Bill Watrous - Manhattan Wildlife Refuge (1974)

A rarer album in electronic format as it was only printed by Wounded Bird for a limited release, this album showcases how great of a soloist Watrous can be. Famously when Watrous was trying to get signed by Columbia, one man remarked, "that guy doesn't have any chops." After listening to this album with tracks like "Fourth Floor Walk-Up," it is pretty clear that the one man at Columbia was very uninformed. Watrous was a studio player in New York City after a stint with the Merv Griffin show playing with the likes of trombonists like Urbie Green and Slide Hampton. During the 70s Watrous formed a big band, which when Watrous eventually relocated to Los Angeles was renamed "Refuge West." Watrous has an uncanny ability to play in the upper register of the horn with ease while having incredible flexibility on the horn as well. Highlights of the album include a cover of Chick Corea's "Spain" which is fantastic arrangement by John LaBarbera. To the experienced listener, you will hear soprano sax on this track and many others which is atypical to big band but really adds a lot as a solo instrument as well when playing with the sax section. The track "Fourth Floor Walk-Up" showcases the virtuosity of Watrous and his ability to play all over the horn. His entrance to the cadenza section makes many wonder if he's still playing trombone, especially because it is the same note that the lead trumpet just played. There are a variety of styles here from latin, funk, to many more.

Chase - Listen to Her Sing (1996)

This is not an officially released album, but chronologically it falls between their second and third released albums. This album is very rare as it was released in the 90s to a small print run. It shows a band in transition; those familiar with the Chase discography will recognize some tunes, but a fair amount of the tunes are new material in familiar styles but also drastically different ones. The first and last groups of tracks are actually from live concerts, but the middle of the album is entirely unreleased studio recordings. Actually, the reason this material was never released is because the majority of it did not fit the mold of what Epic wanted Chase to sound like. A personal favorite "Listen to Her Sing," a ballad, which while primarily a vocal tune showcases Bill Chase during a high note melodic part and has a very memorable guitar solo. The track "Dead" shows how well the Chase trumpet section is in the upper register as well as singer G.G. Shinn's control of the stratosphere of his tenor voice. Of the familiar material "Close Up Tight," is a fine early rendition of the closing track of Pure Music. It swings more than its later counterpart, has driving bass lines, and showcases a variety of soloists of the band. Unusually, trumpeter Ted Piercefield takes a solo on valve trombone, an instrument not typically heard on a Chase recording. Most impressively, the final solo of the tracks taken by trumpeter Jerry Van Blair show a very mature, fantastic jazz soloist with connected, interesting lines. For all the flak jazz-rock takes for being an attempt at commercial appeal of jazz in the 60s and the 70s, Chase often overcomes this notion with some of their tracks. From the solos, the writing, and the outlook of the band Chase and its leader Bill Chase was a nonet playing jazz and rock and doing both well.

Illustration - Illustration (1970)

This is a fairly rare recording that features a little-known band from Montreal that had mixed success in the early 70s. This would fit in with Blood, Sweat & Tears and similar groups that some would call "big band" jazz rock. The most memorable tracks on this album are "Upon the Earth" and "Wasn't I?" due to their well thought out arrangements, yet a fair amount of the tracks on this album seem incomplete in the conception of the arrangement. Often it seems like ideas aren't developed as well as they could be or songs end abruptly. Often transitions from one musical idea to the next are sudden and unsuspected. Even one of the better tracks "Upon the Earth" ends on a fade out leaving the listener wanting the last idea to develop. The best aspect of this album is the horn parts; they are unquestionably the most original part of the album. In "Box of Glass" the horns and the vocal part play very atonal parts at times which is different from a fair amount of jazz rock. The vocals are not poor, but you couldn't say that they are breakthrough. This isn't an awful jazz rock album, but you could probably just consider it mediocre. The best part is the experimentation of the horn and vocal parts. If you really like jazz rock it is worth picking up if you want to broaden what you've listened to, but this one is probably only for the most extreme lovers of jazz rock.

Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Funky Stuff (1974)

I recently found this album and it is quite rare from what I can find out about it. The album was recently reprinted on CD, but due to its limited release in Japan it is very hard to find. It's hard to put this album in any one genre because it has elements of funk, jazz, and other crossover elements. There is an instrumental cover of Kool & the Gang's "Funky Stuff" which is quite memorable and would fall firmly in the funk genre. Yet, tunes like "Breeze" and "Gentle Wave" sound like they belong on a Bob James album in that they are so heavily dominated by the use of the Fender Rhodes piano. Even when the horns come in they are so uncharacteristic of funk and that's what gives this album its multi-genre aspect. The tune "One for Jiroh" is a reworking of the jazz standard "I Remember Clifford," and while I couldn't find any info on this, it is quite possible Jiro lost a musician friend close to him ("I Remember Clifford" and its various reworkings seem to serve this purpose). In my own opinion, the most memorable track is "Four Up" which closes the album. Rhythmically and harmonically it reminds me a lot of Herbie Hancock's famous chart "Chameleon" and is a great solo vehicle for solos on saxophone and trombone. From what I could find on him, Jiro Inagaki was a saxophonist who was associated with jazz-rock and other hybrid genres of the late 60s-early 70s. If you like 70s Maynard Ferguson, Bob James and other types of mellow jazz-funk, you would probably enjoy this album.

The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed (1967)

This album is often cited as the first progressive rock album and there's a lot of information to justify that claim. Even if the sound is very different from later symphonic rock, all the elements are here. In my own opinion I have never found a progressive rock album that has better orchestral parts. Often in great tunes like Renaissance's "Song of Scheherazade," the orchestra is just an accompaniment to the rock band. Simply the orchestra is used to add to what the rock band is already doing without having its own voice. From the first entrance in the tone poem "The Day Begins" it is clear that conductor and arranger Peter Knight is there to create an orchestral voice. Peter Knight uses the various themes found in The Moody Blues' penned tunes as the basis for his orchestral parts which exist cohesively with the rock part of the album. Knight's sound is very reminiscent of the classical composers Ravel and Dvorak despite being English, and his knowledge of all the instruments of an orchestra is quite evident in how he arranges. Also in line with progressive rock, the concept of the album is the progression of a day from daybreak until night. It is also important to note the presence of the Mellotron in this recording. Sometimes it is actually under the orchestra and harder to hear, but I believe this only speaks the mastery of Mike Pinder.  One may say this album is total artwork (or in Wagner's words gesamtkunstwerk); there is poetry, music, and one may even say that Knight "paints" his orchestral parts with an ensemble of various colors. In "The Day Begins" when the words "Brave Helios wake up your steeds/ Bring the warmth the countryside needs" are spoken, Knight's orchestration magnificently "paints" the colors of the sunrise. The same is true during "Nights in White Satin" when the sounds of the orchestra suggest the presence of night. Maybe one has to be a bit synesthetic to associate colors with sound, but if its possible Peter Knight's orchestration will deliver. This album was released in 1967, but it wasn't until the early 70s that tunes like "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin" got a lot of radio play that catapulted the album into the mainstream. This is one of my favorites and is an album that has a wide appeal in that it is a mixture of classical, progressive rock, and psychedelia.

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

This is the album that really turned me on to progressive rock. I'm definitely more at home discussing jazz, but progressive rock interests me on the basic tenets of its philosophy. Essentially, it is progressive because it is trying to create rock music that is as artistically significant as classical or jazz music. Why else would progressive rock artists such as ELP or Renaissance either play reworked classical pieces or utilize whole symphony orchestras? What's great about this album in particular is its experimentations with time especially "21st Century Schizoid Man" which jumps through various duple meters and ends in free time. Another important aspect of this album is that musicians take up a variety of musical duties and do them all well. Often in some progressive rock bands one musicians sticks to one instrument. On this album we have Ian McDonald play some intense lines on "21st Century Schizoid Man," and contrast that perfectly with his flute playing on "I Talk to the Wind." Similarly Robert Fripp is just as home on Mellotron as he is on his guitar. It is also important to note the importance of vocals and lyrics on this album. Greg Lake sings well on a great deal of tunes here and with ELP in his expansive career. Lyricist Peter Sinfield is practically like a French Symbolist poet with some of his lines. You may be able to understand a line here or there, but to grasp the whole concept of the song as a poem takes quite a bit of introspection into the words. Many people may not view progressive rock lyrics as poetry, but in the philosophy of raising rock to a higher art form lyrics are just as important. Decades in the future we may look back to music like this as consider it the art music of its time.

Antônio Carlos Jobim - Wave (1967)

Bossa nova is probably one of my favorite styles that has origins outside of the continental United States. Bossa nova really came into its own in the early 1960s when jazz artists such as Stan Getz and Charlie Bird started to do collaborations among themselves and Brazilian musicians. It is a significant style in that up to that time the primary source of jazz standards was the Great American Songbook or musicals. With a whole new source of music bossa nova gained popularity relatively quickly. The bossa nova styke is normally accredited to João Gilberto and Jobim and Gilberto's "Bim Bom" is largely considered the first bossa nova tune. The arrangements on this particular album were all done by Claus Ogerman and mostly feature full orchestra. This is interesting because one can hear how Jobim's music is applied to a larger instrumentation which is atypical to bossa nova. Jobim was different from many Brazilian composers in that he includes jazz instruments. The guitar has always been the medium of Brazilian composers, yet Jobim wrote for a larger array of instruments. What is great about Jobim as a composer is that in addition to writing, he also played guitar and piano. In fact, on this very recording he is the pianist. Some famous tracks on this album are "Wave" and "Triste." A personal favorite of mine is the track "Look to the Sky," which perfectly displays the wonderful tone of trombonist Urbie Green.

Don Ellis - Electric Bath (1967)

I am going to try to share a few albums frequently as this blog starts out so there is a decent amount of material. As I stated with my previous post, I'm trying to share some music that shows what kind of material will be on this blog as well as having a personal connection. In my personal opinion, Don Ellis is probably one of the most avant garde figures in big band jazz. Don Ellis played with Maynard Ferguson,  jazz pianist George Russell, and was prominently featured in Gunther Schuller's Third Stream piece "Journey into Jazz" (1962). After attending the ethnomusicology program at UCLA in the mid-1960s, Ellis began to form influential groups the first which was the Hindustani Jazz Sextet. This group was never recorded but it combined aspects of Indian classical music and jazz music.  One can hear how elements of Ellis' original sextet and past history made it on to this album. Most notably this interest in Indian music can be heard on the track "Turkish Bath," which starts out with Ellis' teacher, Harihar Rao, on sitar, and "Indian Lady" which is essentially built on a drone pitch. One can also see George Russell's influence on this album in the form of his Lydian Chromatic Concept. If you listen to the electric piano on "Open Beauty,"you will hear open fifths ending on the raised fourth degree (in this case an F#). For first time listeners there will be a lot of surprises on this album. From the first thirty seconds of the album you may have your first introduction to quarter tones which may be weird to some, even unpleasant to others. Another surprise will be the presence of a lot of odd musical meters such as 7/4, 5/4, and 33/16. Colloquially speaking, it would be very hard to dance to most of the tracks on this album. The most accessible tracks will probably be "Indian Lady" and "Alone," whereas "Turkish Bath" might be unpleasant to some. From my own experience it took me a few listenings to really appreciate this album for its aforementioned differences, but it has grown to be an album I turn to when I want to listen to great music that is intellectually engaging.

Chase - Chase (1971)

For my first few posts I wanted to pick a few albums that while they aren't necessarily rare or unheard of they do have a lot of personal history. This album is from 1971 when the jazz-rock craze was in its height. There are many jazz rocks group around this period, but Chase was a bit different from the rest. Four trumpets with a rhythm section was a bit different from the instrumentations that other groups such as Blood, Sweat & Tears were using at the time. The leader of the band, Bill Chase, actually had a lot of history in the jazz world. He played with Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton for brief stints during the late 1950s, and he most notably played with one of Woody Herman's finest groups throughout the entirety of the 1960s. Chase was never a "jazz" player in the sense that he was not the next great soloist; Chase was a lead player. His sound in the high register of the trumpet while not as flexible as some others has a raw timbre that is unmistakable and really meshes well with the jazz-rock genre. His mastery of the high notes is featured most notably on the opening track "Open Up Wide" and on the "Invitation to a River" suite that closes the album. This was the first Chase album I was ever exposed to, but it's not actually my favorite. If you have ever heard Chase before it was probably the track "Get It On," which really put Chase in the limelight in the early 1970s. The group was actually nominated for a Grammy award for Best New Artist, but lost to Carly Simon. If you like jazz rock, but you don't like vocals you may find yourself skipping through songs on this album. However, while the vocals aren't great, there is nothing that is particularly offensive either. If you want the instrumentals stick to "Open Up Wide" and "Invitation to a River." This is one of those albums that is loud and in your face but timeless once you experience the virtuosity of the musicians.

Coming Soon

My friend and I have finally decided that we should make a blog of great albums on our own after finding so many other great blogs across the web. We listen to a large variety of genres, so expect to hear anything from rock, jazz, funk, and whatever we may be listening to. The first album post should be in the near future after we figure out some specifics of where we want the blog to go.