AOTW Feb. 12-18, Sonny Fortune CONTINUUM

[Big Al]

Sonny Fortune - Continuum (click to buy)

This disc reminds me how much I miss the old jazz Trading Post.

I might never have heard this disc had I not made a trade with poster "jazztropic." Listened to a few clips on CD Baby and I was sold; in fact, I forget what I traded to him to get this, but I'm glad I did.

I'll post more detail about this tomorrow (I hope); but I'd like to know if anyone else heard this disc and how y'all might compare it to Fortune's other work, particularly his work with Miles, McCoy Tyner, etc.

Happy listening!

[kh1958]

This disc reminds me how much I miss the old jazz Trading Post.

I might never have heard this disc had I not made a trade with poster "jazztropic." Listened to a few clips on CD Baby and I was sold; in fact, I forget what I traded to him to get this, but I'm glad I did.

I'll post more detail about this tomorrow (I hope); but I'd like to know if anyone else heard this disc and how y'all might compare it to Fortune's other work, particularly his work with Miles, McCoy Tyner, etc.

Happy listening!

I really like this one also.

[JSngry]

Took a while to track down a copy, but I did.

I like it. Nowhere near as firey as the Horzizon sides (which are on the verge of being forgotten today, and that's a crime) & the Strata-East side, but what's lacking in overt fire is more than made up for in depth of playing. Fortune's tone sounds more "old" than I'm used to hearing from him, but good lord, the lines he plays are the type of thing that you can only get to by years of experience and deep thinking. Nary a cliche on this one.

Like I said, I still think I prefer the older sides overall, but then again, nobody stays young forever. And it also sounds to me like Fortune is just sort of "holing up", not wanting to fight the "jazz war" any more. And who can blame him? Fire, real fire, is too often seen as a negative quality in today's marketplace, and Fortune sounds like he's decided to quietly pursue his craft w/o doing anything to call undue attention to himself. I mean, jeez, his tenor tone almost sounds like Lee Kontiz'!

But he's still writing tunes based around the rhythm section and building them from the ground up, he's still adding the percussionist, and he's still playing with a totally non-bebop-derived vocabulary. Those are all risky strategies for a "straight-ahead" player today, so if he's decided to somewhat emotionally "filter" his intensity level, so as not to raise anybody's suspicions that he's anything other than a "respectable staright-ahead player maintaining the tradition", I can't say that I blame him. It's a strategy, to be sure, and those who have ears to hear, will.

I also like this album much more than his previous Blue Notes, which seemed a little flat to me. If on this one, the sparks come from embers rather than from a raging blaze, on those, I just didn't hear too much of any fire. I've yet to give the Konnex sides the listening they deserve, and the Atlantic sides were/are frustratingly half-formed, as if somebody decided that the sound of the A&M/Horizon stuff was a good place to start diluting from. So I can honestly say that this is the best Sonny Fortune leader album I've heard in quite a while. The cat has always been a serious player, and at times a somewhat dangerous one (within the realm in which he travels). If he sounds less than dangerous here, that's probably the idea. But listen closer and...

Thanks for the tip, Al!

[Big Al]

Interesting comments about a less-than-raging fire, Jim; but then, I have nothing else to compare his playing to. Well, I take that back: I recently heard Fortune’s playing on McCoy’s Sahara, and that was waaaaaaaay too intense for me. So, if this album represents something of a mellowing to one set of ears, another set of ears may see this album as a rekindling of the flame. At least , these wimpy ears seem to think so!

But in all seriousness, particular highlights (and I don’t have the CD in front of me, so I’m just going by track numbers here) are “Trane and Things” an obvious yet very effective rewrite/tribute to Trane’s version “My Favorite Things” featuring playing by Fortune and George Cables (now that guy should be wearing the crown for King of the Underappreciated Pianists) that is nothing short of inspiring. The fourth track sounds like quiet desperation that doesn’t wanna be quiet any longer. The tribute to Mongo Santamaria (“Mongo Blue”) features as peaceful a competition between rhythms as you’ll find, as the bongo player plays one rhythm, while the rest of the band plays a straight blues. Almost as effective as Buddy Montgomery’s “Land of 1,000 Rainbows.” (that was on BFT 15; that’s the only reason I know about that song).

I’m getting Fortune’s From Now On in a few days, so it’ll be interesting to compare the two discs. In any event, I hope I sound this inspired when I hit this guy’s age.

[ep1str0phy]

Y'know, I would have liked to have said something about this one, but I really know nothing about it. Anyone want to drop an overview?

[kh1958]

By the way, the three out-of-print Blue Notes are available on CDBaby as a box set.

[Big Al]

Y'know, I would have liked to have said something about this one, but I really know nothing about it. Anyone want to drop an overview?

Well, it's a quartet album with Cables on piano, Wayne Dockery on bass, Steve Johns on drums, and Steve Berrios on percussion on a few tracks. Sonny plays tenor, alto, and soprano saxes, as well as alto flute. There are some good reviews over at CD baby.