Earlier this year, I participated in @what_can_brown’s impossible #top5jazzalbums challenge. For some reason I blanked and didn’t think of pianist Mal Waldron's landmark album "The Quest," which is one of the most spectacular sessions that the genre has to offer. After my recent post of #RonCarter’s debut “Where?”, which was recorded one week before “The Quest” and with an almost identical cast, I decided to revisit this album today and pay tribute once again.
Maybe it was the dark aura and haunting beauty of the music pressed into these grooves that made me fall in love with this album the first time I heard it. We'll never know what Waldron was looking for on his quest, the liner notes don't offer many clues as to his motive, but whatever it was, the mature sophistication and prudent execution of the music offered here imply that he may have found it.
This sextet date from 1961, occasionally released under #EricDolphy's name, stands among the most mesmerizing works in post-bop. There are no standards here, Waldon contributes all the tunes but he retains a modest presence as a soloist, graciously allowing his ever-curious sidemen to spearhead their search for new, uncharted musical territories. Dolphy sticks to alto sax (apart from a single excursion on clarinet), #BookerErvin shines on tenor, a young Carter on cello, #JoeBenjamin on bass and #CharliePersip on drums.
There is no filler, every tune serves a distinct purpose in this beguiling exercise in highly artistic grandstanding (and I don't mean that in a bad way.) My favorite moments, however, are the quieter parts, such as "Duquility," which features Carter's lyrical cello playing, and "Warm Canto," another ballad that benefits from Waldron's dark, introverted style. In a 2001 interview, Waldron recalled that "the sound just came to me as an entity." To me, this album is an indubitable masterpiece, one that holds many surprises even after repeated listening.
#MalWaldron#NewJazz#Prestige#RVG#Jazz#hardbop#vinyl#jazzvinyl#jazzrecords#jazzcollector#recordoftheday#vinyloftheday#recordcollection#igvinyl#igvinylclub#IGjazzvinyl
On the table tonight the legendary, once in a lifetime genius that is Brian Eno.
Did you ever go to one of those traveling carnivals and ponder what would happen if the organ-grinder went slightly mad? Then think about that organ-grinder getting new instruments and layering all these complex and textured sounds. This is basically the sound of Brian Eno’s second solo album.
It’s impossible not to mention words like askew, off-kilter and odd when writing about Eno’s early albums. He’s all about the « art » in « art-rock/pop». His sound just like his aesthetic of the time is flamboyant and hardly contained. One can understand how he clashed with Bryan Ferry in Roxy Music.
After the go for broke experimentation of his first solo outing (« Here Come the Warm Jets ») Eno doesn’t suffer from a sophomore slump, he forages deeper, layering more sounds and delivering great melodies.
Ranging from creepy (“Fat Lady of Limbourg”) to quasi-delirious (opener “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More”) to twisty and thunderous (« The True Wheel ») Eno is fervently at ease playing around and stretching the limits of pop and rock music and on « Third Uncle » Eno basically invents post-punk before punk or anything otherwise was a thing.
I think my favorites from this era are his first solo album or the collaboration with Robert Fripp (« No Pussyfooting ») but this one is really hitting the spot tonight and I might need to reevaluate my preferences.
.
Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) 1974 original US pressing.
.
.
.
.
#brianeno#legend#artrock#artpop#roxymusic#weird#igvinyl#nowplaying#nowspinning#onmyturntable#records#recordcollection#recordcollector#33rpm