Donald Harrison Jr - "3D" Vol. 1 (2006)

3D, Vol. 1 is a synthesis of Smooth Jazz, R&B, and Funk that you can use when you want to chill or get up and dance. You call that the perfect mix. Donald Harrison wrote and produced most of the music on this project. In fact, on "Chillin' At The Penthouse" he played every instrument. His unique synthesis will take you on a relaxing soulful journey. Bio Donald Harrison, 3D: Volume One (FOMP Records) Early in is multi-faceted career, when Donald Harrison was holding down the saxophone chair in the top-notch touring band of Lena Horne, the veteran star of stage and screen gave her young accompanist the nickname "Cool Breeze." Several years later, Harrison recorded a "smooth jazz" classic on the CTI record label called The Power of Cool that earned him high accolades and a considerable amount of play time on contemporary adult radio all around the country. Now the "cool" side of Donald Harrison is back with a high-powered synthesis of jazz intonations, R&B syncopations, and a solid funk feeling you can't possibly miss. Blowing like a strong Gulf Coast breeze, the New Orleans born-and-bred saxophonist sails his majestic sound over sunset waters swelled by contributions from a multitude of friends and musical collaborators, including salsa maestro Eddie Palmieri, trumpet sensation Chris Botti, and smooth-jazz guitarist and in-demand producer Chuck Loeb, among many others. Begun pre-Katrina, 3D: Volume One was completed in studios all around the country with the much-appreciated support of musicians, studios, friends, and family. It's journey to fruition marks a genuine triumph of the human spirit. And its music is a perfect blend of mellow sounds and percolating beats, setting the stage for a little "Soul to Soul" dancing or maybe just some "Chillin' at the Penthouse." Either way, this "cool breeze" of contemporary adult jazz is guaranteed to take you on a soulful and relaxing journey ... So, settle back, and enjoy! ~ DeepDiscount.com. 

FOMP Records, 000013, 2006 

Musicians:
Donald Harrison Jr - Saxophone
Chris Botti - Trumpet
Brian Lynch - Trumpet (#8)
Daryl Levigne - Piano (#2,4,10)
Eddie Palmieri - Piano (#8)
Chuck Loeb - Guitar (#1)
John Bagnado - Guitar (#2,4,5,10)
Marc Pero - Guitar (#2,4,10)
Bill Soley - Guitar (#6)
Eric Slaughter - Guitar (#7)
Darius Harrison - Guitar (#9,11)
Jonathan Lewis - Guitar (#12)
Chris Severin - Bass (#5)
John Benitez - Bass (#8)
Louis Cato - Bass (#12)
Andrew Marsh - Drums (#12)
Michael White - Drums (#1)
Jamal Batiste - Drums (#4,5)
El Negro - Drums (#8)
Giovanni Hidalgo - Percussion (#8)
McKinley "Bug" Williams - Percussion (7,11)
Darius Harrison - Vocals (#2)
Smoke - Vocals (#11)
Denise Hudson - Lead Vocals (#12)
Leoniere Allen - Backing Vocals (#12) 

Tracks:
01. The Magic Touch {Donald Harrison} (5:15)
02. Now Is The Time {Donald Harrison} (4:24)
03. Chillin' At The Penthouse {Donald Harrison} (4:53)
04. All My Love {Donald Harrison} (5:42)
05. Soul To Soul {Donald Harrison} (5:10)
06. A Beautiful Day {Donald Harrison} (4:47)
07. Dream Girl {Donald Harrison} (3:48)
08. Eddie Palmieri {Donald Harrison} (5:34)
09. Step In The Name Of Love {Robert Sylvester Kelly} (4:38)
10. Now Is The Time [Instrumental] {Donald Harrison} (4:23)
11. Rainy Nights {Elmer Overton} (3:15)
12. You Love Me Back {Donald Harrison} (4:54) 

Total Time: 57:22 

Credits:
Producer - Donald Harrison
Producer - Darius Harrison (#9)

John Handy - Projections

This is, in fact, a continuation of my little Mike Nock series, albeit he is not the leader here. 

I will confess up front that my primary motivation here is to find a nice lossless copy from one of you fine readers, failing that I may have to hunt one down myself because this is one damn fine album. For that matter, I believe there is a Mosaic set with all the Columbia recordings....anyone?? 

As you are carried away on this magic carpet ride, do please consider that this music was played 1967-68! WHEW!

"The third of altoist John Handy's three superb Columbia studio albums finds him fronting a quintet comprised of violinist Michael White, pianist Mike Nock, bassist Bruce Cale and drummer Larry Hancock. The talented group plays four originals by Handy, three by Nock and one from White. The music (much more concise in general than on the previous two Columbias) contains plenty of surprises and is difficult to categorize (somewhere between the avant-garde and hard bop), although it does not reach the same heights as New View." AMG

The Fourth Way

This mp3 copy of the first Fourth Way album (and the only studio album)
 is the only time I have ever encountered the album and I sheepishly admit that I haven't the faintest idea where it was that I found it.

This band is always known as an ensemble but there is no doubt here on the first offering that this is Mike Nock's brainchild, he is the sole author on every tune. I can imagine walking through The Haight in 1968, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and Quicksilver in the park but you go walking the other direction and happen upon a small club with these guys offering the jazz response to The Summer of Love.

Compared to the two live albums that followed this one is relatively tame, but for me to hear this deepens my appreciation of what follows.

Now if someone were to come up with a fresh lossless rip.....

The Fourth Way

That's right, you are looking at the original and only studio album made by this seminal jazz fusion band. Looking through the album credits it gives you the impression that Mike Nock was the de-facto leader in that he wrote seven of the eight compositions (Michael White wrote Dance of the Mechanical Men). This album is not anywhere near as spacey as the two live albums to follow which, oddly enough, makes it the least dated sounding of the three albums they produced. What you hear on this album is a quartet of accomplished musicians exploring fresh new frontiers in music. Being the late 60's, early 70's there is the seemingly required spiritual path reference, in this case the writings on Sufi philosophy of G.I. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky. Given that the band was based out of San Francisco I guess you could say this was a 'hippie jazz' group - lots of hippies, myself included, dug this band. Even my friends who were bored to tears with most of my music dug these guys. One reason may be that they kept Ron McClure and Eddie Marshall way up forward in the mix and even rock fans could tell that they were beasts.

The Fourth Way
Capitol Records 1969

1) Everyman's Your Brother
2) Clouds
3) Sparky
4) Bucklehuggin
5) Openings
6) Gemini Trajectory
7) Dance of the Mechanical Men
8) The Sybil

John Handy Concert Ensemble - Projections 1968

This was posted at the old Crypt some 3 years back, it was a contribution from grumpy long before he was an author here and he tells me it came an ancient down load from before the blogging era. It also represents the next step in revisiting the career of Mike Nock.

The Sixties were a great era for John Handy, from his historic 1965 appearance at Monterey on, he rocked the jazz world with a series of terrific and inventive albums.
On this album he has both Michael White and Mike Nock who would shortly leave to form The Fourth Way. The music dances on the edge of free jazz without ever fully crossing over, I would put in the spiritual jazz category if you needed a label for it but mostly it is just great music. The compositions are all originals by members of the ensemble and even today it maintains a wonderful freshness. Sadly Handy would never achieve the level of popularity and recognition he deserved despite having a crossover hit in the 70's with 'Hard Work'. Even today as a jazz educator at San Francisco State he remains criminally under recognized outside of the Bay Area.