Monday Long Song

The jazz-fusion sweet spot runs from 1969 to 1975, a period where electricity pushed and prodded its way ever further into the previously exclusively acoustic instrumental palate. Miles Davis didn't even regard his seminal 1969 LP 'In a Silent Way' (which effectively kick started the movement) as a part of the jazz genre at all, referring to it instead as '...directions in music...'. Les McCann's 'Invitation to Openness' falls bang in the middle of that sweet spot, being recorded in the summer of 1971 and released the following year. 'The Lovers' takes up the whole of side one and is an eastern infused, ethereal masterpiece. Yusef Lateef and Alphonse Mouzon are probably the prominent names from the jazz world on the LP, but who's providing the guitar hook that threads its way through the tune? It's David Spinozza, whose other credits include Paul McCartney's 'Ram', John Lennon's 'Mind Games' and Don McLean's 'American Pie'.

Les McCann - The Lovers

All That Jazz #8 - Elvin Jones

It's impossible to overstate the importance of Elvin Jones. The fact that he was behind the drums for the incendiary series of LPs put out by John Coltrane on Atlantic and Impulse between 1960 and 1966, guarantees his immortality in jazz circles, even though this merely scratches the surface of his phenomenal body of work. In a career stretching from 1948 until his death in 2004, Jones played for virtually every jazz musician of any significance, while also finding time to release close to 50 albums under his own name. The run of ten LPs he put out on the legendary Blue Note label between 1968 and 1973 are particularly noteworthy. The name on the sleeves was his, but the rotating ensembles he led were crammed with quality players. Here he is fronting an unusual keyboardless three horn line-up of Joe Farrell, Dave Liebman and Frank Foster plus Gene Perla on bass with 'Three Card Molly' from 1971's 'Genesis'.

Elvin Jones - Three Card Molly

All That Jazz #7 - Sonny Red

Large swaths Blue Note's legendary back catalogue were re-issued as part of a deal with EMI in the mid-1980s. The label's roster seemed an endless parade of wonderfulness to me. Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Smith, the list went on and on and, working in a record shop, I was in the fortunate position of having access to many of the gems on offer.

A lesser known LP that I discovered sandwiched among the jazz giants in the reissue programme, was 'Out of the Blue' by saxophonist Sonny Red. Originally issued in 1960, it features Miles Davis alumni Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers among the backing musicians. Biographical details are scarce, but later in the 1960s Sonny played extensively as a sideman for trumpeter Donald Byrd and eventually drifted into obscurity after releasing a final, self-titled, LP in 1971.

Sonny Red passed away 37 years ago at the age of 48, leaving 'Out of the Blue' as his only Blue Note LP as a band leader. Here's the very cool 'Bluesville'.

Sonny Red - Bluesville

All That Jazz #6 - Miles Davis / Reggie Lucas

Miles and Reggie on stage

Reggie Lucas, one of the two guitarists in Miles Davis' controversial 1972-75 band, died in New York last month at the age of 65. Great commercial success came to Lucas in the 1980s when he produced the majority of Madonna's first LP, wrote her hit single 'Borderline' and, with fellow Miles Davis alumni James Mtume, co-wrote 'Never Knew Love Like This Before' for Stephanie Mills and 'The Closer I Get to You' for Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.

The music played on stage by Miles and his band from 1972-75 was often a dense fusion hybrid that, to many observers at the time, challenged the very notion of jazz itself. In contrast 'Chieftain', a studio recording from August 1972, but which remained unreleased until 2007, is a sparse, nervy piece, pushed along by the relentless tap-tap skittering of Al Foster's rim-shots and Lucas' periodic guitar stabs. Even if you're not a fan of jazz in general or Miles in particular, this may be worth a few minutes of your time.

