seeker since a strange, almost morbid bot rentine, tenor saxophone; Lonnie L. Srn· OPERATION BREADBASKET electric piano ( track I) ; Butch Corneu'th, Jr tom characterizes the arrangements, with (tracks 2, 3); George Benson, guitar• R.' o!Jli: out much variation except for Hugg's deli ORCHESTRA AND CHOIR ter, bass; Billy Kaye, drums; Ricba r'd ,?i.~: Landrum, conga drums (tracks 2, 3). ablo•• cate, somewhat Donovanesque Sometimes. ON THE CASE-Chess LPS 1549: I Wish I Knew· Nobody Knows; What A Friend We Ha."e Raung. * * 1f ½ And yet the solo work by Living is always In Je~us· Precious Memories; Lift Ev'ry Votee tough his hard alto burstings on Mann's and Sing; Too Close· Nearer My God To Thee; Stanley ~rrentine is a robust, straiga Country Preacher; Whal the World Needs Now ahead tenonst who has developed a f . t Konekuf the most avant pop moment I've ls Love; We Shall Overcome. . ful following since making a nain ai;ii heard, while Hugg's introspective piano Personnel: Maury Watson, Hobie James, Cleo and Mann's eerie organ maintain taut pace Griffin Paul Serrano, Tim Galloway, trumpets; himself with Max Roach in the late\: John Watson, Steve Galloway, Nadetmer But• His sound has always reminded me str and emotive undercurrent throughout, now !er, Charles Taylor, trombones; Ch~rles Forester, ly of Illinois Jacquet and his style and then surfacing for a special glimmer, Arthur O'Neil, Ben Branch, Edwm Daugherty, ohg. Johnny Board, Herman Bowde,n, reeds; _Wayne strong mainstream roots. He always SWinas although generally more attentive to the Bennett Warren Bingham, guitars; David Mc On these two albums (the Blue IS. dark passions of the sound. Chapter Three Collough, Floyd Morris, Donny tt:at~away, Fred dy Young, keyboards; James Wtllts, Phil !JP· was taped in the spring of '69, the is unusually fascinating music, like the ~ church, bass; Master Henry, con~as; P!1nce in the fall of last year), he travels in fast soundtrack to a fun nightmare. Shell, chimes; Terry TholJ!pson, Morris Jennm11s, drums· The SCLC Operauon Breadbasket Chou, company but always holds his own. Argent especially deserves a listen, as vocals; Prince Shell, Gene Barge, arrangers. The !Blue Note is an unusually (f Rating:*** these days) straightforward jazz date wi: I recall once reading an article by an no commercial frills. It is greatly enbancec1 thropologist Melville J. Herskovits in which by the presence of Thad Jones, who is he observed that most spirituals do not use too rarely heard in a small-group fonnat. the words "hell", "damnation", and "pun He solos on every track except Stella (a ishment" and that they were, instead, an ballad showcase for Turrentine at bis affirmation of God and Jesus. I think this warmest), and each solo is a little gem. album, if one were to scrutinize the lan Jones is a truly original player, a musician guage, would justify this hypothesis. It's who uniquely combin~s the cerebral and a collection of religious and semi-religious the emotional. Using fluegelhorn through. songs sungs by the Chicago-based choir. out, he also adds spice to the ensembles. The songs are all very well arranged and, His compositional gifts are on display in as music for music's sake, they are fine Quittin' Time, an attrac:tive and unusually pieces of work. structured piec~ with a surprise ending. However, I feel there are other implica Oliver Nelson's Six and Four is another tions to this album. These are political good piece. implications. Not that I think that music The Phythm section is faultless (Roker, is not a very political medium. And people bright, soulful but never rough, rhythmi an unsung p.ero, is among today's best all who do not think that music is political round drummers), and Walton utilizesbis cally intricate far more than merely beat just consider Nazi Germany and check ful, well-orchestrated, evocatively vocalized, solo space with character istic thoughtful. out the status of the musicians and what ness. all the platitudes. The quartet offers a they were playing. You might even check quite uncommon invention in their com The programming on the LP is It• out whether or not political leaders through tractively varied, and this puts it a notdt positions, particularly in their ability to the ages had any musical talent. punctuate and vary the mainly mid-tempo above tl:ie later