By the time Elvin Jones recorded his first album for Blue Note in early 1968, the label had been sold to Liberty/United Artists records. The sale is generally regarded as the point at which the label began to decline, however it's arguable that jazz itself was ailing, eclipsed by the fashionable electronics of rock. Elvin had sessioned for Blue Note as early as 1957, appearing on Sonny Rollins' 'A Night at the Village Vanguard' album. In the next decade he played on many Blue Note recordings, by (for example) Wayne Shorter, Larry Young, Grant Green, Mcoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, and Ornette Coleman; some of these artists were still signed to the label, and continued to make excellent records for it, right into the early 1970's.
On most of Elvin's own Blue Note albums, there is no piano. This leaves plenty of space for the drums, and a lot of ruthlessly hard saxophone playing; for these records truly chart the development of a 'post-Coltrane' saxophone style, in a way that no other body of work does. The drummer influences the style's evolution. That is why they may be considered to be 'important'.
And...every single one is deleted. Those that were reissued on CD or limited-edition LP may still be around in some major outlets or specialist stores, or available on import from Japan. Caveat emptor; Blue Note's LP reissues can get scandalously over-priced, depending on the hipness quotient of the cover and the source of the pressing. A new LP reissue of a late-sixties Blue Note will cost around £12-13; Sonny Rollins 'Volume 2' is a little more, about £15; but a Japanese pressing of Kenny Burrell's 'Blue Lights' goes for at least £25 (Volume 1 or 2) because of its origin and the Andy Warhol cover. I saw these prices on a visit to a large London retailer last year. True audiophile jazz snobs will also be aware that Rudy van Gelder not only recorded but mastered a great many Blue Notes, leaving his name neatly stamped in the runout groove...which is another reason why second-hand originals, cutouts and older reissues - which may be unearthed at record fairs and specialist or second-hand shops - are usually no cheaper. However, Blue Note CDs these days are excellently remastered and often low-priced (around £10 - both volumes of the Burrell mentioned above are on a 2CD set for about £16), or have extra tracks, or some combination of the above - so the CD is the logical (and probably the only) choice for most buyers. These comments do not take into account the Mosaic Records limited edition 8-CD boxed set, 'The Complete Blue Note Recordings', which should be just the ticket - if you have the necessary $128 to spare, try; www.mosaicrecords.com.
PUTTIN' IT TOGETHER. Blue Note BST84282(LP)/CDP7842822(CD,now deleted).
4/68, with Joe Farrell and Jimmy Garrison.
No rhythm section could have had a heavier reputation than the Jones/Garrison combination, and they lived up to it. Garrison was a talented composer who could really play the blues, too; listen to his solo on 'Blessing in Disguise' by Sonny Rollins, or to 'Treats Style' (which Garrison wrote) on Larry Coryell's first LP, or 'Village Greene' on this. 'Puttin' it together' is a fine record... except perhaps for the mock-military drumbeat that introduces 'Keiko's Birthday March'; this is its first appearance on an Elvin Jones album, and not the last...although the lick is always ingeniously integrated into the drum line, once might have been enough. Farrell plays piccolo on this one, too...well, at least they had a sense of humour. However both the tune itself and Elvin's solo are good, and the tune turns up again on the 'Going Home' CD, retitled as 'April 8th' - which is the date of this recording session. A memorable day, then. It must have been a little intimidating to be the sax player in this trio - for obvious reasons - but it was an offer that a player like Joe Farrell couldn't refuse. The first track, 'Reza', is C and Eb, treated as extended/altered dominant. This formula makes for easy composition (simply repeat the melody up a minor third), is a standard modern jazz exercise that is endlessly interesting for a musician to improvise over, and thus has been done to death on many fusion records. Farrell has plenty of ideas on tenor, but not quite enough firepower (yet) to really pull the rhythm section his way, and at this stage it seems like a bit of a balancing act; sometimes he's riding the wave, and sometimes being towed along. His soprano (on Garrison's 'Sweet Little Maia') and flute (on 'For Heaven's Sake') are more authoratitive. What makes this album, of course, is the drumming. All the tempos are the right ones, Elvin is unstoppable, and he is recorded in magnificent clarity. It would be nice to hear a new, remastered CD issue. Favourite track; 'Village Greene', a no-nonsense blues...just listen to the drums. 'Puttin' it together' is a very apt title. His best so far, hugely enjoyable and recommended.
