazz years! The Juju Orchestra really keep things simple here -- and most tunes are based around a core element that's extrapolated nicely, often with a slightly warm sensibility that references older eras of jazz, funk, and Latin. There's a bit of the bossa nova hinted at in the title -- but the overall sound is actually a bit more dancefloor overall -- kind of in a beats-with-jazz mode, but better than that tag might sound! Terry Callier sings guest vocals on the track "What Is Hip", and other tunes include "Do It Again", "Funky Nassau", "El Bravo", "Take Four", "Kind Of Latin Rhythm", and "Nao Posso Demorar". © 1996-2007, Dusty Groove America, Inc.
Ladies and Gentleman, here comes the long awaited long player by one of the most favorite bands in the international clubjazz – scene of the last years. Eight tracks, no filler in sight, everyone has the quality for a timeless diamond. Guest appearances by Carolyn Leonhart, Katia B, Robert Smith and Terry Callier.
The Juju Orchestra was founded 2004 by Rare Groove - dj & vinyl – nerd Fab DJ Sammy and producer/sound engineer Oliver Belz. They are based in Braunschweig / Germany, right in the middle of nowhere between Hamburg, Berlin and Hannover.Some of their musical idols are Caetano Veloso, Charlie Parker, Miles Davies, Steely Dan, Stan Getz ( just to name a few…). Of course they are influenced by all of them,but the Juju’s created their own language - like every important artist does. In some words: contemporary Soul, Jazz and Latin music with a vintage sound. © www.tunes.co.uk/tunes/featured/12459.html
The word Juju originates from West Africa where it refers to objects such as a charm or amulet which have supernatural powers, it is also a style of Nigerian popular music featuring electric guitars and traditional drums. In 2004 Juju was discovered in Braunschweig Germany where DJ Sammy Kilic, producer Oliver Belz and Ralf Zitzman formed The Juju Orchestra. Their new release Bossa Nova Is Not A Crime has been gathering international praise and recognition, The Juju Orchestra are influenced by artists Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Stan Getz and Charlie Parker all preferably on vinyl format. Their very cool jazz merges into dance floor sounds, strong measure of funk and Latin with memories of early British acid jazz. Stand out tracks are What Is Hip featuring Terry Callier and Leonhart Carolyn, a former backing singer with Steely Dan, who also excels on the excellent cover of Steely Dan’s hit Do It Again, this time sharing vocals with Robert Smith. The big band sound of Kind Of Latin Rhythm and Take Four are packed with smokey late night brass and percussion. The final track Funky Nassau is already a winner on the dance floor where everything comes together with blistering vocals and driving Latin rhythms. Also discover the excellent Brazilectro series which has now reached Vol.8 the bands record label agogo-records.com. © http://cd-music-reviews.blogspot.com/2007/07/bossa-nova-is-not-crime-by-juju.html#links

Ten Wheel Drive

Ten Wheel Drive - Construction #1 - 1969 - Polydor

A brilliant album of blues and jazz fusion. An almost forgotten late sixties clasic. Superb vocals by Genya Ravan. Album from original vinyl.

TRACKS

1 - Tightrope
2 - Lapidary
3 - Eye of the Needle
4 - Candy Man Blues
5 - Ain't Gonna Happen
6 - Polar Bear Rug
7 - House in Central Park
8 - I Am a Want Ad

Founding Members

Vocals, Harmonica, Tambourine: Genya Ravan
Guitar, Vocals, Banjo, Percussion: Aram Schefrin
Organ, Piano, Clarinet: Mike Zager
Various musicians on other instruments
Bass: Bill Takas, Bob Piazza, Blake Hines
Drums, Percussion: Leon Rix, Allen Herman, David Williams
Cello: Leon Rix
Flute: Jay Silva, Louis Hoff, Dave Leibman
Trumpet: Jay Silva, Richard Meisterman, Peter Hyde, Steve Satten, John Getchell, John Eckert, Dean Pratt, Danny Stiles, Frank Frint
Saxophone: Louis Hoff, Dave Leibman
Trombone: Dennis Parisi, Bill Watrous, Tom Malone
Flugelhorn: Jay Silva, Peter Hyde, Richard Meisterman, Steve Satten, John Gatchell, John Eckert
Woodwinds: Alan Gauvin

Last line-up

Vocals: Annie Sutton
Organ, Clarinet, Keyboards, Vibraphone: Michael Zager
Guitar, Vocals: Aram Schefrin
Piano, Keyboard: Don Grolnick
Trombone: Gerry Chamberlain
Drums, Percussion: Barry Lazarowitz
Bass, Violin: Harry Max
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Horn: Dean Pratt
Woodwinds: Ed Xiques
Choir: Daryl Hall, John Oates, Tom Cosgrove, Joey Ward

REVIEWS

This exemplary recording by songwriters Aram Schefrin, Mike Zager and singer Genya Ravan was highly experimental in ways that Chicago, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Traffic and other of their contemporaries wanted to be. Imagine Ronnie Spector leaving The Ronettes to join Blood Sweat & Tears, and realize the sweet Goldie Zelkowitz from Goldie & The Gingerbreads did just that by reinventing herself here as the great Genya Ravan. The Ravan co-write Tightrope is five minutes and ten seconds of psychedelic blues/jass/funk. This is the sound Janis Joplin would refine for her Kozmic Blues experience, and while Janis Joplin and Kozmic Blues performed at Woodstock, Ten Wheel Drive were getting such a buzz they turned Woodstock down. History would, indeed, have been different had they played I Am A Want Ad at that event, but with Sid Bernstein as co-manager, and songs like Lapidary, the band had a lot going for it. Lapidary is a complete about face, Traffic's John Barleycorn with a female vocalist. Eye Of The Needle on the other hand, was an eight minute plus show stopper of horns and guitars that come in like some country's national anthem. With Genya's amazing wail at the end it becomes powerful stuff. Songwriter Louie Hoff got to arrange his Candy Man Blues, which puts Genya in a nightclub setting, the piano and flutes changing the mood dramatically. This is such an adventurous and remarkable record by such a talented crew, it is a shame they didn't record twenty or more platters. A Polydor executive made a statement that if they couldn't break Slade they weren't a real company. Polydor did, in fact, fail to launch that British supergroup in America, and one wonders if these recordings were made for another label, if oldies stations wouldn't be playing Ten Wheel Drive today. Ain't Gonna Happen is extraordinary music, a band on the prowl, and a singer that pounces every chance she gets with a voice that does all sorts of wild things. If Polar Bear Rug and House In Central Park were a bit too evolved for Top 40, their A & R man should have brought them a single. Ten Wheel Drive could, like Etta James, play to those who crave this wonderful fusion of jazz and blues with a rock edge. A Ten Wheel Drive reconstructing, bringing this music back onstage, is something that would make the world a better place. © Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
Genya Ravan's never received her due. Even if you haven't heard her music, you should recognize her place in music history. She led Goldie and the Gingerbreads, the first all-woman rock band to record for a major label (ATCO, an Atlantic subsidiary). After her own singing career faded, she became the first established female rock producer, working with the Dead Boys (including "Sonic Reducer"), Ronnie Spector on her comeback, and countless other New York City punk groups in the early '80s. Oh, yeah, and all these achievements were preceded by a childhood stint in a concentration camp during World War II.
Of course, we could brush off the accomplishments if the music wasn't any good, but Ravan left behind a string of records worth finding, if you can. Her solo albums certainly have their moments (including the feminist question mark, "I Won't Sleep on the Wet Spot No More"), but she's at her best when that powerful voice is backed by Ten Wheel Drive, as it was for three albums from 1969 to 1971. Though the band changed lineups for each album, primary arrangers Michael Zager and Aram Schefrin stayed in place to, well, steer the band. As skilled as those two were, Ravan needed to put her stamp on the act before it could be something, turning the pop-Broadway songs with overly collegiate lyrics into gutsy rock 'n' roll. If you are wondering if it's worth your time to scurry down a genre crevasse and search the used record shops or eBay for something that won't fit smoothly anywhere in your collection, trust me -- of course, you do.
On 1969's Construction #1, the band's first album, these three artists combined perfectly with their horn players and drummer to make a rare statement: a jazz-rock record with as much heart as technical precision, and as much dirt and sweat as brains and finesse. It's hard to imagine how this album that once reached the charts has managed to fall so far out of sight. With pop music currently fetishizing the past, you'd expect someone to dig up something this strong, but likely its hard-to-classify nature prohibits it from being influential.
The album opens with "Tightrope", arguably its strongest track. Bill Takas puts down a memorable bass line, and the horns punctuate the groove, echoing Ravan's vocals throughout the chorus. At the three-quarter mark, the band goes off into an absurd breakdown which makes you think at least eight of the ten wheels have fallen off, before Takas brings them back in line. Then Ravan starts wailing again.
Despite the dictionary-necessitating lyrics, smart arrangements and tight playing, nothing about this band surpasses Ravan's astonishing voice. Like many singers from the late '60s, she owes more to blues and R&B vocalists like Bessie Smith, Etta James, and Billie Holiday than to anyone in the rock scene. Early in her career, she would often cover Ray Charles, and his influence remains strong throughout her recordings. Ravan's strong and soulful -- in her memoir Lollipop Lounge she's specific about this description meaning "black"; people would often look at the stage and be shocked to see a white woman. She calls to mind a harder-luck Dusty Springfield, and its hard to find an article on her that doesn't mention Janis Joplin, but she's got a bigger voice than either of them.
When she uses her voice aggressively, it's the sound of the world coming unhinged. On the Cream-gone-dizzy "Eye of the Needle", you don't need to listen to the lyrics to understand what the song's about -- the music and the singers' deliveries give better expression to the obstruction and futility experienced by the singer than any literal interpretation of the words. At the same time, Ravan's repetition of "I can't make it" turns from a wail of despair into a battle cry as she screeches "I got to make it!" "Limited" here to background vocals, Ravan emotes frustration and anger as well as anyone. The high trumpet intro only suggests the strength that the vocals will bring once they begin. But the song isn't driven by just emotion; there's a great sax solo, and at one point Ravan and the uncredited male lead sing not quite together, building a tension between the two vocal lines that won't be resolved until the horns force their point. This kind of smart structure keeps the album both fun and interesting on repeat listens.
Admittedly, the album isn't perfect. The band doesn't harness its energy as well on its slower tracks, such as "Candy Man Blues", but even that number works in a nice buildup, turning the first half's background jazz into a hurt blues instrumental -- a nice piece of arranging by original songwriter Louie Hoff. When Ravan comes back in after the solo, she sounds fortified, as if the music has pushed her through a rough time.
The record closes with "I Am a Want Ad", in which Ravan brings the sex from within a horn section that rages out of control even as it stays tied to the grinding bass line. In between hand drums and a cutting trumpet solo, Ravan sings and screams, and I can't help but imagine her on the ground, Joe Cocker-style, the audience in a frenzy. It's hard to get a grip on what she's talking about -- the psychedelic abstraction in the lyrics veers from anticapitalist leanings to sultry come-ons -- but it doesn't matter in the least. When the needle skips to the inside of the vinyl, it feels like Ten Wheel Drive has ignited another explosion and is ready for more, even if you've been beaten down. © Justin Cober-Lake www.genyaravan.com/tenwheeldrive.html

