Charles Sullivan – Re-Entry (Whynot, 1976)

Charles Sullivan (tr); Rene McLean (as); Kenny Barron (p); Buster Williams (b); Billy Hart (d)

Recorded on August 17, 1976

Trumpeter Charles "Kamau" Sullivan was very active in the 1970s, appearing on many excellent records.  His album Genesis (Strata-East/Inner City, 1974) received a five-star review in Downbeat.  It's likely his most famous record. 

As good as Genesis is, I think Re-Entry is even better!   You couldn't ask for a better band.  Give it a listen!

Onaje Allan Gumbs – Onaje (SteepleChase, 1977)

Onaje Allan Gumbs (p)

Recorded on August 10, 1976

This gorgeous solo piano set was the debut recording from pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs.  He worked with Kenny Burrell, Woody Shaw, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, and many others during the 1970s.

Gumbs adopted the name Onaje, which means "the sensitive one."

Joanne Brackeen & Clint Houston – New True Illusion (Timeless, 1976)

Joanne Brackeen (p); Clint Houston (b)

Recorded on July 15, 1976

At the time of this recording, Brackeen and Houston were members of Stan Getz's working band.  So they were very familiar with one another.

I think Brackeen was one of the most exciting pianists of the 1970s.  Even so, she's been grievously overlooked, and many of her best records remain unavailable.

Given her popular and critical neglect, I was extremely happy when she was awarded the NEA Jazz Master award in 2018.

Sun Ra & His Arkestra – Live at Montreux (Saturn/Inner City, 1976)

Sun Ra (syn, org, p); Danny Davis (as, fl); Marshall Allen (fl, as); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (fl, bs); Elo Omo (b cl); James "Ham" Jackson (bas, Egyptian d); Chris Capers (tr); Ahmed Abdullah (tr); Al Evans (tr); Vincent Chancey (Fr hrn); Tony Bunn (el b); Hayes Burnett (b); Larry Bright (d); Clifford Jarvis (d); Stanley Morgan (perc); June Tyson (dancer, vo) 

Recorded on July 9, 1976

Years ago, I was at my local public library, checking out some books at the front desk.  The librarian picked up one of the books I had chosen and immediately a faraway look came into her eyes.  The book?  It was John Szwed's Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra.  "I saw Sun Ra in the 1970s!" she exclaimed.  "How was it?" I asked.  "Incredible!  I've never seen anything else like it."  Such is the power of Sun Ra!  There is no one else like him. 

I'm familiar with about twenty-five or so Sun Ra records.  His discography is so massive that you could say that I've only heard a drop in the proverbial bucket.  But this album, originally released as a two-LP set, is often recognized as a milestone in Sun Ra's huge body of work.  The album illustrates the enormous range of Sun Ra's vision.

By the way, Szwed's biography of Sun Ra is outstanding.

Teddy Edwards – The Inimitable Teddy Edwards (Xanadu/Elemental, 1976)

Teddy Edwards (ts); Duke Jordan (p); Larry Ridley (b); Frederick Waits (d)

Recorded on June 25, 1976

I'm so glad that Elemental saw fit to reissue this LP.  I think it's one of Teddy Edwards' very best.  His playing exudes charisma.  The supporting rhythm team of Jordan, Ridley, and Waits is right on the money too.

It's hard to imagine anyone not getting a kick out of this music.  

Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big Band – Insights (RCA, 1976)

Toshiko Akiyoshi (p); Lew Tabackin (ts, fl); Steven Huffstetter (tr); Bobby Shew (tr); Mike Price (tr); Richard Cooper (tr); Jerry Hey (tr); Bill Richenbach (tb); Charlie Loper (tb); Britt Woodman (tb); Phil Teele (b tb); Dick Spencer (as); Gary Foster (as); Tom Peterson (ts); Bill Perkins (bs); Don Baldwin (b); Peter Donald (d); Hisao Kanze (utai); Tadao Kamei (ohtsuzumi); Hayao Uzawa (kotsuzumi); Hiromitsu Katada (kakko); Michiru Mariano (vo)  

Recorded on June 22 - 24, 1976

Reissued as part of Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band: Mosaic Select 33 in 2008.

