Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Dec. 31

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Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Dec. 31

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Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Dec. 31:

Sun Ra Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold (1964)

Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold is a jazz album by Sun Ra, recorded live on December 31, 1964, but not released until 1976, on Ra and Alton Abraham’s El Saturn label. An expanded version of the album was reissued in 2009 by ESP-Disk,^[1] and again in 2017 by Superior Viaduct.

A complete version of Sun Ra’s performances on December 30 and 31, 1964 were released in 2012 on the Pharoah Sanders album In The Beginning 1963-1964.

The jacket of the original release of the album stated that the recording took place on June 15, 1964, at the Cellar Cafe, New York, prior to the “October Revolution in Jazz“. However, it has been established that the recording actually took place at Judson Hall on December 31, as part of the Jazz Composers Guild‘s “Four Days in December” series of concerts. The reissues on ESP-Disk and Superior Viaduct provide the correct location and date, as do the liner notes for In The Beginning 1963-1964, as well as the discography found in John Szwed‘s biography of Sun Ra.

The record documents the earliest known recorded performance of “The Shadow World” (here reverse-named as “The World Shadow”), a complex structured piece which was to feature on several of Ra’s better known records of subsequent years, notably The Magic City.

It is an unusual item in the Ra discography, because tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders replaces John Gilmore, a mainstay of the Arkestra for most of its existence; at the time, he was working in other contexts, with the pianists Paul Bley and Andrew Hill, and drummer Art Blakey. Before releasing the recording, Sun Ra said “It should be very interesting to show the world what pre-Coltrane Pharoah Sanders was like”

Also featured is the obscure flautist, Black Harold (Harold Murray),^[10] who takes a solo, vocalising through his flute, Rahsaan Roland Kirk-style, on “The Voice of Pan” (continuing into “Dawn over Israel”).

This is Sanders’ only recording with Sun Ra, and he is not a major presence, taking only one solo on the first track. Ra himself plays several short piano solos and introductions. Alan Silva also has a brief bass solo, and alto saxophonist Marshall Allen provides his customary fireworks. The music is mostly in the experimental, free-jazz mould, and though not quite as radical and challenging as “The Magic City”, it is mostly dense and uncompromising (though that is not to say there is no variety – there are plenty of quiet interludes as well).

Tracklist:

[00:00:00] A1. Cosmic Interpretation
[00:01:58] A2. The Other World
[00:21:47] A3. The Second Stop Is Jupiter
[00:24:13] A4. The Now Tomorrow
[00:33:47] B1. Discipline 9
[00:44:47] B2. Gods On A Safari
[00:47:45] B3. The Shadow World
[00:54:52] B4. Rocket Number 9
[00:58:53] B5. The Voice Of Pan
[01:04:11] B6. Dawn Over Israel
[01:08:18] B7. Space Mates

Credits:

Alto Saxophone, Flute, Percussion – Danny Davis, Marshall Allen
Baritone Saxophone – Pat Patrick
Bass – Alan Silva
Bass Clarinet, Percussion – Robert Cummings
Cover – Animation Taxidermy
Copyright (c) – Enterplanetary Koncepts
Drums – Cliff Jarvis
Flute, Drum [Log Drum] – Black Harold
French Horn – Robert Northern
Mastered By – Michael D. Anderson
Piano, Celesta [Celeste], Composed By – Sun Ra
Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Trombone – Bernard Pettaway, Teddy Nance
Trumpet – Chris Capers
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Al Evans
Voice [Space Voice], Percussion – Art Jenkins

The Revolutionary Ensemble – Manhattan Cycles (1972)

Manhattan Cycles is a live album by the Revolutionary Ensemble, violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper, which was recorded on the last day of 1972 and released on the India Navigation label the following year. The album documents a performance of an extended composition by Leo Smith.

