Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Lonnie Liston Smith - Cosmic Funk

This one is packed with classic tracks and is probably Smith's best record of them all. He wasn't quite discoed-out yet and he was fresh off of his traditional jazz runnings, so this record hits a very comfortable middle ground for fusion heads as well as those more tuned into smooth jazz. An incredible record that doesn't get anywhere near enough props as it should for helping define the fusion movement of the early 70s. - by Scott Woods, Amazon.com

As Dean Rudland points out in Ace's 2014 reissue of Lonnie Liston Smith's 1974 set Cosmic Funk, Smith himself views this LP as a transitional effort, capturing him between his pioneering work with Miles Davis' electric group and the exploratory Expansions. This suggests it perhaps isn't a cohesive album and, true enough, it's a record where the good ideas are sometimes suggested rather than developed. Much of the record showcases the smooth vocal stylings of Smith's brother Donald, who leads on a vocal version of John Coltrane's "Naima," lends a bit of a supper club vibe to "Beautiful Woman," croons through "Peaceful Ones," and dives into the thick, overlapping grooves of the title track. That opening song is one of the few tracks that emphasizes funk, otherwise the cosmic reigns, as the group usually getting spacy all the while never quite leaving the earth. Although the group is quite lively on a relatively straight-ahead reading of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints," the album is distinguished by the spaces that lie between funk and bop, the periods where Smith and company start to float, then pull themselves back. - by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

Artist: Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes
Album: Cosmic Funk
Year: 1974 (Flying Dutchman Records)
Label: RCA Viktor (1993)
Runtime: 36:09
Recorded at the RCA Recording Studios, New York in April, 1974.

Tracks:
1.  Cosmic Funk (Lonnie Liston Smith) 5:39
2.  Footprints (Wayne Shorter) 6:11
3.  Beautiful Woman (Lonnie Liston Smith) 6:58
4.  Sais (Egypt) (James Mtume) 8:16
5.  Peaceful Ones (Lonnie Liston Smith) 5:03
6.  Naima (John Coltrane) 4:00

Personnel:
Lonnie Liston Smith (Acoustic and Elelctric Piano, Percussion)
Donald Smith (Vocals, Piano and Flute)
George Barron (Soprano Saxophone, Flute and Percussion)
Al Anderson (Electric Bass)
Lawrence Killian (Congas and Percussion)
Art Gore (Drums)
Doug Hammond (Percussion)

Monday, August 21, 2017

Mode Plagal - Mode Plagal II

Ebullient originality and improvisational skill describe the audibly provocative new CD by Greek jazz band, Mode Plagal. "Mode Plagal II" is the long-awaited follow-up to the group's 1995 album "Mode Plagal", on the alternative Ano Kato Records label. Full of inventive touces, this just-out album gives the listener a taste of jazz as seen through the eyes -and ears- of innovative Greek musicians. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mode Plagal: Thodoris Rellos on alto saxophone, Kleon
Antoniou on electric guitar, Antonis Maratos on electric bass, Takis Kanellos on drums and Angelos Polychroniou on percussion. These skilled musicians dared to "jazzify" Greek traditional music (demotika) and the outcome is indeed impressive. Conventional ingredients of the demotika have been enhanced with thick icings of jazz harmonies and distinctive bass lines. They have resourcefully taken a marginalised music and literally given it a new lease of life. And these audacious improvisers don't hide their influences either, instead, they put them on centre stage transforming these blatant borrowings into a newly emerging musical style that has the melodic appeal of fine jazz and the weightier rhythmic line of the Greek demotika tradition. By skillfully manipulating the musical time of a traditional tune from western Macedonia they come up with "Funky Vergina", an attractive example of jazz improv with sax, bass and drum solos intact. The best thing about this CD is that these guys bring conviction to what they do, and the penetrating clarity of their individual performances bears that out. Those who attended last week's performance at the Megaron know that all too well. With a set of personal modes and a radical approach, Mode Plagal have created a style that absorbs tradition, making it an integral part of their music without delivering pale imitations. Particulary delicious is the wonderfully arranges ethnic-tinged "Kalanta" - Christmas carols from Thrace - bolstered by shouting percussion and feather-light saxophone fillings. But if sustained intensity is what you're after, look no further than the stylistically diverse "Pikrodafni (...a blues)" which draws from the Epirot rhythmic heritage. This potent six-minute-plus track, featuring a dynamic sax lead and a driving drum beat, is exhilarating. There's also the more atmospheric "Salona", from Roumeli (continental Greece) where a sonorous sax solo takes the listener to the plains of the region, and the bluesy guitar riffs to Chicago's moody blues joints. What makes this CD, released on Lyra, well worth exploring? It's fresh, well-crafted and finally downright radical. Demotika ill never sound the same after Mode Plagal II. The band has pushed contemporary Greek music into new territories. As for Mode Plagal, keep your eyes and ears open, these guys are probably somewhere in town doing their gig... by Maria Paravantes, Athens News

