Exploring musical connections one track at a time…
From John Abercrombie’s Timeless classic on ECM, we follow the guitarist to another proto-ambient wonder of the fusion world: Billy Cobham’s ‘Heather’ from the Atlantic album Crosswinds (1974).
Continue reading “Billy Cobham – Heather”
‘Changeless’ and ‘endless’ were the defining terms of our last post on virtuoso pianist Keith Jarrett. Continuing this theme, we follow with ‘Timeless’, the beautiful final track on guitarist John Abercrombie’s 1975 album of the same name, which like Jarrett’s Changeless, was also released on ECM and featured Jack DeJohnette on drums.
Continue reading “John Abercrombie – Timeless”
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Bobby Hutcherson’s genius graced some of Blue Note’s finest sessions, from McCoy Tyner’s Time for Tyner (1969) to Grant Green’s Street of Dreams (1967).
Continue reading “Grant Green – Lazy Afternoon”
After a couple of months in hibernation, we’re back! In our last post, Dan chose Freddie Hubbard’s fusion classic ‘Red Clay’, released on CTI Records in 1970. A year after this album was released, CTI founded Kudu Records, a sub-label intended to showcase artists with a more commercial appeal to their CTI counterparts. Consisting of mainly black musicians, Kudu’s releases were often rooted in the soul jazz sound that was popular at the time. Drummer Idris Muhammad’s defining masterpiece Power Of Soul, released on the label in 1974 is one of the standout albums of the Kudu catalogue.
Continue reading “Idris Muhammad – Piece Of Mind”
Five years after Herbie Hancock set sail with his 1965 masterpiece Maiden Voyage, another great pianist released a masterpiece of his own. That pianist was the influential Ahmad Jamal and the album is The Awakening, released in 1970 on Impulse!, which contains a beautiful version of Hancock’s track ‘Dolphin Dance’.
Continue reading “The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Dolphin Dance”