Book123

    Free register and download UseNet downloader, then you can FREE Download from UseNet.

    Download without Limit " Lyrics & Music Jazz Crusaders: Pacific Jazz Studio Sessions (6-CD Box Set) " from UseNet for FREE!

More

The Jazz Crusaders: Pacific Jazz Studio Sessions [6-CD Box Set] (2005) All Covers and 16-page PDF Booklet Genre: Jazz

Mosaicrecords.com:

A FIRST-TIME EVER SET FROM A ONE-OF-A-KIND BAND - THE JAZZ CRUSADERS.

A great discovery lies ahead for music buyers whose collections were assembled primarily in the CD era. And for others who let intervening years dull their memory of this band's truly original talent. The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions is the first major retrospective of The Jazz Crusaders, a band that, later in its lifespan, would highlight different influences and become one of the most popular bands in music. This collection, from the 1960s, presents them at a time when they were largely un-amplified, full of energy, and unbelievably prolific (sessions from 9 LPs are represented here, and that's just the studio stuff).

When they surfaced in Los Angeles in 1961, poised to make their first LP, no one knew quite what to make of these musicians who seemed unlike any other "west coast" organizations. Not only weren't they part of the west coast sound, whatever that was, but they didn't seem to even care about it or recognize its relevance. The Jazz Crusaders featured their own eclectic line-up; played a signature mix of sounds, all with an appealing, tight groove, that had more to do with the music's roots than a lot of the jazz they were hearing.

When Dick Bock of Pacific Jazz heard their music, he couldn't name it, categorize it, or resist it. Two tunes into their audition, they had a deal! With the music on this set - which, except for the band's premiere recording, appears on CD for the first time anywhere - we get to learn why, all over again.

Simple Beginnings

They began playing together as the Swingsters when pianist Joe Sample, tenor saxophonist Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper were high school students in Houston, Texas. The music they played was typical of their hometown - bluesy, soulful, and spirited. They'd get together in the Fifth Ward, where Felder lived, to rehearse; before long, they fell sway to a new sound, by guys like Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach, whose records they'd listen to for hours.

Adding trombonist Wayne Henderson, flutist/alto saxophonist Hubert Laws, and bass player Henry Wilson, they changed their name to the Modern Jazz Sextet and sought to master their instruments as the beboppers had done. But they never lost that Southern feel or their gulf basin roots. That group continued playing locally as the members worked their way through college.

It was the desire to explore more things musically, and get paid for doing it, that encouraged Felder, Sample, Hooper and Henderson to migrate to Los Angeles, where they often worked as an R&B cover band called the Night Hawks. But every chance they got, the young musicians performed their own mix of the sounds that came out of their culture and their experiences. It was only when they were signed to Pacific Jazz that they adopted the name that would remain unchanged for a decade.

From their first recordings, The Jazz Crusaders proved they sounded like no one else. They took as their foundation what Sample called the three pillars of African American music: jazz, blues and gospel.

So many of the songs could only have come from this band, whose unique approach to writing sustained them over their many years of working together. Each member would bring tunes to the session, where they would work over them as a team. The result would be complex phrases, uncommon segment lengths, music tinged with many elements, but never anything you could lump into a basket.

A Unique Blend

It's no surprise that a band as committed to ensemble writing would excel at ensemble playing, and The Jazz Crusaders were masters of the art through this period of their history. Henderson's liquid trombone, Felder's hot Texas tenor, Hooper's driving beat, and Sample's commanding, confident piano style, make the perfect blend.

In fact, part of what makes The Jazz Crusaders' music through the decade of the 1960s so appealing is that their background and musical influences seemed to put them on a course of musical discovery, seeking ways to apply the art of self expression and improvisation to their own compositions and to a wide repertoire from the jazz and pop worlds.

Over the years, there were other studio albums outside the concept of this release (a big band date, a collaboration with Les McCann and an album with Latin percussionists). This set is pure Jazz Crusaders. As the bass player changed from Jimmy Bond, to Bobby Haynes, Victor Gaskin, Monk Montgomery, Al McKibbon, Leroy Vinnegar, and Buster Williams, different techniques and approaches to the instrument brought out qualities of drive, introspection, or passion in the band.

THE PACIFIC JAZZ QUINTET STUDIO SESSIONS features 90 tracks on six CDs, including four alternates and nine newly-uncovered performances that have never appeared on record or CD. On several tracks, the core band is joined by guitarists Roy Gaines, Joe Pass, or Arthur Adams. The exclusive Mosaic booklet includes rare photographs from the original sessions, a complete discography of the sessions, a history of the band featuring new interviews with Felder, Hooper, Sample, and Williams, and a track-by-track appraisal of the music by Bob Blumenthal.

