Mildama – Clifford Brown & Max Roach
from the album Brown and Roach, Inc. on EmArcy Records (1954).
Drum Conversation – Max Roach w/ The Bud Powell Trio
from the album Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 2 on Debut Records (1953).
Fleurette Africaine – Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach
from the album Money Jungle on United Artists (1962).

This is a little, but today let’s honor the passing of the jazz titan Max Roach on August 16th. It is difficult to encapsulated with any kind of brevity the magnificent breadth and depth of Roach’s life and career, so I will not be attempting in this short space to do that. Instead I’ll direct you to this excellent obituary in the New York Times.

Instead, I’d like to treat you to some tracks of Roach’s from my favorite period of his long and always interesting career, namely when he was helping define the hard bop sound of the early 1950s. “Mildama” is a Roach contribution from the quintet he lead with trumpeter Clifford Brown. Essentially a drum solo with slight flourishes from the band, Roach displays his bombastic fills simultaneously with his ability to consistently keep the rhythm in the pocket. Just listen to how metronome regular the high-hat is through the rolling ebb or flow of the middle half of this traffic…Roach was a technical genius. “Drum Conversation” is a full on live drum solo from the recording session at Massey Hall that produced the famous Quintet concert. The opening press roll sadly gets a little lost in the recording fidelity, but again Roach opens up and really tears throw some exciting moments. Extended drum solos can often descend into wankery, but I always stay engaged wondering what Max might try next.

And finally, to contrast the pile driver ferocity of these tracks, I’ve selected the brilliant “Fleurette Africaine” off my favorite jazz album of all time Money Jungle. Here Roach’s texturing and brush work is the epitome of restraint and gentle shading. Roach melds perfectly with Mingus’s bass and Ellington’s spare piano.

While the tracks here give a tiny taste of Roach’s extreme skill as a drummer, they only hint at his efforts as a composer, activist (Freedome Now Suite!), industry pioneer (started Debut Records one of the first artist owned labels), educator (long time professor at UMass), and general all around stud (truly deserving of the unofficial title bestowed by his receipt of a MacArthur “genius” grant).

For further reading and some excellent videos check out this page from Drummer World.

The Lyricist – Richy Pitch f/ J-Live
from the Live At Home EP on Sevenheads (2002)
Removed at the request of the artist. I definitely recommend purchasing, and you can find the vinyl here among other places, the cd here, or download here.

The Many and The Few – The Matthew Herbert Big Band
The Three W’s – The Matthew Herbert Big Band
both from the album Goodbye Swingtime on Accidental (2003).

Recently I have been on a real kick for music from the indy rap boom years of the late 90s/early 00s. This Richy Pitch produced track came a little late in that run, but it features indy standard bearer J-Live on the mic, so some slack can be cut. RP lays down a nice, soulful bit of boom bap with snare and an organ lick that provides a great bed-rock for in turn J-Live’s dexterous lyrics, DJ Go’s scratches, and live flute by Lorna Reah. Even a full fledged sample by Sean “You’re the man now, dog” Connery brings home the other sample element here, old fashioned typewriter clicks and dings. I’m old enough to actually remember using a typewriter to fill out my high school application, but I cannot say have any nostalgia for that old beast.

One of the great things about music is the connections that are possible and in hearing RP’s typewriter beats I was reminded of Herbert’s big band jazz album Goodbye Swingtime. In that album, Herbert’s taste for conceptual projects meant using sample sources related to political writing add to his heavily chopped and edited versions of big band arrangements he made (with Pete Wraight). In “The Many and The Few,” Jamie Lidell’s stacatto jazz singing is augmented by a typewriter sample again (although it is actually audio from phone books from around the world being dropped at various heights – yep that’s right).

The Goodbye Swingtime album is so good start to finish I had to put another track up. “The Three W’s” features Herbert’s dot matrix printer churning out pages from the website www.soaw.org. (NOTE: for the politically motivated soaw.org can be a very informative read.) Herbert wrote a personal contract on how we will make music – sort of the Dogme 95 of sample-based music – called PCCOM. But despite all the subtext and constraints on his music his arranging skill creates fantastic opportunities for his musicians and especially vocalists. Mara Carlyle shines with her haunting vocals on “The Three W’s,” but really Herbert finds a voice and use for each of member of his band (bass, drums, piano, a full set of brass and woodwinds including some of the UK’s more famous swing musicians). Herbert and Wraight remind me of Stan Kenton in terms of the arrangements that appear to be the backbone of these compositions. Wonderful! Another connection to dive into.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: 100 Days, 100 Nights
From: 100 Days, 100 Nights [Daptone, 2007]

I love the Nicole Willis album and have even bobbed my head to a Winehouse song occasionally. However, no one in the game at the moment can hold a torch to Sharon’s vocals and the queen of the scene is back with a new album at the beginning of October.

Hot album cover, hot title song, what more can I say? To add to the joy the group are about to go on tour as we speak.

Pre-order your copy of the album now.

Johnny Dyani: Magwaza
From: Witchdoctor’s Son [1978, Steeplechase]

Brotherhood of Breath: Kongi’s Theme & Andromeda
From: Bremen to Bridgewater [live 1971/75; CD issued 2004, Cunieform]

My introduction to Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath came by way of bassist Johnny Dyani; I discovered Magwaza over at Moistworks and was immediately taken. For reasons I can’t explain, South African jazz music consistently appeals to my sensibilities, and, Magwaza is a complete bulls-eye for my tastes. Research ensued and I found Dyani had creative ties with other South African notables, including: Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), whose music I quite like, as well as an ensemble known as the Brotherhood of Breath. I did further research on this Brotherhood and found descriptions of a big band that incorporated elements of free jazz and South African township jazz. It sound pretty interesting so I picked up a disc.