In the 1970s, husband and wife team Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin recorded a series of albums for RCA.  Among them, I like Insights best because it contains some of their most subtle and expressive music.  Akiyoshi's compositions here are particularly striking.  She's able to express aspects of her Japanese heritage and fully integrate them in a big band context.

John Lewis & Helen Merill – John Lewis / Helen Merrill (Mercury, 1977)

John Lewis (p); Helen Merrill (vo); Hubert Laws (fl); Richard Davis (b); Connie Kay (d)

Recorded on May 17, 1976 and September 8, 1976

This wonderful album is a hidden gem, one of Merrill's best.  And John Lewis Merrill is the perfect partner.  I always enjoy hearing Lewis' distinctive playing, the way that he effortlessly combines disparate musical elements that shouldn't cohere but always do.

On five of the album's nine tracks, Merrill and Lewis perform duets.  On the other four cuts, Laws, Davis, and Kay provide discreet support.  Exquisite music.

More Helen Merrill

Merrill's Chasin' The Bird (Inner City/Trio, rec. 1979) was her third collaboration with pianist and arranger Dick Katz.  Featuring baritonist Pepper Adams, it's nearly the equal of their two earlier projects for Milestone: The Feeling is Mutual (1967) and A Shade of Difference (1968). 

More John Lewis

If you would like to hear more of John Lewis' work as a leader during the 1970s, I can easily recommend Sensitive Scenery (CBS/Sony Japan, 1977), a trio record with bassist Michael Moore and Connie Kay.  Also, there's Afternoon in Paris (Dreyfus, 1991), a solo piano LP recorded in 1979.  It was originally released as Piano, Paris 1979 on the short-lived All Life label.

Archie Shepp – Steam (Enja/Inner City, 1976)

Archie Shepp (ts, p); Cameron Brown (b); Beaver Harris (d)

Recorded on May 14, 1976

From a music history point of view, Archie Shepp's most important records of the 1970s are likely his "populist" Impulse recordings Attica Blues (1972) and The Cry of My People (1973).  Sadly, the political and cultural themes that inform these records are still relevant today.  The LPs remain benchmarks of the era.

That said, I've chosen Steam because it's a record that I've always loved, ever since I first heard it.  It's marvelous to hear Shepp in a trio format, where he can blow freely.  In some ways, I feel like Steam is a half-way point, with one foot in Shepp's earlier, "fire music" years and other foot in the more traditional -- and not necessarily less interesting -- approach that he would focus on subsequently.

Cameron Brown and Beaver Harris are terrific too.

Martial Solal & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen – Movability (MPS/PAUSA, 1976)

Martial Solal (p); Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b)

Recorded on April 26, 1976

Martial Solal is among a handful of pianists -- like Abdullah Ibrahim and Mal Waldron -- whose playing seemed to flower dramatically in the 1970s.  

His playing had always been interesting, but it seems like his work "suddenly" became dazzling, endlessly inventive, and even more daring.  So, from this listener's perspective, the 1970s were when everything coalesced for Solal.

His MPS recordings, in particular, are amazing.  In my opinion, they are the heart of his discography -- where every listener who's unfamiliar with this artist should begin.

More Martial Solal

Look for more from Solal later in the survey.

Vic Dickenson – Plays Bessie Smith: 'Trombone Cholly' (Sonet, 1976)

Vic Dickenson (tb); Frank Wess (ts); Joe Newman (tr); Ray Tunia (p); Milt Hinton (b); Jackie Williams (d)

Recorded on March 31, 1976

This Vic Dickenson record is evidence of the burgeoning jazz revivalism that gathered steam in the latter half of the 1970s.  The music may be rooted in the past, but there's nothing musty or museum-like about these performances.

This deliciously "old-fashioned" collection of songs composed by (and associated with) Bessie Smith features three of my favorite soloists in Dickenson, Frank Wess, and Joe Newman. 

Sonny Fortune – Waves of Dreams (A&M Horizon, 1976)

Sonny Fortune (as, ss, perc); Charles Sullivan (tr); Clifford Coulter (syn); Michael Cochrane (p, el p); Buster Williams (b); Chip Lyle (d); Angel Allende (perc) 

Recorded on March 22 - 23, 1976

Yet another example of amazing jazz from the 1970s that's been unfairly overlooked.

I love this stuff!

Bob Degen – Sequoia Song (Enja, 1976)

Bob Degen (p); Isla Eckinger (b); Makaya Ntshoko (d)

Recorded on February 24, 1976

American pianist Bob Degen has a low profile in his home country because he's spent most of his days living as an expat in Europe.  His discography is also fairly small.  Most of his recordings, including this one, have been for the German Enja label.

Sequoia Song is a quietly brilliant and intense record.

Warne Marsh – All Music (Nessa, 1976)

Warne Marsh (ts); Lou Levy (p); Fred Atwood (b); Jake Hanna (d)

Recorded on February 21, 1976

Warne Marsh's finest hour.

Abdullah Ibrahim – Banyana (Enja, 1976)

Abdullah Ibrahim (p, ss, vo); Cecil McBee (b); Roy Brooks (d)

Recorded on January 27, 1976

Originally released as Dollar Brand - The Children of Africa.

This outstanding trio set is one of Ibrahim's most exciting recordings from the decade.  McBee and Brooks are wonderfully sympathetic partners.

More Abdullah Ibrahim

If you would like to hear Ibrahim in an ensemble setting, l would recommend two examples of Ibrahim's Cape Jazz, African Marketplace (Elektra, rec. 1979; rel. 1980) and Voice of Africa (Camden/Kaz, UK, 1998).  The latter is a compilation of recordings that Ibrahim made in South Africa with South African musicians; it includes the entire album Mannenberg: 'Is Where It's Happening' (1974).  This album was so influential in South Africa that the on the tenor saxophonist on the album, Basil Coetzee, was subsequently referred to as Basil "Mannenberg" Coetzee.

If you would like to hear Ibrahim as a soloist, I strongly recommend his 1973 recording Ode to Duke Ellington (Philips Japan, Inner City, West Wind).  It's an extraordinary and personal tribute.  

Charlie Haden & Hampton Hawes – As Long as There's Music (Artists House/Verve, 1978)

Charlie Haden (b); Hampton Hawes (p)

January 25 and August 21, 1976

The CD reissue on Verve includes two bonus tracks.

Very special music.  Stunning duos.

Ray Bryant – Here's Ray Bryant (Pablo, 1976)

Ray Bryant (p); George Duvivier (b); Grady Tate (d)

Recorded on January 10 and 12, 1976

Bryant hit a purple patch when he started recording for Pablo in the mid-70s.  Appropriately enough, the first of them was Here's Ray Bryant.  But the others are fine examples of his art too.  

Bryant's Pablo run also included:

• Montreux '77 (solo, 1977)

• Solo Flight (solo, 1977)

• All Blues (trio, 1978)

• Potpourri (trio, 1981)

All of them are rippling with joy and soul.

Pat Metheny – Bright Size Life (ECM, 1976)

Pat Metheny (g); Jaco Pastorius (b); Bob Moses (d)

Recorded in December 1975

A defining record for Metheny and ECM.  

Even people who don't particularly groove to Pat Metheny's aesthetic seem to like this one.

And, of course, Jaco.

Cedar Walton – Eastern Rebellion (Timeless/Timeless Muse, 1976)

Cedar Walton (p); George Coleman (ts); Sam Jones (b); Billy Higgins (d)

Recorded on December 10, 1975

The first and most consistently interesting Eastern Rebellion release -- and a perfect example of Cedar Walton's strengths as a pianist, composer and band leader.

