Vocal Ease

B.J. Ward - Vocal Ease Catfish 5C 062-24323 (1974)

Solo outing from Ms. Ward of 'Inner Dialogue' fame. A melange of jazzy, funky soft-rock musings out of Holland, highly sought after and fetching crazy money for an original - I'll let you believe the hype or otherwise. That said, what we do have are some groovy, upbeat covers of the likes of Neil Young, Tom Jones, Gerry Rafferty, The Beach Boys & Rachmaninov! along side groovy originals and lushly arranged jazzy ballads. All odd but it works very well.

The Dutch band feature Henny Kluvers - Flute, Frank van Luin - Bass Trombone, Richard Pullin - Trombone, Carl Schultze - Vibes, Donn Trenner - Piano & Organ, Thijmen Hoolwerf - Guitar, Frank Noya - Bass, Eric Ineke & Cor van den Berg - Drums, George Souto - Percussion with a string section comprising Sem Nijveen, Bennie Behr, Lex Cachet, Lucien Grignard, Ronald Kok, Guus Valten, G. Gerritsen & Carlo Carcassoia.

1) Vocalise
2) Keep It To Yourself
3) Earth Child - Moon Child
4) Here We Are
5) The Loner
6) Try To Remember
7) That's How The World Is Made
8) The Music Of Love
9) Billy's Blues
10) I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
11) Words On Words
12) I Don't Know Where I'm Going

Il Killer

Gianni Ferrio - Il Killer CAM SAG-9012 (1969)
Colonna Sonora Originale

Here's a kookie but infinitely groovy score to the Italian TV comedy "Il Killer". Here Ferrio blurs the edges of jazzy cool to sixties cheese and everything in between. Take some uptempo jazz, elegant lounge, soothing bossa, a hint of psychedelia - serve liberally with Hammond and horns and sprinkle with sitar. Voila, Molto Hip!

Finnish Big Band Jazz

Finnish Big Band Jazz - No Comments! Polarvox KJL-030 (1977)

Hold on to your seats! The cream of Finland amass to lay down one hell of a big band outing with the support of The Foundation for the Promotion of Finnish Music.

At the helm we have such luminaries as Heikki Sarmanto, Eino Virtanen, Kaj Backlund, Seppo Paakkunainen and Esa Pethman. Soloists include Juhani Aaltonen - saxophone; Olli Ahvenlahti - keyboards: Markku Johansson - trumpet & flugelhorn; Pentti Lahti - baritone sax; Pentti Lasanen - alto sax and Nono Soderberg - guitar.

Superb groovy seventies jazz of the highest order throughout culminating with the stone cold and break-heavy monster "Ufology". The text on the cover though plentiful is all in Finnish so I can't tell you any more so I'll let the music do the talking. Kindly enjoy...

1) No Comments
2) Something Keeps Us Busy
3) Balladi Savonlinnalle
4) Albright
5) From One To Twelve
6) Ufology

Geraldine de Haas

Geraldine de Haas - Self Titled Elsa Progressive Records 5804 (1978)

Geraldine de Haas, "The Jazz Lady" was born in Newark, New Jersey on January 16, 1935. As a young woman, de Haas sang and toured with her brother and sister as Andy and the Bey Sisters, initially starting out in the Miami club scene in 1958. When they returned to New York after several months, they went to several auditions that promised them a few weeks of club dates in Spain and London. However, their music proved wildly popular, and they went on a whirlwind tour all across Europe that lasted a year and a half. While the trio was in Europe, they became the featured act at the world famous Blue Note in Paris, and were featured in a jazz film directed by Roger Vadim. De Haas and her siblings returned to the United States in 1960, and began performing at jazz clubs and festivals across the country, and made several recordings, as well. The trio finally disbanded in 1966.

