This Day in Jazz History

JUNE 15

SUN RA

Gods on Safari

          The Cellar Cafe, NYC
                  June 15, 1964

            Personnel:
                  Sun Ra                P,CS
                  Al Evans               TP,FG
                  Chris Capers         TP
                  Teddy Nance         TB
                  Bernard Pettaway TB
                  Robert Northern    FH
                Marshall Allen        AS,FL
                  Pharoah Sanders    T
                  Danny Davis           AS,FG

Robert Cummings BCL
Pat Patrick          BS
Black Harold       FL
Alan Silva            B
Clifford Jarvis       D
Art Jenkins - space voice

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Wikipedia
Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold is a jazz album by Sun Ra, recorded live in 1964, but not released until 1976, on Ra and Alton Abraham's El Saturn label. 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.[1] Before releasing the recording, Sun Ra said "It should be very interesting to the world to show what the pre-Coltrane Pharoah Sanders was like" [2] Also featured is the obscure flautist, Black Harold (Harold Murray) [3], who takes a solo, vocalising through his flute, Rashaan Roland Kirk-style, on 'The Voice of Pan' (continuing into 'Dawn over Israel.')

Despite being Sanders' only recording with Sun Ra, 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).

The recording is criticised by Pierro Scaruffi, who writes: "[During the 60s, Ra's] albums became more irrational and experimental. Strange Strings (1966)...was still accessible compared with Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold (June 1964), released in 1976, whose The Voice of Pan and Dawn Over Israel were childish orgies of random sounds."[4] Sean Westergaard's review on allmusic.com similarly describes it as "more of a curio than a great listening experinece, and probably best left for the Ra and Pharoah Sanders completists." [5]

JUNE 14

             WAYNE SHORTER
                  Etcetera

                   Recording Date:
                     June 14, 1965

                 Personnel:
                      Joe Chambers     D
                      Herbie Hancock   P
                   Cecil McBee     B
                      Wayne Shorter   TS

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Review by Stacia Proefrock
Recorded in 1965 but not released until 1980, Et Cetera holds its own against the flurry of albums Wayne Shorter released during the mid-'60s, a time when he was at the peak of his powers. It is hard to imagine why Blue Note might have chosen to shelve the album, as it shows Shorter in a very favorable light with an incredibly responsive rhythm section performing four of his originals and a cover of Gil Evans' "Barracudas." The low-key nature of the album as a whole, especially the title track, might have contributed to Blue Note's lack of attention, but there are definitely gems here, especially the closing track, "Indian Song." At times the rest of the album seems like a warm-up for that amazing tune, where Shorter swirls around in a hypnotizing dance with Herbie Hancock's piano, grounded by the nocturnal bass of Cecil McBee and the airy structure of Joe Chambers' drumming. The short, repetitive themes and passionate, soulful playing echo John Coltrane, but this quartet has its own flavor, and the perfect, intricate web they weave here helps pull the whole session up to a higher level.

JUNE 13

ART BLAKEY

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

                Recording Date:
                   June 13, 1961 tk 3,5
                  June 14, 1961 tk 1,2,4,6

                Personnel:
                    Art Blakey              D
                     Curtis Fuller           TB
                    Jymie Merritt         B
                    Lee Morgan            TP
                    Wayne Shorter       TS
                     Robert H. Timmons P

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Review by Steven McDonald
An absolutely wonderful 1961 set from Blakey and company, who demonstrate here how to be note-perfect without leeching away the emotion of a performance. Aside from Blakey's divine drum work, the standouts include Jaymie Merritt's trippy bass fingerwork, and Wayne Shorter blowing his heart out on tenor sax. Beautifully remastered, well worth having in this edition.

JUNE 12

                 SONNY ROLLINS
              The Sound of Sonny

                  Recording Date:
                       June 11-12, 1957 tk 1-7
                       June 19, 1957 tk 8-10

                   Personnel:
                        Sonny Rollins    TS
                         Percy Heath      B
                         Sonny Clark     P
                         Bob Cranshaw   B
                         Roy Haynes      D
                         Paul Chambers B tk 8-10

