Bobby Hutcherson "Cirrus"

[johnagrandy]

Does anyone have this one :

Bobby Hutcherson "Cirrus"

Woody Shaw, Harold Land, Emanuel Boyd, Bill Henderson, Ray Drummond, Larry Hancock and Kenneth Nash,

Studio in Los Angeles 4/17/1974 -- 4/18/1974

This would hopefully be Wood on the top of his game.

[JohnS]

It's on my shelf. Unfortunately I can't remember anything about it. I'll give it a spin and let you know (if no one else comes up with it).

[JSngry]

Very nice side, but recorded (or mixed) with a "far away" quality that hides some of the energy.

[jazzbo]

What he said.

Here's hoping someone revisits those tapes and gets it right. RVG I hope! (Most likely it will be McMaster for a Mosaic Select).

[Guest akanalog]

i don't know how it all works, but why won't a company like water reissue some of these hutcherson sides? they are digging into BN around this time. french BN too, is doing some more 70s stuff-maybe they would give them a shot? they should. i like fusion but i would rather hear cirrus than mind transplant!

[jazzbo]

I hear ya!

I think Waters would be a good vehicle. . . but. . . I remember reading here that there were Mosaic plans for "seventies Hutcherson Blue Notes" and I would find it hard to believe this one wouldn't be included in their plans. If they plan it, it's likely EMI isn't going to have another American company lease it. . . Not impossible, but unlikely.

[JohnS]

This is not my idea of good Hutcherson. Mostly repetitive figures on marimba sounding vibes. Woody only gets to solo on two of the five tracks tracks, typical Woody stuff, he doesn't even get to solo on his own 'Rosewood'. The best track is the title track, a nice straight ahead number.

[sidewinder]

I like this one. Very much of its time but none the worse for that, I think. It's well worth a reissue.

[andybleaden]

Yeah I have this and it is nice, a strange affair for Bobby but better than some of his later BNs

Here is some more details courtesy of those wonderful people at Gokudo ( notice now they have all the back liner notes for blue notes )

[andybleaden]

Sorry larger scan on the front than I remembered

Here is the rear with more details

Andy

[MartyJazz]

This is not my idea of good Hutcherson. Mostly repetitive figures on marimba sounding vibes. Woody only gets to solo on two of the five tracks tracks, typical Woody stuff, he doesn't even get to solo on his own 'Rosewood'. The best track is the title track, a nice straight ahead number.

I agree. I have this on LP and I've always found his '70s studio sessions to be incredibly dull, even more so when compared to his extraordinary '60s output. The good news for me is that when I saw him several times in the '70s his club dates were infinitely better and more exciting than anything he was putting on record at that time. Unfortunately, that live stuff wasn't recorded.

[Head Man]

Here is some more details courtesy of those wonderful people at Gokudo ( notice now they have all the back liner notes for blue notes )

Andy, excuse my ignorance but who or what is 'Gokudo'?

[jazzbo]

That is a partial title of a website that reproduces some wonderful vintage lp covers in good scans:

http://www.gokudo.co.jp/Record/BlueNote1/

Boy are you in for a TREAT!

[Head Man]

That is a partial title of a website that reproduces some wonderful vintage lp covers in good scans:

http://www.gokudo.co.jp/Record/BlueNote1/

Boy are you in for a TREAT!

Jazzbo, thanks for the heads-up.

What a great site - a real trip down memory lane!

[jazzbo]

Oh you're certainly welcome, a wonderful resource!

[andybleaden]

erm yeh sorry forgot to put their website up

Excellent site although they have really changed in the last few weeks with new scans for rear covers...and they seem to have taken the japanese lp pressings off , you know like the KING series with Japanese only issues..unless they have run out of space...one of my fav sites ...save for this one

really good for those rare scans for hard to find lps or mosaic sets where I never got to see the original lp

let me know if you see the japanese blue notes anywhere

Andy

[JohnS]

Thanks for the Gokudo link. Excellent.

[johnagrandy]

[brownie]

This is not my idea of good Hutcherson. Mostly repetitive figures on marimba sounding vibes. Woody only gets to solo on two of the five tracks tracks, typical Woody stuff, he doesn't even get to solo on his own 'Rosewood'. The best track is the title track, a nice straight ahead number.

Relistened to that album and agree with this decription although it's not a bad one. Neither Woody Shaw, not Harold Land get enough solo space.

[jazzbo]

I just think the intent of the album is to be more "Groovey" and less jazz and solo centric. . . So I think it succedes within the intention. (But short of asking Bobby, I'm not positive of his intentions. I dig this one a lot though for what it is or what I perceive it is or both).

[JSngry]

Yeah, I think it's got a "populist" flavor to it, and I'm ok with that. It's not like they dumbed down either the playing or the material, they just presented the music in a different format as far as arrangements and soloists go. Of course, Bobby's center stage all the way, but think about it - that's what the "general public" likes to be presented with, an identifiable "focal point", a "name" to put to the music.

It's my understanding that the Hutcherson/Land band was actually pretty popular up and down the Pacific Coast in the late 60s/early 70s, so BN was no doubt trying to expand that popularity into something less regional. This was a time when such things were possible, and Bobby probably wanted it too, seeing some of the later albums he made for the label. Some of those albums, like Montara & San Francisco were obviously aimed at reaching a broader market, and actually achieved that goal (although neither really do too much for me, even though for some San Francisco is a stone classic), and others, like Natural Illusions didn't. And some of them, like Waiting just tend to fall flat to my ears. There's no real "there" there, if you know what I mean, even though none of them are truly bad. But Cirrus works for me. Good tunes and good playing by everybody, no matter how the solos are allocated. I just wish it had been recorded/mixed with more of an "up front" quality. Mileages, though obviously vary on that.

The one that's a real trip is Head On, where Hutcherson let Bayete Todd Cochrane have his head. As on Hadley Calliman's Iapetus the results are pretty unorthodox, moreso actually. And yet again, the thing is not recorded/mixed in a way that favors the music being played. Blame the producer, George Butler, I guess. Pretty sure that one didn't do too well at all.

Edited February 25, 2006 by JSngry

[Guest akanalog]

who reissued those eddie gales? water? they should do the 2 bayete ones on fantasy or milstone or whichever too!

[sidewinder]

Water on CD

4MWB on vinyl.

[clifford_thornton]

That Gokudo site is cool.

That Hutch cover is kinda nuts.

[Chuck Nessa]

Water on CD

4MWB on vinyl.

Same outfit.