The early 1970s found de Haas joining the Free Street Theater in Chicago, and her theater career continued over the next two decades, with performances in Hair, Showboat and To Be Young, Gifted and Black, and numerous jazz performances, as well. She also began producing events during the 1970s, and in 1983, she presented the first Jazzfest at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago, which continues on to this day. De Haas also earned her B.A. in music education in 1980 from Chicago State University, and has taken other courses to continue her education since. In 1981, de Haas founded Jazz Unites, Inc., to further the growth and appreciation of jazz, and to educate people through the use of jazz. Since 1993, she has served as the president, CEO and artistic director. Over the course of her career, she has shared the stage with such jazz legends as Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and her favorite, the late bass player Ray Brown.

I rediscovered this recently languishing in my collection and found myself really enjoying it - I hope you're the same.

1) Summers Of My Life - Summer's Gone
2) Love Is A Lonely Song
3) Wheels Of Life
4) Everything's Been Changed
5) How Can Anything Be Beautiful After
6) Your Love
7) Keep On Walkin'
8) We Made It Happen
9) While We're Still Young
10) My Way

Chicken Feathers

Monica Zetterlund - Chicken Feathers Sveriges Radio SR-1151 (1972)

OK so we all loved the last Steve Kuhn album - a hard act to follow. So let's stick with the majesty of Steve Kuhn and an LP that matches the previous post in quality with a groove quotient off the scale!

Swedish songstress Monica Zetterlund and her finest hour in my opinion. All tracks written and arranged by Kuhn on a Swedish only release featuring a veritable who's who of Swedish jazzers.

Arne Domnérus - Clarinet, Sax (Alto); Lennart Åberg - Flute, Sax (Tenor); Claes Rosendahl - Flute, Sax (Tenor); Erik Nilsson - Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone); Jan Allan - Trumpet; Bosse Broberg - Trumpet; Bertil Lövgren - Trumpet; Sven Larsson - Trombone (Bass); Hakan Nyqvist - French Horn; Rune Gustafsson - Guitar; Bengt Hallberg - Piano; George Riedel - Bass; Alex Riel - Drums.

Easily one of my favorites and soon to be one of yours I have no doubt.

1) Chicken Run
2) The Baby
3) The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers
4) Raindrops Raindrops
5) Silver
6) Till Monica
7) The Thoughts Of A Gentleman
8) The Real Guitarist In The House
9) Pearlie's Swine
10) Ulla
11) Till Steve

Killer Kuhn!

Steve Kuhn - Steve Kuhn Buddah BDS-5098 (1971)

This album is just so damn good - it hurts. Kuhn's tour de force and definitely his hardest to find - this deserves a huge audience and warrants a sorely needed reissue.

Beauty, depth and weight in equal measure. Monster washes of fender rhodes, tender and soulful lyricism supported by a heavyweight cast which includes pumping bass by none other than Ron Carter, funky but never overpowering drums by Billy Cobham - in fact I've never heard him play better and percussion by Airto Moreira. Add to this already mouth-watering line-up a small string section arranged by Gary McFarland and we have a very special LP indeed.

I believe this was Gary McFarland's final recording date before his untimely and mysterious death but what a way to go..! Saying that though, this is all about Steve Kuhn and it's plainly his show - a handful of his finest compositions delivered in definitive fashion. I envy your first listen.

1) Pearlie's Swine (aka The Zoo)
2) Silver
3) Time To Go (aka Tomorrow's Song)
4) The Heat Of The Moment
5) The Baby (aka Saharan)
6) Hold Out Your Hand (aka The Drinking Song)
7) The Meaning of Love
8) Ulla (aka Remembering Tomorrow)

Melodia Ensemble Part II

Melodia Ensemble - The Works Of Duke Ellington Melodia C60-09261-2 (1978)

More hip Russian big band nuttiness for you - and one that may well have The Duke spinning in his grave! A first rate LP of funky and progressive arrangements of evergreens with real stings in their tails - a real surprising play throughout. All killer... etc.

I'll keep it short and sweet and let the music do the talking.

1) Take The 'A' Train
2) In A Sentimental Mood
3) It Don't Mean A Thing
4) Daydream
5) Cotton Tail

Melodia Ensemble

Melodia Ensemble - Concert In Bombay Melodia C60-14933-34 (1980)

Russian State label Jazzers in India - whatever next!

