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AOTW December 18-24


felser

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This gem, recorded in January of 1972, was Tyner's first work released on Milestone following a series of distinguished albums on Blue Note. While the Blue Note albums featured renowned musicians such as Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, Gary Bartz, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Alice Coltrane, and Elvin Jones, the band on 'Sahara' was by comparison much more obscure. Drummer Alphonse Mouzon had played on the inaugural Weather Report album, but alto/soprano sax player Sonny Fortune had most recently been with Mongo Santamaria for a number of years, and had not been recorded in his stay with Elvin Jones. Bassist Calvin Hill had played with Joanne Brackeen in Boston, but Tyner was his first major gig. And yet, together, they recorded an album for the ages, truly a masterpiece of masterpieces in Tyner's catalog.

'Sahara' consists of four cuts on side one, and the extended title track on side two. "Ebony Queen" starts the album with a pronouncement that Tyner had taken his playing to a new level, with a rhythmic power and beauty unmatched then or now. Mouzon is superb in his playing here and throughout the album, lifting Tyner into flight. What a loss for the music when he chose to pursue the brass ring of fusion. Fortune more than holds his own in this context, laying down the most successful saxophone playing ever done on a Tyner recording. Azar Lawrence was able to cut through the torrent on 'Enlightenment' and 'Atlantis' without going under, but shortly thereafter, such strong players as George Adams and Gary Bartz were being steamrolled by the power of Tyner's playing. Fortune's playing on this album, which sounded so good at the time, has gained in significance over the years as no one other reed player has been able to approach his success playing with Tyner. "A Prayer For My Family" is a beautiful, spiritual solo piano piece. Tyner would successfully revisit this turf on his 'Echoes of a Friend', a fantastic solo piano album recorded later in '72. "Valley of Life" is an early example of world music, shades of the Orient with Tyner on koto instead of piano, and Fortune on flute. "Rebirth" is a modal burner, with Fortune's only alto sax appearance on this album and a strong solo by Tyner over inspired drumming by Mouzon. "Sahara", running over 23 minutes, is a remarkable work which is relentless in its power and majesty. The main theme from this cut will stay in your head for the rest of your life after you experience it. All of the musicians are given great space to stretch out, and in one fascinating sequence, Tyner lays out to allow Fortune to play with just bass and drum accompaniment. The bass and drum solos are beautifully integrated into the music, so they do not become boring at all (this from someone who often fast forwards through drum solos!). World Music influences are found throughout, with simple reed instrument and pecussion sounds entering from the players at intervals. Rarely has a 23 minute cut justified its length the way 'Sahara' does. It is an organic whole, and editing out any piece of it would damage the work.

Overall, Tyner truly established himself as a visionary musician on this work. This was the turning point in his career where he would no longer be thought of just as Coltrane's pianist, but rather as the giant in his own right he had become.

Edited by felser
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ooooo.....interesting choice!!!

I picked this up when they did those 2K remasters and listened to it avidly for weeks but have not sine. From what I remember Rebirth is a killer but I'm not so keen on the eastern-ethnic instrument piece on koto, mainly because of the instrumentation.

I'll dig this out later, probably tomaorry as I'm off to see Coldplay live later today. :)

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Tyner's "breakout" album in terms of the "general jazz public". No complaints about any of it here, other than perhaps the squirrelly, overly compressed ( I guess that's the right term" of the original recording (still haven't heard the CD version). But big whoop about that. The energy and the vibe of the material and the playing (using Tyner's working group was a damn good move - reports of the time were ecstatic, and Chuck's noted here how incindiery the group was at the time) would make it a keeper even if it had been released as a cardboard disc on the back of a cereal box.

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I like this album a lot. "Valley of Life" injects a completely necessary dose of breathing room that is maybe a little lacking in some of the later McCoy Milestones I've heard.

