JOE SAMPLE — Rainbow Seeker (1978-1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Back in 1978 when this set was recorded, fusion (the mixture of jazz improvisation with rock rhythms) was declining. Keyboardist Joe Sample, best-known for his work with the Crusaders, was in the process of being one of the founders of "contemporary jazz," an idiom that has since solidified into smooth jazz. Sample emphasized catchy melodies, light funk rhythms, appealing chord changes and a pop sensibility. For this accessible release, Sample is joined by the late legendary guitarist Billy Rogers, bassist Pops Popwell, his old Crusaders drummer Stix Hooper, a horn section and several guest guitarists. All eight tunes (which include "Fly with the Wings of Love" and "Islands in the Rain") are by the leader, who is heard throughout in melodic form, setting up a variety of light grooves that serve as superior background music. Scott Yanow    Tracklist & Credits :

JOE SAMPLE • DAVID T. WALKER — Swing Street Cafe (1981-2008) Serie Verve Originals | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After releasing three very successful solo albums of contemporary jazz in a row -- 1978's Rainbow Seeker, 1979's Carmel, and 1980's Voices in the Rain -- Crusaders' pianist Joe Sample decided that a return to his roots was necessary, and recorded this date with famed soul and jazz session guitarist David T. Walker and released this tribute to classic rhythm and blues. Interestingly, the date had actually been recorded between Rainbow Seeker and Carmel, but remained unreleased until 1981 because of the chart success of the previous albums and his sold-out touring dates as a solo act and with the Crusaders. Sample and Walker hired the best in the business and the rhythm section here is made up of Motown bassist James Jamerson and famed Capitol session drummer Earl Palmer. In addition, the pair hired a horn section comprised of Herman Riley, Al Aarons, John Kelson, and Ernie Fields, Jr. The material is made up of wonderfully articulated covers of R&B touchstones such as Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Her So," Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do," Chuck Willis' "C.C. Rider," and Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk," to name a few. Produced by the Crusaders own production company, this date was recorded in two days and feels like its participants had a ball. Sample is at his most boisterous here, playing both Rhodes piano and upright, letting it just rip with both boogie-woogie runs, tough blues licks, and extended vamps (check his Professor Longhair New Orleans style barrelhouse piano on a cover of "Woke Up This Morning" where Walker lets loose too). Walker is an understated but brilliant guitarist in the same league with Phil Upchurch. He's a bit more meat and potatoes here; he's always funky and in the groove, but elegantly so. This adds a nice textural element to these otherwise hard swinging, gutbucket tunes. This album suffers from none of the production curses that doomed so much of '80s jazz and funk. It's merely a celebration by old friends of the music that shaped them.
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Tracklist & Credits :

JOE SAMPLE — Oasis (1985) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pianist Joe Sample, who has had easily the most successful solo career of any of the Crusaders, recorded a series of melodic and lightly funky sets for MCA in the 1980s. This particular outing (which is available on CD) is unfortunately quite weak due to the forgettable melodies. Sample is joined by Dean Parks, Carlos Fearing, David T. Walker and/or Barry Finnerty on guitars, either Wilton Felder, Abraham Laboriel or Nathan East on bass, drummer Ndugu, percussionist Paulinho Da Costa and occasional synthesizers and strings; he plays well enough, but the material is quite inferior. One song ("The Survivor") features Phyllis Hyman's over-the-top R&B singing. Otherwise, the program consists of lightweight instrumentals, pleasant but mundane. Get Sample's Carmel instead. Scott Yanow    Tracklist & Credits :

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Ornette At 12 + Crisis (2017) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Beginning in 1966, saxophonist Ornette Coleman began performing and recording with his son, the then-ten-year-old drummer Denardo Coleman. Dismissed by some at the time for his lack of experience, the younger Coleman quickly developed into an engaging, explosive player, able to mesh nicely within his father's deeply avant-garde free jazz ensembles. The 2017 Real Gone Music collection Ornette at 12/Crisis brings together two live albums Denardo recorded with his father in 1969 and 1972. The first, Ornette at 12 (named after Denardo's age at the time of recording), finds the saxophonist leading his quartet through a performance at the Hearst Greek Amphitheater at the University of California, Berkeley in August of 1968. Joining him are bassist Charlie Haden and tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman. Here we find the elder Coleman during one of his most primal and exploratory periods playing not just alto sax, but also trumpet and violin. Though untrained on those instruments, he still lets loose, playing with unfettered glee on "Rainbows," his trumpet a puckish sparkler of sound. Similarly, Redman, framed by Haden's bowed bass squelch, unleashes a torrent of notes on "C.O.D." All the while, Denardo is skittering, responsive energy, bashing and sputtering at each improvisational line. Elsewhere, on "Bells and Chimes," Haden grounds the proceedings bowing a dark, heavy metal-sounding riff as Coleman and Redman spew red saxophone storm clouds overhead. An even more adept picture of the drummer can be heard on Crisis. Recorded roughly a year after Ornette at 12, the album showcases the group's performance at New York University. Augmenting the ensemble is the elder Coleman's longtime collaborator, pocket-trumpeter Don Cherry, whose distinctive, fractured melodicism helps further color the already vibrant group. His inclusion also adds gravitas, helping fill out the sound of the group, as heard on the opening "Broken Shadows," in which the band slowly lurches forward like an immense ocean liner entering port. In contrast, "Space Jungle" finds Denardo whacking away with spastic intensity as the horn players ride his wave with a group improv rife with serpentine harmolodic invention. There is even a nod to the group's burgeoning interest in various ethnic and world music traditions on the closing "Trouble in the East." The song begins with Cherry at the front like an avant-garde pied piper delivering a ferocious Indian flute solo. Soon, Coleman, Redman, and Haden join in, their dissonant tones caught in the tumult of Denardo's drumming and a cacophony of what sounds like tin pans, shakers, and bamboo sticks. These live albums document Coleman's further move away from musical form and his increasing embrace of free improvisation as a direct line to emotional and artistic expression. Ultimately, that expression has even more of an impact because of the presence of Denardo's intense, youthful exuberance. Matt Collar
Ornette At 12 (Impulse! AS-9178, rel. 1969)    
1    C.O.D.    7:42
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
2    Rainbows    9:11
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
3    New York    8:30
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
4    Bells And Chimes    7:28
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
Crisis (Impulse! AS-9187, rel. 1972)   
5    Broken Shadows    6:08
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
6    Comme Il Faut    14:34
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
7    Song For Ché    11:39
Written-By – Charlie Haden
8    Space Jungle    5:31
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
9    Trouble In The East    6:50
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
Credits :
Arranged By – Greg Adams
Bass – Melvin Davis
Drums – Harvey Mason
Guitar – David T. Walker
Piano, Organ – Jai Winding
Saxophone – Gary Herbig, Johnnie Bamont, Larry Williams
Trombone – Matt Finders, Nick Lane
Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Greg Adams