A killer LP of funky big band grooves. As is so often the case with Eastern European releases in the 70s & 80s, musical trends tended to lag behind their western equivalents, both technologically and stylistically and this release is no different - so don't let the year fool you.

The Jazz Festival in Bombay is one of the most exotic in the world. Unusual combinations of musical cultures from Africa, America, Asia and Europe, the presence of many distinguished masters of jazz and a sensitive and sympathetic audience - all of which made the festival "Jazz Yatra-80" an extremely happy and colourful one.

The brochure issued by the organizers of the festival - National Jazz Committee of India, Secretary General Committee Narayan Dzhaverm quotes Mahatma Gandhi and has become the motto of the festival: "I want the windows and doors of my house to be wide open. I give the cultures of all countries free entry into my house". Bulgaria, Germany, England, Sweden, Poland, USA, Yugoslavia, Finland, the Soviet Union - this is far from a complete list of participating countries in the festival.

So, back to the album... Original compositions, funky basslines, tight jazzy horns and plenty of Moog. Completely delicious and further proof, should you need any, that exceptional music can have the most unusual origins.

1) Holiday
2) Opus N° 2
3) The Old Fort
4) Whirlpool
5) Remembering A Friend
6) Birds In The Window

Cross Dressers!

Rolando & Luiz Antonio - Meu Coração É Um Pandeiro Ou... RCA Victor FPL-1 0117 (Fra) (1976)

Luiz Antonio was born in Tatui in the state of São Paulo and was in such bands as Pigalle, Som Okey 5 and Biriba Boys. Most notably, in 1972, he left for Barcelona and cut the immortal 'Brasil Aquarius y Luiz Antonio' LP. It was there in 1974, he met Rio born singer Rolando Faria, at that time in the group 'Ronie & Central do Brasil' (already posted on this blog).

France became their home and together they toured as Les Étoiles, adopting transvestite personas on stage as they brought Brasilian music to European concert-goers. From the 3 studio albums they recorded in France - this is their debut and what a belter.

Lots of great party-driven samba inflected tunes - the funky 'Chica-Chica-Boom-Chic' and 'Alô, Alô' were lifted for the single and amply demonstrate this. Other highlights for me include their beautiful harmonising on 'Você' and a killer rendition of Joyce's 'Nacional Kid'.

1) Chica-Chica-Boom-Chic
2) Você
3) Viola-Violar
4) Côco Verde
5) Estão Batendo
6) Antes Que Eu Volte A Ser Nada
7) Sol Negro
8) Nacional Kid Ou Brasileiro
9) Jeanne, La Française
10) Alô, Alô

Eliana Pittman

Eliana Pittman - Estrela É Lua Nova RGE XRLP-5.334 (1969)

Born Eliana Leite da Silva in Rio, 1945 and step-daughter to the great Saxophonist Booker Pittman. Eliana Pittman was not only a great beauty in her day but singer, actress and dancer who had an extraordinary rapport with her audiences, compared with the likes of Josephine Baker, Lena Horn and Carmen Miranda. She even hosted her own TV specials such as 'Eliana em Tom Maior', 'Positivamente Eliana' & 'Eliana Cravo e Canela'.

In 1969, Booker Pittman dies and Eliana starts to sing alone, the result is this cracking album produced by Joao Araujo, the highlight for me being a majestic cover and sublime arrangement of Tiempo de Verano (Summertime) and the incendiary Se Você Pensa. The rest of the album is varied combination of swinging Sambas, groovy Bossas and slow burning ballads.

1) Olelê... Cheguei Agora-Enxuga A Tristeza Do Olhar-Peixe Vivo-Bahia De Todos Os Deuses-Pra Que Dinheiro
2) Que Maravilha
3) Tiempo De Verano
4) Estrela É Lua Nova
5) Fim De Tarde
6) Viva A Vida!
7) Na Baixa Do Sapateiro
8) Se Você Pensa
9) Vou Morrer De Rir
10) E Você Nem Viu
11) Iá Ia Do Cais Dourado

The self-titled Argentine Fermata release of this LP the following year featured an additional track 'El Globo Rojo' or 'The Red Balloon'.

