Records are reviewed by bon De Micheal,. Gilbert M .. Ers'kine, 'Ira Giller, Ralph Johnson, Bill Mathieu, Marion McP-artland, Dan Morgenstern, Don Nelsen, Harvey Pekar, Bob Porter, Bi(I Quinn, William Russo, Harvey Siders, Carol Sloane, Pete Welding, and Michael Zwerin. Re.views are signed by fhe · writers. Ratings are: * * * * ·k excellent, * * * * very good, * "** sood, * * -fair, * poor. When two_ catalog numbers are listed, the first is mono, and the second ls slereo.

Ks•nny Ilundl ~£@1t1!!iirHii@1@@@ @-·M g;g;,@@iiiii scendo, begins as softly as a whisper in plaint and the latter sounds more like the BLl"ES-THE COl\lI\ION GROUND-\'er\'c a velour -closet. Soulful, pure essence de exploding stick tha·n the smoking wick. \'(,-8--iG: Er ,·n,1.ns; Ei°ay Dczy (I H,1c·e _The blues, features a double-time mid-secti-on Augmented by_ polished brass, a deter­ J;fut's); 1'!.>e JJre.idJLr; .-!11gt'l Eyes: The Commo11 (,'n-,1//ld: ll''u,· You Thao.;; Bun1ing S/1c,1r; in three on the b·asic four. · mined back-beat and a stout~hearted amp, ll'rmd,r U'h1: So11/J11/ Bro1he1's; See See Rida; See See's h1ilitary cadence/rock - beat; Burrell· settles down with his first musical S.111s,tli10 ."\-ighls. Personnd: Snocikie Young, Jimmy Chvens. Ber­ the self-nourishing brass section and Han­ love, the 12-bar form or its derivitives, and nie Glow. rrumpers: \\"ayne :\ndre, Jimmy Clen­ cock's relentless comping provoke more emo~es a"\vhile. l.rnd .. Bill \\"arrous, Paul F:iulise. rrombones; Don than customarv emotion frci"m Burrell's in­ 1 lluttl'rtidd. tu·b.1: Jerome Richard,on, reeds: Bur­ n ild, in the · unfortunate position of rl'II. guiur: Herbie Hancock. piano; Ron Carter, strument. He - seems challe~ged by the · being neither an old stanclan.l nor a h.1,s: Donald l\1tDon:1Id. drums; Johnny Pa­ accompaniment and, concurrently, happy d1L·co, percussion:, Don Scbc1ky. arc.inger-can­ unique novelty, is m::inaged well with the ductot ( tr.1cks I, · 2. S-.· 10). Ernie Roy:!l, Th;td to meet it head on. Sausalito is a brightly pastel treatment herewith given the · fa­ f,,nL·s, ,Jimm\' Nuttingh.1ri1. rrumpcrs: Tony Srudd, impressionjstic piece chosen to bring !his · L"rbic· (_;rc,:r1, ,\ndrc. Clc\'l'Lind, rrnmbones; Har­ miliar theme. Svulcro, a breezy Ev.ans ny Phillips. rub:1: Hich.irdson, reeds; Burrell:· non-progrnmmatic set to a close on· an · ~1riginaL and Cit11/,11io1i): Duke Ellington, I n-··,1n/ .\Ir B.ibi• Fi.rd.:;· Co-11 .·l/111.1; Sou/no; comes off here. ll"ii.l Is 1/,~· H"i11;/; B/11n Ills,·. " ... AND H~S MOTHER CALLED. HIM Pl'rsonnel: Burrell. · guir.1r; un•idcntiti.ed or­ A m::in to watch is Richard Eva~s. For BILL' '-RCA \'icrnr LP.M; LSP-3906: S11ibor; ., d1ntr.1 ( including strings); arr.111g;-d · .ind Cc)!l· some fears he was bassist for Chic::igo's Hoo-d,1b: Blood (fo11111: U.:\t .. \l.G.: Cb,11"/,r;y; d11ctnl by Hiclurd [LlflS,. .·lflcr .·l/1; The fo:im,tc\' of ·1l.ie l3/ucs; l?,1i11 London House piUl)lSt Eddie Higgins, and Cbt'L"k; n,l)'·Dream.'I Rock Ski/1/1i11'_,11 ihl' 13/ue Rating:**** one of the city''s top arrangers. Th~n, when i"\"o!e; .·Ill D,1r Lo118: _ Lo/us Blossom. H the Brand Nan'1cs Found:ttil)l1 gets ::i&:r man Edwards left Cadet· for Verve, Pnsonricl: ·tac 1:\nderson, · Mercer Ellington,. :!round to revie\\ 1 ing rel..'