Bob James - One, Two, Three & BJ4: The Legendary Albums (2003 compi of LPs rel. 1974-77)

Handy collection of the first four albums by jazz funk musician/arranger and one-man sampling goldmine Bob James.  Tunes from these "Legendary Albums" have been a summer staple for me for decades thanks to friends' mixes and such, so it's fantastic to have them all in one place.

After beginning his career as a jazz pianist (discovered by Quincy Jones in 1962), Robert McElhiney James was hired by Creed Taylor in 1973 to be an arranger for CTI, contributing to several funky fusion LPs put out by the label.  Taylor first gave James the chance to release his own album the following year, and One is an ambitious mix of themes from classical music (Pachelbel, Ravel and Mussorgsky), slick playing and incredible grooves, not least in the future classic Nautlius that closes the album.

Released in 1975, Two is the album that opens with the hip-hop sampling staple Take Me To The Mardi Gras, in James' eternally joyous arrangement of the Paul Simon song.  This album is smoother in some places, like the Patti Austin-sung I Feel A Song In My Heart, but still finds time for knotty fusion in The Golden Apple.  Bizet's Farandole gets the funked-up classical treatment.  On to 1976, and Three opens with a smoking take on One Mint Julep, and includes James' classic tune Westchester Lady.  His CTI era then drew to a close with BJ4 from 1977, the one with the funky earworm Tappan Zee among other delights.

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

pw: sgtg

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Tide (1970)

Two albums were recorded simultaneously in the spring of 1970 by Jobim, with Eumir Deodato at the helm as arranger: one was the more contemporary-sounding Stone Flower (see list below), and the other was Tide.  This album was conceived more as an orchestral-Latin jazz sequel to Wave (also below), and was even packaged in an old-style album cover from the earliest days of CTI to match.  Furthering the link, the title track was a deft re-write of Wave's title track.

Nothing, of course (IMHO) could be as good as Wave, but Tide is still a gorgeous album on its own merits.  Deodato is never less than a fine arranger, concentrating on brass and winds where Claus Ogerman gave Wave its lightness of touch with strings.  Highlights include the flute-led Tema Jazz, the percussive Remember (which does sound a bit more of a piece with the material on Stone Flower) and the languid Caribe.

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
The Composer of Desafinado, Plays
Wave
Stone Flower
Elis & Tom
Urubu

Stanley Turrentine - Salt Song (1971)

Sometime in the late 90s, I couldn't sleep and turned on the radio.  What I randomly encountered in the wee small hours was a beautifully mellow piece of orchestrated jazz, led by a saxophone and featuring a gospel choir refrain of "I told Jesus, I told Jesus" - and I was hooked.  Found the album a few years later, on one of the first mp3 blogs I ever followed; which blog that was escapes me now, but the album's remained an enduring favourite.

Stanley Turrentine (1934-2000) spent the first decade of his career on Blue Note, before signing to Creed Taylor's newly independent CTI imprint.  Salt Song was Turrentine's second album for CTI, and arguably his best, with his gently breezy tone seemingly made for the in-house arrangements of Eumir Deodato.  I remember including Salt Song's opener, Freddie Hubbard's Gibraltar, on a mix CD for a DJ mate who was a Bob James obsessive, and he absolutely loved it.  Eric Gale's slinky guitar part is almost an equal lead instrument over the Carter & Cobham groove.

The album's second half starts in upbeat Latin mode, with the Milton Nascimento-penned title track, and ends with another muscular groove (and a great Gale solo) in Storm, the only Turrentine original.  In between is another lush ballad, I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do, which had also been done by Astrud Gilberto on her album of the same name.  CD remasters add another Nascimento tune, Vera Cruz - as mentioned on Friday - which dated back to the Spring of 1971, and the sessions for Turrentine's (sort of) collaboration with Gilberto.  All of which brings us neatly to the album below...

link
pw: sgtg

bonus post: Gilberto With Turrentine

...and to Astrud Gilberto's only album for CTI.  If intended as a full collaboration with Turrentine as per the title, in the end only three tracks featured both artists, and only further track featured Stanley Turrentine.  Unhappy with the way the album was going, Gilberto then walked out on the sessions, leaving Vera Cruz instrumental, and the other instrumental track To A Flame featuring neither headline artist.

So if this album ended up as a bit of a 'could have been' - I'd certainly have loved to hear Astrud sing one of my favourite Stephen Stills songs - what remains is still a great listen for anyone who enjoys the CTI ensemble in its heyday.  The first two tracks, a Bacharach/David song then a Deodato arrangement of a Brazilian tune, certainly set up a potentially classic Astrud Gilberto album, and she's in fine voice throughout.

P.S. Just learned of the passing of João Gilberto, bossanova pioneer and Astrud's ex-husband - RIP.

link
pw: sgtg

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Stone Flower (1970)

Deodato the arranger this time, putting a perfect, not-too-lacquered sheen on what is probably my second favourite Jobim album (nothing can ever touch Wave).  Creed Taylor is of course in the producer's chair, with the CTi era now in full swing, and mellow electric pianos shimmer all over the place - not least in the most gorgeous ballad, Andorinha.  The definite highlight of this stunning record, though, has to be the extended groove through Ary Barroso's 1939 standard Aquarela do Brasil, listed here under its better known international title Brazil and topped off with a reverential Jobim vocal.  In summary, 34 minutes of summery perfection.

link

Tamba 4 - We And The Sea (1968)

For day two of Brazil week, here's the perfect complement to Wave - another of Creed Taylor's A&M productions from the cusp of the CTI era.  If Jobim's masterpiece was a haze of midday heat, the rhythms and melodies of We And The Sea simmer seductively at sunset.

Tamba Trio, later expanded to Tamba 4, centred around pianist Luíz Eça.  Far more than just a jazz pianist or bossanova/ Afro-samba pianist, his stunning style also evoked Gershwin, Debussy and Ravel, and was in fullest flow on the epics that bookend this album. O Morro (The Hill) is a Jobim tune, and leaves the listener breathless from Eça chasing the melody around so effortlessly, even dipping into dissonant modernism but never losing direction across seven exhilarating minutes.

Flautist Bebeto Castilho is the other star here, providing the lead melodic instrument on most of these tracks; he also takes the album's only lead vocal on the languid ballad Moça Flor (Flower Girl).  Other than that, the only vocal tracks on the album are breathy incantations evoking Iemanjá (goddess of the sea) and Ossanha (of storms), performed by the whole group.  Eça adds a dash of organ to the spiritual mystique of Iemanjá, which is probably my favourite track other than the knockout opener.

link

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave (1967)

Midsummer, and time for my listening habits to take their traditional holiday to Brazil.  I've been fascinated by Brazillian music from (mostly) the 60s and 70s ever since discovering this timeless album at university, and it's led to me discovering several other lifelong favourites ever since.  I had actually planned earlier in the year to spend the whole of July posting Brazillian albums, but on reflection thought that would a bit OTT and out of character for this blog, so it's just going to be one week.

To kick off then, here's possibly the finest, most exquisite example of 60s bossanova, with the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim pairing up with arranger Claus Ogerman to produce a succinct album of instant classics, topped off with Creed Taylor's production sheen.  Right from the start of the title track, Ogerman's shimmering wall of strings establishes itself like an airport runway heathaze, then languid brass and winds waft in to provide a gentle breeze in the sweltering heat.  Jobim's guitar or piano are always mixed up front to carry these indelible melodies or carry the bossanova rhythms, and everything is securely underpinned by the great jazz bassist Ron Carter.

The perfection of Ogerman's arranging and Taylor's early-CTI production really can't be overstated here - on Antigua for instance, flutes carry the winding melody until Jobim brings in harpsichord for a star guest turn.  The reverb on the latter instrument is just enough to make the otherwise out-of-kilter baroque instrument sparkle like sunlight off the surface of the sea.  Wave is also a well-paced album; if a track like Dialogo starts to lull you into a poolside snooze, Lamento picks up the pace again, and features Jobim's smoky, melancholic voice for the only time on this flawless album.

link