Fabiano Orchestra

Fabiano Orchestra - Butterfly Island Franck R Records 8.8002 (1979)

Cracking jazz fusion by the Jean-François Fabiano Orchestra out of Guadeloupe on a French only pressing. Deep spacey keyboard noodling and Rhodes solos courtesy Dominique Bérose, lively melodic horn lines, lyrical guitar licks and worldless females interspersed with tracks of a more West Indian bent. Top draw..!

1) Half Moon Bay
2) Fo Ça Changé
3) Créole
4) Rastaman Rock
5) West Indian Meditation
6) Butterfly Island
7) Fusion (Manahattan Pulse)
8) Pointe Des Chateaux

Doug Lucas

Doug Lucas - Niara RKM 97036 (1975)

Spiritual funky fusion from Brussels, Belgium by trumpeter Doug Lucas in a 'Placebo' fashion. All tracks penned by Lucas with a band featuring Yvan DeSouter (Bass) and Frank Wuyts (Keyboards). The album was reissued in the same year on Shadybrook Records in the States and was produced by Bruno Castellucci who can be heard on percussion duties.

1) Niara
2) Home Won't Know Me
3) Kinshasa Chant
4) One For You
5) When It Be The Morning
6) As If We Knew

Diane Tell

Diane Tell Pleiade 2424 165 (1977)

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, b Quebec City, to a Canadian father and US mother, 24 Dec 1957. Her childhood was spent between Paris, Montreal and Val-d'Or, Que. She studied violin and classical guitar at the CMM, and jazz guitar at Saint-Laurent College.

She hosted radio shows on Montreal station CKOI and, when she began singing, opened for Rick Derringer, Chris de Burgh and Leo Sayer. She sang in bars of Montreal's West End prior to recording her first album. Her romantic lyrics coupled with melodies inspired by jazz and South American music charmed critics immediately. Following a one-year stay in New York, she launched her second LP featuring the hit 'Gilberto'.

'Gone are the wooden clogs and prehistoric skirts, gone are the homespun recordings where spontaneity covered up for lack of technique, gone is the musical macrame and the political guilt feelings: Diane Tell heralds the era of technocrats and professionals, image-makers and career-builders,' Nathalie Petrowski wrote in Le Devoir (Montreal).

For her debut release, Diane Tell's beautiful Brasilian tinged pop-jazz album is sung entirely in French against a sophisticated selection of melodies.

1) Les Cinémas-Bars
2) Un Verre d'Amour
3) Bien
4) En Pleurer Ou En Rire
5) La Valse
6) Je N'En Peux Plus
7) Rendez-Vous
8) Mon Métier
9) La Vieille Mort
10) Un Nuage De Mots
11) La Vallée De La Mort

Nick Ayoub

Nick Ayoub Jazz Quintet - The Music Of Nick Ayoub Radio Canada International RCI-455 (1977)

Saxophonist, oboist, english hornist, composer, b Trois-Rivières, Que, of Lebanese parents, 7 Sep 1926, d Montreal, 2 May 1991. Raised in Montreal he took up in turn clarinet, tenor saxophone, oboe, english horn, and flute, and studied with Arthur Romano at the CMM. Studies in oboe followed with Harold Gomberg of the New York Philharmonic.
Ayoub began his professional career in 1943, soon playing tenor saxophone in the dance or jazz bands of Johnny Holmes, Maynard Ferguson, the saxophonist Freddie Nichols, and the trombonist Jiro 'Butch' Watanabe. Though a leading studio musician in Montreal by the early 1950s, and occasionally an oboist (and less frequently a saxophonist) with the MSO, he remained active in jazz. An Ayoub quintet performed at the 1963 Montreal Jazz Festival and other Ayoub bands (usually with trumpeter Alan Penfold and pianist Art Roberts) appeared in Montreal clubs, in concert and on various CBC radio jazz programs through the 1970s.