.ords, the/II ha,·c Herb~ Jones, Coode \\'illiams, rrumpets; Clark Evans moved into th::it slot. To keep his Tl'rry, Huegel horn ( tracks 2, 4); Lawrence lll gi\ e Blues a superior rating-if only iron in th.e performing fires. E\'aps formed Bro\\:n, Buster Co\)pcr,. _Chuck Connors, __1rom· Lll1 the basis of the rnunikcrs hssenrbkd bones; John Sanders, valve troni"bone (cracks a. group kn0\1.:11 as the Soulful Strings. H. JO); Hussell Prn~opc, Johnny· Hodg.:s, Jirnniy fur Ihis date. Si1ice Fsmond Ed\\·ai-ds. The Strings cut the_ original version of llamitrnn, Paul Go;nsal\'CS. ~-fa~ry Carney, reeds; _ Verve\• nc,,·" ~:i&r man. inovcd to N~w Ellingt(Jn, pi'.rno; Aaron Bell or Jeff Castleman S11rnr, an Ev,1ns composition, the one th:-tt 1 '{urk he h:1s· sho\\'n :-t growing talent for (!racks 5, 7, 9), ba~s; Sieve Liirle-or Sam \\ ood­ preceded Burrell"s edition to the hit charts. ~/;{,1.(tracks 5, 7, _9/, drums. Track 12 is a· piano just:1posing tile pros. though. fvr :-t vir­ No doubt, elements of the Strings are tuoso of Burrcll's c-iliber. it must be con­ among the person.nel of the 1midentified Ra!ing: * * * * * ccde·d that e\·cry top ax~ behind this solo-· urchestr::i on 52nd- Street. . Duke Ellington's tribute to his fallen ist is no more than in order. ·· - The Suite, in· the nrnnner of a syrn- comrade-in-arms, Billy Strayhorn, is the . . fn :~ddition to personnel from th; ranks . pl:i-onic_ poem. exhibi"ts many sides of the perfect tribute to an artist: the breathing pf the'· Count B::isie anJ Miles D::n is units. performer's and the ·co"mposer's emotions of new life into: his work. No testimonial . as \Yell as the l\tel Lewis-Thad Jones Band could be more fiiting . ~ind abilities. The ·accompanying strings ' I ~ • (induding on_e-half of its· leadership), the q1ter with a baroque mobd beneath Bm- Ellington and' Strayhor"h were collab- remainder of tht? gro~1p is composed of - rell's pensi\·e, Spani-sh-leaning phraseology. orat&rs ~for almost 30 years, and the word ttip New '{ork studid pbyers, to a man, At the middle of the first movement, there "collaborator" does not even regin to ex­ Scbesky sho\\'s a ·fondness for rangy is a leap •into the_ sho-nuff_ walking blues. press the closeliess of their w~rking _re­ ch:trts on the big band numbers; there's Gr01ri;1g, ess_e-ntially ·a swelling montuna. lationship. Thtis: it. is not surp'rising that plenty of room left" for the sol6ist. E\'~1 r_,·­ :1dds depth _as it acquires length. At- points, the E]]ill[!ton re~ertoire inc"it1des \\'Ork th.at duys is an example ·of this spatial ap­ Burrell's tone has such a perc-i:1ssive burr. is so unified, s6 '_'.one" that it is impos­ prl1ach. and there's tl1e · d,rnma of ever-. that it sounds like. one of the· oil drum _sible to attributei it to one or the other. increasing intensity (a la Gil E~·ans) here_ tops· in a steel· b:'tncl. A filmy interlude But there is cilso mue;h that is all Ell~ t.l'll. _ . . prefaces. Rolllld, · a showcase for Burrell's ington, and mulch that is all Strayhorn_ , Buri·cll's double-line runs arc formidable fantastic fingering. A ·highlight here is the (al_\~ays b_earingl_ in_--_min__ c1_ tha~- they '\\-'ere (11-iLi·cfv Do\'. The 1 band _sho\\'s a fine w,iy iime is "implied, ·sometimes .extreme]~, wntrng for the same ·1tvrng mstrument). lli1a'i1imit·y of ·purp,1~c ;md feeling Liehind subtly but never vaguely. )'he orchestra's­ The pieces Ellington has chosen here are the wide open soloist. PrcaclzN rem:-tins a presence inakes itself feJt strpngly at this aci10rig the lattd;. Some of the most fa­ \ iabk prosclyt,izer under the ministry o( point, with a. drum solo and driving full mous ~(Take the/ A Train, Chelsea Bridge, Burrell and congre!!aticn,~hut .there's no··. hand ·passages. Rccapitulation, the hist · Passion FlowerD are missing, but not my

