THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (suite)

More rare and beautiful artefacts from the vault of the boogieman;

George Adams - Don Pullen 4tet Live (Italy)

Art Farmer Quintet Live (Japan)

Babelibab's Trio (Belgium)

Side A Joe Venuti - side B Gil Cuppini Big Band (Italy)

Oskar Klein, Myriam Klein, Henri Chaix (Germany, Switzerland)

Peter Appleyard presents ... (feat Moe Koffman, Ed Bickert etc. - Canada)

Belgian Bop

Can't remember seeing these albums posted on the blogworld yet.  Patience ...

YESTERDAYS

RONALD MULDROW – Yesterdays (USA, 1994)

 Since the previous post brought us into the realm of soul jazz  & hard bop, I may continue in that line for a few more postings.  Here for instance is a top-notch guitar-player who departed this world much too soon and had never received the wider recognition his talent deserved: a guitar-player who had played or recorded with the likes of Sonny Stitt, Pharoah Sanders, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Kirkland, Chico Hamilton, Ramsey Lewis, Michael Brecker, Billy Higgins and countless others.

This guitarist is the late Ronald Muldrow.

Ronald Muldrow was born in Chicago on February 2, 1949. As a teen he was greatly influenced by the likes of guitarists Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Phil Upchurch and George Benson. Muldrow developed his own voice, resplendent with crisp, fresh licks and acute dexterity. His earliest big breaks came during his stints with Eddie Harris and the Staple Singers. He described Eddie Harris as his "musical father."

Muldrow was not only a highly acclaimed musician, but he was also a dedicated educator, having earned bachelors (jazz studies) and masters (studio and jazz guitar) degrees at Roosevelt University and University of Southern California respectively. He also published guitar instruction books, another legacy he left for aspiring guitarists.

He died on January 31, 2007.  He was only 57.

The discogrqphy on Discogs is very incomplete and hardly list any of the albums he recorded as leader. AMG is somewhat better and list the five albums he recorded as a leader during his lifetime. A sixth one, Mapenzi, was issued posthumously in 2003.

"Yesterdays" is his second album (but first on the Enja label) and it features the legendary Melvin Rhyne, the original organist with the Wes Montgomery trio. Victor Campbell is on drums.

My favourite track is the album starter, a real groover and a tribute to his musical father: Eddie Harris’ Sham time.

Tracks

1. Sham Time                                
2. Yesterdays                               
3. Swedish Schnapps   
4. My One and Only Love                          
5. Besame Mucho         
6. Love for Sale        
7. Groovin' High           
8. Walkin' My Baby Back Home 

OOP.  This album is no longer in Enja catalogue. 

See Ronald Muldrow playing live with Eddie Harris in Germany, 1990:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTEydh1qZGI

SHAKILL'S WARRIOR

DAVID MURRAY - SHAKILL'S WARRIOR (USA, 1991)

This album is often overlooked in David Murray's extensive and prolific discography.  
Nevertheless, it is one of my favourite David Murray's albums and one of my favourite Soul Jazz albums.  Bluesy and gutsy! It features Don Pullen on Hammond B3 and Andrew Cyrille on drums.  These guys may be better known for their advanced / free playing but they do know their roots, they do know where they come from ... and they do know where they're going.Very few people could pull this kind of music and this load of feelings in the early nineties.

Track listing

"Blues For Savannah" (Murray)- 7:26

"Song From The Old Country" (Pullen) - 7:01

"High Priest" (Cyrille) - 11:59

"In The Spirit" (Pullen) 9:49

"Shakill's Warrior" (Murray) - 8:37

"At The Cafe Central" (Pullen) 10:52

"Black February (Morris) - 0:53

"Milano Strut" (Pullen) - 8:17

Recorded March 1 & 2, 1991 at Sound On Sound, NYC

Personnel

David Murray: tenor saxophone

Don Pullen: organ

Stanley Franks: guitar

Andrew Cyrille: drums

This album is currently OOP, hence my posting it.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Will I ever have the time to rip and post these albums ....

Some little-known Belgian albums ...

 Swiss (& international) ...

France & Antilles Francaises (French West Indies) 

Canada

Faroe Islands!  

 UK




USA
....

THE HOLY BOOK

Robert Pernet's monumental Discography of Belgian Jazz

Any serious collector of Belgian Jazz must have a copy of this superb book.

RARITY # 7

RARITY # 7 : Swingin’ with HELMUT BRANDT COMBO vol. 1
(EP, Metronome, Germany, 1958)

 Another obscure EP from the vault of Paul D.  I must confess that I was completely ignorant of Mr Helmut Brandt very existence in the realm of jazz and when I googled his name, the only info I got was about a German politician.  I tried again, googling “Helmut Brandt – jazz” and managed to get some sparse info

Helmut played tenor saxophone and clarinet as the leader of an amateur dixieland group, entertaining American troops after World War II. He won enormous popularity in the American jazz clubs, made many recordings, appeared as an honoured guest at jazz festivals and played with many international jazz stars, amongst them Miles Davis, Lester Young and Albert Mangelsdorff.

His Helmut Brandt-Combo was the leading source of jazz in Germany in the 1950s. Then he joined the RIAS Bigband as musician and chief arranger.

 In 1974 he started his Mainstream Orchestra, that eventually became an institution of the Berliner jazz scene. His compositions and arrangements —specifically Mainstream and Cool Jazz in character, and his unusual line-up of baritone saxophone, 2 flügelhorns, trombone, guitar, bass und drums made every appearance of this excellent jazz group a big attraction.

The high spot of Helmut's activities was his Symphonic Poem for Big Band and Symphony Orchestra, first performed in 1998. This large symphonic work blends classical music with popular music and represents a milestone in the German musical culture of this century.

One of the jazz legends of Germany, in 2000 he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz (German Service Medal) for his life's work.

Helmut Brandt died unexpectedly of a heart attack in Stuttgart on the 26th of July, 2001 aged 70.
(taken from the website jazzprofessional ).
Additional info on Mr Brandt can be found here and here. 

 Tracks:

01.  Honeysuckle rose

02.  Cherry

03.  Sie will nie blumen

04.  Manhattan

As the tracklist clearly indicates, the music is Swing / Mainstream.  I especially like the ballad “Manhattan” with Helmut on tenor.

  Credits: 

Helmut Brandt          clarinet, tenor sax

Gerd Mann               vibraphone, piano

Eric Gerosh               double bass

Heinrich Schroder    drums

 Very rare indeed. 

A copy of this EP is  currently on sale on e-bay for the very modest sum of US$ 129.99