Wednesday, February 04, 2015

NEW RELEASES: ALPHONSE MOUZON – SEARCH OF A DREAM; PEDRO ITURRALDE / PACE DE LUCIA – FLAMENCO JAZZ; GABOR SZABO - NIGHT FLIGHT

ALPHONSE MOUZON – SEARCH OF A DREAM

No one had a better understanding of the melding of jazz polyrhythms with rocks pulsating beat than drummer Alphonse Mouzon is one of the originators of jazz-rock. With his furious propulsive style, he was welcome in both camps. Weather Report founders Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Miroslav Vitous brought him into the premier edition of the band. And as he had shown with Weather Report, he demonstrates on his 1977 album In Search of a Dream how well he could integrate acoustic bass into a jazz-rock concept. In duo with Mouzon, Vitous bows the deep tones on his composition The Light; he grabs the electric bass on the other compositions. Vitous as well as saxophonist Bob Malik and keyboard player Stan Goldberg were all part of the 1977 version of Mouzons touring band. Pianist/keyboarder Joachim Kühn and guitarist Philip Catherine joined the troupe for the recording of In Search of a Dream. Thus, the session was a sort of summit meeting of the jazz-rock elite of that time. ~ Amazon

PEDRO ITURRALDE  / PACE DE LUCIA – FLAMENCO JAZZ

Spanish saxophonist Pedro Iturralde, under the influence of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans album Sketches of Spain, added a couple of flamenco melodies to his repertoire as he toured Europe. Thats why Joachim-Ernst Berendt sought him out to play at the 1967 Berlin Jazz Festival. With the festivals motto Jazz Meets the World, Berendt was looking for a jazz-flamenco combination to fit the bill. Since Berendt absolutely wanted a guitarist in the band, Iturralde came to Berlin with a 19 year old flamenco musician named Paco de Lucía, later an international star and one of the greatest flamenco musicians of our time who continued to be involved with jazz until his passing in February 2014. Paco de Lucías participation as a regular band member is what makes this MPS recording so appealing. Iturralde also brought Italian trombonist Dino Piana into the band for this recording as well as the Berlin Festival appearance. ~ Amazon

GABOR SZABO - NIGHT FLIGHT

Gabor Szabo was an influential jazz guitarist famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music. Szabo escaped Soviet-dominated Hungary in 1956 and moved to the United States where he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston. After a stint with Chico Hamilton in the early 60s, Szabo he recorded a well-received span of albums under his own name on the Impulse! label. His playing strongly influenced Carlos Santana. Indeed, Santana's 2012 instrumental album Shape Shifter includes a song called ''Mr. Szabo,'' played in tribute in the style of Gabor Szabo. Nightflight was originally released in 1976 on the Mercury label. The album produced the biggest hit of his career, a remake of producer Bunny Sigler's song ''Keep Smilin'.'' ~ Amazon










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