1 the flowirig ; ease of Boo-dah, the lvric fervor of~ 1· ay Dream, 'the. in~inuaiing w,_trmt.·hof , .·11ibor,.the thtL.ist of All Duy Long, and the magi'>lcrial ways with the tradit_iqn of'I Roe~ SkiP{n·:11'at the B/111• I I Not(! and _Tl'f 111//macy of the Blues. · On .these,. we hear the great orchestr:1 and the gre~it soloists at their best: __Cootie I Williams bu1twice (bu,t with \\'_hat \V_cigl_1t). on Snibor a,11dBlue 1\ ofc, takmg his t1111c I in that uniq~1e way-like an elephant wlw I is a pcrfcctlt gr,1ceful ballet dancer; visit­ I ing (and we\Icome) alumnus Clark Terry. who m,\kes; himself· quite at home 011 Boo-auh an~i U ..,\1.A!.G.; Cat Ander.,011. the versatile) (never write him off as just · a high-note 1~1an), with plunger anu open on Cl/{/rpoy~ anu in fine form on /11- tin/{/n; Paul: Gons::dves (but 011cc) filling Ben. \Vcbstqr's triplc-E shoes on Ruin Check; Hardy Carney (also hut once, but alwavs pres6nt) on U.M .:\1.G ., wh.erc, :1_t time~. the \thole banu seems ste('.ped · in his sound; Jimmy Ha111ilton (t!1e elegant one) float in~ gracefully over the final en­ semble of ilr•· oo-clah: John Sanders .(:1n­ othcr \.·isito:i') impcc_cably imrer.s.onating Juan Tizol I n Rain Check, and Ellingtl)n l1imsclf · ( thij pianist in the band), \\'i(!J .• . I· • HERBIEMANN WINDOWSOPENED Rainthose .. Check.per,fea!;•, •.',!t fills;(Of Lotusstepping B!osso111, out gaily hiorc , 01_1 later.) DrJ. mer Ste\'C Little does \'cry AtlanticSO 1507 · well indeed.. ~" But if the album has a star, other tlian Stravhorn ~ml the ·band, it is Johnnv Hodges,}~r}vhom, in Stanley p~~ce's a1~: phrase, B.i_IIf always wrote so lcl1c1tously. He is feattjl"eJ on After A II and Day · Drcalll (thi,,s new, longer version e\'cn greater thari the classic i9-+1 interprota-. tion), and !porns large on S11ihor and· In- timacy. · j . . · · ·· . The crowping piece of work, howe\'er. · is Blood ,Sounr-. This was Strayhorn\ swan song, t\he manuscript sent Jown from

the hospital j'f. or a special concert he could not attend. It is, cve-n when an effort is ~1ade __t~ di,~'·rcgard th~ circu.mstances o( 1ts cn;;ition, .a masterpiece. • _ OAVJONEWMAN Hodges: f r whom it was written. plays· BIG~ER& BETTER. it like an· a1,gel; a hdman angel. There is . AtlanticSO f505 no milking; /the taste is flawless, the sound incomparabl~. Words . ctl·nnot ad~qtiatcly evoke the aiffect of this superb piece str- - perbly ·playq~; jt must be heard. It takes its place a_~10ng the very greatest per­ for.manccs ( the_Ellington canon; a noble work, and al, supremely honest Of,Je·. . · There ·is ,1 nolher very special piece on this al?um: JIL?tus Blossom. A piano s?lo by ~lh.ngtoq, 1t was made after a · sess10n, had forr11all¥ ended; one· hears talk and laughter in ~he background, but this sub 0 sides as the! 1 message. comes across. . Writefor FREEcatalog 1841Brpadway ·· is Ellington.the piece i'\.·s !Strayho.rn.quote_d asbest saying· liked th.atto hear·this'.' __· him play. It is a piece in an almost 19th: NewYork, N}. 10023 Century ro 'antic vein-akin, perhaps, to Grieg or e, Hy Debussy. Some might be· THEBLU YUSEFLATEEF tempted to ismiss. it as overly lush-and it is played '(with fervent .fteling-but that Atlanticlo 1 ~08 0 would be a_·t_·_1istak_e, for what ha.s made the modern ear ; suspicious of romanticism i

