(Waiting For The) Flood

Right now I am righteously digging Flood, a Japanese Sony release from Herbie Hancock that contains parts of two concerts he gave in Tokyo in 1974. The set lists are from his Headhunters, Thrust and Man-Child albums, with the exception of Maiden Voyage, and the band is all-star: Bennie Maupin, Paul Jackson, Mike Clark, Bill Summers and Blackbird McKnight.

When I first got this (as a two-CD set a few years ago), I liked it OK but it didn't really get to me. For some reason I pulled it out a couple of days ago and it just burns! For me the highlights are Bennie Maupin's solos on tenor and soprano. He is one of my all-time favorites with his ability to play the blues like no other and go outside without sounding like a Trane clone. I also love the tone he gets on all his horns.

If I were to knit-pick I'd say a couple of Hancock's solos go on a little too long, but overall this band is tight and works it. If you like the best kind of fusion, then get this.

In Praise of Patrick Gleeson

The "fusion" movement of the late 60's/70's was a mixed bag, with innovations in rhythm, tonal palettes and the use of electronics charting a new path yet standing alongside indulgent excesses that today you might be embarrassed to admit you listened to (Romantic Warrior, anyone?) 

Someone I think is due for more recognition is Dr. Patrick Gleeson, who was part of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi group that recorded Crossings for Warner Bros. and Sextant for Columbia. If memory serves, I believe he taught Herbie about the synthesizer. He is also an integral presence on Julian Priester's overlooked Love, Love, which I think is a fusion classic. If you haven't checked that album out, which ECM re-released on CD, it's worth your time.

He seemed to disappear for awhile, but he and Bennie Maupin put out Driving While Black in 1998. It's ironic that the advances in keyboard technology and sequencing make him a little more generic sounding than his earlier analog work. I see that he released Jazz Criminal in 2007 with Jim Lang, who appears to be a studio keyboard player. Anyone heard this?

The One Record I Play More Than Any Other...

I've got a lot of Jazz albums and CDs; I've been collecting since I was 13 and I'm now...well, never mind. But in spite of my love for the avant-garde and specifically Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill and others, the album I've probably played the most over all the years is In Concert Volume Two, which was released in 1974 on CTI Records. 

The two discs are culled from all-star concerts recorded in Detroit and Chicago with a front line of Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine. Specifically, I listen to Interlude and Hornets from Side 1, which features a quartet of Herbie Hancock on electric piano with Eric Gale, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. Hornets simply smokes; Herbie pours on the intensity and then keeps taking it higher. DeJohnette is with him step for step, and there are points where it starts to veer into free playing, as there seems to be an implied pulse, but not a set rhythm. Gale throws in some nice commentary, and Carter holds tight to the initial riff. 

I've never seen either volume on CD, but Volume 2 especially is worth the price for some very loose, inspired blowing from all parties.

Guilty Pleasures

Everybody has 'em. My jazz-related guilty pleasures usually revolve around 70's fusion, as it gave (and gives) me a chance to "rock out" without the brain-dead rock lyrics or plodding musicianship. A few records come to mind:

Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before and Romantic Warrior

Herbie Hancock: Thrust

Eddie Henderson: Sunburst (although this is much less of a guilty pleasure compared to the others I listed: the record holds up very well today.)

Add yours in the comments!