Jazzis Web Shop News 03/2008

CD

Today’s new addition is something I’ve been waiting for to appear for quite a while. Finally the wonderful Sunbeam Records released it on CD and it’s a real pleasure to be able finally to offer it to others:

Pianist / composer Mike Taylor was the most enigmatic figure on the British Jazz scene in the 1960s. His genius was almost completely unknown to most and just a handful of close friends / musicians had the opportunity to work with him and hear his music. His eccentric personality, which bordered on the mentally unstable and his tragic death at a ridiculous young age cut his career short, leaving a legacy of just two albums, of which this is the first. Anybody listening to this album will surely realize that this is one of the most daring and earliest modern British Jazz recordings and it parallels (in time and complexity) to the most advanced Avant Garde Jazz experiments happening across the Atlantic. Taylor’s unprecedented and unconventional approach to music was so ahead of its time that it’s truly mind-boggling. The quartet playing on this recording includes Taylor on piano, Dave Tomlin on soprano saxophone, Tony Reeves on bass and Jon Hiseman on drums (the last two were of course to form the band Colosseum a few years later). The sound of the quartet is somewhat similar to John Coltrane’s legendary quartet, but Taylor plays quite differently than McCoy Tyner of course. The music includes three Jazz standards (on what used to be Side A) and three original compositions by Taylor (on Side B). The treatment of the standards is an absolute hair-raising experience, with Taylor de-composing / de-structuring the original harmony and re-assembling the pieces together in a completely new way. His original compositions are awesome as well, exposing a new musical universe. The entire album is a knockout from start to finish and listening to it over 40 years after it was recorded should still produce Goosebumps on every sensitive listener’s skin. BTW people unaware of Jon Hiseman’s early Jazz days should check out his recording with another great British pianist Howard Riley on Howard’s debut album “Discussions”. Taylor was about to record only one more album, called simply “Trio”, with Jon Hiseman and Jack Bruce on bass (Bruce was very much involved with the British Jazz scene before his adventure with Cream – see Jack’s debut album “Things We Like”), who was a friend of Taylor, as were the other members of the Graham Bond Organization. Also it’s really strange that Taylor’s fate was in many ways similar to that of Bond’s, both ending their lives in a suicide / accident, following a long period of mental instability. This album is a central piece of the puzzle forming the birth of modern British Jazz and no serious follower of that scene can afford not to have this album in his collection. Beyond essential!

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Here is the next new addition on the wonderful Sunbeam Records:

Australian born saxophonist / flautist composer Ray Warleigh was one of the busiest musicians on the British Jazz scene in the late 1960s. He was not only playing at the regular Jazz venues around London, but was also a member of the backup group of singer Scott Walker, who was at the peak of his popularity at the time. Walker, although extremely successful as a Pop artists, had a keen musical ear and was trying to get away from the sugary Pop image by employing some of the best Jazz musicians at the time In his band, which was led by no other than the legendary Ronnie Scott. Walker used his influence with his label (Philips) to offer a recording opportunity to some of the young and extremely talented musicians in the band, which led to the recording of this debut album by Ray Warleigh. Warleigh would become famous later for playing on album by the top Rock start like Nick Drake, Elton John, U2, Paul McCartney and many more. The format chosen for this album was “Jazz & strings”, which suited Warleigh’s superbly clear and lyrical style perfectly. The chosen material (all standards) was beautifully arranged for a large string orchestra and a Jazz rhythm section, which included some of the best British Jazz players at the time, like Gordon Back on piano, Kenny Napper on bass and Terry Cox on drums. The resulting album is a stunning debut, beautifully executed by all the musicians involved, and showing Warleigh to be a world class player, who can improvise freely and yet always stay within the melodic line. Jazz & strings albums have a tendency to fall into the “land of saccharine” very easily, but fortunately this is well avoided here, producing a most enjoyable Jazz album full of integrity and showmanship. It’s great to have this forgotten gem back in circulation.

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Here is the next new addition on the wonderful Sunbeam Records:

Scottish guitarist / singer / songwriter G. F. Fitz-Gerald recorded his only album with a bunch of excellent musicians, including some legendary figures like singer Judy Dyble (Fairport Convention), tabla virtuoso Sam Gopal, sax and flute player Geoff Leigh and many others. The album was a complete commercial failure at the time of its release, disappearing entirely from the market, only to be remembered by a very few people who ever heard it as a gem of great interest. Finally after so many years the album was finally reissued, for all of us to enjoy. Fitz-Gerald moved on in the meantime into experimental improvised music (see his album with Lol Coxhill) and never recorded in the studio again. The album lost nothing of its original charm and magic and after all these years it’s still an absolute gem. Resembling the efforts of groups like Comus and perhaps Third Ear Band, this is a completely zany, funny, crazy, wonderful mixture of Psychedelics, Jazz, early Improvised Music and Folk. As usual with such mixtures, it is absolutely beyond any specific genre and placing it under Progressive Rock is the best I can do. I really recommend to everybody to try and get hold of a copy of this – it very well might eventually become your favorite album – you never know. Brilliant stuff!

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It’s great to see the wonderful French small label Soleil Zeuhl back with not one but four new releases. Here is the third of those:

French sextet Setna, led by drummer Nicolas Candé, who also composes all the music, is one of the most interesting new ensembles on the local scene. After a couple of years of buzz and anticipation, their debut album is finally here and it was well worth waiting for. Fronted by a superb female singer Natacha Jouët, they deliver some great music here, which combines Prog, Jazz, Ambient and slight Zeuhl influences, creating a magic atmosphere. The music is basically a long suite, divided into parts, but meant to be a continuous piece of music. Two keyboards players (one playing moog and both playing the Fender Rhodes – one of my favorite instruments with a immediately distinguishable tone), soprano saxophonist and a bass player complete the lineup, but they also employ four guest musicians on some of the tracks. The closest musical association would be Soft Machine (at their best) with female vocals. This is definitely one of the best debut albums I’ve heard recently and one can only hope they will continue whatever was started here with future surprises. There is something here for every lover of good music so I’m not confining my recommendation to any specific genre, just grab it and enjoy! A great addition to the splendid Soleil Zeuhl catalog as well as any decent record collection.

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