BIO ( Wikipedia )

Ten Wheel Drive were an American Jazz/Rock Fusion band from 1968 to 1974. In 1968, after the final disbandment of the all-female rock band Goldie & The Gingerbreads, Genya Ravan was looking for a new band. The same applied for Michael Zager and Aram Schefrin, two musicians and songwriters from New Jersey.
Acquainted by their managers, the three musicians who would become the nucleus of the new band had initially some hard work to do. Their origins and artistic backgrounds were very different, and, at first the music was not after Genya Ravan’s fancy. Also, she alone had some noteworthy experience in the music business.
More musicians had to be found for the rhythm and brass sections. Only people who were able to read sheet music were contracted. The one exemption from this rule was Genya Ravan.
In 1969 the band started to perform regularly and attract positive notice, and comparisons were drawn between Genya Ravan and Janis Joplin.
At the same time, the Polydor record label was forming an American division. Its new President, Jerry Schoenbaum, closed a deal with Ten Wheel Drive, and together with producer Walter Raim the band released its first album, Construction #1.
The first big concert appearance of Ten Wheel Drive was (arguably) in 1969 at the Fillmore East in New York City. Apart from the band's intense musical presence, Genya Ravan caused some excitement when she took off her transparent vest and continued the performance half naked with painted breasts and shoulders.
In the summer of the same year, Ten Wheel Drive appeared at the Atlanta Pop Festival. On this occasion Genya Ravan and Janis Joplin, who previously had often been compared, met in person for the second time. They had met initially at Steve Paul's club The Scene when Janis sat in with the band.
In 1970, Ten Wheel Drive released their second album, Brief Replies, with producer Guy Draper. Many of the brass musicians had also been replaced, meanwhile.
1971 saw Ten Wheel Drive performing at Carnegie Hall a rock opera of sorts based on the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the history of the Native North American peoples. The American Symphony Orchestra and a choir participated in the project, which had been meticulously prepared with a lot of time spent for the investigation work. But notwithstanding the provable quality of the material produced, Polydor decided against the recording of the event and was later blamed for bad judgement.
Also in 1971, the band's third album Peculiar Friends appeared, for the first time produced by Aram Schefrin and Michael Zager themselves. Genya Ravan’s decision to leave the band and start her solo career at this time, was presumably influenced by the record company’s attitude towards the Carnegie Hall concert. She was replaced by Annie Sutton of The Rascals. But even after this, Aram Schefrin and Michael Zager contributed to Genya Ravan’s first solo album.
Ten Wheel Drive left Polydor and in 1974 their fourth and last album, Ten Wheel Drive, was released by Capitol Records. It includes music which had earlier been composed by Genya Ravan and Aram Schefrin. With this record the already loose cooperation between the band musicians ended.

Blood Sweat & Tears

Blood Sweat & Tears - Blood Sweat & Tears - 1969 - Columbia

The self titled Blood, Sweat & Tears, their second album, hit No. 1 stateside, sold three million copies, and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Three singles went to the top of the charts: Clayton-Thomas’s “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die,” written by band friend Laura Nyro, and the album’s first 45, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a song written and recorded by Motown vocalist Brenda Holloway and reconceived by Kooper before he departed. This is probably the groups best album, as it set an artistic and commercial standard that the band was unable to equal again. An amazing mix of rock, jazz, folk, blues, and classical pieces. A brilliant album

TRACKS

1. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie (2:30)
(1st and 2nd Movements, Adapted from "Trois Gymnopedies")
2. Smiling Phases (5:10)
3. Sometimes In Winter (3:08)
4. More and More (3:04)
5. And When I Die (4:05)
6. God Bless The Child (5:56)
7. Spinning Wheel (4:07)
8. You've Made Me So Very Happy (4:19)
9. Blues-Part II (11:45)
10. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie (1:37)
(1st Movement, Adapted from "Trois Gymnopedies")

MUSICIANS ON THIS ALBUM

-David Clayton-Thomas/ Vocals (Except "Sometimes in Winter")
-Steve Katz/ Guitar, Hamonica, Vocals (Lead on "Sometimes in Winter")
-Bobby Colomby/ Drums, Percussion, Vocals
-Jim Fielder/ Bass
-Fred Lipsius/ Alto Saxaphone, Piano
-Lew Soloff/ Trumpet, Fluegelhorn
-Chuck Winfield/ Trumpet, Fluegelhorn
-Jerry Hyman/ Trombone
-Dick Halligan/ Organ, Piano, Flute, Trombone, Vocals

BS&T Soul Chorus:
- Dick Halligan, Bobby Colomby

-Alan Rubin/ Trumpet on "Spinning Wheel"
-Lucy Angle/ Footsteps

GROUP MEMBERS

Al Kooper, Joe Henderson, Steve Khan, Fred Lipsius, Tom "Bones" Malone, Ron McClure, Lew Soloff, Mike Stern, Larry Willis, Randy Bernsen, David Clayton-Thomas, Jerry Lacroix, Don Alias, Bobby Doyle, Dave Bargeron, Randy Brecker, Forrest Buchtel, Bruce Cassidy, Bobby Colomby, Vern Dorge, Bob Economou, Jim Fielder, Joe Giorgianni, Dick Halligan, Jerry Hyman, Steve Katz, Tony Klatka, Roy McCurdy, Lou Marini, David Piltch, Earl Seymour, Neil Stubenhaus, Bill Tillman, Danny Trifan, George Wadenius, Jerry Weiss, Chuck Winfield, Chris Albert, Jerry Fisher

REVIEW

The difference between Blood, Sweat & Tears and the group's preceding long-player, Child Is Father to the Man, is the difference between a monumental seller and a record that was "merely" a huge critical success. Arguably, the Blood, Sweat & Tears that made this self-titled second album -- consisting of five of the eight original members and four newcomers, including singer David Clayton-Thomas -- was really a different group from the one that made Child Is Father to the Man, which was done largely under the direction of singer/songwriter/keyboard player/arranger Al Kooper. They had certain similarities to the original: the musical mixture of classical, jazz, and rock elements was still apparent, and the interplay between the horns and the keyboards was still occurring, even if those instruments were being played by different people. Kooper was even still present as an arranger on two tracks, notably the initial hit "You've Made Me So Very Happy." But the second BS&T, under the aegis of producer James William Guercio, was a less adventurous unit, and, as fronted by Clayton-Thomas, a far more commercial one. Not only did the album contain three songs that neared the top of the charts as singles -- "Happy," "Spinning Wheel," and "And When I Die" -- but the whole album, including an arrangement of "God Bless the Child" and the radical rewrite of Traffic's "Smiling Phases," was wonderfully accessible. It was a repertoire to build a career on, and Blood, Sweat & Tears did exactly that, although they never came close to equaling this album. © William Ruhlmann & Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

