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Harold Land - Westward Bound!


mjzee

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Release date June 18:

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Contains previously un-issued live recordings of unsung tenor saxophone hero Harold Land from The Penthouse in Seattle from 1962, 1964 and 1965 with stellar musicians including Hampton Hawes, Carmell Jones, Buddy Montgomery and Philly Joe Jones. 

Released in partnership with the Harold Land Estate, the remastered audio was captured from direct transfers of the original Penthouse's tape reels. 

Westward Bound! includes an extensive booklet with rare photos; essays by jazz historian Michael Cuscuna, co-producers Zev Feldman and Cory Weeds, and pianist Eric Reed; plus interviews with tenor saxophone giant Joe Lovano and the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins

About the Artist:
Harold Land was a legendary hard bop/post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band. His first recording was as the leader of the Harold Land All-Stars, for Savoy Records in '49. In '54 he joined the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, with whom he was at the forefront of the hard-bop/bebop movement. He moved to Los Angeles in '55 and co-led groups with Bobby Hutcherson, Blue Mitchell, and Red Mitchell. In the early '80s through to the early '90s he worked regularly with the Timeless All Stars; a group sponsored by the Timeless jazz record label. The group consisted of Land on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano, Buster Williams on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, Curtis Fuller on trombone and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. Over his career he was a sideman on albums from Roy Ayers, Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, Freddie Hubbard, Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery, Donald Byrd, Dinah Washington and countless others. Land was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and joined the UCLA Jazz Studies Program in 1996 to teach instrumental jazz combo.

''Harold Land was one of the major contributors in the history of the jazz saxophone,'' said jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, founder and director of the UCLA Jazz Studies Program. 

Track Listing:

Vendetta
Beep Durple
Happily Dancing / Deep Harmonies Falling
My Romance
Triplin' The Groove
Autumn Leaves
Who Can I Turn To
Beau-ty
Blue N' Boogie

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When it came up in the Roy Brooks thread I pre-ordered on Amazon. Interesting that it is from The Penthouse but doesn't mention the radio engineer/host who was the source of other releases. So the Penthouse really had their own reel-to-reel recording off of the soundboard? And maybe that's why its not on Resonance?

I have to say I am hoping that Carmell Jones is on most/all tracks and not just a couple.

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my only complaint right now is: who names these things?  it shuold of been called BIG DAWGS IN SEATTLE.  Well ok how about I will call it that.  It should be coming out on vinyl then, did we say?  They usually do right.  Discogs doesnt have em all listed i dont think- whats the full lp release list of the Seattle ones--- i have the Lockjaw Davis on CD thats it.  I know cannoball- is there a bill evans live in seattle.  

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21 hours ago, sonnymax said:

Can an artist be "unsung" and "legendary"?

Allen Lowe once posted here that he was with Percy France at the Angry Squire, and that Percy positively "glowed" when someone approached him and said, "Are you Percy France? You're a legend!"

So yes I think you can be "unsung" and "legendary".

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  • 1 month later...

This might have been mentioned in a thread elsewhere on the board, but thought I'd go ahead and post the press release I received for it today.  Out June 12:

Hard-Hitting Previously Unreleased Live Performances by Bop Tenor Master Harold Land Due from Reel to Real Recordings Westward Bound! Features High-Voltage 1962-65 Dates Captured at Seattle’s Penthouse with Trumpeter Carmell Jones, Pianist Hampton Hawes, and Drummer Philly Joe Jones Available June 12 in Celebration of ‘Record Store Day’ as a 33-1/3 RPM Two-LP Set on 180-gram Vinyl; Available via on CD on June 18 and Digitally on August 6 Deluxe Package Features New Interviews with Tenor Giants Sonny Rollins and Joe Lovano and Essays by Jazz Authority Michael Cuscuna and Pianist Eric Reed

Continuing its mission to unearth important, previously unreleased jazz performances, Reel to Reel Recordings returns in June with Westward Bound!, a crucial collection of forceful quartet and quintet performances by the masterful tenor saxophonist Harold Land. Crisply recorded at the Seattle jazz club the Penthouse in 1962-65 by engineer Jim Wilke and originally aired as part of a weekly broadcast from the venue on KING-FM, the new collection will be issued on June 12 in celebration of ‘Record Store Day’ as a 33-1/3 rpm two-LP set on 180-gram vinyl mastered by Kevin Gray of Coherent Audio and pressed by Standard Vinyl in Toronto. The album will then be available on CD on June 18 and digitally on August 6. Reel to Reel – a partnership between Vancouver-based jazz impresario and saxophonist Cory Weeds and Resonance Records co-president and award-winning “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman – was launched in 2018 with a pair of releases that included its initial title drawn from the Penthouse’s audio trove, Cannonball Adderley’s Swingin’ in Seattle. The label has since issued Ow!, featuring 1962 Penthouse dates by tenor men Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis; previous Resonance titles from the Penthouse archives have included sets by West Montgomery (Smokin’ in Seattle) and the Three Sounds featuring Gene Harris (Groovin’ Hard).

