April 27, 2020

Hidden Gem: Yusef Lateef and Doug Watkins - "Imagination!"

April 27, 2020/ Eric

This hidden gem of a record was originally released in 1960 as Soulnik and credited to “The Doug Watkins Quintet featuring Yusef Lateef” while this reissue - under a new title - finds the two musicians sharing the leadership mantle now, with Lateef getting the top billing. The decision is not surprising considering Watkins died tragically in a car accident in 1962, with only two releases as a leader, while by 1970 Lateef was a well known figure to the jazz buying public.

November 30, 2015

Old Songs Made New: Charles Mingus - "Pre-Bird"

November 30, 2015/ Eric

For many years I figured Pre-Bird was a compilation of early recordings by Mingus, made in the years before he hit the big time on his own. Man, was I ever wrong on that one. The wonderful music on the album was recorded in 1960 and is every bit as fantastic as one would expect from Mingus during this period of his illustrious career.

October 23, 2015

Farmer Gets Funky: Art Farmer - "Something You Got"

October 23, 2015/ Eric

Art Farmer's Something You Got is not a record that will make anyone's list of classic or must-have jazz LPs, but it is nonetheless an excellent example of a late 1970s jazz funk recording by a true jazz legend.

April 23, 2015

Yusef Lateef - "1984"

April 23, 2015/ Eric

If not for the title track that opens the album, 1984 would be remembered as an excellent example of post bop as it was emerging in the mid-1960's. But, oh man, that title track: an 8 minute foray into another realm altogether, with Lateef blowing a whole array of wind instruments - some of his own making - and muttering low utterances through the large end of a cow's horn that lends the track much of it's otherworldly feel.