Harold Land

[webbcity]

I wish his Mainstream lps would be reissued in total. Mosaic Select anyone?

Absolutely. "Choma," "A New Shade of Blue" and "Damisi" are fantastic. And there must be some alternate takes out there...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

xoscia's dance (spelling?) is an album that didn't connect with me totally but is worth a listen if you are a land fan. it's on muse and from 1980. billy higgins is that star of this show, though-doing some interesting stuff on the cymbals, IMO. bobby hutcherson shows up, but unfortunately, only in a limited (3 song?) capacity.

I felt the same about that album, but it's one I return to a few times every year. I also have Harold playing with Jimmy Liggins and his Drops of Joy in the late 40s. I do like to remember where these guys did their training.

MG

I like Xocia's Dance, but I agree it's a bit uneven. A few of the tunes on there really blow me away though..."Dark Mood" is one of my favorite Land compositions.

What is the Jimmy Liggins recording? I'd love to hear more Land from that period. I have some early tracks he did on a compilation called "Black California" and they're outstanding.

It's called "Jimmy Liggins & his Drops of Joy" Specialty SPCD7005 - not yet deleted by Concord, I trust. Note, this is pure R&B; you won't get much soloing from Land.

MG

[Guest akanalog]

am i right to assume "the peace maker" is not a very um cosmic session?

i see bailey and sample and i imagine this session is more towards "virgo vibes" bluesy swing than the deeper blue note hutcherson/land vibe?

i am interested in buying "the peace maker" but if it is pretty earthbound swinging stuff i can pass for japanese import prices.

i think i remember mr. chuck didn't love this session but dan gould liked it a lot?

[webbcity]

am i right to assume "the peace maker" is not a very um cosmic session?

i see bailey and sample and i imagine this session is more towards "virgo vibes" bluesy swing than the deeper blue note hutcherson/land vibe?

i am interested in buying "the peace maker" but if it is pretty earthbound swinging stuff i can pass for japanese import prices.

i think i remember mr. chuck didn't love this session but dan gould liked it a lot?

I'm a big fan of this one, but yes, if you are comparing it to Hutcherson's Medina, Spiral, or Total Eclipse, this one is a lot less abstract and closer to "mainstream" I guess, whatever that is. In my opinion though, a great recording. Donald Bailey's harmonica on the second cut is pretty funny, but I like it... :-)

[Cliff Englewood]

Nice Thread, I'd been thinking of starting a Land thread myself, and subtitling it "Harold Land: The West Coast Hank Mobley"

Seriously love his playing though but only have his 50's and 60's stuff, the most obscure of which is HERB GELLER: THAT GELLER FELLER (Fresh Sounds). Nothing outstanding but good to very good West Coast Bop, nice line-up all the same;

Kenny Dorham, trumpet; Herb Geller, alto sax; Harold Land, tenor sax; Lou Levy, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Larance Marable, drums.

1. S'Pacific View

2. Jitterbug Waltz

3. The Fruit

4. Here's What I'm Here For

5. Marable Eyes

6. An Air For The Heir

7. Melrose And Sam

I too would be curious as to the merits of "The Peace Maker", webbcity can you elaborate a little more on this one please?

Has anyone got the "new" version of "Take Aim", is this one any good?

Also, has anybody got the 20 bit "West Coast Blues" Victor VICJ 41399 or the 20 bit "Landslide" Victor VICJ 41386, if so, is there a major sound improvement as I find the generic "Landslide" a bit dull and I would upgrade if the 20 bit sounds better.

[andybleaden]

I have just heard some of the live stuff from the late 60s with Harold and Hutch....and it adds to the beautiful music they did on Blue Note together.

Awesome sets from Germany in the summer of 69 which makes me remember the feeling I first had when I picked up Medina, Spiral etc .....that sort of era was really what I liked with these two....

I also have Inner Glow now which was well worth the wait and will enhance any Select from Mosaic should they release it

Am I right in thinking we are missing some Argo/cadet dates with these two as well ?

Andy

[Cliff Englewood]

What are these live sets from Germany in the summer of 69 ?