THE ULTIMATE. Blue Note BST84305(LP)
9/68, with Joe Farrell and Jimmy Garrison.
A nice, self-effacing title for the second one. Five months after 'Puttin' it together', Farrell is stronger and much more adventurous on tenor. The first track here is his 'In the truth', which is a simple rhythmic call-to-arms over two chords, Eb and Db, followed by a pedal on the tonic...a raw, straightforward blowing tune for sax and the rhythm section to fire up on, and there is something of the cavalry charge about the theme, which lasts less than thirty seconds. Farrell takes off, and the rhythm is fast and furious; Garrison is either unfamiliar or not too concerned with the harmonic structure, as he keeps hitting the b9 (in note-perfect triple stops) on the pedal, which he starts in a different place to the other two...intonation or intention? On the theme itself, though, he plays 1-2-4-5; if you play this in Eb and add the Db to it you have 1-2-4-5-b7, a typical pentatonic scale as used by Coltrane. What, then, is the 'post-Coltrane' saxophone style, exactly? There's probably a different answer each time to this question, but here's my twopence worth; it is a style of modern jazz saxophone playing that uses the harmonic and scalar extensions, alterations and substitutions employed by John Coltrane in his playing and composing from about 1957 onwards. It is most often played on tenor, soprano or alto sax, and the player must attain the facility to articulate long, fast streams of notes, at high tempos, in all registers, but most often towards the upper range of the horn. Its musical/theoretical concepts include extensive usage of arpeggio or scale-based intervallic patterns such as consecutive fifths, fourths and minor thirds; usage of pentatonic scales, diminished scales and scale modes; organization and development of the above materials into repetitive sequences and further patterns that imply extension or alteration of the underlying chords, enabling the player to go 'outside' the basic harmony to create tension within the melodic line and create a 'sheets of sound' effect; and usage of - and feeling for - the blues, as well as an advanced understanding of chord substitution and generic song structure. That's some of it.
The player composes and improvises using these concepts, assimilates them into his or her own playing, and (ideally) renews, extends, changes or even rejects the style in the course of creating something new, good or original. But there really is no going back; for this is a brimming Pandora's box that once opened, cannot be closed. No 'modern jazz' musician
could ignore Coltrane's expansion of possibilities, and saxophone players had to deal with it. A formidable task; the following quote is from 'Technique Development in Fourths for Jazz Improvisation' by Ramon Ricker (Columbia Pictures Publications, 1976. ref SB17); "In a conversation with the author, Joe Farrell once said it took him a year of diligent practice before he could successfully apply fourths to his improvisations."
A more detailed discussion of the 'post-Coltrane' saxophone style, and what it takes to acquire it, is outside the scope of this article, but the above perhaps conveys some idea of the technical demands that have to be met. And the real deal, the ultimate, for a saxophonist, would be to master the craft in a group powered by the thunderous polyrhythms of Coltrane's drummer. Farrell, already a tremendous musician, was on a steep learning curve; two years after this recording, he won the 'Downbeat' poll on soprano and began cutting albums as a leader himself.
There is something else here, too. Jones and Garrison also worked with Ornette Coleman during 1968, playing on 'Love Call' and 'New York is Now', both on Blue Note, and they may have given Coleman's approach some thought during this session. Or not; either way, the music goes a lot further out than 'Puttin' it together'. The album comprises Farrell's tune, three Garrison originals, and two standards - 'We'll be together again', which functions as a coda to the LP, and a misty, autumnal version of 'Yesterdays' with strands of foggy tenor sax curling round sombre bass and quietly hissing brushes. The bassist's tunes have a call-and-response quality to them; 'Sometimes Joie' isn't that far away from Coltrane's 'Sunship' line, and 'Ascendant' is a sly stop-time affair which still sounds very cool. So the main compositional input came from Garrison, but this trio couldn't - or didn't - go much further, and 'The Ultimate' became exactly that, its last recording. Verdict; Blue Note should remaster and reissue this. A double set with 'Puttin' it together' would be ideal, but 'The Blue Note Years' boxed set is undoubtedly the last word. Incidentally, the soprano and bass textures of two tracks on this record remind me of Dave Holland's 1972 'Conference of the birds' album on ECM...Holland started with Miles in New York a month before this recording, played on Farrell's first CTI album in 1970, and (years later) with Elvin. Small world.
POLY-CURRENTS. Blue Note BST84331(LP)/Released on CD, now deleted.
