Woody Shaw - Love Dance (1975) [Jap-CD]

A fantastic album by Woody Shaw - spiritual, soulful, and filled with some nice modal grooving! The group's one of the best he ever worked with on Muse - with Billy Harper on tenor, plus Rene McLean, Steve Turre, Joe Bonner, and Cecil McBee - and the approach reminds us of some of the work on Strata East from the same time. The highlight of the record is the cut "Sunbath", which was done in a more famous jazz dance version by singer Joyce Hurley - but Shaw's version has a very similar groove. Harper makes many of the other tracks shine brilliantly, and titles include "Love Dance", "Obsequious", and Harper's own beautiful composition "Soulfully I Love You". ~ Dusty Groove.

Muse Records, MR 5074, 1976
Sony Records, SRCS 9405, 1998
Recorded November, 1975 at Blue Rock Studio, New York City 

Musicians:
Woody Shaw - Trumpet
Steve Turre - Trombone, Bass Trombone
Rene McLean - Alto & Soprano Saxophones
Billy Harper - Tenor Saxophone
Joe Bonner - Piano, Electric Piano
Cecil McBee - Bass
Victor Lewis - Drums
Guilherme Franco - Percussion
Tony Waters - Congas 

Tracks:
1. Love Dance {Joe Bonner} (12:37)
2. Obsequious {Larry Young} (9:28)
3. Sunbath {Peggy Stern} (6:33)
4. Zoltan {Woody Shaw} (6:48)
5. Soulfully I Love You [Black Spiritual Of Love] {Billy Harper} (8:13) 

Total Time: 43:58 

Credits:
Producer - Michael Cuscuna
Engineer - Eddie Korvin
Mastering - Joe Brescio
Art Direction, Design, Photography - Hal Wilson
Liner Notes - Dan Morgenstern 

Love Dance

Ted Curson Quintet - Traveling On (1996) [re-rip]

Here we have another fine album by late Ted Curson. He assembles as per usual another great quintet. The majority of the tunes are his and he doesn’t waste any time showcasing his trumpet playing virtuosity through some brilliant solos. The pianist and flutist also show off their excellent versatility. In addition the listener gets to hear Ted vocalise on three numbers. Overall any fan will be pleased to scoop this one up just hear newer versions of Quicksand, Flatted Fifth, Tears For Dolphy and Song Of The Lonely. Enjoy!

Some people may never get past referring to Ted Curson as "the other soloist" in the great Charles Mingus bands with Eric Dolphy, but that hasn't deterred the trumpet player from pursuing his own, albeit less commercially and critically acclaimed, path. He just keeps Traveling On, the title of his twentieth album and his first release in seventeen years. Even though Curson is Traveling On, he looks back long enough to pay tribute to several of the magnificent musicians with whom he's been partnered in the past with "Tears for Dolphy," "Reava's Waltz (More Mingus)" and the set-ending "Song of the Lonely One (Ode to Booker Ervin)" (another Mingus-Curson connection). This set also includes well-executed covers of Herbie Hancock's venerated "Watermelon Man," the traditional "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Flip Flop and Fly." Curson's playing is confident, taut and swinging throughout, and, on four of these nine selections, it benefits greatly from the addition of four percussionists to the traditional bass/drum/piano backing. Traveling On proves worth the seventeen-year wait. ~ by Chris Slawecki, AMG.

Evidence Records, ECD 22182, 1997

Recorded 23^rd June, 1996 at Sound On Sound, New York City

Personnel:

Ted Curson - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet, Vocals (#6-8)

Mark Gross - Flute, Soprano & Alto Saxophones

Misako Kano - Piano

Ray Drummond - Bass

Sylvia Cuenca - Drums

Everald Brown, Guilherme Franco, Ricky "Bongo" James, David Williams - Percussion (#1-3,6)

Tracks:

1. Lin's Garden {Ted Curson, Graham Collier} (7:51)

2. Quicksand {Ted Curson} (6:55)

3. Flatted Fifth {Ted Curson} (5:50)

4. Tears For Dolphy {Ted Curson} (9:17)

5. Reava's Waltz {Ted Curson} (6:03)

6. Watermelon Man [Lyrical Version] {Herbie Hancock, Jon Hendricks} (7:28)

7. When The Saints Go Marching In {Traditional} (2:42)

8. Flip Flop And Fly {Charles E. Calhoun, Lou Willie Turner} (2:08)

9. Song Of The Lonely One [aka Ode To Booker Ervin] {Ted Curson} (7:20)

Carlos Garnett - The New Love (1978) [re-rip>true flac]

Here we have the fifth Carlos Garnett Muse Album from the late seventies.

The New Love is an electric record both in terms of its instrumentation and the excitement it engenders, with its panoramic scope of musical influences, joined together in a compact, accessible, and cohesive whole, it once again establishes Carlos Garnett as one of the true masters of musical fusion.

"Memories of Coltrane" is, in this writer's opinion, the album's finest achievement. It opens dramatically with Trane-inspired tenor fervently wailing over rumbling by Mouzon. The theme is stated with ardent emotion by Garnett (joined by Hino on an ascent) over densely textured layers of piano, bass, and percussive sounds. The theme is then repeated vocally by Garnett and McClary, as Hino and Bonner spin intensely spiritual obbligati around it; the lyrics may be simple, but the message they convey is a potent one. ~ Tom Bingham, Liner Notes.

Muse Records, MR 5133, 1978
Recorded May, 1977 At Dimensional Sound Studio, New York City

Personnel: 
Carlos Garnett - Tenor & Soprano Saxophones, Vocals
Terumasa Hino - Trumpet
Joe Bonner - Keyboards
Otis McClary - Guitar, Vocals
John Lee - Bass
Alphonse Mouzon - Drums
Guilherme Franco - Bongos, Percussion
Timana - Bongos, Percussion

Track Listing:
A1. Lil Dear (5:00)
A2. Bolerock (4:13)
A3. The New Love (8:56)
B1. Uncle Ben & Aunt Jemima (5:14)
B2. Dance Of The Virgins (4:04)
B3. Memories Of Coltrane (9:22)

All Compositions by Carlos Garnett

Credits:
Producer - Carlos Garnett, John Lee
Recording Engineer - Malcolm Addey
Design, Photography - Ron Warwell
Liner Notes - Tom Bingham

WOODY SHAW - LOVE DANCE - 1975 - 24/48

Muse  MR-5074
My Vinyl Rip
Front & Back Covers
FLAC
DR Value 13

Love Dance is the fourth album led by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1975 and released on the Muse label.  Love Dance was reissued by Mosaic Records as part of Woody Shaw: The Complete Muse Sessions in 2013.   Shaw gives us a polished performance as he shows his versatility throughout the session.  I like the title track Love Dance as the highlight.  At over twelve minutes in length, it's a showcases of wonderful solos by all the players.    

01 Love Dance / 02 Obsequious / 03 Sunbath / 04 Zoltan /
05 Soulfully I Love You (Black Spiritual of Love)

Woody Shaw - trumpet;  Steve Turre - trombone, bass trombone;  René McLean - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone;
Billy Harper - tenor saxophone;  Joe Bonner - piano, electric piano;  Cecil McBee - bass;  Victor Lewis - drums:
Guilherme Franco - percussion;  Tony Waters - congas