A Slew of Jazz from Koch International

By Benson Knickerbocker
Chicagos Koch International has taken advantage of the jazz re-release hysteria
that has been gripping the nation and has obtained some interesting albums from the vaults
of Atlantic Records. Through this re-releases, there is quite a range of music covered:
the rock and roll/jazz fusion of Gary Burton; the West Coast Jazz meets Sweden folk songs
of Art Farmer; the gospel/hard-bop of Max Roach, the avant-garde/funk of Don Pullen and
much, much more. Lets take a quick tour.
Don Pullen/Tomorrows Promises

Don Pullen ranks up with Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra and Andrew Hill as one of jazzs
great avant-garde pianists. What makes Pullen stand out from his contemporaries was his
technique. Unlike these other pianists, Pullen played his music with steady rhythm. As
Taylor approached his music with a classical flair and Sun Ra loved his synthesizers,
Pullen relied on a upbeat rhythm section. This is most evident on Tomorrows
Promises in which two of the albums tunes, "Big Alice" and
"Poodie Pie", start off with the funkiest of bass beats. It is only the free
form soloing of Pullen, guest violinist Michal Urbaniak and trumpeter Randy Brecker that
brings the music down to an avant-garde level. On "Kadji", the same cooperation
between songs occurs as the Africa-Latin sounds reminds us of a dinner date between the
Art Ensemble of Chicago and Willie Bobo. On "Last Years Lies and
Tomorrows Promises", which is with duet between longtime friend and fellow
Charles Mingus alumnus, multi-reedist George Adams, there is the first real evidence of
the avant-garde music that Pullen represented. Pullen was one of the few artists who
succeeded in combining two polar opposite musical styles and was able to improvise and
explore freely while creating an accessible sound.
Max Roach/Lift Every Voice And Sing with the J.C. White Singers

Drummer Max Roach has been one of the steadiest musicians in jazz. Since his first days
during the Be-bop revolution up to the Burlington Jazz Festival a few years back, Roach
has been consummate innovator. He was one of the first drummers to primarily use the ride
cymbal instead of the bass drum and subtlety rather than aggression characterized his
technique. In 1970s, Max Roach and his band met up with the Reverend J.C. White Singers to
record this intensely spiritual album. Consisting of 5 traditional gospel songs and one
original, Max Roach provides a jazz backdrop for the soulful voices of the J.C. Singers.
On many of the tunes, Roach simply provides a dissonant breakdown for the singers while in
other tunes such as "Joshua" and "Let Thy People Go"; the soloing of
Cecil Bridgewater over the percussion tandem of Roach and Ralph McDonald creates a very
spiritual song. The spirituality in these songs are carried on over to the dedications as
well. The tunes on Life Every Voice are dedicated to Roachs mother and
father; Patrice Lumumba, the matyred leader of Democratic Republic of Congo; Paul Robeson,
the Broadway actor/singer who loved Negro spirituals; and Marcus Garvey, the
leader/founder of Rastafarianism.
Bobby Hutcherson/ Un Poco Loco

George Cables was the pianist for Max Roachs Lift Every Voice And Sing with
the J.C. White Singers as well as vibraphonist Bobby Hutchersons 1979
release, Un Poco Loco. In addition to his adept playing, Cables also contributes
two songs to this session "Love Song" and "Ebony Moonbeams".
Besides Cables two tunes, this album has extra focus on the piano, as the title
track is a cover of Bud Powells famous piece. Perhaps this emphasis on piano
compositions further extrapolates the visual relationship between the piano and
vibraphone. The tune has a horizontal layout that allows for some basic similarities. Just
as Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson defined the vibraphone in the Swing and Be-Bop eras,
Bobby Hutcherson similarly impacted the post bop/avant-garde sound. Despite years of bold
innovations, Un Poco Loco is actually a step closer to the mainstream sound. Any
loss that may have been incurred with song choice was easily remedied by the band
consisting of guitarist John Abercrombie; drummer Peter Erskine; bassist Chuck Domanico
and Cables. In addition to Cables two tunes and the title track, the band plays a
version of Jack DeJohnettes "Silver Hollow" (which Abercrombie recorded
with DeJohnette in 1978) and Hutchersons own " I Want To Stand Over
There."
Freddie Hubbard/High Blues Pressure

