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| MPS // Pt.2: A MONTH OF BRASS - Charlie Mariano, Bob Malach, Billy Harper Dear Media Partners, the releases of this month got a focus on brass frontmen. This week especially on saxophone. Check them out: Charlie Mariano Helen 12 Trees For those who don't know American saxophonist Charlie Mariano's music, you're in for a treat. For his legions of fans, this may be an album that has passed beneath your radar. Critic Thom Jurek calls it "one of the great, under-heard records to ever come out of the fusion years a stone classic and one of the best examples of post-Miles jazz-rock fusion ever recorded". Although Mariano first made his name in the jazz caldrons of Boston and New York his solos on Mingus' The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady are jazz classics , Mariano is known in Europe for his eclectic play, ranging from jazz, fusion and pop to world music. The astounding lineup for this album includes keyboardist Jan Hammer of Mahavishnu Orchestra fame, Polish violin great Zbigniew Seifert, bassist Jack Bruce from the legendary rock group Cream, Soft Machine drummer John Marshall, and the amazing Asian percussionist Nippy Noya. Bob Malach Some People One of the great fusion saxophonists, Bob Malach made the move from his hometown of Philadelphia to NYC in 1976. He soon found work with the likes of Stanley Clarke and Alphonse Mouzon (he's featured on Mouzon's MPS release Baby Come Back), and was in the studio with Stevie Wonder, Spyro Gyra and the Brecker Brothers. For the first album under his own name, Malach assembled a group of well-known playmates: John Lee and drummer Gerry Brown were high school buddies, and he and keyboardist Jasper van't Hof had worked together in Mouzon's group. Malach and French violin star Didier Lockwood were also well-acquainted Malach would appear on Lockwood's MPS album "Live in Montreux" later that year. Dutch guitarist Eef Albers had already toured the states with Lee and Brown. Billy Harper Trying To Make Heaven My Home One of the best-known players of the post-Coltrane generation, Texas tenor saxophonist Billy Harper earned his spurs with Art Blakey, Randy Weston, Gil Evans, and Max Roach. This 1979 album features Harper's then-current working group. Fellow Texan Malcolm Pinson and Harper have been playing partners since high school. Bassist Wayne Dockery gained recognition through his work with Art Blakey; trumpeter Everett Hollins' roots are grounded in rhythm and blues including work with the legendary Otis Redding, and pianist Armen Donelian worked with jazz giants Lionel Hampton and Sonny Rollins. Harper grew up in the Church and credits that black spiritual heritage as a major influence on his music and world view, one similar to Coltrane's. For Harper, spirituality is non-denominational: it's about a universal truth. On the album, Harper's compositions reflect on the spiritual a City Called Heaven and other gospel songs of his youth. Release Date: July 15th, 2016 (2 months exclusively on iTunes. Subsequently available on all common download services.) - Mastered for iTunes - 24-bit-Transfer from original master tapes - produced by Dirk Sommer write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |