Gato Barbieri – Bolivia / Under Fire (Bluebird, 2003)

Collective personnel: Gato Barbieri (ts, fl, vo); John Abercrombie (g); Lonnie Liston Smith (p, el p); Stanley Clarke (b); Jean-François Jenny-Clark (b); Airto Moreira (d, perc); Bernard Purdie (d); Roy Haynes (d); Mtume (perc); Gene Golden (cga); Moulay Ali Hafid (perc)

Bolivia recorded in 1971 and Under Fire recorded in 1973; both LPs originally released on Flying Dutchman in 1973

Write-up coming shortly.

John Surman & John Warren – Tales of the Algonquin (Deram/Vocalion, 1971)

John Surman (ss, bs); John Warren (comp, bs, fl, ss); Martin Drover (tr, flgn); Kenny Wheeler (tr, flgn); Harry Beckett (tr, flgn); Malcolm Griffiths (tb); Ed Harvey (tb); Danny Almark (tb); Mike Osborne (as, cl); Stan Sulzmann (as, ss, fl); Alan Skidmore (ts, fl, al fl); John Taylor (p); Harry Miller (b); Barre Phillips (b); Alan Jackson (d); Stu Martin (d)

Recorded in 1971

Canadian bassist John Warren composed the music on Tales of the Algonquin.  Like Mike Westbrook (with whom Warren often worked), Graham Collier, Kenny Wheeler, and many other U.K.-based jazz musicians during this time, this is jazz that blurs the line between composition and improvisation.  Regardless of the focus on composition, this band features a stellar line-up of soloists, many of the finest in the U.K.  Foremost among them is co-leader John Surman.

I think you could easily make a case, if you were so inclined, that John Surman was one of the foremost jazz soloists to emerge from the U.K. during the late-1960s and early-1970s, right up there with giants like John McLaughlin and Dave Holland.  Surman's compelling soprano (and especially) his massive-yet-nimble baritone saxophone elevate album after album -- both his own and others' -- including Tales of the Algonquin.  When it comes to jazz (and art in general), I try to avoid pronouncements that declare X to be the greatest or Y to be the best.  Art is a subjective enterprise; so much depends on factors that cannot be measured by any yardstick.  But it's clear that Surman is a very special artist.  During this time, his presence on any album practically guaranteed a high level of creativity.  That's why he's featured on so many, including several others that we'll explore later in this survey.

More John Surman and John Warren
The duo of Surman & Warren collaborated for a second time, recording the The Brass Project for ECM in 1993.  I've never had an opportunity to hear it.  

Eddie Palmieri – Vámonos Pa’l Monte (Tico/Fania, 1971)

Eddie Palmieri (p, el p); Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros (tr); Charles Camilleri (tr); Victor Paz (tr); Jose Rodrigues (tb); Pete Yellin (ts); Ronnie Cuber (bs); Bob Vianco (g); Charlie Palmieri (org); Eladio Perez (cga); Nick Marrero (d,  cga, tim); Raymond "Monchito" Muñoz (perc); Arturo Franquiz (claves, vo); Ismael Quintana (vo); Elliot Romero (vo); Justo Betancourt (vo); Marcelino Guerra (vo); Mario "Papaito" Muñoz Salazar (vo); Santos Colón (vo); Yayo "El Indio" Pequero (vo)

Recorded in 1971

I was completely unfamiliar with Eddie Palmieri when I began this project.  Now, I am a huge fan.  I think many jazz fans overlook him.  I know I did.  What a mistake!  Don't deny yourself the opportunity to hear this man's music!  He's a giant and the music is like nothing else I've ever heard, either in jazz or Latin music.  For an excellent overview of Palmieri's career, check out this article in the music magazine Wax Poetics, "Pianist Eddie Palmieri is a True Latin-Music Visionary."

My choice of Vámonos Pa’l Monte may surprise listeners who are familiar with Palmieri's music.  I know that The Sun of Latin Music (Coco, 1974) and Unfinished Masterpiece (Coco, 1975) are the acknowledged Palmieri "classics" -- but I'm much more drawn to the three that preceded those two: Super-Imposition (Tico, 1970), Vamonos Pal Monte, and Sentido (Mango/Coco, 1973).  Part of the reason I prefer the earlier records is due to the singers.  I much prefer Ismael Quintana's voice over Lalo Rodriguez's. (After recording Sentido, Quintana left Palmieri to lead his own group with on the Fania label.)  Quintana's voice is a connection to the past and La Perfecta, Palmieri's influential trombone-focused band featuring Barry Rogers.  

Also, listen to Eddie's brother Charlie Palmieri play the organ on Vámonos Pa’l Monte. It's so strange and unique and wonderful. I don't think Charlie ever sounded better than he does here. His contributions are an essential element of the record.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I love the compositions on Vámonos Pa’l Monte. Every cut is excellent, but the album grabs you from the first track.  "Revolt/La Libertad Logico" is a Latin anthem of protest, expressing a desire for equality and fair treatment, comparable to music being made by many African-Americans at the time.  On the other hand, the title cut expresses a desire to get away from it all, to spend time in the mountains, away from the conflict and strife.

More Eddie Palmieri
If I hadn't chosen Vámonos Pa’l Monte, I would've probably picked Sentido, which I think captures Palmieri's exploratory "Latin-Jazz Mad-Scientist" thing as well as any of his records.  Just listen to the cuts "Adoracion" and "Cosas Del Alma"!  ... That said, you owe it to yourself to hear Palmieri's music from beginning to the present.  He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2013 for good reason!

Doug Carn – Infant Eyes (Black Jazz, 1971)

Doug Carn (p, el p, org); Jean Carn (vo); George Harper (ts, fl); Bob Frazier (tr, flgn); Al Hall, Jr. (tb, v tb); Henry Franklin (b); Michael Carvin (d)

Recorded in 1971

Write-up coming shortly.

Harold Land – A New Shade of Blue (Mainstream, 1971)

Harold Land (ts); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); William Henderson (p, el p); Buster Williams (b); Billy Hart (d); James "Mtume" Foreman (cga)

Recorded in 1971

Write up coming shortly.

Erroll Garner – Gemini (London/MPS, 1972)

Erroll Garner (p, hpd); Ernest McCarty, Jr. (b); Jimmie Smith (d, perc); José Mangual (cga)

Recorded on December 2, 1971

In 1994, Telarc reissued Gemini on CD paired with That's My Kick (MGM, 1967).

Listening to Erroll Garner make music is like sitting in a cool, cascading mountain stream on a hot summer day.  It's an uncomplicated, exhilarating rush -- and a reminder that it's good to be alive.  Garner's music is also a seemingly endless stream of invention and swing.

That said, Garner isn't exactly an artist who's associated with the 1970s.  (He died in 1977.)  But he released two LPs during the decade.  His final record, The Magician (London/MPS, 1974), is excellent -- but I think his penultimate release, Gemini, is even better. It's somehow fitting that Garner's playing never diminished (at least on record).  The man's playing just goes on and on and on and on.

Check out the way Erroll takes "Tea for Two" apart and makes the harpsichord sound as if it's a guitar!

Joe Farrell – Outback (CTI, 1972)

Joe Farrell (ts, ss, fl, alto fl, pic fl); Chick Corea (el p); Buster Williams (b); Elvin Jones (d); Airto Moreira (perc)

Recorded in November 1971

I was a child during the 1970s. So I didn't discover jazz until the 1980s, when I was in high school and college.  But, unknown to me at the time, I heard Joe Farrell regularly all through my childhood.  My father was a huge Hall & Oates fan, and I grew up hearing Abandoned Luncheonette.  It was one of my Dad's favorite LPs, and Farrell plays on four of the album's nine cuts.  So the sound of that entire record -- including Farrell's tenor -- is imprinted on my mind's ear, an inescapable part of my childhood.  It was many years later, after hearing Farrell's sideman work with Chick Corea, Elvin Jones and Jaki Byard, that I realized why Farrell's tenor sounded so right.  He was the sax man from Abandoned Luncheonette!

Outback features a stellar band.  Farrell had been in Elvin's bands since the drummer formed his pianoless trio with Jimmy Garrison in the late-60s, so the two musicians were very familiar with one another.  Farrell also worked regularly with Chick Corea; for example, he appears on Corea's first release as a leader, Tones for Joan's Bones (Atlantic, 1968). Three months after recording Outback, he joined Chick Corea (and Airto Moreira) to make make Return to Forever for ECM.  And by 1971 Buster Williams was already a young master of his instrument.  Given the excellent compositions and the band's collective firepower, I guess it's no surprise that Outback is one of my favorites.    

More Joe Farrell
Some other Joe Farrell favorites (as a leader) from the 1970s:
- Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
- Moon Germs (CTI, 1972)
- Skateboard Park (Xanadu, 1979)
- Sonic Text (Contemporary, 1980, recorded November 1979)