Jazz Dispensary has released the first ever vinyl reissue of Azar Lawrence’s
groundbreaking free-jazz album Summer Solstice, as part of
the Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf Series which focuses on audiophile quality
pressings of rare and out of print titles. Originally issued in 1975, this
spiritual free-jazz album remains one of the highlights of the illustrious
career of Azar Lawrence, one of the only remaining artists from the legendary
Prestige Records era who is still touring and putting out new music. The album
was remastered All-Analog from the original tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl
at Quality Record Pressing.
Highly regarded as one of Lawrence’s finest solo albums,
Summer Solstice is a transcendent journey into his Brazilian influenced
free-jazz fusion musings. Having started his journey in the jazz realm as a
very young man, Lawrence honed his skills among luminary giants such as Miles
Davis and John Coltrane, followed by a five-year stint of work with the great
McCoy Tyner where he found his voice as a performer and composer. According to
an article on Lawrence by Chuck Koton for All About Jazz, “…his ascent to the
peak of the jazz world at times lead Lawrence to wonder how he could be playing
with these giants and it was Tyner who reassured Azar that as a young man that
he belonged in such company because he could not only play the hell out of the
horn, but because he felt the same way about the music as John (Coltrane) did.”
Recorded during a prime period of exploration and adventure
for modern American jazz music, Summer Solstice finds Lawrence leading a team
of international virtuosos consisting of Amaury Tristão on guitar, Dom Salvador
and Albert Daily on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Guilherme
Franco on percussion, Gerald Hayes on flute, and the one and only Raul de
Souza, who is known for his work with artists like Sérgio Mendes and Sonny
Rollins, on trombone. In the producer’s chair is Orrin Keepnews, famous for his
golden ears that led him to discover artists such as Bill Evans, Cannonball
Adderley and Jimmy Heath. The result is an album that operates in the sonic
space halfway between the influence of the American jazz standards of the 50s
and 60s and the free spirit of the Brazilian jazz made popular by artists like
Hermeto Pascoal and Egberto Gismonti. Lawrence’s bold and fearless exploration
of new sounds influenced many generations to come, and can be heard in the
playing of his younger colleagues, like the great Kamasi Washington who cites
him as a big influence.
No comments:
Post a Comment