[andybleaden]

They were radio broadcasts from that era from a tour that they did 69 and 70 I guess

Lovely stuff

The oft quoted dime a dozen site has them

There are around 4 different session recordings as far as I know in july ....maybe

[Rooster_Ties]

Hutcherson Land Quintet - "Blow Up" JMY 1005-2 (Italy, 1990)

Hutcherson, Land, Stanley Cowell, Reggie Johnson, Joe Chambers

Spiral - 13:30

Blow Up - 14:20

Herzog - 14:15

Maiden Voyage - 11:40

Man on Mercury - 1:40

Juan le Pins, July 25th, 1969

Sound quality is very good. Long out of print, and never a legit release to begin with. The track times above are from the CD case, and vary slightly from the actual track times (which include a few extra seconds for applause, and maybe a stage announcement).

I had this one many years ago (purchased in the mid 90's). I loaned it out (I guess), and never saw it again (no idea who I loaned it to). Found another one on eBay about 4 years ago, so it's worth keeping your eyes out for.

Edit: supposedly recorded on the same date (and at the same location) as this...

details

Edited April 11, 2006 by Rooster_Ties

[andybleaden]

Never seen the cover before ...cheers

That was another session in addition to the ones I was referring to

[Rooster_Ties]

I was just spinning the live "Blow Up" date just mentioned, and I just noticed on the first track ("Spiral"), that Cowell quotes Wayne Shorter's "Mescalero" in his solo (at time index 9:54, on the JMY issued version).

Never seen the cover before ...cheers

Now I'm not seeing it at all. Here's another copy that doesn't require hot-linking.

Edited April 11, 2006 by Rooster_Ties

[Guest akanalog]

yeah i have a few live dates from that time period that i have downloaded from internet sites. all good stuff with pretty good sound quality. i imagine one of the downloaded performances matches the "blow up" date.

i think there is also an enja disc with a mixed bag of performances on it which i have never heard-but one of the longer performances is by land/hutcherson. also has karin krog and bill evans with tony oxley?

i have that miles disc. i bought it in a store a long time ago. for some reason i thought it was officially released in japan or something. the levels are kind of hot, on it.

[Rooster_Ties]

i have that miles disc. i bought it in a store a long time ago. for some reason i thought it was officially released in japan or something. the levels are kind of hot, on it.

Yes, officially released in Japan on Sony in 1993 -- in addition to one or two non-legit versions since. (Mine is legit. )

[webbcity]

I too would be curious as to the merits of "The Peace Maker", webbcity can you elaborate a little more on this one please?

I love the group on this disc...Hutcherson sounds amazing as always, Buster Williams' bass and Donald Bailey's drumming are splashy and a bit loose...groovin'. I don't honestly know much about Joe Sample but I like his piano playing on this a lot. And Harold's playing at this point was going through big changes...obviously much more modern than the bop stuff from the 50s and early 60s, but he's not yet at the point he was at on Hutcherson records like Medina and Total Eclipse. The tunes on The Peace-Maker are generally blues-based, so it's not nearly as abstract as those two Hutcherson records I mentioned simply because of that. But the playing is energetic! Definitely very 60s sounding in some ways, although it also reminds me of the 70s Strata-East label style a bit. So it is kind of looking ahead and backwards at the same time. Nice tunes by Harold. "The Aquarian" is one of my favorites. And the title track is beautiful, in my opinion.

[webbcity]

i think there is also an enja disc with a mixed bag of performances on it which i have never heard-but one of the longer performances is by land/hutcherson. also has karin krog and bill evans with tony oxley?

Yeah, the performance on that Enja disc is killer...same group except Hal Galper replaces Stanley Cowell.

And yes, there are a number of phenomenal performances of the group from Europe in 1969 and 1970. Most have Cowell, a couple have Galper on piano.

The holy grail for me would be finding some video of this group! I don't know if it exists, but I feel like there's a chance, since they performed quite a bit in Europe and so much of it was well documented. The Europeans certainly did a better job of taping and broadcasting this kind of stuff.