Pianist Chris McGregor formed the Brotherhood in the late 60’s as an extension of his earlier group The Blue Notes. The story of The Blue Notes is worth investigating in much more detail than this one sentence summary: mixed race ensemble, frustrated by the oppressive political climate in South Africa, leave home for the European jazz circuit. As the group toured and changed over the years, McGregor & company eventually shifted towards free jazz. The addition of local English players cemented the creative transition on the Brotherhood was cast. Members joined and disembarked as their lives made sense to do so.

Bremen to Bridgewater is a two disc set which includes live recordings from two different time periods so it’s a great sampling of the band. The Bremen portion, from which these tracks were taken, occurred in 1971 at Lila Eule, a jazz club in Bremen, Germany. The Bridgewater portion in 1975 in Bridgewater Arts Centre in Bridgewater, England. I find the musicians synthesize some of the more appealing aspects of both big bang and free jazz music; the harness the raucous experimental spontaneity of free jazz, but never lose the disciplined, robust orchestration of a big band. The result is a dense, immersive sound; it’s easy to lose track of time while listening.

Soul Generation: Super Fine and Sweet Thing
From: Beyond Body & Soul [Ebony Sounds Records, 1972]

Sometimes you hear a track and it stops you in your tracks, makes you exclaim “God damn” and before you know it has become a staple of your playlist. A recent addition to this treasured group was the Soul Generation’s Super Fine off their debut album Beyond Body & Soul.

Colour me disconnected but the Soul Generation were a group I was unfamiliar with till pretty damn recently and it was only after I heard the album that I bothered delving into their history. It appears that the group were actually pretty big around the time of their debut in 1972, scoring a hit with the track Body & Soul along with a number of follow ups. Still, better late to the party than missing it altogether I suppose and I am now heavily into the band’s sound which offers the kind of sweet soul vocals that reach straight into the heart alongside a more funky sound than many of their contemporaries.

The track Super Fine features that lovely mix of horns and strings so prominent in early seventies east coast soul alongside swooping vocals. What really sets it apart for me though is the earthy desire and longing emanating from the track; these guys don’t just want to woo the woman, this is as much for the bedroom as the heart. Awesome awesome song.

Sweet Thing offers a more falsetto, less sexualised, soul vibe but with the same lovely mixture of sweet production and hooks full of horns and soft strings. To be honest this is an album where the temptation to post up the whole thing for your ears is only tempered by my eagerness for you to go out and get your own copy. Beyond body and soul indeed.

Jacob Miller: Baby I Love You So, Who Say Jah No Dread, Jah Dread
From: Who Say Jah No Dread [1992, Greensleeves]

Since my last dub post, I’ve expanded my record collection a bit and discovered this gem.

At just over 30min, Who Say Jah No Dread is a tight, well-crafted experience; 6 well constructed and beautifully performed songs each followed by its respective dub versions. The selections showcase highlights from the early 70’s collaborations between vocalist Jacob Miller (of Inner Circle) and producer Augustus Pablo. King Tubby completes the “triple threat” by mixing the dub versions.

A little research reveals this record to be a classic, and, it feels like a classic: subtle in its plentiful hooks and consistent in its quality. Well worth picking up. Politics, philosophy, and love melt together in one smooth ride.

Volume 10: Pistolgrip-Pump and Where’s The Sniper

From: Hip-Hopera [RCA, 1994]

An oldie but goodie today and one that can’t fail to gee you up for the weekend. I tend to follow the code of posting up music that falls into the relatively obscure category but that’s always a little trickier with Hip Hop as my knowledge doesn’t go anywhere near as deep as some of the other bloggers out there and on our Hot List.

With that said and done, I do spend a large part of my music listening experience enjoying the world of rap and, revisiting Volume 10’s Hip-Hopera the other day, I was so blown away by how original it still sounds that I couldn’t resist featuring it on the site.

Volume 10 was originally part of the Goodlife open mic sessions before, as far as my knowledge goes, first laying down rhymes on wax on Freestyle Fellowship’s Heavyweights. Volume then went on to release his massive and bass shattering debut single Pistolgrip Pump in 1994. The album Hip-Hopera followed soon after and, being a disconnected brit, I can only assume didn’t do too well as a follow up didn’t appear till 2000.
In a way I can see why the album might have failed to rake in the sales – it certainly doesn’t offer up what would be expected after hearing Pistol Grip Pump. This is in no way a criticism of the album though as it mixes the upbeat bounce and gangsta vibes of tunes like Pistolgrip with songs rife with paranoia and social criticism.

Alongside the mix of somewhat psychedelic bass heavy beats, Volume 10’s rapping style is what really sets the album apart for me. Tracks like the alcoholism themed Where’s The Sniper show Volume switching between a mumbling style almost swallowing the end of sentences and a sing song style more reminiscent of Freestyle Fellowship recordings. The effect should be horrible but thanks to the man’s gifts and the lyrical content on offer the results hold true as Volume trips and stumbles his way on and off the beat.

I couldn’t really feature this album without including Pistolgrip-Pump so here it is for the 2% or whatever of the visitors to this site who haven’t heard it. Reintroduced to a whole new audience recently when it was featured in GTA San Andreas it truly is a window rattling, head bumping, classic as Volume 10 delivers a venomous rhyme over THAT beat. Even if you’ve heard it a million times before it never truly gets old. Enjoy.