Allaboutjazz.com:

This six-disc set now collects all the Pacific Jazz studio sessions for the first time on CD, namely the albums Freedom Sound, Lookin’ Ahead, Tough Talk, Heat Wave, Stretchin’ Out, The Thing, Uh Huh, and Powerhouse. Furthermore, a 1970 album for Liberty, Give Peace a Chance, is included in what adds up to ninety performances. Among those you’ll also find some 11 tracks that are previously unissued. Now what you won’t find here are the albums Talk That Talk (recorded with a big band), Chile Con Soul (a Latinized affair already available on disc), and Jazz Waltz (a collaboration with Les McCann).

Although much has been made in regards to the legitimacy of West Coast hard bop and some might only be familiar with this band after they dropped the “jazz” from their name, the fact remains that these performances should leave no doubt that Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, Wayne Henderson, and Stix Hooper were and are highly skilled jazz artists capable of making great music. In fact, no less than the highly regarded trombonist Conrad Herwig recently told this reviewer that he’s always been enamored of the these early recordings of the Jazz Crusaders.

There’s a strong sense of continuity that develops over the course of the nine original Pacific Jazz albums that span the years 1961 to 1968. Even when covering pop numbers such as The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” or “Mister Sandman,” there’s a palpable feeling of conviction that makes everything work. This can also be said for the last album in the set, 1970’s Give Peace a Chance. Check out how the group transforms another Beatles ditty, “Blackbird,” some twenty years before Tony Williams would try a go at the tune himself with his popular ‘90s ensemble. It’s the eleven-minute Felder original, “Space Settlement,” though that reminds us that Sample and crew could have continued squarely within the jazz tradition if they had wanted to, but other ideas were soon to be in the offing.

It should come as no surprise that this set offers us an aural delight, as producer Dick Bock and his team of engineers always insisted on product marked by superb sound. The 16-page booklet includes session-by-session commentary from Bob Blumenthal and many photos from the era.

Tracks:

CD1: The Geek; M.J.S Funk; That's It; Freedom Sound; Theme From Exodus; Coon; M.J.S. Funk (alternate version); Coon (alternate version); Song Of India; Big Hunk Of Funk; Tonight; 507 Neyland; Till All Ends; Tortoise & The Hare; In A Dream; The Young Rabbits.

CD2: Sinnin' Sam; Weather Beat; Scandalizing; White Cobra; Cathy's Delight; Congolese Sermon; One Leg Dance; Deacon Brown; Turkish Black; Brahms Lullaby; Boopie; Tough Talk; No Name Samba; Lazy Canary; Lonely Horn; Brother Bernard; Moon River.

CD3: On Broadway; Greenback Dollar; Close Shave; Free Sample; Mr. Sandman; Heat Wave; Sassy; Theme From “The L-Shaped Room” (T-Shaped Twist); Some Samba; Stix March; Purple Onion; Long John; Robbins' Nest; You Are Sometimes Only Rain; Out Back; Bachafillen; I'll Remember Tomorrow; Polka Dots And Moonbeams; Sweetwater.

CD4: The Thing; Sunset In The Mountains; While The City Sleeps; White Cobra; New Time Shuffle; Para Mi Espoza; Soul Kosher; Tribute To Charles; A Trane Thing; New Time Shuffle (alternate version); The Thing (alternate version); Uptight (Everything's Alright); The Shadow Do ; Scratch; Isa's Chant.

CD5: Blue Monday; Night Theme; Uh Huh; Air Waves; Ice Water; Watts Happening; Promises, Promises; Love And Peace; Hey Jude; Sting Ray; Fancy Dance.

CD6: Love is Blue; Cookie Man; Upstairs; Firewater; Give Peace A Chance; I Think It Was A Dream; Black Bird; The Thrill Is Gone; Anita's New Dance; Space Settlement; All The Lonely Years; Another Blues.

Personnel: Joe Sample: piano; Wilton Felder: tenor saxophone; Wayne Henderson: trombone; Stix Hooper: drums; Jimmy Bond, Bobby Haynes, Monk Montgomery, Victor Gaskin, Leroy Vinnegar, Buster Williams: bass; Roy Gaines, Joe Pass, Arthur Adams: guitar.

Downloads ~ RS.com:

CD 1:

Buy It at Lowest Price on Amazon

Track 16, missing from CD1 in the original post =

CD 2:

CD 3:

CD 4:

CD 5:

CD 6:

* Covers and PDF booklet:

Rating:
2.5 out of 5 by Book123