9/69, with Joe Farrell, George Coleman, Pepper Adams, Fred Tompkins, Wilbur Little, Candido Camero.
This is the classic Elvin Jones album, the one mentioned in all the jazz guides and encyclopedias. It is a prototype for later albums, was recorded just over a year after 'The Ultimate', produced by Blue Note boss Francis Wolff and features the type of lineup - 2 or 3 horns plus rhythm section - that Elvin has used many times since. Earlier in 1969 he recorded an album's worth of music using most of the players here; that session ('The Prime Element') remained unissued until 1976...and it's a good session, too. But this is different.
'Poly-currents' comprises all-original material, including 'Agenda' and 'Mr Jones'. These two tunes alone might make the record essential. The instrumentation is varied and unorthodox, combining Farrell's multiple reeds and flutes with Pepper Adams' baritone and the industrial-strength tenor of George Coleman. Around and beneath them, the rhythms flow. No piano, no chords; polyphony has been replaced by polyrhythm. This isn't particularly unusual or extraordinary, but it is a drummer's point of view. Jones had everything to gain by continuing to omit a chordal instrument; the bass outlines the harmony over the rhythmic pulse, and any potential clashes between it and a pianist's left hand are eliminated. So melody and rhythm are thrown into sharper relief. There is more space to fill, and this has drawbacks as well as advantages. However, a drummer has more room to move around within the beat, or to move the beat itself ; occasionally on this record Elvin leaves the timekeeping to the bass while he shifts everything around beneath it, developing the rhythmic 'poly-currents' of the title.
'Agenda' is 'a salute to the agenda of nations in the process of being formed on the continent of Africa'...and it's easy to imagine that the horns represent different countries or voices calling out to each other across the huge expanse of rhythm, then coming together - unifying - in the chorus. If that sounds fanciful it probably is; I was about 19 when I bought the record, and perhaps I read too much into it. But Farrell plays the double-reed english horn on this track, and his thick, sinuous tone is at least half a world away from the cor anglais of european classical tradition; it sounds like a muezzin call in a North African marketplace, floating above the darker tenor and baritone. And, though the theme is constructed from a D minor pentatonic scale, no piano means there is no minor (or any) chord. Thus the tonality is left open, leaving only the bass to keep the measures and refer as necessary to western musical convention. The piece opens with a conga flourish, and Elvin sets up the rhythm, loose and initially difficult to follow. Little starts the bassline - in D flat - at the very beginning, and immediately stops...starts again, 15 seconds in, and stops...finally entering after 25 seconds and sharpening up to D; the horns are depending on the bassist to tell them where 'one' is and define the pitch correctly. I enjoy this intro because it indicates that this was a first take, and that nobody knew quite where Elvin was putting the downbeat...you hear it fresh, exactly as they did. Farrell enters four bars in, and the music really begins to take hold as he and Coleman open up a canon-like call and response on the melody line, across Little, across Jones. They drop out for a moment (even the bass), and Elvin cues the chorus on his bass drum - as a master drummer directs his ensemble by introducing a new rhythm. The horns, keeping things open, play it in fourths rather than thirds, so there is still no conventional chord; Farrell comes out on top and solos first, blues with a Moorish tinge slowly uncoiling above the rhythm, then Pepper Adams abruptly changes the mood by taking a fragment of the theme, brutally twisting it, and blowing it to pieces. It is an extraordinary and complete contrast. Adams had played and recorded with Coltrane back in the fifties ('Dakar') and also with Charles Mingus, a situation where it was crucial to cut through strongly, play ensembles precisely, and create the sort of explosive and original solo statements which met the composer's demands. This, along with the presence of George Coleman, may help to explain his 'outside' approach here, and if (to re-use the metaphor of rhythms flowing) Farrell's solo floats along on top of the current, light and airy, then Adams goes down deep, stirring up eddies, digging into alluvial mud, dark and dirty. The tone is strident, a fat buzzing rasp almost like a fuzz bass, and he misses nothing; every note and run in this short, downright rude solo is clearly articulated, cleanly executed and unerringly placed. Little stays on the root and drops out a moment after Adams; Elvin's turn.
"There is no question of multiple meter here; by the time the recordings in this album were made the subliminal thrust of his work had become arrhythmic." - John.B.Litweiler, in the sleeve notes to "The Prime Element". It's an interesting quote; personally I can't agree with it. In this extremely aggressive and musical drum solo Jones improvises freely while Candido follows him, and really that is all that needs to be said - as if listening isn't enough. I'm not qualified to discuss 'subliminal thrust', but what I hear is this; Elvin closes off Adams' solo with a cymbal crash, then the bar lines stop as he roars onto the snare and toms...the bass drum comes in, a 'three' feel surfaces briefly, there are contrasting snare and tom statements, then three-against-two again. He seems to instinctively count across his own main rhythm or meter, which (for instance) gives weight to the massive snare flams. A dialogue starts with the conga drums and they follow a new pattern, a quicker tempo, then breakout and breakdown - more snare fury and onto the cymbals, ending the section with the big ride. Another exchange begins, stop-time beneath the congas, then a return to the original tempo and pattern; Candido improvises on top of this for a few moments, then Jones increases and intensifies his fills into huge climaxes of crashing snare...taking it right out. They go back into tempo and he cues in Wilbur Little with a tremendous flourish of toms. Farrell re-enters with the theme, and once again bass drum brings in the ascending chorus, which builds to a big finish with the saxophones shrieking over rolling, thrashing drums; very dramatic indeed, and a signature Elvin Jones ending.
'Agenda' is a first-take grand slam, and a new journey into the sort of musical territory investigated by (among others) Coltrane in 1961 - loose, modal, and African-influenced. Jones was comparatively inexperienced as a leader or composer, but had long mastered African tribal rhythmic concepts, had played drums as a front-line improvising instrument for years, and already impacted heavily on some big-name rock drummers. And Blue Note, though now owned by a major, was still a small, specialist jazz label; while not averse to splicing in solos ('Blue Train' is an example), their preferred practice was to record a complete jazz performance, an event, as played live. So, although there's no Coleman solo, I don't think they edited 'Agenda', or any of the other tracks on this album. 'Agappe love' follows, and again it sounds loose, like a first take. It's Farrell's piece, and he plays flute. Joe Farrell didn't just double on flute - he absolutely excelled at it, and his sound is instantly recognizable. Against this, Coleman pits some searing tenor that is...quite beautiful, in fact. In the sleeve notes, Elvin remarks;"This is pretty much a joint trio creation, which Joe wrote down for us...it's typical of the sort of thing we like to do at concerts, where Joe comes in with a cadenza-type melody and we gradually break into a set tempo." Which says a lot about Jones' whole approach, really; prepared improvisation equals extemporization. And these musicians were prepared.
The centrepiece of this recording is 'Mr. Jones'. It is the most conventional - and thus the most well known - piece on the record, and was re-issued as the title track of a later Blue Note (see below). The theme iself was written by Keiko Jones, and bookends big-gun solos by Coleman and Adams over an A minor blues. There is a chart for this in "Real Book #2"; an almost-pentatonic line, played unison by the horns, and built out of simple call-and-response phrases (big band style, sort of reminiscent of "Fever" as sung by Peggy Lee, or Henry Mancini's music for "The Pink Panther") that are framed and punctuated by Elvin's swaggering, flashy brushwork. It has reverb, too. As a 'jazz' tune, it is accessible, understandable, entertaining, and a perfect example of how the drums may be used as a lead instrument. It can be appreciated, whistled even, by anyone, and may cause the listener to smile unexpectedly at the inherent humour in the line and the inevitability of Elvin's responses to it. And that is enough; there is no modulation or harmonic development of the basic thematic material; simply the bare outline of a melody, dispensed with in a single chorus in favour of solos, over a generic sequence, which don't particularly refer to the preceding. Jones has taken a certain amount of critical flak over the years for this approach (simple themes, 'head' arrangements, no arrangements, over-long solos, etc)...as if he invented it; however many bebop and hard-bop recordings followed a similiar course, and in Coltrane's post-Elvin Jones music, not just the tune, but all Western conventions of melody, harmony and meter ultimately became irrelevant. The title of this album is a manifesto for Elvin's whole philosophy; it would be impossible for him to improvise and develop his 'poly-currents' while following a tight arrangement.
Hindsight and the stark clarity of good sound recording allow the listener to aurally telescope back to an event and examine it repeatedly, at length, and in microscopic detail; CD remasterings permit a leisurely listen, leading to preferences, likes, dislikes and ultimately, some sort of 'critical' assessment based on familiarity with the recording in question and it's similarity to, or difference from, other recordings by the same artist or of the same general type. In doing this many times over a long period, it is sometimes too easy to overlook what of the atmosphere of the occasion has been preserved on the recording - the immediacy of the event, the now of then. Anybody aware of this will know the best solution...simply turn the music up to the same volume as it would be if played live in front of you...though for many, this isn't always possible or desirable. Headphones are fine but don't quite do it, either - they don't permit the sound frequencies to develop as they do in any room, although drummers often feel they can get a better aural impression of the kit, by swapping left and right channels. Fortunately Jones had a formidable presence; and with both a highly creative producer to encourage him, and Rudy Van Gelder - by this time probably the most experienced recording engineer in jazz - at the controls, it was likely that not only atmosphere and presence but also a large measure of enthusiasm would register on the master tapes. But it wasn't a foregone conclusion; 'Polycurrents' came about because the 'Prime Element' sessions had already been rejected for release.
The order of solos on 'Mr. Jones' is George Coleman, nine choruses; Pepper Adams, seven. Coleman had paid a lot of dues on the r 'n b circuit, and given the simple pentatonic structure and laid-back nature of the melody, some might reasonably expect a few testimonial-type blues licks. Nope...rehashing or even finessing blues or any other clichés never really was a George Coleman trait. He always briefly refers to the chord, but rarely passes up a chance to extend, alter or substitute for it within his rapidly evolving line, which is always logically developed, played with terrific urgency - as with Coltrane, you get the feeling he's trying to cram everything in - and an emphasis on content and technique. He builds to a climax in his eighth chorus, with tremendous (and well-practiced) wide-interval leaps in the phrasing, then takes it down a notch to hand over to Adams...who seems completely unfazed, and turns in a solo that is possibly even better than Coleman's. If there was a bit of friendly cutting going on here, then I think maybe Pepper Adams came out on top. Once again, his tone, timing and execution is spot on, confident and commanding. The theme is reprised, Elvin keeping to sticks, and...finish; Van Gelder, by now familiar with the drummer's tendency to repeatedly flam at the end of a take, performs a somewhat brutal fade. Jones swings brilliantly, and again very freely, on this track. Candido's congas lock in, and as Little's damped-off, minimal bass often sounds like another drum, the rhythm ensemble begins to sound like one enormous, pitched-percussion instrument...which probably was the plan all along. If it had been highly arranged and perfectly synchronized, it wouldn't have worked in the same way.
On the other hand, the next track might have worked a little better. This is 'Yes', by guest flautist Fred Tompkins, and again it's possibly a first take as Wilbur Little sounds somewhat tentative and unfamiliar with the form. It is difficult to discern the composer's intent without reference to a lead sheet...Farrell enters second time through, on 'bass flute', and plays what sound like his own variations on the melody...Tompkins (where is he now?) once wrote a concerto for two flutes, this is sort of an improvised miniature - for two flutes, bass and subtle brushes and ride from Elvin; a quiet, pensive mood is created between 'Mr. Jones' and the final piece of the album, 'Whew' by Wilbur Little. And it's a fine finale; bass plays melody (good tone!) with horn section punches, bass and drums carry 'Honeysuckle Rose'-type middle eight, Joe Farrell gets his only tenor solo of the session and makes it count. So much so, in fact, that Coleman (who follows him) seems disadvantaged somehow and sounds shrill. Little plays an excellent, rhythmic solo, and you begin to realise just how good he was and why Elvin - and others - rated him so highly. No high-register sixteenth-note grandstanding, beautiful tone (if slightly under-recorded by comparison with the next record), solid intonation and rhythm all the way. The bare simplicity of his lines frees Elvin to accent and push or - as previously noted - leave the timekeeping to the bass while he and Candido shift the beat around beneath it.
And that is 'Polycurrents'...about which I've written far more than enough. David Baker, the educator and writer of many authoritative works on jazz, once described a facet of John Coltrane's saxophone technique as "creating asymmetrical groupings not dependent on the basic pulse", a description that might also be taken as a definition of the title of this album, with reference to the drum rhythms of Elvin Jones. Hmmm...the word 'Polycurrents' isn't in any dictionary, but then again, there aren't really any words for what Elvin does, are there?
COALITION. Blue Note BST84361(LP)
7/70, with George Coleman, Frank Foster, Wilbur Little, Candido Camero.
Extremely dangerous tenor saxophones. Splendidly over the top, easily as good as 'Poly-currents', and should be played as loud as possible. Foster is on bass clarinet for the first number, and gets into what Leonard Feather refers to in the sleevenotes as 'an exhilarating freedom bag'...cor blimey, Guv'nor! I think I've still got one of those in a closet somewhere! Coleman is crushingly intense, and begins his first solo with the same acrobatic phrase that he climaxed his 'Mr. Jones' solo with.
