ARCHIE SHEPP - Mama Too Tight (1967-1998) RM | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The octet Archie Shepp surrounded himself with in 1966 was filled with new and old faces. The twin trombones of Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur III embodied this, but so did bassist Charlie Haden and trumpeter Tommy Turrentine, while familiar figures like drummer Beaver Harris and tubaist Howard Johnson had been part of Shepp's regular band. There are four tracks on Mama Too Tight, all of them in some way acting as extensions of the opening three-part suite "A Portrait of Robert Thomson (As a Young Man)." Shepp had hit his stride here compositionally. The track is, at first, a seeming free jazz blowout, but then traces the history of jazz, gospel, and blues breeze through its three sections. Certainly there is plenty of atonality, but there is plenty of harmonic and rhythmic invention, too. The piece, almost 19 minutes in length, has an intricate architecture that uses foreshadowing techniques and complex resolution methods. The title track is a post-bop blues swinger with a killer frontline riff turning in and out as the trombones go head to head. And finally, "Basheer," with an Eastern modality that transposes itself toward blues and folk music, becomes a statement on the transitional ties the '60s were ushering in musically. Here again, lots of free blowing, angry bursts of energy, and shouts of pure revelry are balanced with Ellingtonian elegance and restraint that was considerable enough to let the lyric line float through and encourage more improvisation. This is Shepp at his level best.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
Portrait Of Robert Thompson (As A Young Man)    18:58
1a    Prelude To A Kiss
Written-By – Ellington, Gordon, Mills
1b    The Break Strain-King Cotton
Written-By – Public Domain
1c    Dem Basses
Written-By – Public Domain
2    Mama Too Tight 5:26
Written-By – Archie Shepp
3    Theme For Ernie 3:22
Written-By – Fred Lacey
4    Basheer 10:39
Written-By – Archie Shepp
Credits
Bass – Charlie Haden
Clarinet – Perry Robinson
Drums – Beaver Harris
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Tenor Saxophone, Liner Notes [Original] – Archie Shepp
Trombone – Grachan Moncur III, Roswell Rudd
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
Tuba – Howard Johnson

LOU DONALDSON - The Natural Soul (1962-2003) RM | RVG Edition | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The Natural Soul finds Lou Donaldson delving deeply into soul-jazz, recording a set of funky, greasy instrumentals with only a few references to hard bop. Donaldson occasionally sounds a little awkward with the relaxed groove of The Natural Soul, as does trumpeter Tommy Turrentine, but the trio of guitarist Grant Green, organist John Patton, and drummer Ben Dixon keep things cooking. Green and Patton's solos often burn and are always invigorating, and Lou frequently matches their heights. The original compositions -- which form the bulk of the album -- aren't much more than blues and soul vamps, but they provide an excellent foundation for the combo to work hot grooves. And, in the end, that's what The Natural Soul is about -- groove. It maintains the high standards Donaldson established with his first soul-jazz foray, Here 'Tis, and remains one of his best records in that genre. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist :
1     Funky Mama 9'05
Big John Patton
2    Love Walked In 5'10
Composed By – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
3    Spaceman Twist 5'35
Composed By – Lou Donaldson
4    Sow Belly Blues 10'11
Composed By – Lou Donaldson
5    That's All 5'33
Composed By – Alan Brandt, Bob Haymes
6    Nice 'N' Greasy 5'24
Composed By – Johnny Acea
7    People Will Say We're In Love 7'53
Composed By – Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lou Donaldson
Drums – Ben Dixon
Guitar – Grant Green
Organ – John Patton
Recorded By, Remastered By [2002] – Rudy Van Gelder
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine

LOU DONALDSON - Signifyin' (1963-2002) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

This 1963 date by Lou Donaldson was his first for Argo/Cadet. It followed hot on the heels of two organ jazz dates for Blue Note, Here 'Tis and Natural Soul. Like those previous sessions, Donaldson has a band that can cook whatever meat he gives them -- John Patton, organ; Tommy Turrentine, trumpet; Ben Dixon, drums. Whether swinging on the soulful side of hard bop on Donaldson's own composition "Si Si Safronia" (with a steamy Latin beat played by Patton in chord comps), playing a straight-ahead greasy soul steamer such as the title track that opens the record, or offering up a funkified swinging version of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," the band keeps the beats tight, full of deep backbeat funk and raw soul. The finest moment, however, is on the eight-plus minute "Coppin' a Plea," which is all rough and ready blues with fuzzy overtones and Patton playing one of his finest solos of the period criss-crossing chunky chords and right-hand lines while double-timing Dixon. No matter how you add it up, the only complaint about these six tracks that can justifiably be mustered is that there weren't more.
>|This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<|
Tracklist :
1     Signifyin' 7'07
Lou Donaldson    
2     Time After Time 2'35
Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne    
3     Si Si Safronia 5'38
Lou Donaldson    
4     Don't Get Around Much Anymore 3'53
Duke Ellington / Bob Russell    
5     I Feel It in My Bones 8'15
Lou Donaldson    
6     Coppin' a Plea 4'09
Lou Donaldson     
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lou Donaldson
Drums – Ben Dixon
Guitar – Roy Montrell
Organ – John Patton
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine, Jr.

