Sometime after March, 1969, trumpeters Burt Collins and Joe Shepley went into the studio and recorded a masterpiece. I’m betting you’ve never heard the album - Time, Space And The Blues - because it has never been released digitally and is rare on vinyl. Pianist Mike Abene wrote many of the songs and all of the arrangements except one - Soft Landing, which was arranged by Johnny Carisi. In fact, this is as much Abene’s album as it is Collins and Shepley’s. What makes this album special, in addition to Abene’s highly inventive charts, is the ability to hear Collins out in the open. The trumpeter was in some of the most exciting bands of the post-war years, including Woody Herman, Johnny Richards, Manny Albam, Elliot Lawrence, Urbie Green and Slide Hampton. But he was socked away in trumpet sections. Not until 1969 did Collins finally record as a leader on Time, Space And The Blues. Lennon/McCartney Live, his only other leadership date, was recorded a short time later with virtually the same band, except Herbie Hancock was on piano instead of Abene, who wrote all the arrangements. There's no recording date for Time, Space And The Blues in Tom Lord’s Jazz Discography or on the album or singles. I arrived at the post-March 1969 date by glancing at the songs on the album. One is Docking Maneuver and another is Module 3. Both are references to Apollo 9, which lifted off in March 1969 to work on aspects of the Apollo 11 flight to the moon scheduled for July. Shepley first recorded with Collins on Introducing Duke Pearson’s Big Band in 1967. They soon formed Collins/Shepley Galaxy and recorded Time, Space And The Blues for MTA Records, a division of Decca, at Columbia’s 30th St. studio. The session was produced by MTA head Bob Thompson. The band was impressive: The arrangements have a Gil Evans feel - heaving and sighing and creating an orchestral feel for Collins’s darting trumpet and Shepley’s moodier attack. In this regard, the album sounds like a cousin of the Evans-Miles Davis collaborations of the late 1950s and early 1960s. ~ by Marc Myers, www.jazzwax.com.
MTA Records, NWS 2, 1970
Recorded after March, 1969 at
Columbia 30th Street Studio "The Church", New York City
Musicians:
Burt Collins, Joe Shepley -
Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Bernie Glow - Trumpet,
Trumpet [Piccolo]
Garnett Brown - Trombone
Paul Faulise - Bass Trombone
Joe DeAngelis - French Horn
Tony Price - Tuba
Jerry Dodgion - Flute,
Soprano Saxophone
Michael Abene - Piano,
Arranger, Conductor
Bob Cranshaw - Bass
Mickey Roker - Drums
John Carisi - Arranger
Tracks:
A1. Time, Space And The Blues
{Joe Shepley, Michael Abene} (6:02)
A2. Apogee {Michael Abene}
(3:37)
A3. Blue Interlude {Joe
Shepley} (4:29)
A4. Docking Maneuver {Michael
Abene} (4:23)
B1. Module 3 {Johnny Carisi}
(5:00)
B2. Soft Landing {Michael
Abene} (4:09)
B3. Susan Moon {Michael
Abene} (3:27)
B4. Fourth Dimension {Joe
Shepley} (4:45)
Total Time: 35:52
Credits:
Producer - Bob Thompson
Recording Engineer - Frank
Laico, Paul Goodman
Artwork [Cover] - Frank
Frezzo
Design [Cover] - Forlenza
Venosa Associates
Photography [Back] - Robin
Forbes
Photography [Front] - Bob
Venosa
Click on the play button to play track:
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