There could be an interesting music degree thesis in comparing the sidelong "suites" recorded by various keyboardist/pianist-led jazz ensembles in the early 70s -- McCoy, Chick, Herbie, Keith, and anyone else I'm missing.

Guy

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I've listened to this one three times through this weekend, after downloading it from EMusic. Overall, I'd say that I'm not all that impressed. I'm not a terribly big fan of Fortune's playing on this one. And actually, my favorite track is the one with Tyner on koto. Although that track too is troublesome for me...I feel like the music is trying too hard to be "Eastern," and not just on that track, but throughout the whole album.

I've never listened to anything by McCoy Tyner past this point, and hearing this album does not make me want to proceed any further.

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Excellent choice. Sahara is one of my favorite McCoy Tyner releases, along with Song for My Lady, from the same year, and also with Mouzon, Hill and Fortune. I'll be giving this a spin tomorrow, and over the next few days as well.

Edited by gdogus
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Agree on the praise uttered here, but .... I was overwhelmed when I heard it back then (an still have the LP), by the power and vision. But now I prefer Tyner's more subtle approach on his last Blue Notes, especially Extensions. This powerplay grew tiresome on me - I stopped buying his albums on a regular basis after the next one.

Just my two cents, of course.

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Guest akanalog

as far as fusion goes, mouzon's blue note albums are pretty decent.

funky snakefoot is good times. the other albums are a bit too much guitar-centric, but i guess some people are excited by any appearances of tommy bolin in this context.

anyway-i like sahara but i do think as an overall body of work, tyner's milestones can wear thin. you have to pick and choose. i also do find some of the elements of sahara feel like toss-off experiments (the koto thing for instance-even though this could be seen as nice respites from the power of the other stuff) though on other tyner milestones, this works better (like the use of celeste and harpsichord on trident). also i haven't listened to any of these albums in a while so anything i say might be factually incorrect.

FWIW-i sold sahara, atlantis, sama layuca (which i thought would be my favorite but is too dense for my tastes) and fly like the wind (a very funny album, in my opinion-billy cobham playing with no subtlety and disco strings in the background. tyner's overpowering rhythmic style actually works well in this context.). i have held on to song for my lady, the greeting, focal point, trident and enlightenment. i think an album like focal point better combines the power of tyner's approach with memorable songwriting.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest akanalog

i am nonplussed to see no one has responded to this thread since me.

why not?

it is a good AOW choice and it would be nice to get some talk going about this kind of music.

did i kill the thread?

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Yeah, Focal point is underrated.

I think McCoy Tyner's Milestone LPs are a case where Orrin Keepnews' ambitions to present the artist in a variety of settings - which worked great, IMO, with Joe Henderson - kind of obscured Tyner's own concept. His working band was not documented as much as I would have liked to hear it, especially the one with Eric Gravatt, who was absolutely mindblowing. Some LPs are superfluous, IMO, like Fly With The Wind or the one with chorus - the live recordings worked best. But a lot is a little over-ambitious and a little stiff - you feel the studio too much.

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Guest akanalog

wow-byard lancaster. that sounds interesting.

mike, the one with the chorus is ok. gravatt is on some of that one. i like it better than andrew hill's with chorus stuff! earl klugh of all people adds a bit to the proceedings.

but that is a good point-a lot of all the milestones are stiff sounding. i think you hit the nail on the head.

the blue notes that preceded this period are a lot looser sounding and all the better for it.

i will still say "fly like the wind" is something interesting. not sure if it is good, but it is the closest to disco you will ever hear mccoy tyner get. (and yes, i have his crappy early 80s album where he plays some synth and santana and phyllis hyman make appearances)

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wow-byard lancaster. that sounds interesting.

mike, the one with the chorus is ok. gravatt is on some of that one. i like it better than andrew hill's with chorus stuff! earl klugh of all people adds a bit to the proceedings.

but that is a good point-a lot of all the milestones are stiff sounding. i think you hit the nail on the head.

the blue notes that preceded this period are a lot looser sounding and all the better for it.

