CK Listens

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

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"

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 mi