BIO

Blood, Sweat & Tears was/is a Jazz-Rock band formed in New York in 1967, and one of the early examples of the genre that would be known as "Brass Rock" and sharing their hierarchy of the genre with CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY (later CHICAGO), both being prime examples along with their UK competitor IF.
The original incarnation of the band was lead by AL KOOPER (for just one album), JIM FIELDER (of Zappa's Mothers Of Invention fame), FRED LIPSIUS, JERRY WEISS, STEVE KATZ, DICK HALLIGAN, BOBBY COLOMBY, COREY GARRISON and RANDY BRECKER. Both AL KOOPER and STEVE KATZ had already worked together on The Blues Project, and Al Kooper got out of the band due to his desire to add horns and the frustration caused by the denial fromthe rest of his former band mates, only taking Steve with him.
They started by playing gigs at the Cafe Au Go Go, all of which were well received by the audience due to the innovating sound of brass with rock, jazz and psychedelia. The band at that moment was just integrated by Kooper, Katz, Colomby and Fielder; they were playing some of Al's first songs. Then the nucleus remained after thoughts of going separate ways, while bringing to the personnel trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss, saxophonist Fred Lipsius and trombonist Dick Halligan. The difference between BS & T and many R&B bands/artists lied in the use of the brass arrangements: whilst in R&B the brass simply served as decoration, BS & T used the brass with complex arrangements and solo spots.
They recorded their debut album by 1968 called "Child Is Father To The Man", which was proven a success. However, Colomby and Katz disliked Al Kooper's vocal style and they asked him to concentrate more on the organ. Kooper, disliking the way they were trying to dominate the band, quitted to become a record producer. Randy Brecker also departed to work with Horace Silver along with his brother Michael, and eventually they both co-formed the band Dreams. Kooper's last gig with BS & T was at the Garrick Theatre, in New York.
Colomby and Katz carried on with the support of Columbia Records. Jerry Weiss also left sometime later to form the band Ambergris. JERRY HYMAN, CHUCK WINFIELD and LOU SOLOFF were then called to the lineup to fill the blanks, and Dick Halligan was placed on organ. After some tryouts with Stephen Stills and Laura Nyro, Canadian DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS was suggested by folk singer Judy Collins to her friends Colomby and Katz, and after seeing him perform they decided to recruit him. The new 9-piece recorded the self-title album "Blood, Sweat & Tears", produced by James William Guercio, and consisted mostly of covers like Brenda Holloways' "You've Made Me So Very Happy" and Laura Nyro's "And When I Die"; but without losing some progressive flavour with their own "Blues-Part II" and the variations of the Eric Satie piece "Trois Gymnopédies". Still, the album was a big commercial success and won a grammy as "Album Of The Year" and "Best Performance By a Male Vocalist". They also played at various Jazz and Rock festivals and performed at the first day of the Woodstock festival (it is interesting to know that their set couldn't be filmed entirely because of contractual reasons).
The group was asked by the U.S State Department to do a tour on East Europe, by means of giving a bit of American flavour to the youth in that part of the world. The results were disastrous, and the audience at the Romanian concert were repressed by police officers. The benefit proposed to the band was to grant Clayton-Thomas a green card.
The second album was recorded and released on June of 1970, called "Blood, Sweat and Tears 3"; as it was a very anticipated release, the album rose to the top of the U.S charts very quickly. Again, the album would be a collection of covers, like Carole King's "Hi-De-Ho", Steve Winwood's "40,000 Headmen" (the same Winwood of Traffic's fame) and Joe Cocker's "Somethin' Coming On". It received mixed reviews however, presumably influenced by the Eastern Europe incident. On November of that year they also had the chance to play with a symphonic ensemble in New Orleans.
In January 1971 they began recording they fourth album in San Francisco, called "Blood, Sweat and Tears 4". For the album Jerry Hyman was replaced by DAVE GARBERON and DON HECKMAN was called to co-produce. This time they had more compositions of their own, including Halligan/Clayton-Thomas' "Redemption" (with guest MICHAEL SMITH on congas) Halligan's "Lisa, Listen To Me" and Clayton-Thomas' "Go Down Gamblin'"; they also recorded a version of Al Kooper's "John The Baptist (Holy John)". They also became the first rock band to play in Las Vegas, at the expense of some of their fans disdain (their rockier fans).
The last concert with David and Fred Lipsius was on Dec. 27, 1971 in Anaheim, California. Due to discrepancies in the members' musical ambitions, they split up. Sax legend JOE HENDERSON (who didn't stay long enough to participate in studio sessions) was asked to fill Fred Lipsius' spot and after a while Joe was replaced by LOU MARINI. Dick Halligan was replaced by LARRY WILLIS and GEORG WADENIUS filled the guitar spot. Their album "New Blood" marked a change in sound, venturing on more jazzy grounds; an example of this is the cover of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage". The single "So Long Dixie" was also released and reached #44 in the charts. Guitarist STEFAN GROSSMAN (who played with Steve Katz on Even Dozen Jug Band) featured as guest in the european part of the New Blood tour
The next album, "No Sweat" (1973), was recorded without Dick Halligan (who was replaced by LARRY WILLIS); Steve Katz retired from active playing at the same time to work as a producer. Chuck Winfield also left, and was replaced by Tom Malone. This resulted in the album being recorded with a nine-piece band. Two track off the album were released as singles: "Roller Coaster" and "Save The Ship". After some touring there were even more personnel changes; this turn is for Jim Fielder, Lew Soloff, Lou Marin and Tom Malone (RON MCCLURE, BILL TILLMAN, TONY KLATKA and JERRY LACROIX came in); Jerry LaCroix, former member of the Edgar Winter Group, also sings, but Jerry Fisher still has the lead vocal position.
In July 1974 "Mirror Image" was released, the third album from the post-Clayton-Thomas period. "Tell Me That I'm Wrong" was released as a single. Jerry LaCroix did not feel comfortable within the band, and the style was admittedly not of his likings; so his vocal duties were filled by one LUTHER KENT, who sang together with JERRY FISHER. Bobby Colomby and band manager Fred Heller were also planning the return of Clayton-Thomas to the band. Eventually Luther Kent, Jerry Fisher and Clayton-Thomas sang together on a show. After all that, Jerry and Luther left.
With Clayton-Thomas' return, the band produced two more albums for Columbia Records: "New City" and "More Than Ever". Then the last original member of the band, Bobby Colomby, left the band in 1976; due to this album's lack of commercial success, Columbia drops the band and later it's signed for ABC Records. In November they record "Brand New Day", and that was the Swan Song for that version of BS&T, after saxophonist GREGORY HERBERT (who joined them on the 1978 Europe tour) died of a cocaine overdose.
David Clayton-Thomas formed a band in 1980 consisting of Canadian musicians. It was initially called "Canada", but after management pressures he changed the name to Blood, Sweat & Tears to have a worldwide recognition.They signed to Avenue Records subsidiary label LAX [MCA Records], and with producer and arranger JERRY GOLDSTEIN they recorded the album Nuclear Blues, with a more jazz-funk sound. The band disbanded again after an Australian tour.
David decided to pursue his solo career again, touring with a new band. There were complications as in some shows his band was booked as "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and David Clayton didn't have legal rights for the name. So he negotiated with Bobby Colomby for the license of the band's name. For the next years he would be booked as "Blood, Sweat & Tears (featuring David Clayton-Thomas)". He was allowed to tour with that name, but Colomby said it wouldn't apply for recordings.
In 1994 Al Kooper got together with members of the original band and played gigs under the name "Child Is Father To The Man" (since the rights to the original name were reserved to Colomby). The shows were released on a double CD called "Soul Of A Man: Al Kooper Live" and included the performances of "Your Days Are Numbered" and "I Can't Quit Her". That same year, David Clayton recorded an album with his Blood, Sweat & Tears horn section at that time and Hungarian drummer and compose Leslie Mandoki, called "People" (which also featured figures like IAN ANDERSON, AL DI MEOLA and MICHAEL BRECKER). Three years later they recorded and released "People In Room No. 8" and in 2002 David recorded tracks for the third Mandoki album called "Soulmates".
In 2004 David-Clayton announced that he would again pursue a solo career (without the Blood, Sweat & Tears name); that the band is no more and that he wishes to take a break from the road to engage in creative projects. © Jesus ‘Chus’ Brea © Prog Archives, All rights reserved

Little Free Rock

Little Free Rock - Little Free Rock - 1969 - Transatlantic
Their Eponymous Album was released in November 1969, and they were an evolution of Purple Haze, who were a highly respected three piece outfit formed originally performing covers of songs from bands like The Who, Creation, Tomorrow etc but quickly developing a style and presentation of their own. To avoid association with Jimi Hendrix's tune, the name was changed to Little Free Rock from the meaning of their names. Paul means 'Little', Frank means 'Free' and Peter the 'Rock'. This debut album contains well structured songs with fine melodies, and outstanding guitar work from Peter Illingworth. The album has Cream influences, but uses occasional mellotron, making Little Free Rock a more progressive outfit. Has anybody got any info on any live recordings by this band ? Also, can anyone give me the definitive track list for this album. The same album has been released with the following tracklist - Roman Summer Nights (A different track to Roman Summer ?) , Lost Lonely, Blud, Castles In The Sky, Dream, Tingle, Evil Woman (A bonus track ? ) , Age Of Chivalry, Making Time. There may have been different pressings of this album released. Posts appreciated.

TRACKS

Tingle
Roman Summer
Making Time
Lost Lonely
Age Of Chivalry
Castles In TheSky
Blud
Dream

BAND

Peter Illingworth, Lead Guitar and Vocals,
Paul Varley, Drums and
Frank Newbold, Bass Guitar and Vocals.

BIO

Little Free Rock was a late 1960s Heavy Rock Trio from Preston in Lancashire, England. It featured Peter Illingworth (lead guitar and vocals) (formerly with David John and the Mood who recorded with Joe Meek), Paul Varley (drums) (later with The Arrows) and Frank Newbold (bass and vocals). They began performing covers of The Who, The Creation, Tomorrow but were soon doing mainly own songs. The band performed regularly at the Roundhouse Sunday Night Implosion Events and had numerous residencies at the Marquee Club. As well as performing all over Belgium, Continental Trips included the Star-Club in Hamburg, Essen Jazz and Blues Festival, and festivals in Frankfurt, San Tropez and Santa Margarita de la Costa in Italy. They changed their name from Purple Haze to avoid confusion with Jimi Hendrix' single. Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) joined the band for a short period, but the recordings were never released.

Poco

Poco - A Good Feeling To Know - 1972 - Epic

This is a classic album, not to be missed. Poco were overshadowed by groups like The Eagles, but they made some great country rock albums. Great songs, great playing, and superb vocals. This is probably the best album released by Poco.

TRACKS

And Settlin' Down
Ride The Country
I Can See Everything
Go And Say Goodbye
Keeper Of The Fire
Early Times
A Good Feelin' To Know
Restrain
Sweet Lovin'

CREDITS

Paul Cotton - Guitar, Vocals
Barry Flast - Piano
Richie Furay - Guitar, Vocals
George Grantham - Drums, Vocals
Timothy B Schmit - Bass, Vocals
Rusty Young - Pedal Steel Guitar, Banjo
Producer: Jim Mason, Jack Richardson

REVIEW

I've just come home from seeing Poco play. They were terrific, significantly better than the last few times I heard them in concert. On those occasions I was impressed by the effortless way the group reconciled the seemingly antithetical virtues of high spiritedness and discipline. But Poco has now added still another dimension to its performance: The group is playing rock & roll now, and doing it in a broad, sweeping style that's new for them. When they finish the verses and chorus of each tune, distinguished as always by the traditional high, pure harmonies, they roll into high gear instrumentally, developing the song dynamically with three guitars (Richie Furay is really playing his guitar now, rather than just wearing it), bass and drums. In these moments, they wind out with the torque of a country-tuned Derek and the Dominos. I've always enjoyed Poco, but I didn't think they were capable of putting out this kind of power or intensity.
The group has been able to capture this new dimension during the best moments of A Good Feelin' to Know, although, as is traditional with Poco, the recorded sound only approximates the live experience. From the noticeably modified style the band displays here, it would seem that Poco has finally made a definite commitment to achieving a hit-record sound. The group has always considered the hit single the ultimate form of tangible recognition, but in four years of trying, they've never even come close; they're confident enough to feel they'd have a bunch of them by now if justice was served. It's not hard to guess how they felt when the Eagles and Doobie Brothers, groups with similar musical values but much shorter life-spans than Poco, cracked the elusive Top 40 with ease. Here's their answer; it's as full of self-confidence as ever, and it's also full of steam, some of it generated no doubt by frustration but quite effective nevertheless.
Style has never been Poco's problem—substance has. They've managed to make good albums without the benefit of much distinguished material, and on A Good Feelin' to Know, as on its four predecessors, the least remarkable aspect is the music itself. Poco's songs have always had a way of running together in the mind, even to the zealous listener, with titles, phrases and riffs all bouncing around in an appealing but vague heap. Since there's been a change of direction on the new album, these tunes won't be so easily mistaken for songs from the country-oriented period, but there are still some problems. Newest member Paul Cotton supplied Poco with two of its best songs on the group's last album, but none of his three tunes here does much for the album or for the group's new style. Two of them try to be ominous in much the same way as the Eagles hit "Witchy Woman" does, but they seem rather forced and silly (so does "Witchy Woman," for that matter, but it still sounds good on the radio).
But this time, there are also some real self-contained songs, with melodies and phrases that are hard to forget rather than being hard to remember. Tim Schmit tries for a darker, hotter tone in "Restrain," and he succeeds where Cotton fails. Schmit's affectingly anguished singing over snarling guitars and piercing harmonies push the song to a temper verging on rage. This track is the most obvious example of Poco's shift of mood—it smolders.
The group hasn't traveled far afield for the one non-original—it's Stephen Stills' "Go and Say Goodbye," a bright tune from the first Buffalo Springfield album. While it doesn't actually improve on the original, the Poco rendition is a sensitive, brisk and high-powered treatment (developed by those standard high harmonies and newly adopted ringing guitar chords again) that adds a feeling of substantiality to the album and makes me wish they'd recorded a couple more songs from outside sources.
But it's Furay who makes the biggest plays and gives the album its primary reference points as well with his "And Settlin' Down" and the exhilarating title song. These two tracks beautifully integrate all the traditional Poco elements—the charm, the innocence, the spirit and the track is the most obvious underlying yearning—with the tougher, denser and more worldly approach the group has developed. These two songs are incredible live, and on record, with the volume up, they get closer to that live feeling than even the music on the group's fine live LP, Deliverin'. "Good Feelin' to Know" sounds right now like the best Furay song since he formed this band, and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes eventually the song most closely identified with Poco. © BUD SCOPPA (Posted: Dec 21, 1972) © Copyright 2007 Rolling Stone