its tendency j to substitute batb9s for sin- iWiitiiit Ira Mk@Wif&

! • I Jul.y 25 □ 23 cere emotion. There c:rn be no question of hcrcd by prcll'nse or jive. The !rue spirit o[ such substitution here: the-feeling is gen- jazz is alive in him, and whcne\'cr he uine. _ pl,_1ys, he helps-•to keep it a living spir;it. And this, perhaps, yields a· clue to the Some-·among_ · them 111us1c1ans who oreatness of Ellini.;ton's ·music (of which should (and do) know bctk-r but are con­ D1e work of Billy ~Strayho.rn is _an organic sumed by envy-still speak of Kirk pri­ part): it dares the grand gesture, iind with marily as a man with a halful of'. tricks. all its sophistication, it wears its heart on But he is anyihing but that. A magician, its sleeve: Bless it for that. yes-a trick',ter, never. \/uite the contrary: -1\forgcnstcm a man of limitless imagination who ]1as the skill, courage and perseverance to translate his creative mgcs into artistic Joe Harriou-John Mayer •~~ INDO-JAZZ FUSIONS: THE JOE HAWU­ reality. He has something to ,-;ay that can­ OTT-JOf-'.IN MAYER DOUBLE QUINTET­ not' be express.ell in an ordinary way, and· Atlancic SDI48~: Parlila; Mu/Jani; Gana; .·lcb,1 has found' his own means to say it. Uaga; Subject. Personnel: Shake Keane. trumpet, fluegclhorn; The album at hand i~ to my mind his Harriott, alto saxophone; Pat Smythe, piano; finest since Rip, Rig and Panic and one Coleridge Goode,· bass; Alan Ga·nley, drums. Chris 'faylur, flute; Mayer, violin,' harpsichord; of his' best to date. It contains an astun­ Diwan Morhiar, sitar;· Chandrahis Paigankar, ishing variety of ~aterial, mustly. original, tamboura; E:~shav Sathc, -tabla. brought to life with an astonishing .range Rating:**** of .expression and imagination. The tm~ nature of anything is what it lt is difficult t0 single out clements for hecomcs at its highest. I follow Aristotle's_

special praise, sin 1ce the level is consistently aphorism in reviewing this album, in which high, but it should be pointed out tfiat one finds much that is trite and repetitive Kirk has added yet another distinctive and ·unspontaneous. At its best, however, color to his aural palette: the clarinet. it is very good indeed. · He introduces it on IJ/uc Roi, a relaxed, The longest of t,he five pieces, Parti"ta story-telling blues that has the flavor of ( which occupies the whole of side 1), vintage Ellington1a-a ,la Kirk, to bssure. presents us with mo~t .of the 'stumbling: As is the case. with any instrument he the double bass is out of tune and awk­ L1ckles, he gets 1a lovely sounJ from his ward·ly executed; a· distinct tone of In A clar.inet, warm and \Voody. He plays it Persian l'iiarkct (from which -such an ef­ s~lo and harmonizes it· wjth his tenor, and fort to mix jazz and Indian music can­ he demonstrates his. mastery of circ.ular never escape entirely) peeks out frequently br'eathing with a 1 dram;_1tic held note. ( especia11;, in the second section); the Another remarkable- perf orma11c~ is Al­ fluegellrnrn snlo. made up of short hursts /i~,. almost ·entirely a tenor solo, excepting· of v,cry fast notes, never fom1s· its.elf into a few apt passages in· the strikin-g c'adenza. a proper solo; and the two groups, the Jt's just on·c cl10rus, plus that c·oda, yet jazz quintet and the Indian quintet, get says a great deal m,ore than many a lung out ot ph::i-?~rhythmically. . and windy discourse. . .. But on side 2, the pieces start .to come Stompi11g-Groi1wl- is a fresh and refresh­ · together, especially o·n M1tltcmi, the second ing perspective on a classic (the title longest piece in -the album: John Mayer's yields a clue and should put you on the violin solo is splendid, being_. both well rir:ht track). Appropriately, it swings constructed and intelligently played (I ft;riously, an~l Roland trades some· ex­ find this effort far more to nty liking· than hilarating fours with himself and drummer the Menuhin/Shankar collaboration, by Tate. Tl;e head' is attractively voiced· for the way); Pat Smytbe's piano solo is in­ piano and tenor ..in parallels. · ventive; the rhythm section- -gets down to ;fhe title tune-, is a moving ballad, with bnsiness; the"-two grouP,s give. themselves ·almost speech-like inflections-in the swoop­ up t~) a _greater whole, and the result is ing m.anzello statements. CBle Edith of indeed 'a fusion, ra.ther than jazz laid on th; thle, by the way, is Mrs. Roland Kirk, Indian · music, which most· of the other and a beautiful !lady she is). Sll'inging is pie~es tend to be; and both Keane and the happy Billy, Taylor. -Lune, and it's a Harriott fit into place, rather than simply fleet flute feature for Roland, COQ1pletc doing their thing (although Harriott ·simply with the· vocal! effects ,tha_t others have cannot ·relinquish- one of the worst affecta­ tried to copy. tions of the new" players: a short fast· Fallout is a friendly and musical satire phrase, repeated with an additional note of r&b, with jtjst the right ln1zz in the and perhaps on . a different part of the · tenor sound, rtnd dig, the ''ensemble" back.­ measure, another repetition with another gr~und t; ti1e first part of tl_1e pian_o solo. added note, and so ·forth). Si/rcr/i:::.ation is i .a modal piece with ex­ The .flutist, -Chris Taylor, never rises to. pressive strich : and tenor pa~sages, the the occ:;tsion, al~s, :ind Alan Ganley turn$ latter sometimeis reri1iniscent of vintage in a commendable performance throughout. -Lucky Thompsdn. the album. -Russo · Know, finallyl is a catchy bos_sa nova, _ pla·yed wi1h thJ proper ·buoyancy. Kirk's spoken passage~ . at beginning and en_d Roland Kirk 1lli#lliii¥/1¥•Wfifliilifflittw1:®1Wiiii¥!¥• 1 +m are oddly affectjng. The question asked by NOW PLEASE DON'T YOU CRY. BEAUTI­ FUL EDITH-Verve V6~8709: B/11e Roi:. Alfie: the title is a fi\ting one-=why d~n't they Jr'ijy Don't They K1101l'; Sifrerli::alion;· Fallo_111.:· knoV:: .. indeed. jAt the,; end, Rolaml mut­ Nou· Please D011'1 Yo11 Cry, Bea111if11/ Ed11h; Stomping Gro1111dt It's .·1 Grand N_ight For Su•ing• ters J!Ve , . , JJre .. • · ) ing. '. · This track has Smith's best solo o..f the Personnel: . Kirk,. clarinet. tenor saxophone, 1 date but he is tiice -throughou : and comps manzello. strich, flute, voice; Lonnie Smith, piano; Ronnie )3.oykins, bass; Gradr Tatei drums. · with' sensitivity.: Boykins' bass is in there, . Rating:***** · -too, and Tate doefo'.t miss any cues. Roland Kirk is beautiful. He - is all · Today, espedially, we sl1ould_ be grate- music,' and j1e lets it pour forth u~ericum- ful to Roland [Ki~:k. -,Horgenstcm

I . 21 0 Dowt,J BEAT