Kenny Barron

Recently on reddit a jazz listener recommended a Kenny Barron album I was unfamiliar with. I sought it out and eventually tracked it down. Looking at the pianists discography, I noticed there were a few albums from the 70s I was unfamiliar with. We'll take a look at a small snippet from the beginning of Kenny's vast career, starting with the 1973 debut release on Muse Records, Sunset to Dawn. 

Joining Kenny here we have bassist Bob Cranshaw, percussionists Richard Landrum and Warren Smith, and drummer Freddie Waits. Barron mostly employs the Rhodes on this album but he plays acoustic piano on a few tunes. A mostly laid-back vibe on this one with "Sunset, "Swamp Demon" and "Dawn" being my favorites. 

The following year in 1974 and again on Muse, Kenny released his sophomore album, Peruvian Blue. This time joining Kenny we have guitarist Ted Dunbar and bassist David Williams. On percussion we again have Richard Landrum, along with Sonny Morgan. On drums we have Albert Heath. Again Kenny plays a little Rhodes and acoustic, both; also working in some clav.

The title track here opens things up quite nicely. I also really dig "Two Areas" and the excellent, closing tune "In The Meantime."

Next up, in 1975, Kenny released one of my favorites of the bunch in Lucifer. Joining Kenny we have James Spaulding on alto sax and bass flute, Kenny's older brother Bill Barron on soprano sax, Charles Sullivan on trumpet, Carlos Alomar on acoustic and electric guitar with Chris White on bass. On drums we have the legend Billy Hart. 

Hard to pick favorites on this one. The opening tune "Spirits" is a bit more funky than we've heard so far. I really dig the bass flute and Kenny's playing on "Firefly" and the longest tune on the album, "Hellbound." 

It was 3 years later for Barron's next album. This is the album I'm grateful to have seen recommended on reddit. Innocence is a fantastic album through and through, and is also Kenny's first release on Wolf Records. I'm guessing this one was recorded in multiple sessions because we have some overlap in the personnel. On saxophone we have Sonny Fortune and on trumpet we have Jimmy Owens. On bass we have Buster Williams and Gary King. On percussion we have Rafael Cruz and Billy Hart. And on drums we have Brian Brake and Ben Riley.

Excellent vibes and great playing throughout on this one. Fortune plays beautifully on "Sunshower", as does Kenny. I also really dig the title track. I tend to prefer the tunes where Barron employs the Rhodes. This one closes with "Nothing To Fear"; the only cover on the album. Great tempo on trumpeter Jimmy Owens tune. Great album all around. 

Final note - I try to stick to flac when available or 320kbps mp3s if flac isn't available. The only copy I could find of Peruvian Blue was on my ancient external hd from years ago. It is 192kbps MP3. Still a great album. I'll keep an eye out for a better copy. 

Enjoy!

Art Webb

While listening to Teruo Nakamura's Unicorn album, I really enjoyed the keys from Hubert Eaves III. While I'm still hunting for his lone solo album, Esoteric Funk, I did learn that he was also on Love Eyes from flautist Art Webb. 

Unfamiliar with Art Webb, I decided to do a little digging and found Love Eyes and Mr. Flute, both released on Atlantic in 1977. I would describe both albums as having elements of soul jazz and jazz-funk. Maybe even starting to flirt with boogie/disco a little bit, especially on Mr. Flute. Great tempo all around.

Love Eyes is listed as being released first and depending on the day, is the best album of the two. Again we have a massive list of personnel so I'll leave you guys to check the link if you want a full breakdown. There are a few tracks with some limited vocals and I did go ahead and make some instrumentals. 

Hard to pick favorites on this one because it's fantastic start to finish, in my opinion. "Free", "Devotion" and "Pyramids" would be quick choices. Although "Flute Magic" is also very nice. Great vibes throughout on this one.

As mentioned, Webb released another album the same year. Mr. Flute also features a wide variety of players that can be found on the link. Again there are a few with minimal vocals and I've included instrumentals for them, although hardly necessary.

This one jumps right out of the gate with the opening title track which is followed by "Dobie." Next up is the excellent tune "Good Times In Life" and honestly the remaining tunes are also fantastic. Webb really didn't miss on either of these albums. I hope you guys dig them as much as I have. 

Teruo Nakamura - Part 3

Hey everybody - sorry for the delay on the final installment for bassist Teruo Nakamura. Unfortunately, the music I'll be sharing today is mostly forgettable. I'm going to keep this post short so we can move on to other sounds. 

There are 4 albums to share today but for me only 1 has some tunes on it that I dig. In 1981, Teruo released an album titled Route 80. The title track, "Gemini Rising" and "Midnight Song" are highlights here for me. 

The following 3 albums are as follows: 1985's Super Friends, 1990's Wind Smile and 2016's New Your Groove. Honestly I didn't make it entirely through any of these albums. They are either too smooth for me, or have too much of a late-80s, early 90s sound for my liking. No disrespect to Teruo or the fans who enjoy this era of jazz; it's just not for me. I'll let you decide. By my count, we went 4.5 out of 9 for Teruo.

Teruo Nakamura - Part 2

Back again with more from Teruo Nakamura. I have a few more albums than I realized so this might be a 3 or 4 post series. 

First for today is the 1977 release on Polydor, Manhattan Special. This album was also released as Songs Of The Birds. I think this might be the reason I stumbled upon Teruo because Herbie Hancock is featured here on Rhodes and synthesizer. As usual, there is a sleuth of musicians featured so I'm not certain which tunes Herbie is playing on. Please check the link if you'd like to see the full breakdown of personnel. 

This one starts of with the great title tune and doesn't really disappoint. I especially dig "Firefly" and "Wiggle Worm" which features some great synthesizer play so perhaps this is where Herbie jumped in. There's also some great Rhodes play on the short tune "Mr. Cherry and Mr. T" before we close with "Love Is A Reflection In The Mirrors Behind Your Eyes/Sunrise In Africa." Quite the title for another solid tune to close out another great album. 3 for 3 so far.

Next up is the album Big Apple; recorded in NYC and released on Agharta in 1979. Again we have quite a few players lending support so please check this link for details. The only names I recognize after a quick glance are Steve Grossman on sax, Randy Brecker on flugelhorn and the great Hubert Laws on flute. 

I find this one to be mostly boring. I do dig the opening tune "Mr. & Mrs. Funk" which gave me high hopes for the album. The following tune "Teaser" is also solid along with "El Coqui." The rest of the album could be described as smooth fusion - there just isn't enough of a pulse for me to revisit this one. Hopefully a one-off. 3 out of 4. 

In the same year, 1979, Teruo and his band recorded the live album At Carnegie Hall. Perhaps around the same time he recorded Big Apple, but I'm not certain. We return to some more interesting music than what we heard previously. Maybe we should have checked this one before Big Apple. 

Only 4 tunes here and all 4 are solid. I especially dig the closing tune "Steppin With The Lord" from pianist Harry Whitaker. Randy Brecker shines on trumpet, as expected. The first 3 tunes are all great, too. "Manhattan Special", "Rising Sun" and "Wiggle Worm." All in all a great live performance. 4 out of 5 so far. 

Enjoy! I'll try to finish this off this week.

Teruo Nakamura - Part 1

Hey there - I'm finally back at it after a little break from reality. Today I want to look at a very talented bassist in Teruo Nakamura. Not only did he release a few great fusion albums in the 70s, he also surrounded himself with great players. 

First up for today, released on Three Blind Mice, we have 1973's Unicorn. Recorded in two different sessions, it looks like Teruo used different personnel throughout the process. On electric and acoustic piano we have George Cables, Hubert Eaves III and John Miller. On soprano and tenor saxes we have Steve Grossman and on trumpet we have Charles Sullivan. On percussion we have Alvern Bunn, Keiji Kishida and Ronald Jackson. And finally on drums we have two greats in Alphonse Mouzon and Lenny White. 

This one starts off with a great groove in Nakamura original "Unicorn Lady." Grossman's soprano sax adds a great element to the tune. Two of my favorite tunes are Eaves III compositions in "Understanding" and "Umma Be Me." Both feature vocals from Sandy Hewitt and I've included instrumentals for each. Grossman tune "New Moon" is also another gem featuring great playing from Grossman himself as well as Cables on the acoustic piano. If my ear serves me right I believe Grossman plays both his tenor and soprano here. According to Discogs, Cables also plays piano on the closing tune "Derrick's Dance." But considering it's a John Miller tune, I think this might be a mistake. Either way, a great tune to close out the album.

Three years later in 1976, Teruo released his next album on Polydor, appropriately title Rising Sun. The same name his band would eventually adopt. Teruo Nakamura and The Rising Sun Band. Grossman joins again on tenor and soprano, although Carter Jefferson also lends support on the soprano on the opening and closing tunes. Jefferson plays beautifully. Please check the link for a complete breakdown of the personnel. Again we have a variety of players that differs from tune to tune. 

Favorites here would be the bouncy tune "Cat" where Grossman shines as usual, as well as the very funky "Red Shoes" that features great synthesizer play from Lonnie (not Liston) Smith. "Precious One" is also another great one that has great tempo changes throughout. This one closes with the super fun and funky "Sweet Peas & Collard Greens" and we're 2 for 2 so far on excellent albums from Nakamura. 

I have a few more to share - stay tuned. 

Alphonse Mouzon - By All Means (1980)

Busy week this week and vacation in a couple of days but I hope to work in a few posts. Today's album is from a drummer (multi-instrumentalist, technically) that I learned about via keyboardist Joachim Kuhn. Also a founding member of Weather Report, Alphonse Mouzon went on to release quite a few enjoyable albums as leader in the 70s and into the 80s. We looked at one of his albums during our Herbie Hancock and Friends deep dive. 

Released in 1980 on MPS Records, By All Means is a jazz-funk/fusion record that features an impressive, and sizeable, supporting cast. You can check the link for a full breakdown but on keyboards we have Herbie Hancock, on guitar we have Lee Ritenour and on the final tune we have Freddie Hubbard on flugelhorn. We also have the horn section from the band Seawind lending support. It's my first time hearing of them so I'll check their albums for a potential future post.

All originals from Mouzon on this one and there really aren't any misses here. We start of with the super groovy tune "Do I Have To?" which includes great flute play as well as Herbie on his Rhodes. "Space Invader" follows and is a solo drum tune where Mouzon shows off his abilities, quite furiously. Herbie shines on the acoustic piano on "The Next Time We Love" which also features Ritenour on acoustic guitar - another very groovy tune that honestly reminds me a bit of early 80s Mickey Masuda we heard recently. 

One of the best tunes here for me is "The Jogger" which is super funky and includes Mouzon also playing the synthesizer. Herbie also shines as usual on the Rhodes. We close with another fantastic tune in the title track which has a perfect tempo, in my opinion. This one features Hancock playing the acoustic piano and, as mentioned, personal favorite Freddie Hubbard playing the flugelhorn. Excellent closing to a great album. 

Enjoy!