BIO (Wikipedia)

Poco is an American country rock band. It was formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of their band Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The original lineup was Richie Furay (vocals, rhythm guitar), Jim Messina (lead guitar, vocals), Rusty Young (pedal steel guitar, banjo, dobro, guitar, and vocals), George Grantham (drums and vocals) and Randy Meisner (bass and vocals).
Their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces (1969) is widely considered one of the best and most important albums of a new musical genre that united country with rock music. Prior to its release, Meisner left the group as a result of conflict over the group's direction. After a stint playing with Rick Nelson, he later became a founding member of The Eagles. Timothy B. Schmit subsequently replaced Meisner on both bass and vocals. Their next albums Poco (1970) and Deliverin' (1971) followed. Guided by the vision of Furay and Messina, these albums became touchstones of country rock music. Poco's unique blending of the Bakersfield country music movement with an energetic rock sound translated well to live performances, and the band developed a loyal following on the road. Critical acclaim did not yield commercial success, however, and Messina chose to leave the band, being replaced by Paul Cotton (guitar and vocals) from Illinois Speed Press. Messina experienced considerable subsequent success with Kenny Loggins as Loggins & Messina. Cotton proved to be a strong addition, and the band released From The Inside (1971). The album featured Cotton's "Bad Weather", which became a signature song for the band.
A Good Feelin’ To Know (1972) followed, and the title track became by far the most recognizable Poco song of their early years. Despite critical acclaim, the album did not achieve the commercial success the band had expected, and Furay became increasingly discouraged with the band's prospects. The next album, "Crazy Eyes" (1973), was another strong effort that ultimately proved to be Furay's last as a member of the group. The title track was a Furay song written about fellow country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons of Flying Burrito Brothers fame, who died of a drug overdose just prior to the release of the album. At the urging of Asylum Records President David Geffen, Furay joined with J. D. Souther and Chris Hillman to create the Souther Hillman Furay Band. Furay's departure was not a complete tragedy, though. Previously known largely for his multi-instrumental talents, Young stepped up to become one of the band's primary songwriters and singers on subsequent albums. Seven (1974) and Cantamos (1974), arguably their best album to date, established the group as a strong quartet without Furay Live (1974) proved that they were still a strong performing force being a foursome, and they sought further success with a move to ABC Records. Head Over Heels (1975), Rose Of Cimarron (1976), and Indian Summer (1977) found the group augmenting their country rock sound with a more mainstream approach. Head Over Heels featured Schmit's acoustic "Keep On Tryin'", which became an AOR favorite and the group's most successful single to date. With Rose Of Cimarron, Young and Cotton began to write the lion's share of the group's songs as the band continued to seek larger commercial success. In 1977, both Schmit and Grantham left the band. Schmit joined the Eagles, coincidentally replacing former Poco member Meisner yet again.
Undaunted, Young and Cotton redoubled their efforts, deciding to continue the group and selecting Britons Steve Chapman (drums) and Charlie Harrison (bass) to round out their new quartet. Legend (1978), with cover art by comedian Phil Hartman, subsequently became the group's most commercially successful album, yielding a gold album and two Top Twenty hits, Young's 'Crazy Love' (which also had a seven-week run at Number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1979, the biggest hit on the AC chart that year) and Cotton's "Heart of the Night". Kim Bullard (keyboards) joined the band later that same year. While 'Crazy Love' was riding up the charts, ABC Records was sold to MCA Records. Poco was retained by MCA and the Legend album was reissued on the MCA label. This quintet released four more albums: Under The Gun (1980), Blue And Gray (1981), Cowboys & Englishmen (1982) and (moving over to Atlantic Records) Ghost Town (1982). Despite creating music that often lived up to the quality of earlier efforts, this lineup ultimately failed to sustain the success achieved by "Legend." In the wake of changing musical tastes and a fickle marketplace in the early 1980s, the group increasingly faded from the forefront of the popular music scene. Furay, Schmit, and Grantham have, since their departures, each appeared at various times with Poco. Inamorata (1984) featured contributions on vocals by all three former members, but the album did not result in a lasting reunion. After a lengthy recording hiatus, Poco reemerged with the successful Legacy (1989), reuniting original members Young, Furay, Messina, Grantham, and Meisner twenty years after Poco's debut. The album featured two top forty hits, 'Call it Love' and 'Nothing to Hide', and earned a gold album. Internal conflict disrupted the brief success of this lineup, and they splintered and then disbanded in 1991.
Although Young and Cotton continued to tour with a variety of members as Poco in subsequent years, Running Horse (2002) returned the band to the studio for the first time in thirteen years. This lineup consisted of Young, Cotton, Grantham, and Jack Sundrud (bass and vocals), who had toured with the band intermittently since the 1980s. Furay reunited with this lineup for one show in Nashville in May 2004, resulting in the spirited CD/DVD release Keeping The Legend Alive (2004). Later that year Grantham tragically suffered a stroke during a live performance. His recovery has been slow and expensive, and the group has created a donor fund on its official website, Poconut.com, to offset some of his considerable medical expenses. The site offers a variety of ways of donating money. Poco is still writing and recording a substantial volume of music, touring festivals and top rock venues in the United States, Canada and Europe, and doing solo projects. Young, Cotton, Sundrud, and newcomer veteran drummer George Lawrence comprise the current lineup. Bareback At Big Sky (2005) and The Wildwood Sessions (2006) are their most recent original releases, capturing live acoustic versions of songs both new and familiar from their almost forty year career. The current lineup of Poco is being reunited with Richie Furay for a concert at the Wildwood Lodge in Steelville, Missouri, in May, 2007.

Ace

Ace - How Long (The Best Of Ace) - 1988 - See for Miles

Ace were a British rock music band, who enjoyed moderate success in the 1970s. They are notable for their part in the early career of Paul Carrack, who later became famous as a solo artist, and as a member of several other groups. The band was formed in December 1972 as Ace Flash And The Dynamos, but this name was quickly abbreviated to just Ace. Ace are mainly remembered for the one song, "How Long", which was believed to have been an instrumental influence on Steely Dan as well as shaping the vocal styling of Boz Scaggs. Ace, a great soul and R & B funk band, with very talented musicians, never achieved the success they deserved, and split in 1977. This album is a good testament to their talent

TRACKS & COMPOSERS

How Long ... Paul Carrack
I'm a Man ... Ace
Ain't Gonna Stand for This No More ... Ace
Rock 'N' Roll Runaway ... Paul Carrack, Terry "Tex" Comer, Alan "Bam" King
The Real Feeling ... Paul Carrack
Rock and Roll Singer ... Paul Carrack, Terry "Tex" Comer
You're All That I Need ... Paul Carrack
24 Hours ... Paul Carrack
Crazy World ... Alan "Bam" King
No Future in Your Eyes ... Paul Carrack, Ace
Tongue Tied ... Terry "Tex" Comer
Time Ain't Long ... Paul Carrack
Sail on My Brother ... Paul Carrack
I Think It's Gonna Last ... Paul Carrack

ORIGINAL BAND MEMBERS

Paul Carrack (born 22 April 1951, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England; keyboards, vocals).
Alan "Bam" King (born 18 September 1946, Kentish Town, London; guitar, vocals).
Phil Harris (born Philip Harris, 18 July 1948, Muswell Hill, London; guitar, vocals)
Terry "Tex" Comer (born 23 February 1949, Burnley, Lancashire, England; bass)
Steve Witherington (born 26 December 1953, Enfield, Middlesex, England; drums

REVIEW

Best of Ace is a smartly assembled, fourteen-track collection which draws from each of the band's albums. Ace is best remembered for the ultra-slick "How Long," but little of the collection bears resemblance to that hit. Instead, they're shown doing what they did best (and more often) -- playing laidback, rootsy pub-rock. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide

BIO

Ace were one of the few pub rock groups to enjoy success on the pop charts, largely due to the warm, soulful vocals of Paul Carrack. While Carrack's voice certainly had crossover appeal -- as he would later prove with his own records, as well as his work with Squeeze and Roxy Music -- the band was also less devoted to the three-chord boogie and country-rock that marked most pub rock bands, favoring soulful R&B. And while they did have hits, their time in the spotlight was brief, and they fell apart shortly after Carrack left for a solo career.

Phil Harris (guitar) and Alan "Bam" King (guitar, vocal) formed Ace in 1972, recruiting Paul Carrack (keyboards, vocals), Terry "Tex" Comer (bass), and Steve Witherington (drums) over the course of the next year. Before the group began recording, they went through several drummers -- Witherington was replaced by Chico Greenwood, who was later replaced by Fran Byrne in 1974. After developing a small but dedicated following on the pub rock circuit, Ace signed with Anchor Records and recorded Five-a-Side. "How Long" -- a song about Comer leaving the band briefly to play with the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, and his subsequent return -- was released as the first single. Most listeners interpreted the song as an ode to a crumbling love affair, and it became a fluke hit in both the U.K. and the U.S. Ace released Time for Another in 1975, but it was generally ignored, especially since the popularity of pub rock was declining rapidly.

Harris left the band in early 1976 and was replaced by John Woodhead. Later that year, Ace opened unsuccessfully for Yes, and then moved to Los Angeles, hoping that the U.S. would prove more receptive to their music. It wasn't. Ace released a final album, No Strings, in 1977 and then disbanded. Comer, Carrack, and Byrne all joined Frankie Miller, but by 1979, Carrack had left to sing with Roxy Music. Following his time with Roxy, he launched a solo career, which he balanced with playing with artists like Squeeze, Nick Lowe, and Mike + the Mechanics. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

CAREER

The members were assembled from various other professional bands, and were all competent musicians. Carrack and Comer had previously played with Warm Dust, and King with Mighty Baby, whose antecedents were the highly regarded 1960s band The Action. Ace were popular on the pub rock circuit. Their music was pop with a funk influence.
Before the recording of their debut album, Five-A-Side, ex-Bees Make Honey drummer Fran Byrne (born 17 March 1948, Dublin, Ireland) replaced Witherington. The single "How Long" (a song about one of the members leaving for another group) was taken from this record, and was a significant chart success, achieving a top twenty place in the UK Singles Chart, and reaching number three in the U.S. charts. Its bass introduction was similar to that of "Travelling Song" by Pentangle. Carrack's electric piano was also prominent on the recording. In addition, "How Long" is believed to have been an instrumental influence on Steely Dan as well as shaping the vocal styling of Boz Scaggs.
The band eventually moved to America, and replaced Phil Harris with Jon Woodhead in 1976. But it was all in vain as they disbanded in July 1977, when most of the remaining members joined Frankie Miller's band.
Carrack has since played in Eric Clapton's band, joined Squeeze in the early 1980s, and later played with [[Mike + The Mechanics]]. He also re-recorded "How Long", as a solo artist, which became a UK Top 40 hit again in 1996. Copyright © 2007 Answers Corporation. All rights reserved

Red Snapper

Red Snapper - Reeled and Skinned [IMPORT] - 1995 - Warp

Reeled And Skinned is a collection of Red Snappers first three singles and EPs. Red Snapper a London freak-beat jazz combo, create enjoyable, and very original mixes of electronica, funk, rhythm & blues, drum'n'bass, hip hop, acid jazz and dub. The list goes on. Maybe a bit avant garde, and sophisticated, but the music is very good , and well worth a listen for it's creativity alone.


TRACKS

1. Snapper
2. One Legged Low Frequency Guy
3. Swank
4. Hot Flush
5. Cortina
6. Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Mix)
7. In Deep
8. Wesley Don't Surf
9. Lobster


CREDITS


Double Bass - Ali Friend
Drums - Richard Thair
Flute, Melodica, Saxophone - Alan Riding
Guitar - David Ayers
Mastered By - John Davis (4)
Mixed By - Dean Thatcher (tracks: 1, 5 & 9)
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By - Tim Holmes
Producer, Written-By, Mixed By - Red Snapper
Artwork By - Adrian Marler
Artwork By [Design] - Simon Bell


ABOUT RED SNAPPER


Red Snapper is a London combo that draws from Massive Attack and the school of trip-hop. Their music is jazz and funk enhanced by avantgarde disc-jockey tricks, encapsulated into dub-derived ambience and drenched in moody atmospheres reminiscent of Barry Adamson's imaginary noir soundtracks. The core is made of drummer Richard Thair, bassist Ali Friend and guitarist David Ayers, with occasional guests (mostly vocalists). Saxophonist Ollie Moore was the most prominent guest on the early EPs, later collected on Reeled & Skinned (Warp, 1995), and on the debut album, Prince Blimey (Warp, 1996). The album definitely promoted them among the most daring fusionists of their era, incorporating jazz, rhythm and blues, drum'n'bass, hip hop and dub in a complex, arcane and recombinant harmonic structures. Get Some Sleep Tiger, Moonbuggy, The Paranoid, Digging Doctor What What, Gridlock are sophisticated mini-chamber concerts.
The EP Loopascoopa (Warp, 1997) contains remixes.
Down to a trio (Thair, Friend and Ayers), Red Snapper continued their investigation of post-hiphop dance music with the single Bogeyman and the album Making Bones (Warp, 1998). The new direction is both harder (the drum'n'bass eruptions of The Sleepless and Like A Moving Truck) and more atmospheric (the flamenco guitar of 4 Dead Monks, Image Of You and, generally speaking, Byron Wallen's cornet).
Red Snapper sold their stylistic innovations to a broader audience with Our Aim Is To Satisfy (Warp, 2000). The dance tracks (The Rake, The Rough And The Quick, Some Kind Of Kink) are among the most forceful of their career, a veil of psychedelic dub envelops Bussing and Belladonna, and funky rhythms are packaged in baroque formats (Ghost Town, Shellback). Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi www.scaruffi.com/vol6/redsnapp.html
Notable for their pioneering synthesis of acoustic instruments and electronic textures, the British acid jazz trio Red Snapper comprised guitarist David Ayers, double bassist Ali Friend and drummer Richard Thair. Formed in 1993, the group's debut EP The Snapper appeared the following spring; after two more EPs, Swank and Hot Flush, Red Snapper signed to the acclaimed Warp Records label, where their early singles were later compiled as Reeled and Skinned. The full-length Prince Blimey was released in 1996, followed two years later by their American debut Making Bones. After releasing one more LP, Our Aim Is to Satisfy Red Snapper, the trio briefly split during 2002. (Thair formed a new band, Toob, while Friend worked on a soundtrack and Ayers collaborated with Alan McGee and Felix Tod.) The trio returned one year later with a self-titled record for Lo Recordings and an accompanying remix album, Redone.. © Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Critics, bless them, didn't quite know what to make of Red Snapper. Were they jazz? (They kept playing at the legendary London jazz club Ronnie Scott's.) Electronica? Trip-hop? Of course, this very contrariness was the band's great strength, lending their music a fractious, busy quality that set them apart from the vast majority of their peers. The aim was simple enough: to achieve the mesmeric textures of loops and mixes, through a clash of live and electronic instrumentation--the former including such comparative oddities as saxophone, clarinet and double bass. Mostly it worked, and the result was sublime. Prince Blimey was their first album (Reeled And Skinned is a collection of their first three singles and EPs), and the sound is often reminiscent of a late 1960s British gangster flick--an impression reinforced by titles like "3 Strikes And You're Out" and "Thomas The Fib". At other times, it imagines some inspired fusion of King Tubby, Miles Davis and Dick Dale. Indescribable, really. Ultimately, the best tag might be one coined by the band themselves: "Fuck-Off Jazz". Nice. © Andrew McGuire © Amazon.co.uk

Carla Bley

Carla Bley - Fancy Chamber Music - 1998 - Ecm Records


Carla Bley's compositional ambitions clearly collides with the aesthetic of free-jazz, although she displayes an ideological affinity with free jazz. Perhaps these contradictions are precisely what makes her music so unique and powerful. This is not an easy album to get into, but repeated listening pays off. Check out her classic "Escalator Over The Hill" album.

TRACKS

Wolfgang Tango
Romantic Notion No 4
End Of Vienna
Tigers In Training
Romantic Notion No 6
Jon Benet

All music composed by Carla Bley

CREDITS

Carla Bley : piano
Steve Morris : violin
Andrew Byrt : viola
Emma Black : cello
Steve Swallow : bass
Alison Hayhurst : flute
Sara Lee : Clarinet, glockenspiel
Chris Wells : percussion

Produced by Carla Bley and Steve Swallow
General Co-ordination: Ilene Mark

Recorded Dec.5&6, 1997 at SnakeRanch Studio, London
Engineer: Robin Prior; Assistant Engineer: Mark Chambers

Mixed and mastered at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, NY; Engineer: Tom Mark

Cover Photos: D.D.Rider; Artwork: David Cohen
Album Design: WATT

REVIEWS

Carla Bley has always been a composer of great precision, examining and elaborating subtle nuances with fine detail. It therefore comes as no surprise that she recorded this set of six compositions for a small ensemble of primarily classical-based players. Starting with several commissioned pieces already written, she completed additional work and then recorded the album in London during a tour and musical residency.
European traditions have empowered much of Bley's work and do so again here. Her scoring for strings eschews the wit usually associated with her more jazz-based work. "End Of Vienna" is a stirring nine-minute melancholic reverie. "Tigers In Training" (at 19 minutes, the longest work on the album) boldly melds percussion into the mix, creating an undulating tapestry that more than deserves its duration. © www.channel4.com/music/
Always the iconoclast, here pianist Bley applies her keen musical skill on baroque and chamber styles with tongue firmly in cheek and a fine string section to set the mood. The opening track, "Wolfgang Tango," is a brooding romantic excursion with humorous undertones. "The End of Vienna" features subtle keyboard work by Bley in a beautiful panoramic melody. Bley can't help but mix things up with the more challenging angles of "Tigers in Training." The closing track, a moving and rather creepy "JonBenet," is presumably an homage to the murdered child beauty queen. © Tim Sheridan, All Music Guide