Lovely deep and exotic jazz here released only in Canada. Funky modal grooves are interspersed with more contemplative, searching jazz cuts. A very fine album that deserves far wider recognition.

Ayoub fl, english horn, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, Penfold trumpet, Roberts piano, Angelillo double-bass, Masson drums.

1) Spanish Walk
2) Desert Boots
3) Kittens
4) Put It Out
5) Jazz Concertino Peridot
6) Jazz Concertino Turquoise
7) Jazz Concertino Opale
8) Jazz Concertino Saphir
9) Little Joey

Peaceful Morning

Rupert Cobbett - Peaceful Morning Soul Deep DM-776 (1976)

Another private press out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Eight original tracks - plenty of breezy beats and nice fender rhodes. You know the score..!

If you like today's funky rhythms, but miss the sounds of legitimate jazz then relax and listen to Rupert Cobbett. Although there is a definate jazz "sound" to Cobbett's music the word doesn't begin to get into the soul of the man's genius. It is more an experience than a sound. It swings like a cool breeze on a hot Jamaican night then mellows to greet the sundrenched "peaceful morning". Lay back and let it sink into your soul.
(taken from the original liner notes)

Rupert Cobbett - keyboards; Bill Prince - horns; Arlin Strader - percussion; Gary Phillips - bass; Produced by Dave Chiodo.

1) Ain't Done Nothing
2) A Song
3) December 18th
4) Se Sau
5) Where Are You Now
6) Blues For Dave
7) There's No End
8) Peaceful Morning

Ghetto Mysticism

Stanton Davis' Ghetto-Mysticism - Brighter Days Outrageous Records #2 (1977)

Any common musical adjective applies here - celestial, cosmic, spaced-out fusion, deep spiritual jazz, afro, poly-rhythmic funky soul, yada yada...

Original private '77 press out of Somerville, Massachusetts although recorded a year or two earlier, trumpeter Stanton Davis assembles a whacked-out melting pot of good grooves here touching a variety of bases. A pretty good listen right through.

Stanton Davis - fluegelhorn, trumpet (4,5), vocal (1,2,5,8,9), percussion (1), prepared piano (3), mellotron & string synthesizer (6); Leonard Brown - soprano sax (1,2,7,8,9); tenor sax (3,4,5), percussion (1,5,6); Bill Pierce - soprano sax (5), alto flute (3); Jerome Harris (listed as "Jerry Harris) - guitar (1,2,5,7,8,9), bass guitar (3,4,5,6), vocal (1,8,9); "King" Wellington - calypso guitar (5); Lee Genesis - vocal (1,4,5,8,9); J.O. Wharthon - vocal (1,5); Armstead Christian - vocal (2,7,8,9); Rénée Franklin - vocal (1,2,7,8,9); Jeannine Otis - vocal (5,8,9); Dan Windham - spoken word (9); Alan Pasqua - keyboards (1,3,4,5,6); Delmar Brown - keyboards (1,2,4,5,7,8,9), vocal (1,2,5,7,8,9); Mark Styles - synthesizer (3); Jeff Anderson - bass guitar (1); Craig Carter - bass guitar (2,7,8,9); Vinnie Johnson - drums (1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9), percussion (2,7,8,9); Les Lumley - congas (1,2,4,5,7,8,9), percussion (3); Keith Copeland - percussion (2); Alyrio Lima Cova - percussion (4,5)

1) Things Cannot Stop Forever (Poon Tang Tally-Wacky)
2) Space-A-Nova I
3) Play Sleep
4) Brighter Days/Brighter Daze
5) Funky Fried Tofu
6) Nida
7) Space-A-Nova II
8) High Jazz
9) High Jazz Reprise

'I wish to dedicate this album to all who can hear their Heartbeat, But especially to those that have heard the heartbeat of another as well. Brighter Days/ Brighter Daze'.
-Stanton Davis Jr.-

CD Reissue coming out on March 15th 2011
http://culturesofsoulrecords.com/

Aquarius

Aquarius - Aquarius Continental 1.07-405-098 (1976)

Here's a delicious slice of Bossa goodness, beautiful soulful vocals set to a dreamy backdrop of arrangements by Raymundo Bittencourt.