In his notes to the new album, Feldman writes, ‘I feel that these recordings of Harold Land are special and need to be heard. Land was one of the purveyors of West Coast jazz whom I feel is an underrecognized genius who doesn’t get discussed enough….Land was on top of his game during this important part of his career in the mid-1960s.” Comparing the new release to In Baltimore, Reel to Reel’s 2020 live collection by George Coleman, Weeds adds, “Westward Bound! finds us celebrating another unsung hero of the tenor saxophone.” Born in Houston and raised in San Diego, Harold Land established himself as a jazz star with four EmArcy albums in the tenor chair of trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach’s celebrated ‘50s quintet. Based in Los Angeles from the mid-‘50s on, he worked fruitfully as a leader, recorded regularly with big band leader-arranger Gerald Wilson, and played behind such giants as Dinah Washington, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk, Les McCann, and Hampton Hawes. In later years he forged fruitful alliances with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, and the Timeless All Stars. Sonny Rollins – who replaced Land in the Brown-Roach combo – says in a new interview with Feldman, “Harold Land was one of the premier saxophonists of the time. He was one of the best….He was a great player, one of my favorites.” Contemporary tenor titan Joe Lovano tells Feldman, “Harold had his own sweet way of playing and his own flowing language….He was equal to Coltrane and Sonny.”

The earliest of the Penthouse dates heard on Westward Bound! pairs Land with a similarly underestimated player, the gifted Kansas City trumpeter Carmell Jones; the two musicians worked together regularly on sessions for Pacific Jazz Records. In his overview essay, jazz historian and producer Michael Cuscuna notes, “He and Land made a like-minded team; each would play every note with purpose and articulation.” The band on the Dec. 12, 1962 performance also included Wes Montgomery’s brothers Buddy (piano) and Monk (bass) and drummer Jimmy Lovelace. During Penthouse gigs on Sept. 10 and 17, 1964, Land was joined by another prominent artist he had worked with before: pianist Hampton Hawes, who had led the storied 1958 quartet date For Real!, which also featured the saxophonist. In an essay about the keyboardists heard with Land on the new album, pianist Eric Reed says, “Although it is not widely acknowledged (or even known), Hamp was largely responsible for blending the language of the Blues, Jazz, and Gospel music in such a way as to influence many that came after him.” Westward Bound! climaxes with an Aug. 5, 1965, date featuring Monk Montgomery, pianist John Houston, and another jazz legend, the explosive drummer Philly Joe Jones. The rhythm turbine of Miles Davis’ magnificent ‘50s quintet, Jones relocated in the ‘60s to L.A., where he played regularly with Land. Cuscuna writes, “This is a high-octane quartet, thanks in large part to Philly Joe’s ability to swing hard and keep a tight rein on the music with the loosest feel.”

In his own introductory note to the album, Charlie Puzzo, Jr., son of the Seattle club’s owner and operator, says, “I hope the release of this album will allow you to experience the magic of Harold Land’s performances at the Penthouse and also to feel the excitement of actually being in the audience. As a collector myself, I know how important it is that the packaging and esign live up to the source material, and I believe this album does just that.” REEL TO REAL RECORDINGS LTD was launched in 2017 by jazz impresario Cory Weeds and renowned producer Zev Feldman and is focused on important archival jazz releases. Releases include Cannonball Adderley – Swingin' in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1966-1967), Etta Jones – A Soulful Sunday: Live at the Left Bank, Johnny Griffin/Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – OW!: Live at the Penthouse, and George Coleman Quintet in Baltimore. Harold Land · Westward Bound! Reel to Real · Release Date: June 12, 2021

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Here's that original thread

As always more info as we get closer to release date. I just got an Amazon shipping update for June 18 so I guess all systems are go. Disappointed that Carmell is only on one of the three concerts they picked tracks from but I am still looking forward to this.

 

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1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

Disappointed that Carmell is only on one of the three concerts they picked tracks from but I am still looking forward to this.

Me too. If Carmell were on the entire date, this’d be a higher priority purchase for me — though I’m sure if the reviews here are as solid as I’m expecting, I’ll surely end up getting it regardless.

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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3 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Here's that original thread

As always more info as we get closer to release date. I just got an Amazon shipping update for June 18 so I guess all systems are go. Disappointed that Carmell is only on one of the three concerts they picked tracks from but I am still looking forward to this.

 

Yikes, apologies—I glanced back about a page and a half and didn’t see a thread already devoted to it, but I clearly should’ve done a Harold Land topic search instead. Mods, feel free to merge or delete.

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6 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Yikes, apologies—I glanced back about a page and a half and didn’t see a thread already devoted to it, but I clearly should’ve done a Harold Land topic search instead. Mods, feel free to merge or delete.

Nah, I was certain someone had posted a separate thread after it was first discussed in another June release's post, so I just kept looking. ;)

 

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4 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Yikes, apologies—I glanced back about a page and a half and didn’t see a thread already devoted to it

Yeah, when I saw this I remembered that previous thread. I even had the cover image of the suitcase in my head. And I wondered...

4 hours ago, Dub Modal said:

This one's on the list to buy.

Yes, I think I'll also get it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I pre-ordered @ Amazon, due tomorrow. :party:

(Was just checking allmusic and discogs, was curious to see where these recordings fit in his studio albums ... the reason being, I am not as much of a fan of Land when Trane held more of an influence on his playing. These could be really interesting as his recordings as a leader were scanty at the time. When did Trane start influencing him?

(And is it just me or did Land dial back the Trane influence by the time of the Timeless All-Stars recordings, kind of the same way that Booby went back to a more straightahead approach?)

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