Here's something I've wondered about, though...there was a TV program called "Mixed Bag" on WGBH-TV in Boston in the late sixties and I think Bobby Hutcherson did one of these programs...don't know if Harold was involved or not. I've looked around for info on this show but found nothing. Does anyone know whether any of that footage still exists?

[webbcity]

Here's the blurb on "The Peace-Maker" from dustygroove.com, just for more info...

A fantastically beautiful record that stands as the first meeting between Bobby Hutcherson and Harold Land -- an album that's possibly even better than the more famous Blue Note work by the pair! This is one of those "once in a lifetime" jazz sessions -- filled with magical interplay that's made the record a favorite with collectors for years, and done with a sound that's as lyrically graceful as it is soulful and righteous! Hutcherson's vibes are at their warmest 60s mode, but still have some of the angularity of his more modern sides for Blue Note -- but Land is the real discovery here -- as he steps out with a fluidity that surpasses any of his earlier hardbop albums, a flowing exploratory style expressed on both flute and tenor -- with a mode that's years ahead of its time, and sounds a lot more like work on labels like Strata East or Muse from the 70s. Tracks are nearly all originals by Land, and are the kind of thoughtful jazz compositions that show up on a rare few records from the 60s -- all of them are great, and sparkle with creativity and a subdued sense of righteousness. Titles include "One For Nini", "Angel Dance", "The Peace Maker", "40 Love", "Stylin", and "The Aquarian".

[Chas]

i think there is also an enja disc with a mixed bag of performances on it which i have never heard-but one of the longer performances is by land/hutcherson. also has karin krog and bill evans with tony oxley?

Yeah, the performance on that Enja disc is killer...same group except Hal Galper replaces Stanley Cowell.

And yes, there are a number of phenomenal performances of the group from Europe in 1969 and 1970. Most have Cowell, a couple have Galper on piano.

The Enja Lp :

And the Enja CD :

The Land-Hutcherson track on the Enja disc is an 18 minute version of , " The Creators " from the June 1970 Ljubljana Festival , where the Land Quintet also performed an original of his entitled," Mana Mercury " which appeared on this Yugoslavian LP :

I don't know whether this track ever made it to CD . I have wondered if there is more material from that concert . Anybody know ?

Edit to replace broken image links

Edited November 16, 2007 by Chas

[Daniel A]

Re: The Peacemaker - I wouldn't call it better than the Blue Notes. It's somewhat behind such dates as "Total Eclipse", "Medina" and "Spiral", but it's got a different vibe altogether. To answer a question some posts up, yes, I'd say it's closer to the feel of Ayers' "Virgo Vibes" than the BN Hutcherson/Land albums, with a just a measure of the Jazz Crusaders thrown in as well. Not a classic, but it has its merits.

[Rooster_Ties]

If I might ask, what is the complete line-up on "The Peace-Maker"?? (And thanks in advance!!)

[webbcity]

If I might ask, what is the complete line-up on "The Peace-Maker"?? (And thanks in advance!!)

Harold- tenor sax & flute, Bobby Hutcherson- vibes, Joe Sample- piano, Buster Williams- bass, Donald Bailey- drums & harmonica

And I agree with the poster above who said that this is a bit behind the Hutcherson Blue Note albums...I don't agree with Dusty Groove about that...however, it's still one of my favorites. Just different. It does have a very different vibe to it than the Hutcherson LPs.

[Guest akanalog]

donald bailey on harmonica? behind the blue notes? i think i can pass on spending $23 or whatever it will cost on this one....

[Daniel A]

If I might ask, what is the complete line-up on "The Peace-Maker"?? (And thanks in advance!!)

A helpful forum member has posted the lineup in this post already.

Sorry, Rooster!

[Rooster_Ties]

If I might ask, what is the complete line-up on "The Peace-Maker"?? (And thanks in advance!!)

A helpful forum member has posted the lineup in this post already.

Sorry, Rooster!

At least I didn't ask how it compared to "San Francisco" --- again.

[Daniel A]

On the other hand, I had forgotten my own post in that thread myself, where I'm comparing it to the earlier BNs. I suppose you can't remember everything you post. Anyway, regarding the merits of The Peace-maker I'm standing by my statement of April 13th...