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Review by Lindsay Planer
A new phase in Sonny Rollins' career began in 1957. He started what was at the time an almost blasphemous trend of recording for a number of different labels. His pioneering spirit yielded a few genre-defining albums, including this disc. His performances were also at a peak during 1957 as Down Beat magazine proclaimed him the Critics' Poll winner under the category of "New Star" of the tenor saxophone. This newfound freedom can be heard throughout the innovations on The Sound of Sonny. Not only are Rollins' fluid solos reaching newly obtained zeniths of melodic brilliance, but he has also begun experimenting with alterations in the personnel from tune to tune. Most evident on this platter is "The Last Time I Saw Paris" — which is piano-less — and most stunning of all is Rollins' unaccompanied tenor solo performance on "It Could Happen to You." Indeed, this rendering of the Jimmy Van Heusen standard is the highlight of the disc. That isn't to say that the interaction between Sonny Clark (piano), Roy Haynes (drums), and bassists Percy Heath and Paul Chambers — who is featured on "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "What Is There to Say" — is not top-shelf. Arguably, it is Rollins and Heath — the latter, incidentally, makes his East Coast debut on this album — who set the ambience for The Sound of Sonny. There is an instinctually pervasive nature as they weave into and back out of each others' melody lines, only to emerge with a solo that liberates the structure of the mostly pop standards. This is a key component in understanding the multiplicities beginning to surface in Rollins' highly underappreciated smooth bop style.

JUNE 11

              LENNIE TRISTANO
       Featuring Lee Konitz

            New York, Sing Song Room
                  June 11, 1955 tk 9-11

            Personnel:
                  Lennie Tristano P
                  Lee Konitz:      AS
                  Gene Ramey:     B
                  Art Taylor:        D

             1960-62, New York tk 1-8
                  Lennie Tristano P

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One of several Lennie Tristano retrospectives issued in 1998 by the Giants of Jazz label, this compilation is somewhat misleadingly subtitled "Featuring Lee Konitz." To be sure, alto saxophonist Konitz is heard in live performance with Tristano, bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Art Taylor in the cozy confines of the Sing Song Room deep within the Confucius Restaurant in New York on June 11, 1955. But this material only occupies the last three tracks, which amount to 21 out of 60 minutes of jazz. The rest of the music heard here -- tracks one through eight -- are piano solos recorded at Tristano's home studio (located at "317 East 32nd") during a time period extending from 1960 to 1962. The quartet recordings are as magnificent as the solo works are fascinating. This wonderful music improves with age, and one suspects that it will sound even better in the distant future. Listeners who fall in love with these sounds may wish to obtain more Lennie Tristano recordings. Some will need to hear them all and then will wish for more.

JUNE 10

JAVON JACKSON
Good People

                 Recording Date:
                       June 2-10, 1997

                 Personnel:
                       Cyro Baptista       Per
                       Billy Drummond    D
                      Fareed Haque       G
                       Javon Jackson      TS
                       John Medeski       O
                       Vernon Reid        G
                     Peter Washington B

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Reviewby Scott Yanow

Javon Jackson is best known as a hard bop tenor saxophonist inspired by Joe Henderson. On this CD, however, he really stretches himself and shows that he is continuing to develop an increasingly personal voice. In addition to two challenging originals and a blues, Jackson performs a Brazilian piece (which has a verbal introduction in Portuguese by percussionist Cyro Baptista) and songs by John Coltrane ("Exotica"), Carlos Santana and Tony Williams ("Emergency," from his Lifetime fusion period). With the assistance of a core group that includes acoustic guitarist Fareed Haque, funky organist John Medeski (from Medeski, Martin & Wood), bassist Peter Washington and drummer Billy Drummond (plus two guest appearances from the fiery rock guitarist Vernon Reid), Jackson plays some of the most adventurous solos of his career. Intriguing music.

JUNE 9

                 SONNY STITT
               Last Stitt Sessions

                   Recording Date:
                        June 9, 1982

                   Personnel:
                     Walter Davis       P
                         Bill Hardman       TP
                        Sonny Stitt       AS,TS
                        Jimmy Cobb        D
                         George Duvivier B
                         Walter Davis, Jr. P
                         Junior Mance     P

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Review
It is difficult to believe after listening to this two-CD set, that Sonny Stitt only had six weeks left in his life; he already had cancer but did not know it. Switching between tenor and alto, Stitt on the first disc is heard in top form with pianist Junior Mance, bassist George Duvivier, and drummer Jimmy Cobb while the second CD (recorded the following day) adds trumpeter Bill Hardman and has Walter Davis in Mance's place. As was typical of Stitt's career, the music throughout is high-quality bebop with the saxophonist stretching out creatively over common chord changes. This double CD (a straight reissue of two single LPs) shows that Sonny Stitt went out on top. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi