Wednesday, November 12, 2014

NEW RELEASES: GOLDEN DAWN ARKESTRA – GOLDEN DAWN ARKESTRA EP; THELONIOUS MONK – GENIUS OF MODERN MUSIC VOLUME ONE; HIROSHI FUKUMURA - LIVE FIRST FLIGHT

GOLDEN DAWN ARKESTRA – GOLDEN DAWN ARKESTRA EP

Wonderful work from this fuzzy, funky group – a project headed by Topaz McGarrigle, who released some great records as Topaz over the years – working here with the excellent Golden Dawn Arkestra! This set draws inspiration from fuzzy rock as well as funk – but there's also some unusual exotic elements at play, too – as befits the cover image – slight traces of cosmic energy that help keep things interesting – especially on the keyboards and acoustic percussion. Adrian Quesada, of Ocote Soul Sounds, Brownout and Brown Sabbath contributed a bit in the studio, and titles include "Selemat", "Saharan Knights", "Oasis", "Dimensions", and "Afropocalypse".  ~ Dusty Groove

THELONIOUS MONK – GENIUS OF MODERN MUSIC VOLUME ONE

A great collection of Thelonious Monk's 10" recordings for Blue Note – seminal not only for the label's commitment to a modernist bop ideal, but also for Monk's integration in the growing collection of top-level jazz players on the New York scene. The work's notable also for the fact that Monk's playing in group settings – not trio ones – and here, his early writing for and interplay with saxes and trumpet would certainly have a strong effect on the development of modern jazz in the 50s. Titles on this first volume include "Round Midnight", "In Walked Bud", "Thelonious", 
"Epistrophy", "Misterioso", "Well You Needn't", and "Off Minor". ~ Dusty Groove

HIROSHI FUKUMURA - LIVE FIRST FLIGHT

A great live date from one of our favorite trombonists of the 70s – a really unusual player who made some great personal strides on the instrument with records like these! The session's a live one, with a very open feel – long, flowing tracks that are similar to the sorts you'd hear from a Japanese piano trio of the time, but played with a stronger focus on Hirosi Fukumura's well-blown solos – often constructed more like trumpet lines, with a fantastically gritty, growling voice on the instrument – but one that has a lot of lyrical power too. The rest of the quartet features Hiroshi Tamura on piano, Tsutomu Okada on bass, and Shinji Mori on drums – and titles include "Nancy", "Mother Some Place", "Waltz For M", and "The Shadow Of Your Smile". (SHM-CD pressing! Part of the Deep Jazz Reality series.)  ~ Dusty Groove




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