BIO

Carla Bley was born in Oakland, California in 1936. Her father Emil Borg, a piano teacher and church organist, began giving her music lessons when she was three years old and she was soon playing at church functions. But her musical education ended at the age of eight. Her formal education stopped entirely when she dropped out of high school after completing the tenth grade.
During her adolescence Carla was drawn to jazz and moved to New York City to be closer to the musicians she admired. She resumed her musical education by working as a cigarette girl at the notorious Birdland jazz club, where she was able to hear the greatest jazz musicians of the day. She met pianist Paul Bley and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where Paul and his quartet had a steady gig at the Hillcrest Club. She began to write music. When saxophonist Ornette Coleman came on the scene in the mid-fifties, Paul Bley immediately hired him and Carla was exposed nightly to ‘free’ playing, a powerful influence that was to affect her writing for many years.
In the early sixties Paul and Carla returned to New York. Soon George Russell, Jimmy Giuffre, Tony Williams and others began to play and record her compositions. During this period she also worked in the cloakrooms of Basin Street and the Jazz Gallery in order to hear as much music as possible. She was a member of The Jazz Composer’s Guild and met composer Michael Mantler at the meetings. They formed a group called The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, and soon became personally involved; she left Paul Bley and moved in with Michael Mantler. In 1966 they had a daughter, Karen, who was to be Carla’s only offspring.
At the end of the sixties Gary Burton recorded Carla’s first extended work, A Genuine Tong Funeral. Shortly after, Charlie Haden asked her to arrange and write for The Liberation Music Orchestra. Her next major work, with words by Paul Haines, Escalator Over The Hill, was recorded on the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association’s label, JCOA. It received the French award Oscar du Disque de Jazz. Soon she and Michael Mantler founded The New Music Distribution Service, which distributed independent recordings.
In 1972 Carla received a Guggenheim Fellowship. She and Mantler started their own record company, WATT. Its first release was Carla’s Tropic Appetites, another project with poet Paul Haines. In 1974 The Ensemble, a group of New York players, commissioned a piece for chamber orchestra. Titled ¾, it was conducted by Dennis Russell Davies and featured pianist Keith Jarrett. It was later performed by Speculum Musicae featuring Ursula Oppens, and recorded for the WATT label with Carla as the soloist. In1975 she was in a band with Jack Bruce and Mick Taylor, and lived in London for six months. After the band prematurely broke up she returned home and decided to start her own band. Over the next six years the Carla Bley Band, which consisted of six horns and a rhythm section, toured Europe and Japan, and made five albums on the WATT label. The band also recorded a movie soundtrack for the Claude Miller film Mortelle Randonee and played Carla’s arrangement of Nino Rota’s music for 8 ½ on Hal Willner’s Fellini tribute album. During this period she also did recording projects for other labels with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Stuff, and Charlie Haden.
Carla’s next regular group was an enlarged rhythm section without horns, but she still made recordings with larger groups. Heavy Heart, then Night-Glo, the album she wrote for her bass player (and soon to be partner) Steve Swallow, were her next projects for the WATT
label. The music on these two albums was not well received by the jazz establishment or her public but she managed to be voted Best Composer by Downbeat magazine before her fall from favor. She also received the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Two more arrangements for Hal Willner tribute albums, of Theolonius Monk’s Misterioso featuring Johnny Griffin and Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars featuring Phil Woods, were also recorded during this time. Misterioso was nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental, Big Band.
The Carla Bley Sextet, with Hiram Bullock, Larry Willis, Steve Swallow, Victor Lewis and Don Alias, toured in 1986 and recorded an album for WATT. An extension label called XtraWATT was started to record the music of friends and family. It produced an album by Steve Weisberg, released a live recording of a Sicilian Big Band playing orchestrations of Carla’s music by Jeff Friedman and a series of albums by Carla’s daughter, Karen Mantler. Soon it became the label for all of Steve Swallow’s projects.
She received a commission from The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and wrote a piece featuring Fred Sherry, Paula Robison and Ani Kavafian called Coppertone. Soon after, she wrote Romantic Notions, a set of short piano pieces, for Ursula Oppens.
Playing duets with Steve Swallow, which started as recreation, soon turned professional and Steve and Carla toured and recorded as a duo regularly for five years. Their first album was called Duets. They were guests on the short-lived NBC TV Night Music series, produced by Hal Willner and hosted by David Sanborn. During that time she also worked with a 15-piece band and recorded the album Fleur Carnivore, then started writing for the standard Big Band instrumentation. Another album, Dreamkeeper, arranged for Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, won the Downbeat Record of the Year award. She also was named Best Composer by Jazz Times magazine and Jazz Musician of the Year by Hi Fi Vision.
In the fall of 1990 she was a visiting professor at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. During the semester she took off time to tour Europe and record The Very Big Carla Bley Band. The album received the Prix Jazz Moderne from the French Academy du Jazz.
She and Michael Mantler separated in early 1991. Soon after, Carla and Steve Swallow began living together. A second Duets album, Go Together, was recorded during the summer of 1992. A commission from the Glasgow Jazz Festival resulted in a piece for violin and Big Band, called Birds of Paradise. It featured Rumanian violinist Alex Balanescu.
The ‘Very Big Band’ toured Europe in the fall of 1993 and recorded another album, Big Band Theory, which included Birds of Paradise, at a studio in London. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Jazz Big Band category. During the remainder of the year Carla performed only with Steve Swallow, but eventually saxophonist Andy Sheppard was added to the duo. The trio toured Europe and recorded a live album called Songs With Legs.
In 1994 Carla finished Tigers In Training, a piece commissioned by the Hamburg-based chamber group, L’Art Pour L’Art, and wrote a piece for the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. In 1995 she and Steve played Duets in Brazil, and worked with local Big Bands, first in Sandvika, Norway, then at the Cornish Institute in Seattle. In November, Carla’s Big Band premiered a commissioned piece, Setting Calvin’s Waltz, at the Berlin Jazz Festival. This was followed by another European Duets tour. She got to hear all the music she had recently been writing for classical musicians at the 300th Jazz Workshop at the North German radio station in Hamburg.
A new piece, End of Vienna was premiered there.
In early 1996 Carla, Steve and Andy Sheppard performed a piece in Grenoble, France that had been commissioned by the Grenoble Jazz Festival. Based on cutouts by Henri Matisse, it was called Les Trois Lagons. In July there was another Big Band tour, which culminated in three days of live recording at a famous church in Perugia, Italy during the Umbria Jazz Festival. The album was called The Carla Bley Big Band Goes To Church. Later in the summer, a Big Band made up entirely of musicians from New York played the new pieces at jazz festivals in Detroit and Chicago. She spent the rest of the year writing chamber music.
In 1997 Carla had a week’s residency at the Barbican Center in London. This was followed by a British Arts Council tour of England. In June she went to Cologne, Germany for the first live production of Escalator Over The Hill, then played at the Montreal Jazz Festival with the trio. In August her Big Band played at a festival in Belgium, and Carla and Steve went to Helsinki, Finland to work with a local Big Band. This was followed by a tour and recording of Fancy Chamber Music, Carla’s collected music written for non-improvising musicians.
Carla and Steve were invited to Denmark to take part in a program called Jazzvisits. They lived in Copenhagen for a month and worked with various groups of Danish musicians. Escalator Over The Hill, with a 24-piece band including Paul Haines, was presented at European Jazz Festivals in July. Carla and Steve recorded a Duets album, Are We There Yet?, during a tour in the fall of 1998. Carla spent the rest of the winter preparing music for her new group, called 4X4.
In April of 1999 4X4 made its premiere at a nightclub in Tokyo. In July the group, which consisted of four horns and four rhythm, toured Europe and recorded an album in Oslo. Later in the year, Carla and Steve played Trios with Andy Sheppard in Europe. She spent the winter writing and re-orchestrating chamber music. In March of 2000, Carla and Steve went to Tokyo to play a Fancy Chamber Music concert with members of the New Japan Philharmonic. It was the first performance of a new piece called First Date. They formally retired the Duets format after a concert in Sao Paulo the next month.
Thierry Paul Benizeau, who had previously made a film about Escalator Over The Hill, came to New York and filmed a portrait of Carla that included a Trios concert at a gallery in Woodstock.
He continued filming the following month at a Fancy Chamber Music concert in Verona, Italy.
4X4 toured Europe again in the fall of 2000. During the next few years Carla and Steve worked with various Big Bands (in the USA, Luxembourg, Italy and Portugal) including her own (Europe) and toured with Trios (Europe and Korea). When Carla wasn’t touring she was writing music for her next Big Band album.
In the fall of 2002 Carla recorded Looking For America at a studio in New York. It was nominated for a Grammy in the ‘best large jazz ensemble album” category. The following year she played the music from that album with musicians from New York at the Iridium in Manhattan, then took the band to Minnesota to play a concert in Minneapolis. Carla’s Big Band drummer, Billy Drummond, was added to Trios and the new group was called The Lost Chords. Their first concert was in Austria in August of 2003. That fall they toured Europe, recorded some of the concerts, and released a live album called The Lost Chords.
During the winter Carla wrote and arranged music for Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra. She toured Europe with that group the following summer and recorded the album Not In Our Name in Rome. Later that year they played a night at the Village Vanguard in New York. In November The Lost Chords had another European tour. Carla’s next project was a piece for Big Band commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival.
During 2005 The Lost Chords worked in America. Their schedule included appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival and a week at Iridium in New York City followed by a two-week tour of the West Coast. Appearing Nightly At The Black Orchid, the piece Carla had written for the Monterey Jazz Festival, was premiered at that festival in September. When the Lost Chords tour was over Carla played a week at the Blue Note in New York with the Liberation Music Orchestra, then went on a fall tour with that band in Europe.

Michael Kaufmann, director of programming at the Philharmonie in Essen, Germany, invited Carla to be artist in residence for a year. The first program she brought to Essen was Fancy Chamber Music, performed with Steve Swallow and musicians from the area, She spent the winter of 2006 writing music for an upcoming big band tour scheduled for the summer, then returned to Essen twice in April, first to prepare and perform a concert with a student big band, and later to re-create Escalator Over The Hill with a mostly new cast.

In the summer of 2006 the Carla Bley Big Band toured Europe for three weeks and recorded a live album at the New Morning in Paris. In August Carla and Steve went to Sardinia and worked with Orchestra Jazz Della Sardegna, then flew to Hamburg and presented a similar program with the NDR Big Band. Another tour with the Liberation Music Orchestra took place in November. In December Carla completed her residency at the Essen Philharmonie with a program written especially for the event called Carla's Christmas Carols.

During the winter of 2007 she worked on music for a quintet called The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu. © www.wattxtrawatt.com/biocarla.htm

Peter Green Splinter Group

Peter Green Splinter Group With Nigel Watson - Hot Foot Powder - 2000 - Snapper

This great album contains 13 remarkably fresh covers of some classic blues songs written by Robert Johnson, including the title track. Green is a brilliant rock guitarist whose admiration for Johnson's material is well known in popular music circles. "Hot Foot Powder" iis his second collection of material from the Robert Johnson songbook. An excellent recording.

TRACKS (All titles composed by Robert Johnson)

1. I'm A Steady Rollin' Man
2. From Four Until Late
3. Dead Shrimp Blues
4. Little Queen Of Spades
5. They're Red Hot
6. Preachin' Blues
7. Hell Hound On My Trail
8. Travelling Riverside Blues
9. Malted Milk
10. Milkcow's Calf Blues
11. Drunken Hearted Man
12. Cross Road Blues
13. Come On In My Kitchen

PERSONNEL

Brian Bull - Guitar (Tracks 2,5)
Roger Cotton - Guitar, Piano
Dr John - Piano (Tracks 2,5)
Honey Boy Edwards - Guitar (Track 8)
Peter Green - Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica
Buddy Guy - Guitar (Track 12)
Otis Rush - Guitar (Tracks 1,4)
Peter Stroud - Upright Bass
Hubert Sumlin - Guitar (Track 3)
Larry Tolfree - Drums
Joe Louis Walker - Guitar (Track 8)
Nigel Watson - Guitar, Vocals

Producers - Roger Cotton, Peter Green, Nigel Watson

REVIEWS

Robert Johnson, revered by many as the greatest of bluesmen, gets a second makeover here by Peter Green, rightly considered one of the best blues guitar players ever and, like Johnson, at one time or another shrouded in his fair share of mystery and speculation. Together with a clutch of veteran blues musicians, Green, Nigel Watson and the Splinter Group pay 13 loving tributes to Delta bluesman Johnson whose compositions have graced the repertoire of rock and blues bands ever since Clapton first tried to flag a ride down at the crossroads in 1968. Green takes most of the vocals with Watson singing lead on just four tracks including the frantic "Preachin' Blues" and the doom-laden "Hellhound On My Trail" (once recorded in 1968 by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac). Dr. John helps out on "From Four Until Late" with some trademark barrelhouse piano. That's him too swinging behind a foot-tapping version of "They're Red Hot." A worthy follow-up to the much acclaimed ROBERT JOHNSON SONGBOOK, HOT FOOT POWDER (incidentally a voodoo spell ingredient mentioned in "Hellhoundà") shows the Splinter Group paying another sincere tribute to one of the most influential blues artists of all time. © 1996 - 2007 CD Universe
Call me an ignoramus, but I didn't know Peter Green's previous effort, The Robert Johnson Songbook, had won the W.C. Handy Award for Best Comeback Album of the year in 1999. I must have been vacationing on another planet at the time. I can't make any comparisons with the latest from Peter Green with Nigel Watson Splinter Group (what a name!), called Hot Foot Powder (Artisan Recordings), but I can tell you this CD is also worthy of voters' attention. It features the band's arrangements of the remaining 13 Robert Johnson songs that had not been covered on the Songbook, a sort of Robert Johnson Songbook, part 2. Now, everyone knows that Peter Green helped define the sound of electric blues-rock when he was with Fleetwood Mac, but on this CD you won't find interpretations of Robert Johnson's music in a rock format (it's already been done anyway). The idea seems to have been to figure out how Johnson's music must have sounded in his time in a small-band setting. As many blues researchers surmise that Johnson sometimes played with a band, maybe even some early electric guitar, this makes sense. The songs are easily recognizable, with no major changes, only minor details that make you discover those songs again --- a rollicking piano on "They're Red Hot," a double bass played with a bow on "Malted Milk," drums being brushed on "Drunken Hearted Man," etc. Hey, this is Robert Johnson stuff, so I don't have to tell you there are great songs here. Let's just say that "Traveling Riverside Blues," with special guests Joe Louis Walker and Honeyboy Edwards, is an especially blissful moment on an unfailingly excellent record. Cool art work, too. © Mike Simpson © 2000, Blue Night Productions. All rights reserved.

ABOUT PETER GREEN

Widely hailed as Britain’s best-ever blues guitarist, Peter Green inspired B.B. King to say, “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He’s the only one who gave me the cold sweats.” Born Peter Greenbaum in 1946, the Londoner made his musical debut in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, replacing Eric Clapton (who had left to form Cream) as the band’s lead guitarist in 1966. Green’s unique style blended Hank Marvin’s reverb-drenched twang and B.B. King’s hornlike phrasing. After leaving the Bluesbreakers to found Fleetwood Mac (originally a rootsy blues-rock outfit), Green built up a devoted following with his throaty tones and deft fretwork. In 1971, psychedelic drugs and life on the road took their toll, pushing Green into debilitating mental illness. In the ensuing decades, he recorded a handful of solo and band albums, none of which adequately reflected his former glory. © www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?storyCode=15277

Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill - Black Fire - 1963 - Blue Note

Pianist Andrew Hill's most notable contribution to jazz may be his ability to creatively combine bebop with the avant-garde. On 1963's BLACK FIRE, the oft-misunderstood jazz composer creates a tonal landscape that is at once steeped in bop, yet ambitiously searching for new harmonic and structural vistas. Joined by legendary drummer Roy Haynes, tenor great Joe Henderson, and bassist Richard Davis, Hill performs a set of seven originals that seek to push the musical envelope. Each musician explores melody, harmony, and rhythm in ways they normally didn't, particularly Henderson, who expertly adapts his style and sound to the tricky compositions of Hill. Every member of the quartet gets a chance to stretch on this album, and there is more "soloing equality" on BLACK FIRE than on most late-'50s or early-'60s records. Indeed, this was the dawning of a new age in jazz, and Hill was one of this era's greatest pioneers. Standout track is the moody and rubato "McNeil Island"

Tracks

1. Pumpkin
2. Subterfuge
3. Black Fire
4. Cantarnos
5. Tired Trade
6. McNeil Island
7. Land Of Nod

Personnel:

Andrew Hill (piano);
Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone);
Richard Davis (bass instrument);
Roy Haynes (drums).

BIO

Andrew Hill was a great and even groundbreaking composer and pianist, yet the relatively circumscribed scale of his innovations might have originally caused him to get lost in the shuffle of the '60s free jazz revolution. While many of his contemporaries were totally jettisoning the rhythmic and harmonic techniques of bop and hard bop, Hill worked to extend their possibilities; his was a revolution from within. Much of the most compelling '60s jazz was nearly aleatoric; Hill, on the other hand, exhibited a determined command of his materials, however abstract they might sometimes be. His composed melodies were labyrinthine, and rhythmically and harmonically complex tunes like "New Monastery" from his Point of Departure album exhibit a sophistication born of mastery, not chance or contingency. As a pianist, Hill had a flowing melodicism and an elastic sense of time. Like his composing, Hill's playing had an ever-present air of spontaneity and was almost completely devoid of cliché.

He began playing the piano at about the age of 13. As a youngster in Chicago, Hill was encouraged by pianist Earl Hines. Jazz composer Bill Russo also took an interest, and introduced Hill to the renowned classical composer Paul Hindemith, with whom Hill studied from 1950-1952. While in his teens, he gigged with prominent jazz musicians passing through the Midwest, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker among them. In 1955, he recorded So in Love with the Sound of Andrew Hill for the Warwick label. He moved to New York in 1961 to work with singer Dinah Washington. After a brief foray to Los Angeles with Rahsaan Roland Kirk's band in 1962, Hill moved back to New York, where he began his recording career in earnest.

He made several records for Blue Note from 1963-1969, both as leader and sideman. Hill's Blue Note work featured some of the best and brightest post-bop musicians of the day, including Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Tony Williams, and Freddie Hubbard. Like many jazz musicians, Hill eventually turned to academia to make a living. He received his doctorate from Colgate University and served as the school's composer in residence from 1970-1972. Hill relocated to the West Coast, teaching in public schools and prisons in California. He eventually landed a teaching position at Portland State University, where he established the school's Summer Jazz Intensive. In addition to his teaching, Hill continued to perform and record in the '70s and '80s, making records for the Arista-Freedom and Black Saint/Soul Note labels. In 1989 and 1990, Hill recorded twice more for Blue Note, Eternal Spirit and But Not Farewell.

Hill moved back to the New York area in the '90s; a series of performances and new recordings helped place him back in the jazz spotlight. Hill formed a new Point of Departure Sextet for the Knitting Factory's 1998 Texaco Jazz Festival. The band included saxophonists Marty Ehrlich and Greg Tardy, trumpeter Ron Horton, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Billy Drummond. The band went on to play New York club engagements to much acclaim. In 2000, Palmetto Records released Dusk, which was named the best album of 2001 by Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines. It was followed by A Beautiful Day in 2002, Passing Ships in 2003, and Black Fire in 2004, as well as a solid series of Blue Note reissues of his '60s work that included bonus tracks and new liner notes. His 2006 album, Time Lines, reunited him with both trumpeter Charles Tolliver and the Blue Note label. Hill also participated in a 17-piece big band, and a January 2002 engagement at New York's Birdland was filmed and recorded by Palmetto for future broadcast. After battling lung cancer for many years, Hill succumbed to the disease on April 20, 2007, leaving behind a stunning legacy of work. © Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide

Steps Ahead

Steps Ahead - Steps Ahead: - 1983 - Elektra Musician


The debut domestic recording by Steps Ahead (following three sets only released in Japan), features the 1982 version of the group: vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, pianist Eliane Elias (a young unknown at the time), bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Peter Erskine. The music is essentially high-quality funky fusion, with Brecker typically blowing up a storm, Mainieri often playing the synthivibe, and Elias showing some early individuality. Best known among the seven originals are Don Grolnick's "Pools" and Mainieri's "Islands." The inventive but pretty accessible set concludes with "Trio," a fairly free improvisation featuring Brecker, Gomez and Mainieri. Well worth searching for. © Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

TRACKS

Pools
Islands
Loxodrome
Both Sides of the Coin
Skyward Bound
Northern Cross
Trio (An Improvisation)

MUSICIANS

Michael Brecker (tenor sax);
Eliane Elias (piano);
Peter Erskine (drums);
Eddie Gomez (bass);
Mike Mainieri (vibes, marimba)

Orang-Utan

Orang-Utan: - Orang-Utan - 1971 - US Bell Records

Orang-Utan ( aka Hunter, named after the Albert King song) , was a very talented UK guitar rock group, composed of 19-20 year old musicians, which included members of the UK 60's freak/psych band Jason Crest. This great album was released omly in the U.S.A in 1971. The album is full of brilliant well crafted songs with amazing vocals by Nobby Clark, who only had one lung! Nobby was actually the second vocalist for the band & demos exist from the band line up before he joined them. Any info on these demos would be very welcome. Unbelievably, Hunter got no royalties from this album, or the several cd re-issues released over the years. Some of the band members still play today. Try and track them down. If you come across any of their recordings, please buy them, and please post your info to A.O.O.F.C

TRACKS

01 - I Can see Inside Your Head
02 - Slipping Away
03 - Love Queen
04 - Chocolate Piano
05 - If You Leave
06 - Fly Me High
07 - Country Hike
08 - Magic Playground

BAND

Nobby Clark - Vocals (Not the N. Clark of Bay City Rollers! )

Jeff Seopardie - Drums (Main Composer)

Mick Clarke - Guitar

Sid ? - Guitar (Sacked after album was recorded, and not credited on album)

Paul Roberts - Bass


Composed of the remmants of a few London bands, including Jason Crest, the band, then called Hunter, recorded this album in a very modern and expensive London recording studio. Mysteriously, the album was released only in the U.S.A on the US Bell Records label in 1971. Incredibly, Hunter knew nothing about this release! A person who shall remain anonymous, claimed the producer's title on the U.S release. Mr.Anonymous had stolen the original London recordings without any permission from Hunter. They were oblivious to what was going on! Mr.Anonymous, to make the story more interesting, managed, for reasons unknown, to get Hunters then manager to change the band name to Orang-Utan! All this skullduggery did not help Hunters career. They were a very talented band who could have hit the big time. Instead, sadly, like so many great bands at the time, they faded into obscurity.

Skid Row

Skid Row - 34 Hours - 1971 - Epic

Very rare alnum by the original Skid Row, a great forgotten Irish band. The great Phil Lynott played with Skid Row in 1967. This is good basic blues rock and well worth a listen. Also check out Taste with Rory Gallagher.

ORIGINAL TRACKS

"Night of the Warm Witch"
"First Thing in the Morning"
"Mar"
"Go, I'm Never Gonna Let You, Pt. 1"
"Lonesome Still"
"Love Story, Pt. 1"
CD Release includes the bonus tracks -
07. Single Version - Night Of The Warm Witch
08. Mr.De - luxe


BAND

Gary Moore - Guitar, Vocals
Brush Shiels - Bass, Vocals
Noel Bridgeman - Drums, Vocals


ABOUT SKID ROW


Skid Row was a Dublin blues-rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s fronted by Brendan "Brush" Shiels (born 1952 in Dublin, Ireland). It was guitarist Gary Moore's first professional band. The band was formed in 1967, comprising Brush Shiels on bass guitar, Noel (Nollaig) Bridgeman (currently with Van Morrison) on drums, on vocals, and Bernard (Bernie) Cheevers on lead guitar. Cheevers was replaced by the 16-year-old Gary Moore in 1969, and the band recorded a Single, Misdemeanour Dream Felicity/New Places, Old Faces, for the Irish Song Records label (the only recording of Lynott with Skid Row). Later that year Shiels dropped Lynott from the line-up, converting Skid row to a power trio by making Moore the lead vocalist. By way of compensation, he taught Lynott to play bass, and Lynott went on to international fame as founder, bassist and vocalist for Thin Lizzy. The band recorded a second single for Song, Saturday Morning Man/Mervyn Aldridge. These two singles, plus three tracks from a BBC recording, were issued on the Hux label as "Live and on Song"" in April 2006. Skid Row played support to many of the great rock groups of the sixties, including Fleetwood Mac. Moore was influenced by the Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green, who was in turn impressed by Moore's guitar playing and introduced him to the Columbia record company. The band released its first album "Skid", in October 1970. A second LP, entitled "34 Hours" - so entitled because it took them a mere 34 hours to record it - was released in 1971. Moore left the band in late 1971 (he was replaced by Paul Chapman, later of UFO) and later played with Thin Lizzy. The rest of their recorded material was released in 1990 and '91, about the time when Moore released his "Still Got the Blues" LP. Although the group had little success outside Ireland and the UK (Skid reached no. 30 on the UK album charts), its influence on Irish rock music (and consequently on rock music in general) was considerable. In 1987 Moore sold the name Skid Row to the American heavy metal band for $35,000. Shiels has said that he has always been unhappy at the group 'stealing their name', and said of manager Doc Magee, "he could be Doc Marten for all I know...but he's going to get a kick up the arse.".