i will still say "fly like the wind" is something interesting. not sure if it is good, but it is the closest to disco you will ever hear mccoy tyner get. (and yes, i have his crappy early 80s album where he plays some synth and santana and phyllis hyman make appearances)

I agree that his Blue Notes are a stronger, more consistent body of work overall, and even with the variety, Tyner still seemed to repeat himself with diminishing returns some on Milestone. But some of the early albums on the label,'Sahara', 'Echoes of a Friend', 'Song for My Lady','Enlightenment','Sama Layuca','Atlantis',and some of the later trio and solo stuff on the label like 'Supertrios' , were magnificent. As were many of the later Blue Notes, like 'Expansions' and 'Extensions'.

Edited by felser
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I think his Milestones are much more interesting than the Blue Notes. And he has continued making outstanding records since then, though with a clinker thrown in now and again. He's been one of the best artists in jazz since the 1960s, and still is.

A list of the "great" post '70s recordings would be appreciated.

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I think his Milestones are much more interesting than the Blue Notes. And he has continued making outstanding records since then, though with a clinker thrown in now and again. He's been one of the best artists in jazz since the 1960s, and still is.

A list of the "great" post '70s recordings would be appreciated.

Have to agree with Chuck on this one. List of "real good" post-70's Tyner recordings would be quite long, but in my book, only one "great" one, 1991's 'Remembering John'.

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I was expressing the opinion that the Milestones are as a body of work superior to the Blue Notes, and that McCoy Tyner remains a brilliant musician.

I like very much most of the Milestones--Sahara, Song for My Lady, Echoes of a Friend, Sama Layuca, Fly with the Wind, The Greeting, Song of the New World.

After leaving Milestone, his recording opportunities seem to have significantly diminished.

However, he's made some outstanding (my word) recordings post-Milestone--Just Feelin', Dimensions, La Leyenda de la Hora, You Taught My Heart to Sing, the Frank Morgan record Major Changes, David Murray's Special Quartet. The duet recording with Stephane Grapelli is quite nice. The Blue Notes were pretty disappointing, but the duet with George Adams lives up to expectations.The one on Impulse with Michael Brecke is a rather good one. I quite like the recent Illuminations and Land of the Giants also.

And he has continued to be a thrilling live performer, at least on the many times I was able to see him in the 1980s, early 90s.

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mike, the one with the chorus is ok. gravatt is on some of that one. i like it better than andrew hill's with chorus stuff! earl klugh of all people adds a bit to the proceedings.

but that is a good point-a lot of all the milestones are stiff sounding. i think you hit the nail on the head.

the blue notes that preceded this period are a lot looser sounding and all the better for it.

Naw, I don't like that chorus LP - Jack de Johnette drums on most tracks, and didn't have one of his best days. I actually like the Hill albums with Chrous better - there is an innocent looseness that reaches me. I blame Keepnews for not recording that live band.

Glad you agree on the "stiff" sound - partly due to Fantasy Studio's sound concept and partly to the fact that they were strict studio projects, IMO.

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I think his Milestones are much more interesting than the Blue Notes. And he has continued making outstanding records since then, though with a clinker thrown in now and again. He's been one of the best artists in jazz since the 1960s, and still is.

He also has the advantage of being one of the 10 people left from the 60s.

Matt

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I think his Milestones are much more interesting than the Blue Notes. And he has continued making outstanding records since then, though with a clinker thrown in now and again. He's been one of the best artists in jazz since the 1960s, and still is.

He also has the advantage of being one of the 10 people left from the 60s.

Matt

And the other 9 are.................................

Edit to ask what others in the '60s you witnessed.

Edited by Chuck Nessa
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I listened to this tonight with new ears, while reading the comments in this thread. I'd neglected this album for some time after getting it more than a year ago. Beautiful playing by all involved, I can't say I have any complaints. A fine variety of sounds. I particularly enjoyed the solo piece this time around.

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