Like Bobby Hutcherson, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard has covered the whole gamut of musical
styles. He grew up in Indianapolis where he played and recorded with the Montgomery
Brothers and then moved to New York City in the early 1960s where he joined up with Art
Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. In 1961, Hubbard won Down Beat Magazines "New
Star Award." Throughout the 1960s, Hubbard was a leader in the avant-garde sound as
he played on Ornette Colemans Free Jazz and John Coltranes Ascension.
As the 1960s came to an end, Hubbard made a successful switch to the mainstream and
proceeded to win nine Grammy Awards. 1967s High Blues Pressure signifies the
transition period from hard-bop to the smoother sounds. He is joined by the great
flautist/saxophonist Bennie Maupin, who later joined Miles Davis for Bitches Brew
and Herbie Hancock for Headhunters; tuba player Howard Johnson, who gained fame
playing with Taj Mahal; and Kiane Zawadi, who played the euphonium, which was a variation
of the tuba. The album has quite a bit of a Latin tinge to the album and the overall
feeling of the album reflects a smoother side but the soling is reflective of hard-bop.
Randy Weston/ African Cookbook

With album titles like Zulu Uhuru, Afrika and Nuit Africaine, there is
little doubt where pianist Randy Weston draws his inspiration. 1964s African
Cookbook is a continuation of the artists trends. Westons
fascination with Africa went beyond album titles for he lived in Nigeria from 1961 to
1963; toured 14 African countries in 1967 and then lived in Morocco from 1968 through the
1970s. Despite the passion for Africa, dont expect a completely foreign sound with
Westons music. He grew up in Brooklyn and tutored under the great Thelonious Monk
where he learned the "different" approach to playing the piano. It is
Monks influence and unique playing style that alerted Weston to the polyrhythms of
the African continent. Instead of using multiple drums, both Monk and Weston created
percussive sounds with the piano. For African Cookbook, Weston is joined by the
great tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin (of Charles Mingus fame) as they tackle six Weston
originals that do not stray to far from the jazz-blues idiom.
Billy Cobham/A Funky Thide of Things

Drummer Billy Cobham has long been synonymous with both his jazz-fusion and working
with some of jazz and rocks best musicians. After starting out with the be-bop/blues
with Horace Silver, Cobham joined Miles Davis for Bitches Brew; then he teamed up
with John McGlaughlin for the Mahavishnu Orchestra and then formed his own fusion band,
Spectrum, with Jan Hammer (yes, of Miami Vice fame) and Tommy Bolin (yes, of James Gang
and Deep Purple fame). Most recently his recorded and toured with Jimmy Herring, T. Lavitz
and Alphonzo Johnson for Jazz Is Dead. As the title may imply, A Funky Thide of Things
symbolizes the funk/fusion side Billy Cobham. Although 1975s A Funky Thide of
Things teeters extremely close to the disco-jazz ( a la Donald Byrd and the
Blackbyrds) that was popular at the time, the musicianship is great. The album features
the tandem horns of Randy and Michael Brecker who would later make a tremendous impact
with their funk albums and the guitar of Jon Scofield, who would also later make a name
through his work with Miles Davis as well as his 1990s collaboration with Medeski, Martin
and Wood. The mystery contributor to this album is keyboardist Milcho Leviev who defected
from Bulgaria in 1970 and contributes a broad range of synthesizer sounds to the album.
Art Farmer/To Sweden With Love

When trumpeter Art Farmer visited Sweden during the 1950s, he became immediately
enraptured by the folk songs of the Scandinavian country. In a method that pre-date the
European-American jazz crossover that was pioneered by ECM Records, Art Farmer took the
folk songs and improvised upon their basic structures. This is an approach that was also
empl,oyed with Stan Getz and the tune "Dear Old Stockholm". Upon listening to
the tunes, there is little evidence of folk or foreign influences as Farmer, bassist Steve
Swallow, guitarist Jim Hall and drummer Pete Laroca, who were all stalwarts of the West
Coast Jazz scene, create a great sounding album. Hall, who is comparable to the playing of
Wes Montgomery and George Benson, reminds all to well the benefits of having a guitarist
in a jazz band for his layer of rhythm serves as an excellent foundation for Farmers
haunting solos on the flugelhorn and trumpet.
All of these releases plus many, many more are available from Koch International. Check
out their website at http://www.kochint.com.