Artist: Mode Plagal
Album: Mode Plagal II
Year: 1998
Label: Lyra Records
Runtime: 68:15
Recorded in Athens, Greece

Tracks:
1.  Funky Vergina (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 5:48
2.  Miles' Leventikos (Mimis Doutsoulis/Thodoris Rellos) 7:00
3.  The Letter (Thodoris Rellos) 9:31
4.  Carols (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 6:10
5.  Ulysses (Thodoris Rellos/Kleon Antoniou/Antonis Maratos/Takis Kanellos) 1:26
6.  Kalamatianos (Folk Dance/arr. Mode Plagal) 4:31
7.  Pikrodafni (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 6:36
8.  Helios (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 3:52
9.  Cyclops (Thodoris Rellos/Kleon Antoniou/Antonis Maratos/Takis Kanellos) 0:18
10.  Rock Around Eleven (Thodoris Rellos) 3:44
11.  Ivo (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 5:05
12.  Solo Sax (Thodoris Rellos) 2:27
13.  Salona (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 4:15
14.  Solo Drums (Takis Kanellos) 1:06
15.  On Foreign Lands (Traditional/arr. Mode Plagal) 4:42
16.  Blazing Sun (Thodoris Rellos/Kleon Antoniou/Antonis Maratos/Takis Kanellos) 1:44

Personnel:
Thodoris Rellos (Alto Saxophone and Vocals)
Kleon Antoniou (Electric Guitar and Vocals)
Antonis Maratos (Bass Guitar and Vocals)
Takis Kanellos (Drums and Vocals)
Angelos Polychroniou (Congas and Tambourine) - 1-4,7,10,11,15
Maria Aristopoulou (Vocals) - 7
Sophia Papazoglou (Vocals) - 7
Vassilis Hadjinikolaou (Vocals) - 7

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Jimmy Smith - Root Down (Jimmy Smith Live!)

Toward the end of his stint with Blue Note, Jimmy Smith's albums became predictable. Moving to Verve in the mid-'60s helped matters considerably, since he started playing with new musicians (most notably nice duets with Wes Montgomery) and new settings, but he never really got loose, as he did on select early Blue Note sessions. Part of the problem was that Smith's soul-jazz was organic and laid-back, relaxed and funky instead of down and dirty. For latter-day listeners, aware of his reputation as the godfather of modern soul-jazz organ (and certainly aware of the Beastie Boys' name drop), that may mean that Smith's actual albums all seem a bit tame and restrained, classy, not funky. That's true of the bulk of Smith's catalog, with the notable exception of Root Down. Not coincidentally, the title track is the song the Beasties sampled on their 1994 song of the same name, since this is one of the only sessions that Smith cut where his playing his raw, vital, and earthy. Recorded live in Los Angeles in February 1972, the album captures a performance Smith gave with a relatively young supporting band who were clearly influenced by modern funk and rock. They push Smith to playing low-down grooves that truly cook: "Sagg Shootin' His Arrow" and "Root Down (And Get It)" are among the hottest tracks he ever cut, especially in the restored full-length versions showcased on the 2000 Verve By Request reissue. There are times where the pace slows, but the tension never sags, and the result is one of the finest, most exciting records in Smith's catalog. If you think you know everything about Jimmy Smith, this is the album for you. - by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

Artist: Jimmy Smith
Album: Root Down (Jommy Smith Live!)
Year: 1972
Label: Verve Records (Remastered, 2000)
Runtime: 67:05
Recorded live at the Bombay Bycicle Club, Los Angeles in February 8, 1972

Tracks:
1.  Sagg Shootin' His Arrow (Jimmy Smith) 11:47
2.  For Everyone Under The Sun (Peter Chase) 5:54
3.  After Hours (Erskine Hawkins / Avery Parrish) 7:46
4.  Root Down (And Get It) (Jimmy Smith) 12:29
5.  Let's Stay Together (Al Green / Al Jackson, Jr. / Willie Mitchell) 6:26
6.  Slow Down Sagg (Jimmy Smith) 10:30
7.  Root Down (And Get It) (Previously Unissued Alternative Version) (Jimmy Smith) 12:13

Personnel:
Jimmy Smith (Organ)
Wilton Felder (Double Bass)
Buck Clarke (Congas, Percussion)
Paul Humphrey (Drums)
Arthur Adams (Guitar)
Steve Williams (Harmonica) - 3

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