Part One: CD one
I have been looking forward to something like this for a long time, a comprehensive 48 track 3 CD box set of cutting-edge British jazz. The press release says that the box set “tells a story of British Jazz at a time of cultural change, a period of experimentation and transformation in music” and it’s hard to argue with that declaration.
I’m going to start with CD one and The Dick Morrissey Quartet’s ‘Storm Warning’. I got my first glimpse of reeds man Morrissey through an If concert I saw in Dundee’s Caird Hall. Impressed, I went out and bought their first two records. If are represented here by two tracks on CDs two and three respectively, but more of that later. I must admit I wasn’t quite so keen on the music emanating from the fusing of Morrissey and ex Vinegar Joe, Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express and Pete Brown’s Piblokto guitarist Jim Mullen, who has gone on to great success with his Organ Trio project in recent times. (However, I am now encouraged to go back and listen now as I wasn’t as deeply into jazz music then as I am now). I did have the good fortune to speak with and later interview Jim at a concert at the much-missed Jazz Club at Montrose’s Park Hotel, an unlikely venue perhaps for such a giant of rock and jazz music. Anyway, ‘Storm Warning’ is an excellent slice of where Morrissey was at in 1966, a swinging hard bop tenor sax led piece written by pianist Harry Smith who contributes an enjoyable solo; his band also included the legendary drummer Phil Seaman.
Next up is an unusual guitar-based version of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man’ by Davy Graham, more associated with folk blues than jazz. The Don Rendall/ Ian Carr Quintet has generated a rebirth of interest in recent years with the release of on vinyl of some key LPs and the innovative piece ‘Tan Samfu’ from “Dusk Fire” (1966) is presented here, a more than worthy inclusion. And I am a big fan of the music of Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott whose Double Quintet can be heard on ‘Overture’ from his ”Indo Jazz Suite”, recorded under the direction of violinist John Mayer; this is a great listen with western percussion, flute and a hint of Grieg in a heady mix of bebop and free jazz. Harriott is also represented later on CD one by ‘Shepherd’s Serenade’ from the LP, “Swings High”; as the title suggests this piece is more swing jazz than Indo-jazz fusion and features Harriott’s alto sax at its most demonstrative.
Some film music comes next from TV theme tune writer and saxophonist/ clarinettist John Dankworth and his Orchestra (“The Return of the Ashes”) which was a 7” single release in 1966. The Graham Bond Organization are represented with a version of ‘Wade in the Water’, a U.S. B-side with a classical intro and Bond’s trademark coruscating Hammond organ; this could easily be mistaken for proto-prog band The Nice. Cool Mod and R&B man George Fame and His Blue Flame’s flipside ‘No Thanks’, jazz at a stretch perhaps, is followed by pianist Mike Taylor Trio’s ‘Two Autumns’. which is in stark contrast a free jazz evocation, his band including Jon Heisman and Jack Bruce (btw his Quartet’s album “Preparation”, with a rhythm section of Tony Reeves and Hiseman, is essential). Mike Westbrook leads his own Concert Band on ‘A Greeting’ from his 1967 LP “Celebration”, another band featuring John Surman that explores a fusion of the avant-garde and swing jazz. The Michael Garrick Septet excels on the ballad ‘Ursula’ from the 1968 LP “Black Marigolds” (btw his trio release “Moonscape” originally released as a 10” record in 1964 is another essential listen) The two CD “Grits, Beans and Greens: The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969” is a great way to get into the music of the Tubby Hayes Quartet, but if unfamiliar and needing a reminder the track ‘Dear Johnny B’ from his 1968 LP “Mexican Green”, that many would argue was his best, will do as a fine introduction to his music.
Harold McNair’s ‘The Hipster’, a 7” single from 1967 aside, there were some surprising choices at the end of CD one, as we shall see. Like Harriott, McNair was a Jamaican who played sax before taking up the flute, and becoming a much in demand session man for many popular music artists. However, Pentangle were more associated with folk-rock than with jazz. The reason for their appearance here is that ‘In Time’ from the group’s 1968 album “Sweet Child” also featured a live Royal Festival Hall version of Charles Mingus’s ‘Haitian Fight Song’ and ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’. While this is not the chosen number here, what is heard is a cool instrumental delivered by Bert Jansch, Danny Thompson, John Renbourne, Terry Cox, folk rock royalty you might say, veering towards jazz on this occasion. Nor must it be forgotten that Ian Anderson’s flute playing was allegedly influenced by Roland Kirk and he grew up in Scotland listening to his Dad’s jazz records, and the B-side of Jethro Tull’s ‘A Song for Jeffrey’, ‘For John Gee’, was dedicated to jazz fan John Gee, a manager at the Marquee Club. Finally, the inclusion of Spooky Tooth’s ‘Luger’s Groove’ might raise some eyebrows, but the 1968 instrumental B-side chosen for this compilation, was admittedly played in soul jazz style. (To be continued in Part Two)
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