record with its three 10111 But that's not the point. The point is tracks of which the first two are medium ballads of the date. One of the meaner that the liner notes say that this album tunes, Liar, opens with the verse above a tempo'ed, blues-flavored, and minor:hued. represents Black people. At best, it repre It is on Coltrane's Impr essions, which at bass/drum rumble, then explodes on the sents a very small segment of the Black title accusation, with an aftermath of piano 15:30 takes up the entire second side, experience in music. It has none of the that the players really get into something. and guitar bursts; and this emphasis on new music played by Shepp, Clifford melodic interplay rather than strict tempos This is not to say that Sugar and Sun Thornton, Ornette Coleman, Pharoah San shine Alley are uninteresting: Turrentine is the root of the group's music. Seldom ders, Cecil Taylor, etc. It has none of the has one of his strongest solos of the two does bassist Rodford push any heavy lines, secular blues, no rock, not even any of sets on the former, and Benson drivel but weaves instead, as do the sensitive the popular music sung by Black people down the blues on the second. But 1!-' patterns of drummer Hewitt, so that the heard on radio station after radio station over-all conception and feeling are q~II rhythm becomes far more participatory throughout the land. than the usual rock arrangements, even on predictabie in a conte~ porary soul-Jazz David Baker, in a down beat inter vein, and enhanced mamly by Hubbar~ fairly funky songs like Schoolgirl and view, made the point very emphatically inventive and sprightly work. Lonely Hard Road. that the music of Black people is a tre In this manner, Argent overcomes a mendous spectrum, encompassing many -On Impressions, however, the feelin~ distinct peril of most rock, as the burden styles and periods. If we are going to looser llnd more swinging, and ~veryb.,.., of melodic energy is equally distributed represent that music and claim that this stretches out. Organist Cornell (hke ,drum among the four contributors rather than representation is the TOTAL experience, mer Kaye a member of Turrentine~ rCI' the vocalist or lead instrument establishing then the TOTAL experience should be ular working group) has a fleet, JillllD~ the tempers alone while the accompani rP,flected. Smith-inspired solo, Benson shows ":h~ ment simply follows without much initia As Black people, we can no longer mu~t be ranked among t~e top _gmtaJlll tive. And because of this special rhythmic turn our backs on any one aspect of our in modern jazz, Turrent me swmgs thll nature, especially in its delicacy, much of stomps and Hubbard unleashes ideasrt..... musical heritage because we think it in ' ti" (pa 1....- what would normally seem bubblegum, the appropriate. -Cole are fresh and sometimes star mg oa- sugary lyrics of Joy or the folky harmonies larly in his use of tonguing). He ~emof of Smoke, escapes as a far more engaging strates that the freedom of invenll~Dgi1II pop, even though the instrumental. forays fered by good changes and a 5": 111 by leader-pianist Argent and guitanst Bal underpinning can still yield inn~va!IV~ lard are seldom spectacular, if ever more sults. It's "inside outside" playing a than simply tasty. STANLEY TURRENTINE best. . t, Stepping Stone is by far the LP's ~st Carter is, as usual, the idea! ba_ss~ ANOTHER STORY-Blue Note BST 84336: sauJ. moment, featuring rambling but close in Get It· The Way ,You Look Tonight; Stella By Landrum is a conga player with Ja ctivdJi teraction, smooth harmonies and consider Starlight; Quillin' Time; Six and Four. , Smith doesn't solo, but comps effe hY Personnel : Thad Jones, fluegelhorn; Turrentme, able soul, and should have been a mon tenor saxophone; _Cedar Walton, piano; Buster and Kaye is a solid, unclutter~d r of · strous hit, as should the album-since Williams, bass; Mickey Roker, drums. man. In all, a very good sess•0 ~ 5 "argent" does translate as "money" in Rating: * * * * kind, with Hubbard adding somelb1 SUGAR-CTI 6005: S11gar; Sunshine Alley; !~ French, and they deserve it much more Impressions. cial. The cover is, to say the least, uenP than the more popular bunksters.-Bourne Personnel: Freddie Hubbard, rrumpet; Tur- -M org
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