CANNONBALL ADDERLEY – BIG MAN: THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY
In what would turn out to be the final years of his short
life, jazz great Julian “Cannonball” Adderley embarked on a number of
ambitious, genre-stretching projects. The last of these was 1975's Big Man, the
score for a musical play based on the John Henry (“the steel driving man”) American
folk legend. The album was released as a two-LP set with libretto, and featured
music from Adderley and his then-current musical associates including brother
Nat Adderley, George Duke (using the alias “Dawilli Gonga”), Roy McCurdy, Airto
Moreira, Carol Kaye and others. The sessions also made full use of a large
string section and chorus, while the primary vocalists in Big Man sang and read
their lines in character; the vocal cast included lead vocalist Joe Williams,
Randy Crawford (making her professional debut on record here at age 21), and
Robert Guillaume (later to win two Emmy Awards for his work on TV series Soap
and Benson, and a Grammy Award for his work connected to The Lion King). Long
out of print and never before issued on CD, Real Gone Music's reissue of Big
Man boasts liner notes by Bill Kopp (Kopp also penned the liners for RGM's
first Adderley reissue, The Black Messiah) with quotes from Robert Guillaume,
and the full libretto, with remastering by Joe Tarantino. The final artistic
statement from a jazz giant! ~ Real Gone Music
HARRY ALLEN / JAN LUNDGREN QUARTET - QUIETLY THERE
A great laidback set from tenorist Harry Allen – nothing
fancy, but a great demonstration of Allen's wonderfully old school approach!
The group's got an easygoing groove – led by pianist Jan Lundgren – and Allen
blows these soulful, spacious solos over the top – with a bit of a Gene Ammons
vibe on both the groovers and mellow cuts. Even better, all tracks are
compositions by the great Johnny Mandel – whose music works perfectly for this
format – and titles include "Emily", "The Shining Sea",
"Sure As You're Born", "Cinnamon & Clove",
"Suicide Is Painless", and "The Shadow Of Your Smile". ~ Dusty Groove
APHEX TWIN - COMPUTER CONTROLLED ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS PT 2
The no longer hibernating Aphex Twin follows up 2014's
excellent Syro LP with the appropriately-titled Computer Controlled Acoustic
Instruments Part 2 EP – a coolly experimental project that's a lot different
that his other recent work, but it's a worthy left turn! It's indeed played
with a lot of live instruments – drums, cymbals and all around prominent
percussion, piano, strings and more – which feels fresh and alive, even if it
is played through computer control. Hypnotic sounds from a modern master. ~ Dusty Groove
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