This one commands high prices and it's easy to see why within moments of touching the needle down! You may recognise some of the tunes, although the arrangements differ from those on the Burnier & Cartier LP. No Cláudio Cartier here, but you needn't worry, the same breezy vocal appeal comes from Octávio & Sonia Burnier (a la Ronie Mesquita & Central Do Brasil).

Raymundo Bittencourt (acoustic guitar, drums, vocal, arrangements); Octavio Burnier (electric guitar, vocal); Leonardo Luiz (piano); Alberto Arantes (bass) and Sonia Burnier (lead vocal) - all the ingredients are in place and if ever there were an album that embodies that groovy Brasilian spirit that is so in-demand now, this is it! Download now - thank me later.

1) Só Tem Lugar Pra Você
2) A Rã
3) Carolina
4) Falsa Baiana
5) Beijo Partido
6) Só Louco
7) Chega De Saudade
8) Tamanco No Samba
9) Europanema
10) Saudade Da Bahia
11) Atire A Primeira Pedra
12) Tibidabo
13) Pink Bar

Dale Jacobs

Dale Jacobs Group - Live At Puccini's Singwell SW-0003 (1971)

Must remember not to neglect the blog - so my apologies for the lack of updates.

This post goes out to Gary - I was prompted to remember this little treasure after seeing the cover art posted over at his blog 'El Reza'.

Puccini's in Vancouver was one of those restaurants and clubs that seemed to flourish in the seventies - the culmination of Dale's three year residency there being this superb album. Boy, what I'd give to dine and be witness to these sorts of performances nowadays!

The late Canadian Dale Jacobs blossoms on this live set and shows off his true keyboard dexterity even more so here than on his studio albums. We have true analogue wizardry here, no harsh and sterile 'bad-fusion' but slick, lyrical and beautifully funky instrumentals.

1) Discovery (CBC Radio Olympic Theme)
2) Visions Of Rio
3) Splash
4) Without Reservation
5) What Else
6) It's Only The Perfect Love
7) A Last Look At The Summer

Ambiance

Ambiance - Ebun DaMon DMRS-365 (1979)

Ambiance was a little known jazz fusion group out of Los Angeles who recorded on the small independent DaMon label. Their style incorporates Brazilian and Latin flavours with a righteous and soulful afrocentric jazz edge. Members include Daoud (Alto Sax, lute, Shekere, Flexitone, Agogo, Soprano Sax, etc..), Bob Selvin (Keyboards), Peter Lainson (Guitar, Tambourine), Paul Olguin (Bass), John Delatore (Drums), Sarah Flynn (Vocals) and Elisa Jones (Vocals).

I was prompted to remember this LP after seeing the compilation shared over at http://ileoxumare.blogspot.com - I think you'll agree this album is as strong in depth as that compilation - a solid listen right through without one weak track. A great record and one that deserves more than to languish in obscurity...

1) Bossa Monife
2) After June
3) Camouflage
4) O.F.C.
5) Ebun
6) Turnaround
7) Last Tango

A Flight To Rio

Os 3 Do Rio - A Flight To Rio Guilde Internationale Du Disques/Concert Hall SVS-2431-2431 (1966)

Time for some carnival rhythms!! Hip male harmonising drenched in samba and bossa beats. Both the French and German cover art is included for the completists.

1) A Voz Do Morro
2) A-B-C (Ragg Mopp)
3) Batida Diferente
4) Batucada
5) Estrada Do Sol
6) Fechei A Porta
7) Folha Morta
8) General Da Banda
9) Menino Jogando Bola
10) Minha Saudade
11) Mulata Ye-Ye
12) Peidrita Del Mar
13) Pita Camion
14) So Meu Coracao