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Henry Franklin
Daggerboard: The Skipper and Mike Clark
by Jack Bowers
The rhythm section--more specifically, bassist Henry “The Skipper" Franklin and drummer Mike Clark--is front and center on the fourth recording by San Francisco Bay-area Daggerboard, the brainchild of trumpeter Erik Jekabson and percussionist Gregory Howe, who have enlisted a large array of supporting actors to help refine and sharpen their unique musical vision. That includes a four-member string section on three of the album's ten numbers, two of which ("Tanzanian Skies," the closing “Ruaha Daybreak") were written by ...
Continue ReadingMike Clark: Itai Doshin
by Jack Bowers
Itai Doshin is a Buddhist term that, translated from Japanese, refers to a state of harmony wherein individuals share a common goal and purpose, or “many in body, one in mind." That is the level California-based drum legend Mike Clark's quintet strives for on Clark's second album on Gregory Howe's Wide Hive label. Is the mission accomplished? That is for the listener to decide. What can be said is that everyone gives it his (or her) best ...
Continue ReadingDonald Byrd: Live: Cookin' With Blue Note at Montreux
by Stefano Merighi
Nelle note di copertina, Don Was, presidente della Blue Note, celebra questa pubblicazione inedita del concerto di Montreux di Donald Byrd del 1973 con toni di grande rispetto ed entusiasmo. E il trombettista (scomparso nel 2013) se lo merita, sia per un certo distacco critico che ne ha sempre contraddistinto l'opera, sia per il ruolo di scouter ed educatore che Byrd ha giocato in quegli anni, quando molti jazzmen hanno preferito trasformare un linguaggio ancora legato ai fasti dell'hard bop ...
Continue ReadingDonald Byrd: Cookin' With Blue Note At Montreux
by Ian Patterson
Almost fifty years after the event, Donald Byrd's 1973 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival finally sees the light of day. Several other artists on Blue Note's roster had performances released--in more timely manner--from the same edition of Claude Nobs festival, including Ronnie Foster, Bobbi Humphrey, Bobby Hutcherson and Marlena Shaw. In no small part, thanks for this posthumous Byrd release is due to the French-born, London-based DJ and label owner Gilles Peterson, who contacted Blue Note regarding the whereabouts ...
Continue ReadingDonald Byrd: Donald Byrd Live: Cookin' With Blue Note at Montreux
by Peter Jones
What a treat it must have been in 1973 to attend the Montreux Jazz Festival: the featured artists that year included Dexter Gordon, McCoy Tyner, Chico Hamilton, Sam Rivers, Bobbi Humphrey, Dr John, Marlena Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson... and Donald Byrd with his Tentet, whose July 5 performance is captured on this album. It was also the year of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters (Columbia Records) album, not to mention several Blaxploitation movie soundtracks, including J.J. Johnson's for Cleopatra Jones and ...
Continue ReadingDonald Byrd: Donald Byrd Live: Cookin' With Blue Note at Montreux
by Mike Jurkovic
With the release of his chart-topping, funk-fueled Black Byrd in 1973, Donald Byrd found himself in a volatile place in jazz circles. He was being hailed as having finally stepped out of Miles Davis' considerable shadow, while simultaneously many found the album to be Byrd's selling out his bop legacy for chart success. As most defining artistic moments reveal, a little of both were true. Produced and arranged by the brothers Fonce Mizelland Larry Mizell, Black Byrd incorporated ...
Continue ReadingHenry Franklin: Jazz Is Dead 14
by Chris May
Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad's Jazz Is Dead label is a moveable feast when it comes to consistency. In its fourteen albums date, there have been some great ones, some not so great ones and a couple of duds. With bassist Henry Franklin, however, the label has come up with a blinder, its most satisfying disc to date. Los Angeles-based Franklin is not well known beyond musician circles, but his track record is distinguished. He has released ...
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Music
One For Mganga
From: Kosen RufuBy Henry Franklin
A Love Song For Midori
From: The Soul Of The WorldBy Henry Franklin
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piano
Bobby Hutcherson
vibraphone
Grant Green
guitar
Larry Young
organ, Hammond B3
Stanley Cowell
piano
Pharoah Sanders
saxophone, tenor
Donald Byrd
trumpet
Roy Ayers
vibraphone
Dorothy Ashby
harp
Doug Carn
keyboards
Gary Bartz
saxophone, alto
Bobbi Humphrey
flute
Sahib Shihab
woodwinds
Buster Williams
bass, acoustic
Calvin Keys
guitar