AHMED ABDUL-MALIK - Jazz Sounds of Africa (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Jazz Sounds of Africa compiles the complete contents of two early New Jazz LPs by Ahmed Abdul-Malik, which were originally issued as The Music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik and Sounds of Africa. The music on this reissue is simply captivating, as the brilliant bassist and oud player of Sudanese descent blends elements of jazz with that of Middle Eastern and African music. While the names of several of the contributing musicians are likely to be unfamiliar to many jazz fans, except for Andrew Cyrille and Tommy Turrentine, the music proves to be fascinating throughout both sessions. Any fan of John Coltrane's composition "India," which was written and performed around the same time frame, will delight in the hypnotic opener, "Nights on Saturn," with an eerie solo by an unidentified Korean reed instrument played by Bilal Abdurrahman. The leader overdubs on oud (the Middle Eastern ancestor of the mandolin) on several tracks, as well as demonstrates his fine arco bass on the old standard "Don't Blame Me." Tommy Turrentine, whose career was unjustly overlooked because he retired from music prematurely, is a compelling soloist on the 1961 session. The latter session is far more percussive, with Abdul-Malik utilizing a larger ensemble. The highlight of this date is the lengthy exploration of the infectious original "Communication," which almost conjures up an African tribal chant with Richard Williams' trumpet as the lead voice, with the percussionists eventually taking over as they play off one another with vocal encouragement from one of the players. The songs on this CD compilation of the two-decades-old albums have stood the test of time very well. by Ken Dryden  
Tracklist :
1    Nights On Saturn 7'53
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion, Reeds [Korean Reed Instrument] – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
2    The Hustlers 5'32
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
3    Oud Blues 4'11
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass, Oud – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
4    La Ibkey 5'51
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass, Oud – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
5    Don't Blame Me 7'53
Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By – Jimmy McHugh
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
6    Hannibal's Carnivals 4'39
Cello – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
7    Wakida Hena 3'49
Alto Saxophone – Edwin Steede
Cello, Violin – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion [Darabuka] – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Congas, Bongos – Montego Joe
Drums – Rudy Collins
Flute – Rupert Alleyne
Percussion [African Drum] – Chief Bey
Tenor Saxophone – Taft Chandler
Trumpet – Richard Williams
8    African Bossa Nova 5'58
Alto Saxophone – Edwin Steede
Cello, Violin – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion [Darabuka] – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Congas, Bongos – Montego Joe
Drums – Rudy Collins
Flute – Rupert Alleyne
Percussion [African Drum] – Chief Bey
Tenor Saxophone – Taft Chandler
Trumpet – Richard Williams
9    Nadusilma 3'55
Alto Saxophone – Edwin Steede
Cello, Violin – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion [Darabuka] – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Congas, Bongos – Montego Joe
Drums – Rudy Collins
Flute – Rupert Alleyne
Percussion [African Drum] – Chief Bey
Tenor Saxophone – Taft Chandler
Trumpet – Richard Williams
10    Out Of Nowhere 4'57
Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Cello, Violin – Calo Scott
Composed By – Heyman, Green
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Tenor Saxophone – Eric Dixon
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
11    Communication 9'43
Alto Saxophone – Edwin Steede
Cello, Violin – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion [Darabuka] – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Congas, Bongos – Montego Joe
Drums – Rudy Collins
Flute – Rupert Alleyne
Percussion [African Drum] – Chief Bey
Tenor Saxophone – Taft Chandler
Trumpet – Richard Williams
12    Suffering 5'12
Alto Saxophone – Edwin Steede
Cello, Violin – Calo Scott
Clarinet, Percussion [Darabuka] – Bilal Abdurrahman
Composed By, Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Congas, Bongos – Montego Joe
Drums – Rudy Collins
Flute – Rupert Alleyne
Percussion [African Drum] – Chief Bey
Tenor Saxophone – Taft Chandler
Trumpet – Richard Williams

Recording Date
May 23, 1961 & August 22, 1962

SONNY CLARK — Leapin' and Lopin' (1961-1987) Serie Blue Note CD Treasury – 24 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Sonny Clark's fifth Blue Note recording as a leader is generally regarded as his best, especially considering he composed four of the seven tracks, and they all bear his stamp of originality. What is also evident is that he is shaping the sounds of his quintet rather than dominating the proceedings as he did on previous dates. Tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse and trumpeter Tommy Turrentine play very little harmony on the date, but their in-tune unison lines are singularly distinctive, while bassist Butch Warren and young drummer Billy Higgins keep the rhythmic coals burning with a steady, glowing red heat. Among the classic tunes is the definitive hard bop opener "Somethin' Special," which lives up to its title in a most bright and happy manner, with Clark merrily comping chords. "Melody for C" is similarly cheerful, measured, and vivid in melodic coloration. The showstopper is "Voodoo," the ultimate late-night slinky jazz tune contrasted by Clark's tinkling piano riffs. Warren wrote the exciting hard bopper "Eric Walks" reminiscent of a Dizzy Gillespie tune, while Turrentine's "Midnight Mambo" mixes metaphors of Afro-Cuban music with unusual off-minor phrases and Rouse's stoic playing. Tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec plays a cameo sans the other horns on the soulful ballad "Deep in a Dream," exhibiting a vocal quality on his instrument, making one wonder if any other sessions with this group were done on the side. Top to bottom, Leapin' and Lopin' is a definitive recording for Clark, and in the mainstream jazz idiom, as well. Michael G. Nastos
Tracklist :
1     Somethin' Special 6:23
Sonny Clark
2     Deep in a Dream 6:47    
Eddie DeLange / James Van Heusen
3     Melody for C 7:50
Sonny Clark
4     Eric Walks 5:41
Butch Warren
5     Voodoo 7:39
Sonny Clark
6     Midnight Mambo 7:16
Tommy Turrentine
7     Zellmar's Delight 5:43
Sonny Clark
8     Melody for C 8:14
Sonny Clark
Credits :    
Bass – Butch Warren
Drums – Billy Higgins
Piano – Sonny Clark
Tenor Saxophone – Charlie Rouse, Ike Quebec
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine