Eberhard Weber – Yellow Fields (ECM, 1976)

Eberhard Weber (b); Charlie Mariano (ss, shehnai, nadaswaram); Rainer Brüninghaus (p, syn); Jon Christensen (d)

Recorded in September 1975

Reissued as part of the 3-disc set Colours (ECM)

Jazz that takes its cues from another place. 

An ECM classic. 

Buster Williams – Pinnacle (Muse/32 Jazz, 1975)

Buster Williams (b, el b, vo); Earl Turbinton (b cl, ss); Sonny Fortune (ss, fl, alto fl); Woody Shaw (tr); Onaje Allan Gumbs (p, el p, syn); Billy Hart (d); Guilherme Franco (perc); Marcus (vo); Suzanne Klewan (vo)

Recorded on August 6, 7, 11 & 14, 1975

I love this record.

It's one of the albums that prompted me to ask myself, "Why doesn't anyone seem to talk about the amazing and distinctive jazz that was happening in the 1970s?!?!"

Buster is stinkin' fantastic!

Harry "Sweets" Edison – Just Friends (Black & Blue, 1976)

Harry "Sweets" Edison (tr); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (ts); Gerald Wiggins (p); Major Holley (b); Oliver Jackson (d)

Recorded on July 26, 1975

Thank God that the French Black & Blue label captured so many Swing era masters in their late prime.  The label documented many important and outstanding musicians when no one in the U.S. seemed to be paying attention.

This Sweets Edison disc with Lockjaw Davis is one of the label's finest.

Andrew Hill – Live at Montreux (Freedom/Arista-Freedom, 1975)

Andrew Hill (p)

July 20, 1975

Hill made an extraordinary run of albums between 1974 and 1978, but they're largely overlooked -- since most of them were made for European or Japanese labels.  Some of these records are still difficult to obtain.  But Hill was making magnificent music regardless.  In fact, his recordings from the 1970s compare very favorably with his critically acclaimed (and much more well-known) series of LPs for Blue Note in the 1960s.

From this listener's point of view, Hill's strongest records -- the crème de la crème -- were made in 1975 and 1976. They are:

- Blue Black (East Wind, rec. 1975) - quartet

- Divine Revelation (SteepleChase, rec. 1975) - mostly quartet

- Hommage (East Wind, rec. 1975) - solo piano

- Live at Montreux (Arista/Freedom, rec. 1975) - solo piano

- Nefertiti (East Wind, rec. 1976) - trio

I could have easily chosen any of these for inclusion in this survey.  But it's Hill's solo outing from Montreux that I pull from the shelf most frequently.

Hilton Ruiz Trio – Piano Man (SteepleChase/Inner City, 1975)

Hilton Ruiz (p); Buster Williams (b); Billy Higgins (d)

Recorded on July 10, 1975

Ruiz's debut as a leader.  Outstanding.

Chico Hamilton – Peregrinations (Blue Note, 1975)

Chico Hamilton (d, perc); Arthur Blythe (as); Arnie Lawrence (ts, ss); Joe Beck (g); Barry Finnerty (g); Steve Turre (el b, tb); Jerry Peters (p, el p); Abdullah (cga, bgo, perc); Charlotte Politte (syn programming); Julia Tillman Waters (vo); Luther Waters (vo); Maxine Willard Waters (vo); Oren Waters (vo)

Recorded on July 9 - 10, 1975

Hannibal & the Sunrise Orchestra – Hannibal (MPS, 1975)

Hannibal Marvin Peterson [Hannibal Lokumbe] (tr, vo, koto); Diedre Murray (vc); Michael Cochrane (p); Stafford James (b); Thabo Michael Carvin (d, perc, vo, whistle, timp); Chris Hart (perc, bells)

Recorded on July 1 - 2, 1975

Superb.