Chick
Corea/The Ultimate Adventure On the second part of “Three Ghouls”
we are reminded of everything we ever loved about
Chick’s early fusion playing—the attention
to melody and to pleasing combinations of instrumental
timbre. Corea’s keyboard work is at times
reminiscent of some of the best Joe Zawinul work
with early Weather Report or of Chick’s
own first incarnation of Return to Forever, with
Airto Moreira, Joe Henderson, Flora Purim, and
Stanley Clarke. Airto is in place on this track,
with Hubert Laws, another Corea collaborator of
old, playing some gorgeous flute. Carles Benavent
takes care of the bass work, while Steve Gadd
plays drums and Corea doubles on electronic
percussion.
The Ultimate Adventure
manages to successfully fuse Corea’s work
from many different periods and many different
areas of interest into a whole that is truly groundbreaking
for this artist. As a searching pianist and composer,
Corea never really accepted the idea that he could
only do one thing at a time. He moved in ever
more directions at once, and now in his sixth
decade, he seems determined to quicken the pace,
creating more and more music in a variety of formats.
Last year’s Elektric Band release To
the Stars was successful to a point, but
ultimately collapsed a bit under its own weight.
Still, the music was fairly compelling and it
was clear that Corea was finding some new inspiration
in the sci-fi work of his mentor, L. Ron Hubbard.
The Ultimate Adventure appealed to Corea
largely because he saw the opportunity to include
Spanish, Arabic, and Moorish musical themes and
elements in his work. This thematic element is
something Adventure shares with Corea’s
most successful previous recording melding these
musical elements into a grand programmatic format:
My Spanish Heart.
Reissues
June
Christy/Ballads for Night People In 1958 Christy recorded the first
of two exceptional albums with her husband,
saxophonist Bob Cooper, who also penned the
arrangements for them. The first, June’s
Got Rhythm, is probably her most unabashedly
upbeat recording, featuring swinging tunes arranged
for a small group that allowed Christy’s
jazz side to come to the fore as it never had
previously. 1959’s Ballads for Night
People returned to the tried and true formula
of featuring Christy singing primarily sophisticated
ballads with much more lyrical complexity than
the average popular singer was able to manage.
When Jimmy
Smith at the Organ, V. 3 was released,
it was this newcomer’s third release in
four months. This outpouring of music occurred
during a series of marathon sessions resulting
in the CDs Jimmy Smith at the Organ, volumes
1,2, and 3. This third was recorded during consecutive
days, June 17 and 18, 1956. Needless to say,
Smith provided a high level of output in his
initial years behind the organ, and he continued
to be prodigious throughout his lengthy career.
Don
Cherry/
Symphony for Improvisers Trumpet player
Don Cherry was pretty much Blue Note’s
premiere find in the 60s avant-garde jazz sweepstakes.
The label was a bit late to the party, and though
they ended up releasing excellent recordings
by formidable avant-garde names such as Eric
Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor, that
was only after these musicians had already done
groundbreaking work on other labels who proceeded
to drop them eventually. 1964’s Complete
Communion was Cherry’s first for
Blue Note, and it featured tenor saxophonist
Gato Barbieri, who became a part of Cherry’s
regular European group. In the U.S. Cherry was
playing with an ensemble that included tenor
sax player Pharoah Sanders before he collaborated
with John Coltrane. Symphony for Improvisers,
recorded in 1966, combines the two, at least
on one track.
Essential
Jazz
Want to start a jazz collection but not
sure where to start? Maybe you already listen to jazz,
but want to check out a new artist and don't know which
is the best disc to start with. Don't worry, we're here
to help. Click here to visit out Essential
Jazz Albums page, a list of recordings every
jazz fan should have. Then check out some Classic
Album Reviews to get the lowdown on some
of the best jazz records ever recorded. Also visit our
Box Sets
area for comprehensive collections, and New
Releases to see what's out and what's new
and what's coming.
Top
Lists
When it comes to a hot
artist like Miles or Coltrane, or a great genre like
Brazilian Jazz, what recordings are the cream of the
crop? Jazzitude Top Lists let you delve a little deeper
into an artist or genre catalog so that you can build
your collection not only up, but out. We'll be adding
new Top Lists on a regular basis. Here are a few we've
done:
Cannonball
Adderley/ Somethin' Else Julian "Cannonball"
Adderley burst upon the jazz scene in 1955, sitting
in with Oscar Pettiford's group at the Bohemia
in New York and almost instantly being hailed
as the "new Bird". While Adderley had certainly
listened to and incorporated Charlie Parker's
work into his playing by this time, the foundation
for his funky, graceful alto style came from careful
listening to the work of Johnny Hodges and Benny
Carter, as well as tenor players like Coleman
Hawkins, Ben Webster, and, of course, Lester Young.
Adderly worked as
a band director at Dillard High School in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida from 1948 until shortly after
his appearance at the Bohemia, when he and brother
Nat formed a quintet and began to tour. Julian
broke that group up in '57 to join Miles Davis'
group, and in March of 1958 recorded the album
Somethin' Else as leader with Davis, pianist
Hank Jones, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art
Blakey. Adderley learned much from his involvement
with Miles, not only from Davis himself, but from
saxophonist John Coltrane, who was also a member
of the sextet. Cannonball's playing on classic
Davis sessions like Milestones reveal a
new discipline in the use of space and silence
as well as a more adventurous harmonic ear.
Check
out our 