As much as I have enjoyed Bob Berg's work through the years, I prefer George Coleman's playing with this band.

Horace Parlan Trio – No Blues (SteepleChase/Inner City, 1976)

Horace Parlan (p); Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b); Tony Inzalaco (d)

Recorded on December 10, 1975

Hooray for Horace!  ... It was difficult for me to choose between this disc and Frank-ly Speaking (SteepleChase, 1977), another Parlan LP that features saxophonists Frank Foster and Frank Strozier.  

In the end, I chose the trio set because Parlan's wonderful and distinctive piano playing is more prominently featured.

Warne Marsh & Lee Konitz Quintet – Live at the Montmartre Club: Jazz Exchange, Vols. 1 & 3 (Storyville, 1976, 1985)

Warne Marsh (ts); Lee Konitz (as); Ole Kock Hansen (p); Dave Cliff (g); Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b); Peter Ind (b); Svend-Erik Nørregård (d); Al Levitt (d); Alex Riel (d)

Recorded on December 3 - 5 and 27, 1975

This music is also available as part of the 4-CD box set Two Not One (Storyville, 2009).

Two masters of the saxophone, both former Tristano disciples, come together in Copenhagen with an outstanding Danish rhythm section led by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.

Woody Shaw – Love Dance (Muse, 1976)

Woody Shaw (tr); Steve Turre (tb, b tb); René McLean (as, ss); Billy Harper (ts); Joe Bonner (p, el p); Cecil McBee (b); Victor Lewis (d); Guilherme Franco (perc); Tony Waters (cga)

Recorded in November 1975

Reissued on 32 Jazz as part of the two-disc set Last of the Line (1997); also included in the Mosaic set, Woody Shaw: The Complete Muse Sessions (2013). 

I think few would disagree with the assertion that Woody Shaw's recordings from the 1970s represent his peak years.  He was so consistently excellent that it's very difficult to choose just one.  His recordings as a leader:

• Blackstone Legacy (Contemporary, 1970)

• Song of Songs (Contemporary, 1972)

• The Moontrane (Muse, 1974)

• Love Dance (Muse, 1976)

• Little Red's Fantasy (Muse, 1976)

• The Woody Shaw Concert Ensemble at the Berliner Jazztage (Muse, 1976)

• The Iron Men (Muse, rec. 1977; rel. 1980)

• Rosewood (Columbia, 1978)

• Stepping Stones: Live at the Village Vanguard (Columbia, 1979)

• Woody III (Columbia, 1979)

You could make a strong argument for nearly any of these recordings.  In 1976 alone, he released three superb, five-star records!

Dave Liebman & Richie Beirach – Forgotten Fantasies (A&M Horizon, 1976)

Dave Liebman (ts, ss, alto fl); Richie Beirach (p) 

Recorded in November 1975

From the this listener's perspective, Forgotten Fantasies is an astonishing LP, an unheralded classic from the era.

It's also the first of many recorded duo collaborations featuring Liebman and Beirach, a pair who seem so telepathically connected that listeners sometimes only half-jokingly refer to them as "The Liebrach"! 

All six tracks from the original LP appear below.  I can't recommend this music strongly enough!

More Liebman & Beirach

For more of this duo's uncanny connection, check out Dave Liebman & Richie Beirach: Duo Live 1976 + 1990, released on Liebman's Vaju Productions label.  Some of this music was originally released on the second disc of Liebman and Beirach's Mosaic Select: 12 set, but this download-only offering dramatically expands the amount of music.  Half of the recordings in the set -- those from 1976 -- were made in Todd Barkan's Keystone Korner nightclub.  The quality of the recorded sound is less than perfect, but the quiet intensity of the music makes it required listening for anyone who's interested in these artists.  

Jan Garbarek & Bobo Stenson – Dansere (ECM, 1976)

Jan Garbarek (as, ts); Bobo Stenson (p); Palle Danielsson (b); Jon Christensen (d) 

Recorded in November 1975

The first album released by Garbarek and Stenson, Witchi-Tai-To (ECM, 1974), was a "hit," relatively speaking.  Since then, many listeners and critics have hailed it as a masterpiece.  