Author Bob Gluck referred to the first half of “Manhattan Cycles: Side One” as shifting from foregrounded solos to what he calls “parallel play,” a technique at which the group excelled, and “a performance mode in which all three musicians pursued their own direction while contributing to a shared overall construction. The ‘glue’ for such performance is a combined energy level, density, texture, and sense of shared purpose.”

He noted that, due to the trio’s cooperative orientation, “The Revolutionary Ensemble had no leader looking in from outside the hub of activity, no Miles Davis to limit musical forays from continuing until their logical end, however anarchic the journey.”

Track listing

All compositions by Leo Smith.

"Manhattan Cycles: Side One" – 23:00
"Manhattan Cycles: Side Two" – 18:00

Personnel

Leroy Jenkins – violin, viola
Jerome Cooper – drums, bugle, metal hoops, flute, tape recorder
Sirone − bass

David Murray – Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club Vol. 1 (1977)

Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club is a live album by David Murray. It was released as two volumes on the India Navigation label in 1978 and re-released in 1989 on a single CD (with a slightly edited final track). It features a live performance by Murray, trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Phillip Wilson recorded in concert at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, NYC.

Recorded 31 December 1977 at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club

Tracklisting & Timestamps: 1. Nevada’s Theme [0:00] 2. Bechet’s Bounce [11:14] 3. Obe [18:52] 4. Let The Music Take You [36:52] 5. For Walter Norris [40:11] 6. Santa Barbara And Crenshaw Follies [01:03:22]

Personel: David Murray: Soprano & Tenor Saxophone Phillip Wilson: Drums Fred Hopkins: Bass Lester Bowie: Trumpet

Kenny Barron Trio – Green Chimneys (1983)

Green Chimneys is an album by pianist Kenny Barron which was recorded in Holland in 1983 and first released on the Dutch Criss Cross Jazz label.

Tracks:

01. Kenny Barron Trio – Softly As In A Morning Sunrise 00:00 02. Kenny Barron Trio – Don’t Explain 04:37 03. Kenny Barron Trio – There Is No Greater Love 10:21 04. Kenny Barron Trio – Skylark 21:59 05. Kenny Barron Trio – Green Chimneys 29:27 06. Kenny Barron Trio – Straight No Chaser 36:06 07. Kenny Barron Trio – Time Was 42:13 08. Kenny Barron Trio – When Lights Are Low 50:58 09. Kenny Barron Trio – Morning Blues 57:26 10. Kenny Barron Trio – Time Was (Take 2) 01:02:16

Personnel:

Kenny Barron – piano
Buster Williams – bass
Ben Riley – drums

Branford Marsalis – Renaissance (1986)

Renaissance is an album by the American musician Branford Marsalis, released in 1987. It peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums chart. Marsalis supported the album with a North American tour.

Ralph Moore Quartet – 623 C Street (1987)

623 C Street is the second album led by saxophonist Ralph Moore which was recorded in 1987 and released on the Dutch Criss Cross Jazz label.
Harold Land – A Lazy Afternoon (1994).

Track listing

“Un Poco Loco” (Bud Powell) – 10:22
“Christina” (Buster Williams) – 4:42
“Black Diamond” (Wayne Shorter) – 6:06
“It Never Entered My Mind” (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 6:53 Additional track on CD reissue
“Cecilia” (David Kikoski) – 7:27
“623 C Street” (Ralph Moore) – 8:49
“Deceptacon” (Williams) – 7:05
“Speak Low” (Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash) – 8:20 Additional track on CD reissue

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on February 27, 1987 (tracks 1–3 & 5–7) and December 31, 1987 (tracks 4 & 8).

Personnel

Ralph Moore – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
David Kikoski – piano
Buster Williams – bass
Billy Hart – drums

Harold Land – A Lazy Afternoon (1994)

A Lazy Afternoon is a studio album by American hard bop tenor saxophonist Harold Land. The album was recorded in Hollywood and released in 1995 via Postcards Records label.