GENESIS. Blue Note BST84369(LP)
1971, with David Liebman, Joe Farrell, Frank Foster, Gene Perla.
The apex of the Blue Note years. Side one is a masterpiece, and there is an elegiac beauty and sadness to it which may be due in part to the death of Francis Wolff. Three slow pieces form a suite; the first two, by Perla, are in B minor, and the third, by Liebman, is in C minor. All are dark, sombre, stately. It is the most beautiful sequence of music Elvin Jones ever recorded for Blue Note, no question about it. The second side of the record features Elvin's 'Three Card Molly'...the 'A' section of which has a lot in common with Coltrane's 'Resolution'.
MERRY-GO-ROUND. Blue Note BST84414(LP)
71, with Chick Corea, Jan Hammer, Gene Perla, Yoshiaki Masuo, David Liebman, Joe Farrell, Steve Grossman, Pepper Adams, Don Alias, Frank Foster.
Jazz-rock! Pianos! Another very strong Blue Note.
LIVE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE. Blue Note BNLA015G2(2LP)/Released on 2 CDs with extra tracks: Vol 1 (B2-84447), Vol 2 (B2-84448), now deleted.
9/72, with David Liebman, Steve Grossman, Gene Perla.
Post-Coltrane milestone. The original double album was distilled from an evening's playing at the legendary (and now gone) Lighthouse Club in Hermosa Beach, which is a suburb of L.A. near Manhattan Beach and Torrance. The CD reissues 'together represent a complete evening's performance by the Elvin Jones Quartet in essentially performance order', are sonically superior, have extra tracks, and may still be around at a bargain price. The saxophones are fast and furious.
MR JONES. Blue Note BNLA110F(LP)
7/72, with Steve Grossman, Gene Perla, David Liebman, Pepper Adams, Jan Hammer, Thad Jones, Frank Ippolito, Albert Duffy, Carlos Valdes. Title track recorded 26/9/69, with Joe Farrell, George Coleman, Pepper Adams, Fred Tompkins, Wilbur Little, Candido Camero, originally on 'Poly-currents'.
The last Blue Note to be released while he was still on the label. And damned good, too.
THE PRIME ELEMENT. Blue Note BNLA506H2(2LP)
Sides 1&2; 7/73, with Steve Grossman, Frank Foster, Gene Perla, Pepper Adams, Jan Hammer, Cornell Dupree, Warren Smith, Candido Camero, Richie 'Pablo' Landrum, Omar Clay.
Now reissued on 'AT THIS POINT IN TIME' CD (see below).
Sides 3&4; 3/69, with Joe Farrell, George Coleman, Lee Morgan, Wilbur Little, Candido Camero, Miovelito Valles.
Two previously unreleased sessions. See below for sides 1&2; the session that comprises sides 3&4 bridges the gap between 'The Ultimate' and 'Poly-currents', and includes an early version of 'E.J.Blues' entitled 'Raynay', and...Lee Morgan. Under Wolff and Alfred Lion, Blue Note would routinely shelve not just alternate or unsatisfactory takes, but entire recording sessions. While this policy may seem incredible today, there were sound reasons for it at the time. In the '50s and early '60s Wolff and Lion could afford to hand-pick their artists, suggest a direction, and influence the choice of material and artwork; if the music didn't completely match their criteria for release, they could easily schedule another record date for the artist concerned to try something different. They were pressing comparatively small quantities of each album, after all.
AT THIS POINT IN TIME. Blue Note 724349338524(CD), issued 1998.
7/73, with Steve Grossman, Frank Foster, Gene Perla, Pepper Adams, Jan Hammer, Cornell Dupree, Warren Smith, Candido Camero, Richie 'Pablo' Landrum, Omar Clay.
More jazz-rock, with a tremendous barrage of percussion. Includes sides 1&2 of 'The Prime Element' and three previously unissued tracks, all remastered with 20-bit SBM. It may be sprawling, unfocused and a little dated, but it sounds bloody impressive, makes a suitable postscript to the Blue Note years, and is available at a budget price. Not classic, but an enjoyable and unique session. ('At This Point In Time' is available from Amazon.com)
E-mail; JDGM@jdgm.freeserve.co.uk