But I think the second record from the duo, Dansere, is even better.  The latter LP doesn't have anything as immediately appealing as Jim Pepper's anthemic "Witchi-Tai-To" -- but Dansere strikes me as a more refined and personal record.  Another writer described it as "finely tuned," and I think that phrase captures its appeal for me.

Unlike Bobo Stenson, Jan Garbarek is not one of my favorite musicians.  His playing sometimes leaves me cold.  But not here.  On this album, everything works.

Dansere was reissued as part of an ECM 3-CD box set with the same title.

Ralph Sutton – Live! aka Ralph Sutton (Flyright, 1978)

Ralph Sutton (p)

Recorded on November 16, 1975

The U.K. Flyright label originally issued this Sutton recording on vinyl as Live!  When they issued the music on CD, they lopped off the moniker, simply calling it Ralph Sutton. 

A bit confusing!  Regardless, this fairly obscure release is well worth tracking down.  It captures a relaxed and expansive Sutton doing his stride and early jazz thing in front of a sympathetic audience.

Weeks earlier, on the same European tour, Sutton also made Alligator Crawl (Solo Art, 1992) in Holland.  It's also excellent and far less difficult to track down.  But it doesn't have the variety of the Flyright disc, since Alligator Crawl focuses exclusively on Fats Waller compositions. 

Stan Tracey Quartet – The Return of Captain Adventure (TentoTen, 2006)

Stan Tracey (p); Art Themen (ts, ss); Dave Green (b); Bryan Spring (d)

Recorded on November 3, 1975

Essential British jazz! 

Originally issued as Captain Adventure on Tracy's own Steam label in 1976, the LP featured four cuts compared to the 2-CD reissue's eleven tracks.

John Handy & Ali Akbar Khan – Karuna Supreme (MPS, 1976)

John Handy (as); Ali Akbar Khan (sarod); Zakir Hussain (tabla); Yogish S. Sahota (tambura)

Recorded on November 1, 1975

A notable and beautifully realized example of "East meets West," South Asian music blended with jazz.  

It's also one of John Handy's finest records.  

Happily, since Edel acquired the MPS catalog, this music is widely available again via downloads or streaming.  Karuna Supreme never deserved its relative obscurity. 

The Paul Desmond Quartet – Live (A&M Horizon/Verve, 1975) and Paul Desmond – S/T (Artists House, 1978)

Paul Desmond (as); Ed Bickert (g); Don Thompson (b); Jerry Fuller (d)

Recorded on October 25, 27, 30 & 31 and November 1, 1975

Mosaic recently released all of the music from this Paul Desmond gig on a 7-CD set, The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings (2020).  

Originally, A&M Horizon released a two-LP set.  A few years later, John Synder's Artists House label released a third LP containing more music from the same engagement.

I haven't heard the Mosaic set.  If the unreleased music is as good as these original albums, then I'm not surprised that Mosaic chose to go whole-hog and issue all of it.  It's terrific.

If any readers out there have taken the plunge and heard the Mosaic set, let me know what you think!

Muhal Richard Abrams & Malachi Favors – Sightsong (Black Saint, 1976)

Muhal Richard Abrams (p); Malachi Favors (b)

Recorded on October 13 - 14, 1975

Reissued as part of Muhal Richard Abrams: The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note, Volume 2

Abrams' compositions and playing shine in this duo setting with Malachi Favors.

Of course, the bassist plays wonderfully too, and it's interesting to hear him perform with a pianist, outside his usual Art Ensemble of Chicago context.

George Cables – Why Not (Whynot, 1975)

George Cables (p); Tony Dumas (b); Carl Burnett (d)

Recorded on October 7, 1975

Astonishingly good.  ... Amazing compositions and playing from George Cables.  And listen to the interaction with that rhythm section!  Burnett, in particular, is on fire.  I've never heard him play better than he does here.