Miles Davis - Chieftain

All That Jazz #5 - Ian Carr

In 1972, following three albums fronting the original incarnation of Nucleus, Ian Carr put out the 'Belladonna' LP under his own name. This excellent album bridges the gaps between jazz, jazz rock and prog, featuring members of Matching Mole, The Soft Machine and Gilgamesh among the supporting cast of players. Also in the studio for the sessions was Allan Holdsworth, a soon to be legendary guitarist, later described by a certain Mr Frank Zappa as 'one of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet'. 'Hector's House' showcases Holdsworth in full flow. Incidentally, if anyone happens to stumble across a reasonably priced original copy of 'Belladonna' on their travels, please pick it up for your old pal The Swede - it's currently going for between £180 and £300 online.

Ian Carr - Hector's House 

Previously on All That Jazz: 

#1 Herbie Hancock

#2 Calvin Keys

#3 Sound Etiquette

#4 Mor Thiam

All That Jazz #4 - Mor Thiam

During a long career, Senegalese drummer Mor Thiam has played for Freddie Hubbard, Don Pullen and The World Saxophone Quartet amongst others, as well as occasionally recording under his own name. Thiam's first LP as a leader, 'Dini Safarrar (Drums Of Fire)', released in 1973, was a self-finaced effort with all proceeds donated to famine relief in Africa. The record features the talents of Oliver Lake on sax and Lester Bowie of The Art Ensemble of Chicago on trumpet. During its many years of unavailability, the reputation of 'Dini Safarrar' steadily grew amongst enthusiasts of jazz, funk, hip hop & African music, with an original copy of the LP changing hands for over £1750 in 2008. Thankfully, Jazzman records reissued the album on vinyl and CD in late in 2016, though stocks of the LP are apparently already exhausted.

A word of warning, 'Ayo Ayo Nene', which translates as 'Blessing For The New Born Baby', is total earworm material.

Mor Thiam - Ayo Ayo Nene

All That Jazz #3 - Sound Etiquette

The most contemporary contribution to this series thus far comes from Sound Etiquette, a trio out of Oakland California who came together in 2014. Nick Obando (sax), Eli Wallace (keys) and Aaron Levin (drums) are veteran players on the Bay Area circuit and recorded all eight tunes on their self-titled debut LP in one day. The early 1970's electric work of Miles Davis is a recognisable touchstone on 'A Clearing' and 'The Tides', though things do get a tad more free-form elsewhere. 'Entrance' is, fittingly, the first track on the album - a quirky, dubby opening salvo. Find out more about Sound Etiquette here.

Sound Etiquette - Entrance

All That Jazz #2 - Calvin Keys

In his long career, guitarist Calvin Keys has played with many of the greats - Bobby Hutcherson, Ray Charles, Ahmad Jamal and Pharoah Sanders among them. Released in 1974, 'Proceed with Caution!' is his second LP as leader of his own band - and it's a spiritually funky affair. Check out the groovy 'Aunt Lovey', which particularly showcases the talents of Henry 'Skipper' Franklin on bass, Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler on drums and the electric keys of Kirk Lightsey.

Today is Calvin Keys' 74th birthday - many happy returns of the day sir.

Calvin Keys - Aunt Lovey

All That Jazz #1 - Herbie Hancock

For a long time, a very long time, I've wanted to introduce a Jazz series to these pages. I'm keenly aware that this might prove less than popular in some quarters and I can respect that, but it's a musical genre that takes up a great deal of my listening hours, so please forgive an old man's indulgence. Fear not though, the series, much like its Reggae counterpart Red Gold & Green, will be an occasional one. The title, All That Jazz, is a nod to my Dad (himself a Jazz fan in the 1950's) who would often, apropos of nothing, conclude a sentence with the phrase '...and all that jazz'.

I'll kick things off with the nearest thing to a safe bet that I have at my disposal, 'Cantaloupe Island' by Herbie Hancock. The tune was recorded in 1964 for Hancock's fourth Blue Note LP 'Empyrean Isles', on which he is joined by three musicians who will definitely reappear in this series down the line somewhere - Freddie Hubbard on cornet, Ron Carter on bass and the great Tony Williams on drums. The tune achieved renewed recognition when it was heavily sampled to form the basis of 'Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)', a hit single for Us3 in 1993.

Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island

(Buy 'Empyrean Isles' by Herbie Hancock here)