Abbey Lincoln

Abbey Lincoln - Abbey Sings Abbey - 2007 - Verve

A lyricist and composer as well as a legendary jazz vocalist, Abbey Lincoln re-invents signature songs from her classic Verve recordings in a compelling, distilled fashion that recalls the hauntingly beautiful jazz/roots stylings of Cassandra Wilson (herself inspired by Lincoln). “Symbolically charged and self-reflective songs…. Captures the depth of her art with majestic serenity and bittersweet clarity…. [Lincoln] would eventually be hailed as a successor to Holiday, for her interpretive prowess as well as a slight resemblance between their grainy yet supple vocal timbres…. By 1960 she was vocalizing with a raw, spine-tingling power in Mr. Roach’s ‘We Insist! Freedom Now Suite,’ a momentous civil-rights anthem…. ‘The World Is Falling Down’ in 1990, was a commercial and critical success and eight more albums followed, each involving elite jazz musicians and refined jazz arrangements….] Lincoln exudes a powerful authority throughout the album, whether striking a quietly wistful note on ‘Should’ve Been’ or appealing to a distant creator in ‘Down Here Below.’ Her flickering alto sounds ratified by age; her phrasing is subtle and sure.” © New York Times

TRACKS (All songs composed by A.Lincoln).

Blue Monk;
Throw It Away;
And It's Supposed To Be Love;
Should've Been;
World Is Falling Down,
The; Bird Alone;
Down Here Below;
Music Is The Magic,
The; Learning How To Listen;
Merry Dancer,
The; Love Has Gone Away;
Being Me

PERSONNEL

Abbey Lincoln (vocals);
Larry Campbell (acoustic guitar);
Dave Eggar (cello);
Gil Goldstein (accordion);
Scott Colley (bass guitar);
Shawn Pelton (drum).

REVIEWS

Abbey Lincoln might have started from a familiar singers' inspiration - Billie Holiday - but her long career has been a lesson in how to reinvent inspirations, which younger singers like Cassandra Wilson have in turn inherited. Lincoln shared some of Holiday's rich, low tones and luxuriously lazy timing, and since she's lived a lot longer, has also ended up with more opportunity to discover how character applies damage-limitation to the years. This set features reworkings of originals from her nine Verve recordings, plus the classic Blue Monk - unsteadily negotiated against an acoustic guitar-blues backdrop that, coming full circle, she has borrowed back from Cassandra Wilson. Lincoln sounds rather fine on the defiant chanson Throw It Away (against Gil Goldstein's accordion), on the warmly reflective Bird Alone, dedicated to Charlie Parker's Icarus sun- skimming journey, and the nostalgic love-song Down Here Below, with its lovely intertwining melodies on accordion and cello. The finale Being Me ("Hold the curtain open, it's time to take a bow") suggests a slightly self-conscious rolling of the credits, but the singer's old contention, "I live through music and it lives through me," still sounds like the truth. © John Fordham, Friday May 25, 2007, Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
Vocalist Abbey Lincoln's voice is the sound of the earth yearning for your soul. She is lust turned to wisdom. She is diva turned to soothsayer. In her mid-seventies at the time of this recording, Lincoln is the embodiment of a life lived as a performer and lover and now a storyteller through song. Abbey Sings Abbey finds the songstress revisiting a number of her own compositions from past albums. And while she remains a pre-eminent jazz singer, here she has surrounded herself with an eclectic and organic small group that imbues these tracks with a soft country-blues meets klezmer sound that rubs elegantly against Lincoln's burnished vocals. This is a beautifully raw and intimate album full of lament and the faint perfume of romance. As she sings on "Should've Been," "It's the sound of sorry/Looking yonder with regret. Sorry 'cause of what you got/And what you didn't get." These are enigmatic torch songs and playful blues, dark elegies and poignant ballads all featuring Lincoln's own devastatingly precise lyrics and melodies that hint at not just death and regret, but also a lingering passion for life. © Matt Collar, All Music Guide
The magnificent Abbey Lincoln tackles the most vital songbook yet: her own. Amid more than 20,000 Chicagoans at a free outdoor festival about 15 years ago, I found myself sitting next to a local critic who mentioned how much he was looking forward to finally hearing Abbey Lincoln in person. Her albums were few and far between in the three decades following the incendiary 1960 pair that completed her metamorphosis from nightclub singer to anthemic voice for the black cause—then-husband Max Roach's We Insist: The Freedom Now Suite and her own Straight Ahead. But minus a spell putting the pieces back together after her divorce from Roach in 1970 and then caring for her elderly mother in Los Angeles, it was at least possible to catch her live in New York and nearby cities every so often, if not nearly often enough.
My colleague's anticipation brought home how underexposed Lincoln was nationally before finding a steadfast champion (as well as a sympathetic producer) in Verve's Jean-Philippe Allard, beginning with 1990's The World Is Falling Down. She opened her set in Chicago that night with the Depression-era anthem "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", acknowledging her lineage from Billie Holiday by lagging behind her rhythm section and attacking each note separately in a way that let each word beat like a drum. "That does it," my colleague whispered as Lincoln followed it with "Ten Cents a Dance." "I'm in love."
I tell the story because I've got a hunch that Abbey Sings Abbey, her tenth album with Allard and the first to feature her compositions exclusively (including the droll lyrics to Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk" that she debuted on Straight Ahead), is going to win Lincoln plenty of new hearts, to whom I say what I said to my buddy in Chicago: Welcome to the club. Focusing on arranger Gil Goldstein's accordion, Dave Eggar's cello, and Larry Campbell's mandolin and pedal-steel guitar in lieu of rhythm-and-horns, Lincoln's accompaniment eclecticizes what are clearly jazz melodies, performed by a jazz singer, into gospel ("The World Is Falling Down"), prairie ballad ("And It's Supposed to Be Love"), chanson ("Love Has Gone Away"), gypsy ("Throw It Away"), cante jondo ("Down Here Below"), and even something close to nursery rhyme ("The Music Is the Magic"). In other words, Abbey Sings Abbey ventures into Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson territory, but with a depth and complexity that sidesteps Starbucks and World Café cliché along with hidebound jazz conventions.
All I usually ask of jazz producers is that they do no harm. But Allard does right by his artist on this program of self-covers, which seems primarily concerned with drawing attention to how many stirring lyrics Lincoln's written without much fanfare over the decades. (As for her melodies, she worries a dolorous handful over and over—but they get you every time. And their uneven bar lengths and metrical irregularities indicate the words come first and continue to take precedence once the melody is in place.) The softer instrumentation suits a 76-year-old woman no longer equipped to shout the way she did on We Insist. Pitch has never been Lincoln's strong point, but the absence of piano renders that question moot. And players coming from pop, like former Dylan sideman Campbell, tend to be more attentive to the needs of singers than most jazz improvisers just waiting their turn to solo.
As a twilight retrospective, Abbey Sings Abbey might seem to belong to the same genre as Chet Baker's Let's Get Lost and Sinatra's Duets. But whereas those wasted icons of male cool had nothing left by then save their phrasing, Lincoln—who underwent bypass surgery and aortic valve replacement in March, just months after these sessions—is in remarkably good voice. Phrasing is part of it: The way she elides the phrase "now and then" into a rising and softly released sigh toward the end of "Being Me" is an object lesson in what good jazz singing is all about. (Hint: It's not about scatting, which is just another form of filigree.) But the true test is "Down Here Below," essentially a love song to God with a spiraling melody requiring her to begin each new verse with a leap—although her voice is frayed, she's singing full-out and pulling it off.
Given Abbey Sings Abbey's spiritual reach, a better comparison might be to Johnny Cash's stripped-down sessions for Rick Rubin, although Lincoln is interpreting her own material. Maybe because her best lyrics approach poetry (take "And It's Supposed to Be Love," a powerful account of spousal abuse from the point of view of a woman on the receiving end), what I find myself thinking about as I listen isn't another album at all, but Yeats's "When You Are Old," for his warrior woman Maud Gonne—only here it's the pilgrim soul herself measuring her moments of glad grace against sorrows that have always been more evident in her voice than in her changing face.
Most biographical portraits of Lincoln imply that her sporadic discography during what should have been her prime was industry payback for the political edge of We Insist and Straight Ahead. But if she was such a pariah, why did Hollywood cast her opposite Sidney Poitier in For Love of Ivy in 1968, and why was she nominated for a Golden Globe? And wasn't black indignation all the rage in the early '70s, prime time for Nina Simone and Gil Scott-Heron? Blues unrelated to politics may have been what held Lincoln back, but that's a door left closed in interviews. Where she's left it ajar is in her music—in her lyrics, but also in an unconcealed vulnerability at odds with both her militant history and the matriarchal image she's acquired with age. As with Miles Davis on ballads, this vulnerability can be her greatest strength as a performer, and never more so than on Abbey Sings Abbey, where the novel instrumentation (novel for her, anyway) throws it into bold relief. I can't imagine anyone hearing a track from it and not being moved to the quick. She's become our greatest living jazz singer, and this is her crowning achievement.
In showing that Lincoln has written more good songs than the dozen on Abbey Sings Abbey, Kendra Shank's tribute A Spirit Free inadvertently proves that Lincoln's only true interpreter is Lincoln herself. Because her approach is so personal and straightforward—so close to her speaking voice—imitation is out of the question. This forces anyone who would cover her to take a novel approach, which is the only possible justification for the quasi-Navajo chanting with which Shank (sounding more like Sheila Jordan's disciple than Lincoln's) begins both "The Music Is the Magic" and "Throw It Away." The latter's lyrics were inspired by Hexagram 25 of the I Ching, and Shank might think she's restoring them to their mystical origins. But whereas delivered by Lincoln, the lines "'Cause you can never lose a thing/If it belongs to you" come off as hard-boiled as Clive Owen's "Hold on tightly, let go lightly" in Croupier, Shank just sounds sappy. She has a big, plum voice not unlike Linda Ronstadt's, and she swings—she's in her element on a song like "I've Got Thunder (and It Rings)," where momentum is all. But there's a world of difference in hearing the valediction "Hold the curtain open, it's time to take a bow"—from "Being Me," which closes both albums—delivered by a woman in her seventies and by one still in her forties. It's a sentiment too big for Shank, in a way that has nothing to do with the size of her voice. © Francis Davis Copyright © 2007 Village Voice LLC, 36 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003 The Village Voice and Voice are registered trademarks of Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved.

BIO (Wikipedia)

Abbey Lincoln (born Anna Marie Wooldridge on August 6, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress, who is widely respected for her writing skills. She is one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. She has had a very long and productive career. She continues to perform and can often be found at the Blue Note in New York City. With Ivan Dixon, she co-starred in Nothing But a Man (1964), an independent film written and directed by Michael Roemer. She also co-starred with Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in 1968's For Love of Ivy. She was married to jazz musician Max Roach from 1962 to 1970 and sang on the famous We Insist! - Freedom Now Suite. Abbey Lincoln also appears in the 1956 film the The Girl Can't Help It.