"Joe Cocker" and Iar Tune of the Melody

and Soulhe teases the live audience by ent way, structuring an improvisation that eyeballshas come up with as strong an playing the verse toStardustand then sud- bounces back and forth between the basic album as any of his finest mid -'70s efforts. denly shifting gears into the equally famil- tempo andhalf-time.Lover Manand Like those LPs-"Joe Cocker" and iar tune of the melody. OnOne of a Another What's Newwere virtual standards for bop "Stingray"inparticular-"Sheffield Kind,which makes up all of Side 1, hemusicians, and Brown and Rollins deal Steel" comprises a disparatesetof tunes takes off in a flight of improvisational fancy with them adroitly; also included is another put forth in Cocker's inimitable rocks -in - that provides an object lesson in what con- version of the Brown -Roach anthemDaa- the -throat singing style. temporary jazz is all about. Saxist Hender- houd.Since "Pure Genius" is identified as At his most inspired, Cocker is truly a son, who has sounded a bit subdued lately, Vol. 1, Elektra/Musician presumably has masterful interpreter. He has transformed is full of life, his solos laced with the wildmore tapes from this period. Let's hope material like the Beatles' cutesy-pooWith a passions of his early work. Add vibist Hut- so. 111F Little Help from My Friendsandthe cherson to the mix and you have a concert schmaltzyYou Are So Beautifulinto rag- recording which, unlike the Davis set, is a ged, soulful numbers of his own creation. must -buy. Bloodstone: While nothing here is as immediately mem- Woody Shaw's "Master of the Art" We Go a Long Way Back orable, "Sheffield Steel" is his most con- also features Hutcherson, but its mood is Isley Bros. & McKinley Jackson, sistent work in years. Backed by the mes- merizing rhythms of drummer Sly Dunbar closer to just another day at the office. producers. T -Neck EZ 38115 Shaw loosens up somewhat on the standard and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, Cocker and we get a sense of his playing's roars and whispers his way through compo- Diane, Bloodstone is a five -man vocal group that 400 sitions by Bob Dylan (the celebrativeSeven lovely lyricism. But Walter Davis' had a short string of ballad hits in the early sounds underdevel- Days),Randy Newman (a drunken love Years Ago Tomorrow '70s, most notablyNatural High.After dis- oped, andSweet Love of Minesmacks of song calledMarie),and Bill Withers(Ruby appearing in a tangle of business hassles, Lee),among others.It's a testament to updated Horace Silver; Shaw gets off a the band resurfaced this year with a new pleasantly conversational solo but doesn't Cocker's imagination that Jimmy Cliff's label and a hit single, from which this oft -recordedMany Rivers to Crossis one of really seem to care very much. The same is album takes its title. Misterioso, the LP's best cuts. true of Thelonius Monk's Bloodstone's stock -in -trade is the kind which receives what is surely the most Along with Dunbar and Shakespeare. of multidimensional harmony singing that keyboardist Wally Badarou has a lot to do depressingly confused reading I've eversuch outfits as the Dells, the Manhattans, heard of this inherently provocative piece. with the disc'ssuccess: The evidence and the Stylistics first popularized in the extends from his horn -chart synthesizer on Given Elektra/Musician's interest in pro- '60s. Unlike most of the above, though, viding a felicitous setting for its artists, it's the slcwed-down funky strutLook What Bloodstone writes much of its own materi- You've Done tothe churchy organ shadings a shame that Shaw's first outing for the al, which rounds out the proceedings quite label couldn't have been a better showcase ofMary Rivers to Crossto the bleating sax- effectively. for his unquestioned skills. Maybe next ophonelike insouciance of Steve Win - True to form, Side 1features nothing wood'sTalking Back to the Night.Robert time. intricate,and Both Shaw and Hubbard would proba- but ballads-sensuous, Palmer and Jimmy Cliff both contribute charmingly arranged.How Does It Feel bly identify Clifford Brown as a principal vocals on several tracks, and guitarist Adri- uses an extended chorus vamp at its closean Belew's lofty embellishments spruce up influence on their playing-certainly as that deftly mixes falsettos over a repeated, much of one as Miles Davis. And they an otherwise lackluster reading of Andy harmonized phrase, topped with a creamy Fraser'sSweet Li' I Woman would be correct in doing so. Brownie'ssax solo by Earth, Wind & Fire's Don articulate translation of the Fats Navarro/ But what makes "Sheffield Steel" Myrick. OnWe Go a Long Way Back,lead exceptional is Cocker's guttural gargle of a Dizzy Gillespie bebop style was one of the singer Harry Williams' earnest tenor grad- great accomplishments of postwar jazz. voice. Few singers are as readily identifi- ually builds to a peak of falsetto ecstasy that able; fr wer interpreters are as adept at mak- (That he did it all while he was still in hisdelicately lifts the song's nostalgic mood. early twenties is all the more amazing.) His ing outside material sound like their own Bloodstone is the first outside group creation. It's good to hear Cocker in fine and Max Roach's "Pure Genius, Vol. 1" signed to the Isley Bros.' T -Neck label. The dates to 1956 and is everybit as valuable as form again. STEVEN X. REA Isleys,assisted by Detroit r&b veteran Elektra/Musician's stunning Charlie Parker McKinley Jackson, have produced a very set from 1953, "One Night in Washing- basic, tightly functional sound that wisely Steve Forbert ton" (see BACKBEAT, June). Clearly the avoids the overbearing synthesizers run- label is accomplishing its goal of finding Steve Burgh, producer ning rampant on the r&b charts these days. Nemperor ARZ 37434 unreleased material from the Fifties. The more uptempo material-mostly found The basic Brown -Roach group (with on Side 2-shows Jackson's horn and George Morrow on bass and Richie Powell The very virtues that made Steve Forbert's string charts to be meticulously funky and debut album so arresting now seem likely to on piano) is brightened considerably here well thought-out;My Kind of Woman,for by the presence of Sonny Rollins on tenor. doom his fourth to comparative limbo. instance,features aninspiredcall -and - "Steve Forbert" may even falla hair- Thisissuperlative jazz,its excellence response interplay between horns and the unlimited by style, period, or feeble fidelity breadth short of matching "Alive on Arriv- quintet's vocals. That Bloodstone has made al" in the quality of songwriting or :he of sound.I'll Remember Apriland52nd such a strong comeback statement is proof Street Themeprovide vivid reminders of directness of performance, but these new of the group's resiliency and, one hopes,songs still capture the slightly breathless how fast bebop musicians sometimes ultimate staying power. CRISPIN CIOE played. Unlike many of today's artists, they ebullience and the underlying romanti: were never reluctant to test the outer limits optimism that seemed so riveting a of their skills. Brownie's long solo onApril short years ago. If the new album doesn't contains many unsure moments in which he Joe Cocker: Sheffield Steel turn heads, it will only be because Forbi_. scrambles to make the changes, but there Chris Blackwell & Alex Sadkin, himself has chosen to return to his initia, are just as many moments of startling, high- producers. Island IL 9750 conservative values. speed inventiveness. From desperation, Characteristically,thesesongsare sometimes, comes a soaring imagination. Joe Cocker, the boozy -voiced British belter steeped in pop traditions while couched in Rollins takes the challenge in a differ- with the flailing fingers and the bloodshot the unvarnished inflection. of a singer who SEPTEMBER 19112 75.

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